Open Data Institute
Data · public interest · policy
Data had a reputation for being brown, boxy and boring. The Open Data Institute needed an identity, language and set of public tools capable of making complex data ideas vivid, recognisable and approachable.
Start a conversation2013–2026 relationship
The work
Policymakers, researchers and the public needed to adopt a new way of thinking about data, and colleagues needed to adopt a brand they could apply themselves. The work was not simply to create a visual identity. The organisation needed its argument to survive contact with the world: across policy, research, reports, events, tools and materials produced by colleagues with different levels of design support.
Philpott Design created the ODI brand in 2013, including the Open Thinking visual language and editorial tone, and has continued to support its stewardship. The relationship has included brand governance, strategic publishing, product and interface thinking, campaigns, events and systems that non-designers can use.
Outcome and evidence
Abstract data concepts became reference tools people can pick up and use in governance and project conversations. Internally, templates and training helped colleagues create brand-compliant work with less dependence on outside design support.
The relationship has run since 2013 across more than one hundred recorded job codes. Philpott Design’s involvement continued through strategy and annual-report proofing in 2025. The Data Ethics Canvas and Data Spectrum are openly available and referenced within the sector.
Long-term stewardship meant knowing when to evolve the identity and when to protect it. The work combined strategic judgement with practical systems, templates and continuing creative direction.
Your work
Tell us what people need to understand, trust or act on, and where it is getting stuck.
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