The Reno

Unearthing a Manchester institution

‘Excavating the Reno’ was a project inspired by award-winning playwright, Linda Brogan’s recollections of the Reno club, a prolific venue for the mixed-race community in Manchester’s Moss Side.

We were tasked with bringing the story to life in the form of a book, documenting the excavation and highlighting the importance of the venue to the mixed-race community in Moss Side.

Bringing The Reno back

Linda began by collecting memoirs from Reno regulars. These recollections gradually began to rebuild a community lost when the venue was demolished in the early 1980s. What quickly became clear was that The Reno was more than just another nightclub; it was home. Inspired by Linda’s story, Salford University carried out an excavation of the site and this process, together with the uncovered artefacts and filmed memoirs became the basis of an exhibition at the Whitworth.

Creating a record of the past

To reflect the club’s funk and soul pedigree, the book was designed to mimic the 12×12″ format of a vinyl record. This gave the finished article an interesting, graphic feel and distinctive tall pages. To make the most of this format and page height, we chose a condensed font with a bold and movement-based typographic style, mirroring the kinetic style of Linda’s narrative and the rhythm of the design.

Capturing a moment in time

The excavation itself was beautifully documented by local documentary photographer, Karen Rangeley. The completed collection of images included portraits of Reno regulars, who assisted in the archaeological excavation of historic artefacts, and images of the found objects themselves, all of which were displayed in a long-term exhibition at the Whitworth Museum, Manchester.