23 April, 2025 Christina Gleave tells Clare Dowdy about Archibald Knox, motorbikes, and her passion for local work. What’s got four towns, two villages and 84,000 people? The Isle of Man, of course. The 221-sq-mile self-governing British Crown Dependency sits in the Irish Sea between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Christina Gleave is the graphic designer responsible for dozens of the island’s historic sites, attractions and events. Her role is lead creative designer at Manx National Heritage (MNH), the charity which looks after the Manx Museum, Castle Rushen, the British Isles’ oldest open-air folk museum, the former home of the world’s oldest continuous parliament, and the Old Grammar School (which has the oldest roof on the island). That’s a lot of “olds” and so part of Gleave’s role is a balancing act between bucketloads of heritage and making things seem fresh and accessible. That balancing act is now on show at Manx Museum’s current exhibition, KNOX: Order and Beauty. Manx-born Archibald Knox played a pivotal role in Britain’s Arts and Crafts movement Manx-born Archibald Knox is probably the island’s most famous designer. At the turn of the 20th Century, he played a pivotal role in Britain’s Arts and Crafts, British Art Nouveau and Celtic Revival movements, and was Liberty London’s principal designer. This show features more than 200 of Knox’s works, including Liberty London pieces, silverware, jewellery, clocks, textiles, sketches, woodwork and garden-ware. This is not the first time the island has showcased Knox, but it is the first time it’s focused on his creative output, rather than his life. “Previous exhibitions often used Knox’s own typography – busy, intricate illuminated lettering – as a primary design element, but we wanted to explore something different this time,” Gleave says. “We chose Liberty, a clean, modern typography style inspired by the aesthetic of Liberty & Co, and paired that with elements drawn from Knox’s flowing, Celtic designs and chattering bird motifs.” “The simpler typefaces on the interpretation boards allow the varied pieces to shine.” Gleave wears many hats as lead creative designer, including labelling for locally-sourced balls of wool Exhibition designer is just one hat Gleave wears. She creates interpretation and display graphics for MNH’s historic sites, digital and print materials for marketing and communications, event material, educational resources, plus point-of-sale, graphic displays and packaging for the heritage shops – including labelling for locally-sourced balls of wool and honey. She has been doing this job for 16 years, following a BA in art and design from the University of Chester, and three and a half years with an ad agency on the island. More recently she completed an MA in graphic design from Falmouth University. “On the isle, it’s a very small community, and there were not a lot of opportunities for graphic design when I started,” says Gleave, who was born there. “My role is all about making sure our visuals connect with people and help tell the unique stories of the island.” That starts with MNH’s own branding, which Gleave updated ten years ago. Gleave redesigned MNH’s logo, dropping red in favour of purple The original MNH design included a Celtic knot. “We dropped the knot and kept the triangle logo and the three legs emblem,” she says. The identity, in Optima, is now cleaner and easier to apply. She also dropped the colour red – which is used on the flag and in branding elsewhere on the island – and replaced it with purple which distinguishes the new identity from previous work. Gleave’s base is the Manx Museum in the main town, 27,000-strong Douglas. “It’s great to be in the museum, as I can build relationships with the curators; I understand the stories they want to tell.” She’s responsible for designing four exhibitions a year, and will next work on a “treasures” exhibition for the autumn – the island holds more Viking silver than anywhere else in the British Isles. And islanders’ fingers are crossed for an exhibition on Manx-born pop phenomenon The Bee Gees in a couple of years. The current Archibald Knox exhibition includes his silverware One challenge here is the mix of audiences that Gleave must cater for. As well as school groups and other locals spending a day at a MNH site, there are the cruise ships. 2023 was a bumper year, with more than 34,000 passengers and crew dropping in – that’s around double the previous year. And then for two weeks every summer, the island is inundated with motorbike riders and enthusiasts for the TT Races. More than 43,000 of them descended on the isle in 2023, which is creeping back up to pre-pandemic levels. Some years, she designs visitor information which is tailormade for that audience, as well as special passes and pin badges. Optima is the main type for wayfinding across the island Meanwhile, as the new tourist season gets underway, she looks around the island to see if any graphics or external signage – again she uses Optima as the main type for wayfinding – needs to be updated, or has suffered from wear and tear. Because the island gets its fair share of weather. If an outdoor photo shoot is planned, it might be a long wait for a sunny day. “It can be very foggy and rainy, when we want to portray happy holidays and bright sunshine,” she says. And winter storms can delay deliveries from the mainland. “It can be frustrating when the boats are cancelled and I’ve got a deadline to keep, and can’t get paper to print my Open House programme.” But being so embedded in the venues gives Gleave an insight into how her audiences engage with her work. “It’s lovely to walk round the heritage sites and see visitors engage with what I’ve worked on. You haven’t designed something and it’s shipped off and you never see it again.” This Knox exhibition is on for a whole year. That means she’ll be able to see what people pick up on. “Standing in the space, and listening, and getting a feel for how people like to interact with it, I’ll make a note, and then I might change something next time.” Manx Museum’s current exhibition, KNOX: Order and Beauty Manx Wildlife Week branding and logo Gleave is also responsible for MNH’s print materials for marketing and communications Design disciplines in this article Industries in this article Brands in this article What to read next Online letterpress font shop launches Type Design 4 Mar, 2025