The Creative Idea
Yellow House required a distinctive visual identity to stake it’s claim in the community as a cutting-edge curator of ideas. The identity must be flexible enough to pair with a diverse range of art yet remain distinctive. Our team aimed to build a bold visual language that creates a dialogue with the art and demands to be seen. The brand should function as museum or gallery branding but avoid the passive quality of those organizations. It needed to become embedded and representative of the community it serves.
The boldness of the brand should be strategically aligned with the soul of Yellow House: Art + Action.
Because Yellow House has multiple public faces—exhibition space, gathering place, activism, educational outreach, consultancy—the identity must appeal to multiple audiences: the community, artists, activists, sponsors, and consultant clients. The beauty and the challenge of the brand was its many stakeholders.
The Execution
Yellow House’s identity resonates its mission to leverage the power of art to transform communities. The bold modern font is inspired by 1920s Art Nouveau posters, evoking a spirit of unrest and social change. The stacked type builds a house of letters underneath the roof that playfully mimics different cultural manifestations establishing conversation within its interior rooms.
The deceptively simple icon mirrors the slope of the building’s roofline. While Yellow House is a physical space, the organization wanted to become a “home” to the entire community. The shape points upwards, symbolizing forward movement and positive change. Images appear underneath, within, or around the mark, which can be drawn, painted, tagged, chalked, sprayed, printed, cut, or assembled—by anyone—giving the power of art to the community.
Brunet-García designed the visual identity, stationery, business cards, and posters; animated social media teasers; programmed digital invitations; and created customized packages for media. For the creation of these materials, we utilized a variety of Adobe products such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign,
The Results
Yellow House has held three signature exhibitions and numerous events attended by thousands of people. After Hurricane Irma brought historic flooding to Jacksonville, Florida, Yellow House organized donations and continues to aid rebuilding efforts.The space has hosted healthcare organizations, universities, and activists with a blend of art, education, engagement, and discourse. They have expanded to serve additional locations and added a summer camp.
Artists and collaborators have begun to use the distinctive roof icon to create their own graphics, markings, posters, and postings as a symbol of inclusion and progress. The visual identity was selected for HOW's Logo Design Awards and won the Readers’ Choice Award distinction, boosted by votes from community members that had already taken ownership of the brand.
