Homeless History of Newcastle
More than 170,000 families and individuals across Britain are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness. That includes people sleeping on the streets, sofa-surfing or in other dangerous situations. Rough sleeping alone is estimated to have increased by 169% since 2010. Newcastle is no exception to these shocking statistics.

‘Missing Pieces’ was a unique and captivating exhibition exploring the Homeless History of Newcastle and wider issues around homelessness in Britain. The exhibition was a Heritage Lottery funded project bringing Crisis Skylight members who have experienced homelessness together with project lead and historian Kristopher McKie and museum curator David Wright in the search for stories and evidence from the city’s past.

An impactful brand identity
We began by speaking with Crisis Skylight staff and members to gain an insight into how the brand identity could most authentically represent the theme of homelessness in Newcastle. We responded with a simple and bold typographic treatment that puts the project title and theme instantly at the forefront.

‘Missing Pieces’
The exhibition materials and social media presence are anchored by the exhibition title, ‘Missing Pieces’.

On the exhibition programme, a die cut cover was used which when opened up revealed fully the mysterious character on the cover as a play on the exhibition title.

Making a change
The exhibition features rarely seen documents and photographs from local archives as well as personal stories from past and present to find out what history can tell us about the ongoing crisis of homelessness in Britain.

‘Missing Pieces’ took place across five venues in Newcastle City Centre including City Library, Laing Gallery, Discovery Museum, Bessie Surtees House and St Nicholas’ Cathedral.