Harland & Wolff

Repositioning one of the world’s most iconic shipbuilding brands

Harland & Wolff is one of the most recognisable names in British shipbuilding. Founded in 1861, the company is known for vessels including RMS Titanic and the UK’s first supertanker, Myrina. After decades of decline and strategic drift, the brand had become fragmented and needed a clearer identity for the future.

We were commissioned to create a new visual identity and design system that could honour its engineering heritage while positioning the business for renewed ambition. Built on precision, scale and industrial confidence, the identity combined a disciplined typographic framework with supporting graphic elements and a signature palette of intense black and warm yellow.

Applied across communications, print, signage, uniforms, vehicles and digital platforms, the work restored cohesion across the business and gave Harland & Wolff a more confident, consistent presence. The new identity informed a suite of bespoke, high-end pitch assets supporting a £250 million UK National Flagship bid, and contributed to securing a £1.6 billion Royal Navy contract as part of Team Resolute.

From Titanic to Tomorrow: To mark Harland & Wolff’s 160th anniversary, colleagues at Engage created this exceptional film producing a powerful narrative that pays homage to the shipbuilder’s rich heritage while firmly looking to the future. It also acts as a celebration of the brand identity we crafted: highly adaptable and cohesive across digital, print, and beyond.

Harland & Wolff archive image showing Titanic docked in Belfast

Founded in 1861, Harland & Wolff is one of the world’s oldest and most iconic shipbuilding brands. A system built for scale, applied across communications, signage, uniforms, vehicles, annual reports and digital platforms.

Harland & Wolff archive image showing exterior buildings in the late 1800, early 1900s with ship in background

Harland & Wolff archive image showing exterior of ship being built in the late 1800, early 1900s

Harland & Wolff archive image showing ships under construction in the docks

Harland & Wolff archive image showing exterior buildings in the late 1800, early 1900s with railway line in foreground

Harland & Wolff workers and apprentices wearing PPE and showing yellow H&W monogram

Harland & Wolff shipyard dock in Scotland looking out to sea with a wind turbine in the picture

The new identity informed a suite of bespoke, high-end pitch assets supporting a £250 million UK National Flagship bid, and contributed to securing a £1.6 billion Royal Navy contract as part of Team Resolute.

Harland & Wolff National Flagship bid design - Render by SMC

For the £250m UK National Flagship competition, we designed and oversaw the production of a very high specification bid presentation pack incorporating an large (A3 landscape) book, design schematics, boards and a custom-engineered hard case, applying the identity with the same care and authority as the ships themselves. Tactile, detail-focussed, and luxurious.