The pigeon and golden splat make up part of London Museum's new branding. Photo / London Museum
The pigeon and golden splat make up part of London Museum's new branding. Photo / London Museum
The Museum of London has received harsh criticism from the public after revealing its new brand name and logo, with someone calling it an embarrassment.
Ahead of reopening in 2026, the Museum of London has undergone a rebrand, with a new name and logo – which is bird poo.
No, that’s not an unusual insult; the new logo for the museum revealed on July 24, is a rendering of a pigeon and its excrement.
Founded in 1976, the Museum of London at London Wall closed in December, 2022, and will reopen in Smithfield in 2026 with a new name and branding.
The name change isn’t dramatic as it will return to its original name: London Museum. The logo, however, has received a strong response from the public and accusations of copying.
Uncommon Creative Studio, a global creative studio based in New York, London and Stockholm, was in charge of the new logo and website refresh.
On July 24, the museum announced the new look had “taken flight” in a post on X, a pun on how the new logo is a pigeon made of glazed white clay.
The bird alone may have been an acceptable image, given their strong presence in the city (estimates suggest there are almost 3 million in the city) but the studio took it a step further and included a gold splat of poo behind it.
Museum director Sharon Ament reportedly said the poo is meant to signify the city’s “grit and glitter”. The public is unconvinced, calling it a “waste of money” and “embarrassing”.
“This is truly lame, I hope you realise what a mistake this is and sort it out,” one person posted, while another asked if the post was a practical joke.
One person, who claimed to have donated thousands of pounds to the archeological service over the past 30 years, said they would no longer be donating to the museum because of the “ridiculous, ugly, crude, facile” logo.
“Are there any adults left in the museum?” they asked, while another said the logo made them embarrassed to be British.
The decision to hero a pigeon was “odd” according to one person, given that feeding them is banned in certain areas, and they’re largely considered a pest. They added that pigeons were common in every city, so they did not symbolise London.
Aside from a few positive remarks online, with some calling it “peaceful” and “fun” as the birds were “integral to London”, most were critical.
Right underneath the post, the museum shared a link to a page on its website explaining the logo.
“There’s a good reason we have a pigeon as our icon,” the page reads. “For over 1,000 years these birds have watched London change and grow – becoming a symbol of the city in the process.”
Pigeons have been in London for more than 1000 years, according to the museum. Photo / ProhibitOnions, WikiCommons
The museum states that “feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square is one of those truly iconic London scenes,” but acknowledges they are “also treated as pests” and feeding in the square is banned.
“Still, pigeons remain. Watching London as they have for centuries,” it states. “The pigeon is a symbol which unites our city. It’s a link between past and present. And we’re proud to have it as our London Museum icon.”
The page then answers questions about where London pigeons came from, why there are so many and London’s history of pigeon fanciers.
Public accuse museum of copying
On Instagram, the museum teased the logo, sharing a photo of a real pigeon.
“Love them or hate them, pigeons have been a part of London for over 1,000 years,” the caption read, prompting viewers to visit the website to see the final logo.
Responses seemed more evenly split between approval and criticism. Many said they enjoyed the new logo but others weren’t happy about “flying vermin” being the focus.
Some had a different kind of criticism, accusing the museum of copying the work of an art studio that created a white clay pigeon with a gold poo splatter in 2018.
On August 4, May Wild Studio, run by Rebecca May & Michael Wild, responded to the London Museum logo after receiving many messages from people who noticed similarities to their Coo bird and Golde Pu design.
“We would like to post an update to all the people, friends and colleagues in the creative sector who have been in contact,” it wrote on the post, which showed the London Museum designs beside the studio’s works.
Wild Studio’s design was created in 2012 and launched in 2018 at the London Design Fair.
The studio said it felt it was “decent and professional” to withhold posting on social media until it had spoken with the London Museum.
“They have responded and informed us they don’t agree that their design is similar to ours,” the studio wrote.
The post claimed the golden poo has been removed from some of the branding platforms and the London Museum website does not have the poo in its main header logo, footer logo or website icon.
A spokesperson for the London Museum told the Herald the website design has not changed since launch and it has not yet responded to questions about the May Wild Studio designs.
In the comments, one person claimed the similarity indicated Uncommon Design had not checked the idea was unique.
“It looks to me as though Uncommon Design did no due diligence in checking whether their branding concept was unique,” they wrote. “An important part of launching a brand is to check there’s nothing like it already out there,” another added.
Several commented that they thought of May Wild Studio’s work when they saw the new museum brand.
The Herald has asked London Museum for further comment on the allegations.
