We wanted Citadel’s rebrand to reflect Birmingham, it’s people, businesses and ever evolving culture. So we reached out to Vaabs, a local creative agency who took the time to understand our vision and craft a visual language for us to communicate it to the City.

We landed on a logo that positions Citadel as a platform. A platform for our tenants, our neighbourhood and anyone who walks through our front door.

Here are few questions we asked them to get under the bonnet of their process...

Who is behind vaabs creative?

Tebo & Jay, a couple of guys who met in a coffee shop in Birmingham one day, and began to dream about the mark that they wanted to make on the world.

What is vaabs creative about & trying to achieve?

We are a people first consultancy, curating and capturing brands. On a technical note, we produce exciting, engaging and flexible brand identities for clients. However, as a strategic outfit, our motivation is to understand brands and their audiences inside out, helping to uncover hidden insights and join dots between things that brands may not have previously connected or understood.

What attracted you to take on the Citadel branding project with Kinrise?

Our core team Jay, Tebo and Joey have all worked and lived in Birmingham at some point we were really energised to be involved on a project at the heart of a city we all know and love.

What process did you follow through the project and why did we land where we did.

We firstly looked at the strategic positioning of Citadel - looking back at what the building meant to the city in the past, then looking forward at what it could mean for a new generation. We utilised multiple local insights to then build an exciting brand identity that combined three core elements; the design focus of Kinrise, the rich heritage of the building and the creative buzz of the city.

What makes Birmingham, Birmingham?

Birmingham is the beating heart of the West Midlands. From Broad Street to Bournville, the Custard Factory to Curzon Street, Birmingham nurtures its industrial roots and grows a vibrant city teeming with rejuvenation. Home of the British Balti, honest work ethic, 8,000 acres of green space, 571 parks, an energetic music scene, creative hubs and cultural hotspots, all compounded by a distinct Brummie charm (and accent), Birmingham is a natural place to work, rest and play. We think the 0121 area certainly has a lot more to offer than more canals than venice.