Truant creates campaign for reopened Olympia
The agency has evolved SomeOne’s existing identity with its new campaign, using playful photography to capture the spirit of the venue’s £1.3bn transformation
In June this year, the 140-year-old Olympia exhibition centre in west London reopened following a £1.3 billion transformation led by Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC Architects.
To mark its reinvention as a destination for culture, hospitality, entertainment and business, Olympia has unveiled a new creative platform and brand campaign.
Created by Truant, Do What’s New is designed to capture the sense of curiosity and discovery promised by the reimagined venue. Rather than reinventing the brand, Truant extends the identity developed by SomeOne in 2021, using its architectural wordmark as an anchor while shifting the focus towards the experiences and cultural programme that now define Olympia.
Across a series of posters and billboards, the Olympia wordmark is paired with photography by Conor Cunningham, whose images are manipulated through dramatic shifts in scale to create almost illustrative compositions. The playful approach reinforces the campaign’s emphasis on exploration, creativity and possibility.
“Do What’s New celebrates that spirit of curiosity while building on Olympia’s long history of innovation and firsts,” says David Gamble, founding partner and creative director at Truant. “We also loved the team’s commitment to featuring real Londoners rather than AI-generated imagery. Creativity starts with people, and Conor Cunningham’s photography brought that confidence, authenticity and energy to life beautifully.”
Olympia is also launching the Canvas, an immersive digital screen on Emberton Walk. Measuring 83 metres long and eight metres high, it will be one of the UK’s largest immersive digital displays and has been developed in partnership with Pixel Artworks.
The studio has created an original programme of animated and immersive content using real-time rendering, cinematic storytelling and AI-assisted production techniques, with plans for the screen to become a platform for artists, cultural institutions and commercial partners to experiment with large-scale digital storytelling.
