Compton Verney

The client

Compton Verney is a visual arts destination offering galleries, exhibitions and collections alongside 120 acres of grounds. Visitors can explore the house and its exhibitions as well as sculpture, woodland, gardens and other outdoor spaces, with a café, shop and activities for children also forming part of the experience.

The brief

Compton Verney wanted a new brochure to introduce the attraction to people who might not already know what was there or why they should visit.

There was plenty to communicate, from art and exhibitions to the house, grounds and everything visitors could see and do while they were there. But before any of that, the brochure had to get noticed. Sitting in tourist leaflet racks alongside other days out and attractions, it needed to give people a reason to pick it up, then make all that information easy to explore once they did.

A photo of the North Londoner Magazine on a pallet in The Mailing People factory.

A mock-up of the North Londoner cover and internal spread on a dark blue background.

Our approach

We considered not just what the brochure needed to communicate, but where people would encounter it. From its presence in a busy leaflet rack to the information revealed once it was opened, the format and design were developed to encourage discovery while keeping a broad visitor offer clear and accessible.

Photo of the front cover and back cover of the compton verney brochure

Designed to be picked up

The cover needed to work particularly hard. A die-cut window gives just a glimpse of the photography underneath, deliberately holding something back rather than showing the whole image at once. Pick it up and the complete image is revealed. It turned the die-cut into part of the idea rather than simply a decorative finish.

Accessible design

Accessibility wasn't something to check at the end of the design process. A minimum 12pt type size and strong contrast were requirements from the outset, so layouts were built around them. Clear hierarchy and plenty of space helped us accommodate the amount of information needed without making pages feel crowded or difficult to navigate.

Photo of an inside spread of the compton verney brochure.

Capturing the whole experience

One of the challenges was showing just how much sits beyond the exhibitions. We used photography and the structure of the brochure to move between art, the house and the grounds, giving each part of a visit room without trying to squeeze everything onto every page. The brochure could then build a more complete picture of Compton Verney as somewhere to spend the day.

Photo of the compton verney brochure stood up.

Built to last

The brochure needed to introduce Compton Verney without being too closely tied to a particular exhibition or moment in time. We focused the design around the things that define a visit — the art, house, grounds and wider day out — giving the brochure a longer useful life. This created a piece that could continue to introduce new visitors to Compton Verney rather than being designed around a single campaign or season.

A photo of the prospectus and admissions guide

Results & next steps

The finished A5 brochure brings the different sides of Compton Verney together in one piece, while the design gives people space to discover them gradually.

The die-cut creates the first moment of curiosity on the cover; inside, photography, typography and a clear page structure take over. Together, those elements create a brochure designed around how people will actually encounter and explore it, from first spotting it in a leaflet rack to finding out more about a visit.

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