Blanton Museum of Art

What does a leading university museum look like? 


Scope:
Branding
Motion Design
The Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the foremost university art museums in the country and has the largest and most comprehensive collection of art in Central Texas. The Blanton’s permanent collection of more than 19,000 works is recognized for its European paintings, an encyclopedic collection of prints and drawings, and modern and contemporary American and Latin American art.

As a university museum with a visitorship of more than 60% students, youth, and school groups, the institution must prioritize finding ways to engage with younger audiences. This hypothetical rebrand incorporates arches used in the museum's recognizable Ellsworth Kelly chapel and surrounding Spanish Revival campus architecture into an adaptive and modern mark.


The backbone of the identity is based on the architectural features in the museum and the surrounding university campus. With the new grounds initiative designed by Snøhetta and scheduled for completion in 2023, this framework acts as a graphic system that supports the Blanton story by integrating the use of arches throughout the exterior colonnade, Kelly chapel, and Snøhetta design plans. 

Logo Grid






Before and After
Typography
Typographic Treatment

Color Pallete




With the Austin chapel being the last work created before Ellsworth Kelly’s passing in 2015, the Blanton Museum identity utilizes his signature color palette to celebrate the monumental work and significance it brings to the University of Texas campus.




Brand Statement


As a museum with an encyclopedic collection, the Blanton Museum of Art aims to draw connections between works of art from the past and present in order to resonate with a modern and changing audience.