In terms of design this new identity design for Somerset House’s ‘Utopia 2016’  is quite bold move. It features rave smileys, magenta, yellow clash together and a new alien type alphabet is created.  Utopia 2016 is “a Year of Imagination and Possibility celebrates the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s inspirational text. A year of artists, designers, provocateurs and thinkers experimenting with ways we might live, make, work and play.”

“It’s a sort of alien language that we digitised, and drew as a geometric version,” says Muggeridge. “I knew about the [Thomas More] Utopian alphabet before we were appointed to this project – some things take a long time, but this one didn’t.”

The website is also suitably alternative, with vibrating colours and miss matched colours, it’s bold against traditional design and lots of  fun.


“The word utopia can have all sorts of meanings,” says Muggeridge. “The smiley could reference rave, acid house or even religious things. We wanted to make the flag look positive and familiar. It’s quite a ridiculous thing to have on the top of Somerset house”
Find out more about the design work over at www.itsnicethat.com