The prestigious Turner Prize has arrived in Bradford for 2025, marking the first time one of the world's most recognized contemporary art awards has been hosted in the Yorkshire city. To commemorate this historic moment, creative studio Rabbithole has crafted a distinctive visual identity that celebrates what they call "fragmented beauty" – a design concept that rewards viewers who take a closer look.

Rather than pursuing traditional polish or symmetry, Rabbithole has developed a visual system that thrives on tension and imperfection. The identity features circular cut-outs, layered compositions, and vibrant bursts of color that create a sense of movement and depth, inviting audiences to explore beneath the surface. This approach reflects both the spirit of contemporary art and the layered character of Bradford itself.

The creative concept emerged from genuine community engagement with local residents. "The brand identity for this year's prize draws directly from conversations with local people, including a powerful image shared in a brand workshop by a young participant: 'a flower slowly blooming out of a crack in the pavement,'" explains the Rabbithole team. "This idea of something quietly beautiful emerging from an overlooked place became the emotional and conceptual anchor for the visual identity."

Balancing the prestigious reputation of the Turner Prize – a Tate-led award known for its critical rigor – with Bradford's distinctive personality presented a significant challenge. The Yorkshire and Glasgow-based studio aimed to create something that felt both serious and accessible, engaging not only the established art world but also newcomers discovering the prize for the first time. "The challenge was clear: speak to both the artworld-initiated and the casually curious," Rabbithole notes. "By avoiding lofty or overly polished design tropes, the joyful Turner Prize 2025 visual identity invites and welcomes all who encounter it."

The identity authentically captures Bradford's essence as the 2025 UK City of Culture. The city represents a fascinating blend of contradictions and contrasts – proud of its industrial heritage, shaped by migration, and brimming with cultural energy. In the visual system, layers of shapes overlap and reveal fragments of what lies beneath, mirroring the city's hidden beauty and the prize's reputation for surfacing the unexpected.

Typography plays a crucial role in grounding this expressive visual world. Rabbithole selected a heavier, more robust version of Denim by Displaay Type Foundry, creating contrast with the softer Denim Ink used in the broader Bradford 2025 identity. The Turner Prize logo centers around a bold "T" formation that separates "Turner Prize" and "2025," creating breathing space both literally for layering and motion, and conceptually for interpretation.

The color palette evolves from Bradford 2025's familiar tones of green, pink, and gold, but pushes them significantly further. Gradients, higher saturation, and a broader spectrum of hues generate energy and unpredictability. These gradients also reinforce the concept of discovery, as colors blend and shift depending on light and scale. The overall effect creates an identity that feels tactile and human – not a static system, but something that lives, moves, and reveals itself over time.

While the final work translates beautifully into digital and 3D applications (developed in collaboration with artist Joseph Töreki), Rabbithole placed special emphasis on making the identity physically tangible. "With paper cut-outs especially, we wanted the identity to feel humble and accessible in its simplicity," the team explains. Exhibition brochures feature die-cut holes that reveal glimpses of layers beneath, wall panels overlap strategically, and a timeline display is constructed from stacked materials rather than a single flat graphic.

Harriet Hudson, head of brand and marketing at Bradford 2025, describes the collaboration enthusiastically. "They've played, adapted and had fun with the brand they originally created across a range of projects, from the identity of pop-up venues to merchandise," she says. "For Turner Prize 2025, they've cleverly developed an appealing, punchy and distinctive identity that works on multiple levels: as a campaign it turns heads, in an ornate historic gallery it commands presence, and when needed it can sit back and allow the artist's work to shine."

The design system's ability to shift between different contexts and audiences was central to its success. "When representing shortlisted artists and their work, the identity strips back to simple, minimal elements," Rabbithole explains. "In contrast, event marketing posters crescendo at full volume with expressive fragmentation and color with gradients and pushed saturation." This dynamic range allows the identity to move seamlessly between different audiences and contexts.

Playfulness emerges through interactive details, such as pop-out elements on family guides and bold motion graphics for social media, while precision appears in the meticulous typographic hierarchy and accessibility standards used across signage and print materials. This balance "creates something that feels open and energetic, resonating with Bradford's local character, while remaining refined enough for national media and curatorial audiences," according to Rabbithole.

One of the identity's most important strengths is that it doesn't feel overly "designed." There's space for humanity, spontaneity, and the imperfections that make both art and cities compelling. "Rather than chasing symmetry or pristine polish, the identity favors unexpected alignments, quirky overlaps, and unpredictable gaps," the team notes. "This approach creates depth, tension and richness, echoing the multifaceted reality of Bradford and the often-challenging yet hopeful nature of contemporary art."

This philosophy manifests in delightful, unexpected ways. One of Rabbithole's favorite moments came not from a major poster or billboard campaign, but from observing children pop out the cut-out glasses from a family leaflet. "Seeing them engaging with the brand like that really brought it to life," they reflect. "That interaction – that curiosity – is exactly what we hoped for."

The Turner Prize 2025 exhibition is now open at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, where Rabbithole's identity has successfully sparked curiosity, invited conversation, and given one of Britain's most prestigious art prizes a distinctly Bradford soul. Much like the prize itself, the visual identity rewards those who take a second look, embodying the concept of fragmented beauty that can emerge from unexpected places.