O’s Intertwined and M’s Merged
This year, on the occasion of its bicentennial, the Brooklyn Museum is undergoing an evolution to help better connect with the varied audiences and bring the institution forward two centuries. The visual identity was developed in partnership with Brooklyn NY-based graphic design studio Other Means and seeks to capture the history, diverse perspectives, and dynamism that make the Brooklyn Museum an icon.
The new logo speaks to this renown while tapping into the Museum’s position within the borough, reflective of their dynamic, vibrant communities. Two dots, inspired by those that frame the names of ancient philosophers, playwrights, and poets across the building’s facade, now bookend the logo and text throughout the Museum. This reference to writers and thinkers links to the institution’s beginnings as a library and to the intersectional nature of the arts.
In every application, the dots appear at least twice — an echo of the two O’s in Brooklyn. They can be activated in motion graphics, used as bullets in text or as functional features in signs, and occasionally replaced with symbols or illustrations to add meaning or a sense of play. The he double O’s in Brooklyn are intertwined and the M’s and U’s in Museum merged.
Three gray values in the new brand pay homage to their limestone building. But a brighter, more saturated version of a standard color wheel — a full palette with a distinctly Brooklyn vibe — has been embraced.
The two dots, overlapping letters, and kaleidoscopic colors all convey the Museums’s identity as more than a single location, a single point in space, or a single perspective. They are a place where a multiplicity of ideas, identities, and points of origin converge. The design elements nod to the array of artworks within their collection, as well as the many interconnected roles they are proud to play for their multifaceted public: art museum, educational center, forum for ideas, and weekend hotspot, to name a few.
