Pitt Rivers Museum
Museum rebrand challenge
Brief
The communications of this museum are outdated and ineffective. Re-brand Pitt Rivers Museum in a way that reconnects them with their audience and purpose.
Insight
Pitt Rivers Museum is an active teaching department of
Oxford University and has over half-a-million anthropological and archeological objects incased in glass boxes.
Yet, it is more concerned with apologising for collecting them
rather than parading these fascinating objects with pride.
Solution
Re-writing the story that Pitt Rivers tells about itself, and what it means to collect objects of historical importance. Deploying an exciting imagistic and linguistic strategy that celebrates the humanity and rich cultural heritage that it has the opportunity to teach from.
'Discovery, Wonder & Education' became the central pillars in this mission to reconnect the organisation with curious students. It upheld both the written voice of the brand as-well as the pictoral communications. Ultimately, this anchored the rebranding of Pitt Rivers Museum, gave it integrity and made the brand identifiable.
Brand Identity Design, Copywriting, Arts & Culture, Brand Guidelines
The brand
The typeface and colour palette work together and can be applied judiciously to convey personality, institution and modernity. The modernised slab serif appearance is an evolution of the serif typeface Pitt Rivers Museum previously deployed. Grafter’s slabs and squares make it function in unity with the geometric logo. It also contains greek characteristics such as the cross bar that connects openings at the x-height. This creates a historical impression which plays into the historical nature of the museum.
Simple polygons in the shape of 'PR' were used as the logo
to reveal the physical structure of the museums display cases and to shorten the time between visual perception and
brand-recognition.
High-energy images with a hot colour palette were used to capture the attention of viewers and to ‘rekindle the conversation around the intellectual campfire.'
After all, education should be an exciting adventure.
The voice - emphasising humanity
A picture is equal to a thousand words.
But how do we talk about a thousand objects?
The authoritative voice of history speaks in facts. Yet these facts tell a story. Manifesting this in the language looked like writing to inform the audience of the important historical facts associated with the objects in the museum. But the real challenge was imbedding these facts in a compelling descriptive journey that sounds like tales around a campfire.
Signage & promotion
The geometric shapes that comprise the logo have been extended into the museums way-finding system as icons,
as-well as the advertising space. This is in order to create a sense of brand cohesion and salience.
The icons should be used in an expressive, eye-catching way while maintaining functionality. They can be used on poster advertisements about the museums events, as well as signage throughout the building. For contrast you can highlight the icon with a contrasting colour from its background like the examples below.
Complementing this is a digital campaign aimed at tech-savy 13-30 yr olds who will hear about the brand via instagram.
Brand Guidelines
Providing a stable system allows for freedom within the framework. Regulated font, icons and colour palette ensure the brand is reassuringly consistent across platforms and media. Use of the grid keeps things clear and legible, it maintains correct padding and allows for an evenly divisible typographic hierarchy.
