Poison Garden
2026
Creative direction, identity design, art direction
Step past the iron gates and into Alwnick Castle's Poison Garden, where delicate beauty masks a lethal underbelly with a twisted history.
Not your Gran's garden
The Poison Garden is a section of the gardens at Alwnick Castle in Northumberland, UK. Created by the Duchess of Northumberland, The Alnwick Garden combines sculpture, water features, and beautiful plants to create a wonderful family attraction.
In 2005, the Poison Garden was created, and around 100 toxic, narcotic, and poisonous flora were planted behind heavy iron gates. Since then, thousands of visitors have been drawn in by the Garden's intoxicating residents and their macabre history.
The branding guidelines seek to give the Poison Garden a unique identity in conjunction with its regal home. They tap into the beauty as well as the brutality, without creating a gimmick.
Outcome
The final system is best defined as gothic noveau: Victorian serif type, horticuturally inspired ornamental borders, and…deathcore band design? It includes two logotypes, one for formal first impressions and one for those more familiar with the Garden.
The system relies heavily on imagery from the Garden itself, centering its iconic gate and the natural patterns found in its plants. These forms can be used in their simplest forms or layered to create intricate embellishment
The brand system be applied to coporate branding, garden wayfinding, and exhbit merchandise. The merchandise applies the brand in different ways, similar to artists supplying different designs for band merchandise.
Mockup courtesy of Mr. Mockup
