Located in Balboa Park, the San Diego Museum of Man is an anthropology museum that seeks to instill social significance and a broader perspective of the world within its visitors. Despite its unique museum offerings, the Museum of Man is a struggling organization with its brand failing to exhibit passionate drive and to engage in an enduring relationship with its visitors. In order to rebrand this organization, the first short term goal was to create a beautiful visual identity system that reflects the new vision of the renamed MUSEUM OF HUMANITY: to inspire and enrich visitors’ lives with a renewed sense of compassion and understanding for the world.

 

The goal was to develop a logo that embodied openness and freshness while looking clean and modern to fit in the family of Balboa Park attrations. The sans serif typeface gives the brand a clean, sophisticated look while remaining true to its celebration of man itself. The symbol is an ode to the first man, referencing pictographs as the first form of documenting history through writing. The letterforms create the visual of a man raising his arms to the sky, as if he were celebrating a momentous occasion in life.