Identity Development

After the initial honeymoon phase with a new brand identity, many organizations see a proliferation of well-intended sub-identities to reflect various initiatives that don’t always share a common visual language with each other—or the overarching brand. This was most certainly true for MSI. Many departments wanted their own sub-brand, but the organization’s brand guidelines didn’t provide any framework for their creation or maintenance. As a result, creating an identity for The Welcome to Science Initiative was not just about typesetting a basic wordmark—it was ultimately a more comprehensive project to refresh the overall Museum brand and create a framework for a myriad of programs and initiatives.

Each sub-brand was given a wordmark and gradient color scheme. Whenever possible, similar sub-brands shared common colors, so their gradients became a progression from one program to another. A space-usage template was created to provide more consistency for print pieces, ensuring each sub-brand had key elements like the program name and the MSI logo appearing in the same place. The hexagonal pattern and image containers also tied various elements together and referenced the Museum’s parent identity.