Bruce Mau Design worked with the gallery to create a living brand that supports active involvement.
From the design company’s website, “…we articulated a central idea to clarify and reposition the brand—The McMichael as ‘an invitation to explore.’ This core concept frames the McMichael as a welcoming and dynamic place, one that invites everyone in to explore the art, ideas, and diverse identities that shape Canada.”
The new wordmark retains the hand-crafted feel of the previous mark but dramatically upped its impact by applying a more rigorous grid and using modern sans serif type. The strong typographical lean of the new design makes a clear, relevant statement about the organization without detracting from images of art in the collection.
The identity’s new palette has a home-grown sensibility. From the BMD website: “The primary palette pulls unconventional colours from the very first painting acquired by the McMichael, grounding the identity in a deep sense of place and origin. For exhibition campaigns, we extend the system by drawing a surprising colour from a key artwork, allowing the brand to feel fresh and closely tied to the content while staying visually coherent.”
