OUGD403: Whitney Museum Identity

We were asked to analyse the Whitney Museum identity and whether it does or doesn't work well as an identity, with analytical reasoning to back our statements up.

There was roughly a half and half split with our group in terms of who thought it was an appropriate branding of the museum. I personally think it works well as the thin stroked W offers versatility for the logo to work on a range of products, whether that be building frontage, promotional material or information leaflets as it can be adapted to fit around the content as shown in the above image. This is one key point of this mark that makes it unique, as it still maintains the museum's identity, staying consistent yet dynamic.

The simplistic style of this mark means that it is very functional as it can be applied in many different applications but won't take away from the advertisement itself, as some brands more often than not do.

Sketch for a possible Whitney bus shelter poster 

This image supports my previously mentioned point. The branding of the museum is clearly visible, not overshadowed by the content of the poster and vice versa. Due to the fact that the mark is simply one colour, it allows for the remainder of the poster content to be the focal point of the advertisement. This is a prime example of how the responsive W works within promotional material, it can fit to adapt to any given content, as opposed to it consistently having it's own contained space. As like with some logos, where it's just thrown into a blank space that remains on the poster after having already positioned the majority of the content. Thats exactly what makes this branding so unique, in that it forms as part of any content or material, almost as if it is part of the displayed promotional material within the first place.

Another point to make is that the contrast between the thick, bold text with the thin W, makes for a contemporary and sleek mark. These two, coupled together, make for a unique and versatile identity that can be applied to almost anything and still not appear out of place, as is the case with some brand identities.

Example of Whitney Promotional Material

Analysing this identity has helped me to realise how much more in depth my analysis of, not only my work, but also other artist's should be.

Along with this task, another task we had was to read through several creative blogs such as Aisle One, Colossal, Creative Review and Sight Unseen to pick and make a list of words that are used to analyse work with. Below are a few of the ones we, as a class, came up with:

Muted, Robust, Distinctive, Engaging, Immersive, Enhances, Dynamic, Adaptable, Excessive, Energetic, Intricate, Conceptual, Iconic & Versatile.

Both of these tasks have given me a better understanding of how to analyse work to ensure that the correct terminology is used rather than using words such as good, nice etc.