MAP: Museum of Art & Photography

Brand Identity / Digital / Print

Branding a new museum for Indian art and photography: Comprising one of India’s most important private collections, MAP aims to redefine the museum-going experience in India. We created a brand identity that is vibrant, approachable and culturally relevant.

The Museum of Art & Photography is a new museum in Bangalore centered around a large and varied collection of art, photography, textiles and design, predominantly from the Indian subcontinent, from pre-modern to contemporary.

MAP retraces and maps relationships between artistic disciplines breaking away from older schools of categorisation, and striving towards newer narratives. The brand identity is dynamic and out of the box, resonating with MAP’s curatorial approach. An exciting kit of parts allows for creative interpretation, while being grounded by a distinct mark.

An effusive yet evolved colour palette inspired by visual experiences from across India, gives MAP its unique flavour.

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Case Study

Brief:
In a country steeped in rich visual traditions, many of which are living, the engagement with the arts in Indian museums is surprisingly low. Artistic expression is interwoven into the Indian fabric, while museums tend to be formal, static institutions that don’t actively engage with the viewer.

Our client, with over 10,000 important works, aims to make this collection accessible to the public by creating a dynamic, living museum. The museum will grow to become a landmark cultural hub in the city.

Action:
Brand Pillars: We defined 4 brand pillars upon which the brand identity system is built. These are: Open, Vibrant, Knowledgeable, Contextual.
Open: Bringing an important private collection outside its confines to a wider audience.
Vibrant: A multi-disciplinary approach to presenting and curating work.
Knowledgeable: An important resource for significant works of art.
Contextual: A museum that is reflective of its cultural context — diversely Indian, and yet, contemporary.

The Mark: Representing the museum’s collection across 6 disciplines, the identity is built on a hexagonal grid with a six-sided ‘M’ forming the primary mark.

The Colours: It is important that the MAP identity reflect its local context. What exactly is Indian? With a staggeringly diverse visual culture, pinning down one aesthetic would be narrow. A common thread however, is an unrestrained and intuitive use of color which has deep cultural connects, beyond hue and shade. Not defined by pantone numbers (though supported by it for ease of reproduction), the brand colours are kaal, gulabi, amras, baigani, ferozi, sharbati.

The Brand Language: To resonate with MAP’s cross disciplinary approach to curating, a dynamic set of widgets adds a sense of play and creative interpretation to the identity.

It is the idea of redrawing the lines that lies at the heart of MAP’s Brand Identity.

Impact:
Through its unique, bold and compelling brand platform, MAP engages with its audiences, offering a fresh perspective to the museum experience in the Indian context.