New Museum Case Study

Ambition

The New Museum of Contemporary Art is New York City’s only museum dedicated exclusively to showcasing contemporary art. It’s an adventurous, progressive institution with an internationally renowned program. In a city overly saturated with cultural institutions, we faced an exciting challenge: create a brand that would drive the museum’s vision and ambition to become a world player in contemporary art and a first-choice, 21st century cultural destination.

Action

Based on the idea of “New Art and New Ideas,” our first step was to simplify the name to loosen up the museum’s institutional feel. More importantly, this broadened their scope from the narrow definitions of an art museum to becoming recognized as a cultural hub. In an exciting collaboration with the museum, we created a visual expression that features a spectrum of color and language, and a logo that literally moves and flexes to welcome new artists and audiences and to announce new art and the new museum. The mantra “open, fearless and alive” quickly became an invaluable tool for internal decision- making.

Impact

The award-winning identity system captured the immediate attention, hearts and minds of onlookers and museum lovers. In the first four months after the launch, the museum attracted a 600% surge in visitors and 400% boom in new members. The New Museum – the place and the brand – continues to self-renew, opening the doors to future creative collaborations and inviting in new art and new ideas.