Houdini Museum: Brand Identity Design
The Houdini Museum of New York is located in Manhattan, NY, and exhibits memorabilia related to one of the most famous magicians and escape artists, Harry Houdini. The brand identity for the museum is inspired by the idea of contortion. Houdini's masterful escape artistry involves contorting—shifting, distorting, twisting, bending, warping—his body into different forms. This act of contortion is expressed in different ways throughout the brand.
The Logo
The logo itself is a capital "H" in a box — Houdini in a box! — with distorted lines. The logo itself appears in different versions throughout branded materials, and may appear silver, gold, and copper to further allude to the world of magic & mystery.
Branded Materials
Business Cards
Letterhead + Envelope
Museum Tickets; General Admission, Student Discount, Magician Discount, Senior Discount
Museum Wayfinding
Posters & Marketing Materials
Video Advertisement in NYC Subway
Desktop & Mobile websites
Museum Engagement—House of Illusions Pop-Up
To further investigate how the museum's identity can be expanded, I branded a fictional pop-up titled the "House of Illusions."
The Houdini Museum of New York Presents: The House of Illusions. A pop up! To further involve magic enthusiasts in the alluring & mysterious world of the artistry, the Houdini Museum invites fellow magicians to explore a house filled with mind-boggling illusions. This pop up will change throughout the year; House of Cards, House of Cuffs, House of Secrets, Haunted House, etc. The possibilities are endless! The House of illusions’ brand exists within the space of the Houdini Museum’s identity. The logo is made by cropping into the intersection of two Houdini Museum logos overlapping, as shown below. This presents a multitude of possibilities for logo variations, allowing for a modular & easily expandable brand.
Process
Below is an insight into the process that went into creating this brand identity. I began by unpacking what exactly the Houdini Museum was—who was Houdini? What did it mean to be a magician? An escape an artist? A contortionist? After drawing key words for this brainstorm, I dove into creating various logo concepts and unpacking how two specific logos can create different brand identity systems. Ultimately, after all this brainstorming and iterating, I landed on the brand identity presented above.
Below: Brainstorming sheets
Below: Logo iterations
Below: Expansion of another logo concept, with two different identity systems explored (separated left & right).
Below: alternate identity system developed with final logo
Below: another alternate identity system explored with the final logo.
