Photo © Tim Griffith
Project brief: The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) sought a new graphic identity that would revitalize the organization’s culture and community image. This new graphic identity would convey change, appeal to a diverse target audience and help the organization to market itself in the competitive San Francisco Bay Area museum environment.
The new graphic identity became the foundation for a comprehensive environmental graphics, signage, wayfinding, and website rebranding program. In addition to reversing a long-standing image, the implementation of this graphic program needed to speak to the Museum’s existing historic context while also serving as a bridge for a contemporary architectural renovation project.
This “mind change” initiative was a challenge on multiple levels. The Museum’s original graphic identity emphasized the organization’s historic roots while the new identity needed to project a promising future. Secondly, the Museum’s landmark 1969 building posed challenges. Although architecturally significant, the building’s integration into the landscape, lack of clear signage, and numerous public-entry points made the structure easy to overlook and difficult to navigate.