Leah's Yard is a new residential/commercial space situated on Cambridge Street in Sheffield. The yard is a former collection of small industrial scissors and shears workshops situated in the city centre. Leah’s Yard is currently undergoing a £6 million renovation to breathe life back into the set of buildings. Set to open in mid-2024, Leah’s Yard will be a destination for independent retail, and immersive experience showcasing traders, makers and creators from around our City.
To honour the heritage of Sheffield as a city, and the yard; I was tasked with creating a typeface which took cues (and modernised) the old hand-crafted type on the sign, visible from the street. The brand identity started to grow from the shapes of the makers marks that would adorn steel-made items from Sheffield.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/f0f5ff5c-97ed-4d2b-b432-9fd3c45e6608_rw_3840.jpg?h=aa3c4364a2a6cc2615d4ada77e011a96)
Final full logotype with address
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/66c2ac66-e173-4417-b74b-7207172d8b25_rw_1920.jpg?h=eb86f2e7a6e19248eeafd7e2bd1a9c21)
Original signage to which the logotype was based from
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/ef983dc7-b434-4535-a362-ed5f29c255cd_rw_1920.jpg?h=d1ae88248de3351acfaf64dcf56d010a)
Window vinyl example
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/044f1616-62b7-4111-98a3-657524a47321_rw_1920.jpg?h=4eca8a44aac37b1e75c9f15d5802a581)
Promotional poster design
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/9eda84a1-2ca2-42f4-ac34-763414614672_rw_3840.jpg?h=888c5f2307c52c333488699236ced8bc)
Logotype lockups (dependant of size/format) and colour palette
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/e84fa211-e64c-473b-a2c6-f4e06338656f_rw_1920.jpg?h=1cdcbc2479bdaf0587dc6125ef0872cd)
Leah's Yard typeface built with both modern day usage and honouring the original source material
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/b69c3062-e3fa-4cd4-8f38-7b31522bdcbb/dee9b6e0-d5fb-4f7b-86c8-016087b6f0fc_rw_1920.jpg?h=084d208b89e41ecaeb044fbdf6440f99)
Building the typeface