Emphasizing Identity and Environments Equally.
One of Canada’s leading museums and the 8th largest in North America, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is recognized for its rich collections of European, modern and contemporary works, as well as an exceptional collection of Canadian art.
Building on over 20 years of collaboration with the AGO, BMD developed a new and dynamic graphic identity system to compliment the gallery’s Frank Gehry expansion and renovation in 2008. The identity balanced the competing needs of the evolving institution: respecting the past with an eye to the future, acknowledging tradition while being progressive, retaining existing audiences and attracting new ones. The refreshed identity resolved these needs through a newly energized typography and colour, with a family of sub-brands that allowed for multiple voices within the brand family.
BMD applied the new visual identity system to a comprehensive environmental graphics and donor recognition program for the expansion and renovated building. In harmony with the architectural approach of layered materials, the signage is similarly applied to express materiality. The signage plays overtly with the colourful AGO brand colour palette upon entering the building, becoming more tranquil as the visitor begins to engage with the art in the galleries.
