Create original and cohesive designs for The Underground Museum that is hosting an art exhibition. This will include a brochure that introduces the artist and exhibition, a logo redesign, exhibition posters, and promotional merchandise that enhances the museum's brand.
The Underground Museum, located in Los Angeles, is an innovative art space founded by the late artist Noah Davis in 2012. Noah Davis, a visionary painter and curator, aimed to bring high-quality art experiences to underserved communities, fostering cultural engagement and dialogue through the museum's exhibitions and programs
My contributions to the project were to redesign a logo with its mission to serve as a dynamic visual anchor that can represent the Underground Museum. As well as create a brochure that introduces the audience to Noah Davis’s artwork and provides his insights as an artist that influenced the creation of the Underground Museum. I was also tasked with creating advertisement posters for the exhibition; the overall idea for this was to have Noah’s artwork be the main attraction with only adding graphic elements that serve to support the overall visual experience. Lastly I designed the merchandise for the museum. I integrated the redesigned logo to a sweater, sweat shirt and post card; I believe these three will help push and reinforce the new found museum’s visual identity.
There were two main issues that arose, the first being the wordmark logo. There was nothing memorable or significant about the logo that represented the Underground Museum. Secondly there was not a clear brand identity that I can follow or use as a base for inspiration when it came to rebranding the Museum for different mediums
After further research into the Museum I discovered about Noah Davis the creator of the Underground Museum. He and his wife both developed the idea Underground Museum and saw this as an opportunity to design the Exhibition and Rebrand based off of him and his art.
Noah Davis is a surrealist artist who has built artwork for the past two decades. I will utilize his work as a form of inspiration when it comes to developing the logo, the colors that will be used for brochures, posters and will base the exhibition off of him.
To start off with the rebranding project for The Underground Museum, I began with a mood board featuring a diverse selection of museum logos. This inspirational mood board served as a guide that helped me understand the effective use of symbolism. With this newfound knowledge I began to sketch out a wide array of logo concepts each with their own distinct characteristics. From there I selected a few promising sketches and began iterating these sketches. This process allowed me to cultivate and refine the visual identity of The Underground Museum.
When coming up with a design solution for the brochure of the museum I started off with sketches. This is where I worked with different layouts and experimenting with the flow of information. These sketches provide a baseline that would guide me to my later design stages where I transitioned to medium-fidelity designs. This was when I began to infuse the brochure with content, refine layouts and test different color palettes. This stage allowed for me to get a feel of the visual narrative, ensuring that content displayed wasn’t only informative but also aesthetically engaging. This iterative approach allowed for me to balance out functionality and visual appeal.
When it came to designing the posters my primary objective was to make Noah's artwork be the focal point of the poster.I started out by sketching out layouts where I could integrate typography or involve the new logo into the artwork as well. Transitioning to digital form I was able to continue experimenting with these concepts and graphic elements that best complemented the work.
With the final logo design I believe I achieved a striking and abstract logo that holds the potential to become an iconic symbol for the overall Underground Museum brand.
The final design of the brochure I was able to infuse the information and aesthetic appeal. One key feature is the curated color palette drawn from the evocative artworks of Noah Davis.
When it came to the final poster design I was able to curate a design with a deliberate and dynamic design approach, where I was able to let the artwork take center stage. With me only guiding it by carefully interplaying typography and the use of the new logo.
In reflecting on this assignment, I found it to be both enjoyable and challenging, ultimately leaving me satisfied with the work I produced. The project served as a valuable opportunity to hone my skills in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign, enabling me to bring my creative vision to life. Throughout the process, I gained insights into the significance of a streamlined workflow and identified areas for self-improvement. While managing time proved to be a challenge, particularly in refining my logo and brochure thumbnails,this taught me a lesson on the importance of maintaining attention to detail. If I were to continue on this project one thing I would love to explore more would have to be the merch. Specifically on the clothing line; the original concept was to experiment in infusing Noah Davis’s artwork, but steering away from inserting his art within a box. Given additional time; utilizing Noah’s background in surrealism and his use of gritty colors I would’ve liked to have integrated his art into the fabric. Such as cut outs of his work or collages of his work wrapped around the clothes.