Asian Art Museum by Wolff Olins

CLIENT

A catalyst for discovery and inspiration with a vision and mission centered on the viewer, located in San Francisco, CA. By having Asia as the lens and art as the cornerstone, its goal is to lead a global audience in discovering the achievements of Asian art and culture.

BRIEF

Revitalized with an ambitious new director and vision, the Asian Art Museum came to Wolff Olins with a challenge: create a new brand to reinvent the museum and engage a broader audience. 

APPROACH

“Working closely with the museum’s team, we created a new brand strategy and visual identity across all aspects of the visitor journey to connect cultures, time, and works of art to “Awaken the past, inspire the next.” Using the brand strategy as a foundation we created a bold and provocative brand identity for the museum. The new logo, an upside down“A,“signifies their commitment to offer a fresh, creative perspective on a collection spanning 6,000 years. As the mathematical symbol“for all,“the logo also tells the world that the museum has something to say and to show.”

We hired Wolff Olins in January 2010 to assist the museum with our rebranding efforts. Wolff Olins was a delight to work with and, despite having to work with numerous internal stakeholders, the process was very smooth. We are extremely pleased with our new brand idea—Awaken the past, inspire the next—which is spot on in terms of the museum’s artistic vision. Our staff now rallies around the brand idea and uses it as a guiding principle for our work. Our new identity system and guidelines have also been well received and have enabled us to create fresh materials that reflect our new brand. — Ami Tseng, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications of Asian Art Museum