The Royal Northern College of Music, based in Manchester city centre, had an issue with both it's image as a major conservatoire music institution and as a venue for 'serious' music. The task of developing a new brand identity was therefore based on a formal logotype that paid due respect to the status of the organisation as an academic centre of excellence whilst brushing away some of the cobwebs associated with classical music. Thankfully, good, in-depth market research had been conducted by Morris, Hargreaves, Macintyre enabling design and aesthetic considerations to be based around the right expression of RNCM and to position the organistaion in a form relevant to it's current and audiences.