Evaluation of Whitney Museum Rebrand

Experimental Jetset - Whitney Museum Identity

The rebrand of the Whitney Museum was done by a design agency called Experimental Jetset. It was influenced by a quote by Donna De Salvo, who worked for Whitney Museum; “It would be much easier to present the history of art as a simplistic line – but that’s not the Whitney”. This zig-zagged line concept was influenced by this and I think the semantics of the indirect line questions how the Whitney thinks and how they want people to perceive them. Looking through old archives of the museum is a good idea as it allows the designers to learn about the history and context around them. In past experiences of design, I’ve used the dictionary to see meanings of words from the brief which helped me grasp new concepts. This is a similar technique as it allows you to see the brief from another angle.

I admire how the line can be manipulated to work alongside text and image because the same concept will work in other areas around the museum, such as signage. It is a cohesive concept, however, I think the fine line along with the bold text isn’t very balanced as the type is too heavy and rotated to follow the line. Without the text, it may be misinterpreted, especially on their mobile site. This could be confusing for the diverse backgrounds and ages of visitors because older people may struggle to read it. I like the idea of changing the proportions of the angles and line to produce a symbol that could be recognised by different cultures, even without any type. The simplicity of the line is versatile enough to work in a range of media. The line and type will be easily transferrable between a range of digital print media and different scales. 

A museum houses lots of different mediums, opinions and concepts which I think the branding achieves with the angular line. It shows the different views on design and reverts back to how they want The Whitney to be perceived. Galleries and museums such as the Tate use their branding to attract people and it's become more fashionable to wear the tote bags which diverts the attention of the work in the gallery, purely to the branding of it. The new Whitney Museum rebrand is very subtle and doesn't overwhelm the concept of a gallery. The new logo symbolises a place to interact, engage and connect.