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Culture & tourism

Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze – 7 years of building a brand from the inside

A different kind of story. Before Sweet Lava existed, Jerzy spent seven years building the brands of the Guido Mine, the Queen Louise Adit and the museum itself from the inside. Three identities, hundreds of print pieces, photo sessions and 7 advertising campaigns.

Jerzy Koenigshaus Agnieszka Wróblewska

Brands of the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze – the Guido Mine and the Queen Louise Adit

Context

From the Guido Mine to the Coal Mining Museum

This is an unusual case study, because it tells the story of a full-time job, not a studio commission. Jerzy Koenigshaus started his career here straight after university, as chief promotion specialist of the Guido Mine: an institution of 21 people at the time. When he left in September 2017, after seven years, the team numbered over 300 and operated as the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze, joining Guido with the Queen Louise Adit.

The whole institution was growing: the offer, the routes, the people. Promotion was part of that growth and had to keep up with it. We tell this story because it explains where Sweet Lava's specialisation in cultural institutions and industrial heritage comes from.

The Guido Mine – tourist route 320 metres underground (photo: J. Koenigshaus)
The Guido Mine – tourist route 320 metres underground (photo: J. Koenigshaus)

The marks

Three brands, three brand books

Guido is a deep mine with routes 320 metres down, the Queen Louise Adit is an underground water route, today the longest underground boat ride in Poland, and the museum holds it all together as an institution. Each of these brands got its own mark with a brand book: a shared industrial character but separate personalities, because riding a mining shaft down and sailing a boat beneath the city tempt in different ways. Colour tells them apart: black for the museum, red for the Adit, teal for Guido.

Jerzy designed all three logos, combining the role of a designer with the daily work of promotion. That's a rare comfort: the mark is created by the person who then tests it on a poster, a banner and a folder.

The mark of the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze
The mark of the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze.
The Queen Louise Adit mark
The Queen Louise Adit mark.
The Guido Mine mark
The Guido Mine mark.

Production

Promotion that makes its own materials

Instead of outsourcing, the department designed in-house. Over seven years that meant more than 100 kinds of catalogues, leaflets and folders, over 160 posters for co-organised cultural events, and 7 advertising campaigns for which Jerzy prepared the full set of materials: photos, films, web banners, copy and radio spot scripts.

Jerzy also shot many photo sessions for the campaigns and publications, underground and on the surface: some of the frames in this case study come from them. On some of the projects he was supported by Agnieszka Wróblewska, now a brand designer at Sweet Lava.

Education offer catalogue covers
The education offer: catalogue covers for the Queen Louise Adit, the Military Technology Park and Park 12C.
Social media compositions – square layout
Social media: square compositions on the construction grid.
Leaflet compositions – DL format
Print materials: compositions in DL format.
Poster compositions – A4 format
Print materials: compositions in A4 format.
The Queen Louise Adit roll-up
The Queen Louise Adit roll-up.
The Queen Louise Adit billboard
The Queen Louise Adit billboard with the Zabrze city mark.

Result

Results that matured over years

In those years tourist traffic grew from average to a level at which Guido ranked among the region's most visited and best-rated attractions. In 2020, three years after this work ended, the Guido Mine received Google's Golden Pin: a distinction for the best-rated place in the Silesian voivodeship, awarded on the basis of Maps users' reviews. Ratings like that aren't built by a single campaign; they take years of work by the whole team, the promotional part included.

The identity system itself also proved durable: the 2021 brand book still builds on the same marks. Today we draw on that experience in Sweet Lava's projects for cultural institutions: from Sinfonietta Cracovia to Miasta Gwarków.

The Queen Louise Adit monograph
The Queen Louise Adit monograph: the mark silver-foiled on the hardcover.
The Guido Mine pin badges
The Guido Mine pin badges: level 320 and the Muzyka na poziomie concert series.

By the numbers

3
tourism brand identities
160+
cultural event posters
100+
catalogues, leaflets and folders
7
360° advertising campaigns

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