national museum of australia
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A celebration of Australian social history, the National Museum of Australia (NMA) explores the land, nation and people of Australia. It does so in a unique way by revealing the stories of ordinary and extraordinary Australians, promoting the exploration of knowledge and ideas.
In conjunction with their 10th anniversary in 2011, NMA engaged Gen.a to create a new brand identity to reflect the Museum’s recently revised vision, positioning and strategic direction. With the challenge of how to change perceptions of the NMA as a place of discovery, not just of learning, our goal was to develop a new identity that encapsulated the essence of NMA as ‘a place that celebrates our people and culture of storytellers’.
The logo positions the Museum as a platform for our stories. The platform is a flexible device and is the connector through the brand, proudly holding up and celebrating the many stories or objects that can be presented above it. The subtle visual connection to speech is intentional.
The flexibility of the mark encourages conversation and provides a unique way to reflect the every-growing, ever evolving collection of stories the museum will hold. The platform is also a powerful locator. It pinpoints the Museum as a destination and becomes a strong way-finding language for use around the site and in mapping. The identity was designed to directly connect NMA with the people whose stories populate it and those who visit. In short, it reflected a place ‘where our stories live’.
To support this new identity, Gen.a was also commissioned to undertake a photo shoot for the Museum’s marketing campaign and promotional collateral, including their website. Building on the invitation to ‘join the conversation’, the photo shoot focused on using real Australian people interacting with each other and having a conversation.