San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
I joined the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s in-house Design Studio as part of a small, five-person team tasked with rebranding one of the world’s most renowned art institutions.
Challenge
Contributing to an ambitious, in-house rebrand that honored SFMOMA’s legacy while evolving its identity for a new era.
Outcome
An award-winning new dynamic identity (AIGA, CA, Graphis, Print...) that drove record-breaking attendance, reaching 1 million visitors post-launch.
1. Identity System
We’ve built the new SFMOMA identity as a flexible, living system that mirrors the museum’s expansion and evolving relationship with the city. The logotype’s shifting letterforms express movement and openness—oscillating between contracted and expanded states to adapt across media, architecture, and scale. This dynamic system turns the logo itself into a frame for content, reflecting the museum’s ongoing dialogue between art, audience, and place.
A flexible system that scales across any application“Open doors to open minds.” Brand strategy in collaboration w/ Wolff OlinsAt the smallest scale, the logo becomes part of the visitor’s experienceThe logo flexes with the architecture, leading visitors through their journeySystematic expansion of the SFMOMA logo based on a flexible grid, ensuring proportional adaptability across vertical, horizontal, and square formatsIntroducing the new SFMOMA identity to every team member
Brand guidelines ensuring consistent logo and type use
2.1 Custom Typeface
We developed a custom typeface, SFMOMA Display and Text, with Font Shop’s Christoph Koeberlin. Rooted in the logo’s open, architectural forms, the type system balances character and function, scaling seamlessly from large-scale signage to body text.
SFMOMA font overviewSFMOMA Text
The SFMOMA typeface, fabricated as dimensional pinned letters, anchors the museum’s wayfinding system
SFMOMA Display typeface used boldly in the membership invitation
SFMOMA Display typeface used for the Alexander Calder exhibition identity, Motion Lab.
2.2 Color Palette
The SFMOMA palette is anchored in red and white, echoing the museum’s dual architecture, then expands into a vibrant system that unifies all brand expressions, from signage and publications to data visualization and Museum Store products.
The expanded palette supports all brand expressions across digital, physical, and retail environments
Each pamphlet in the HR packet is color-coded, showcasing the full brand paletteBrand palette extended into data visualizations for consistencyThe multilingual Visitor Guides use the palette to visually distinguish each language
3.1 Visual Graphic Language
To celebrate the architectural joining of the original building and the new expansion, we created graphic patterns combining the horizontal stripes of the Botta building’s iconic oculus and marble floors with the rippling lines of the Snøhetta building’s façade.
3.2 Branded Products + Packaging
The graphic system was extended across hundreds of SFMOMA Museum Store products, scaling effortlessly alongside the logo identity from apparel and packaging to custom merchandise.
4. Digital Experience + Web Design: sfmoma.org
Translating the museum’s new brand concepts and visual identity into the digital space, the institutional website provides an engaging experience that is parallel to visiting the physical site itself. Visitors can explore thousands of artworks with high detail, read in-depth and insightful stories from artists and staff, and of course plan a visit.
Early brainstorming sessions and initial pen on paper sketches
Desktop Homepage: A cinematic portal to the contents of the website and the museum. Pure and simple, eye candy invites you to explore further.
Homepage dropdown menusExhibitions + Events Landing Page
Large, seductive images fill the window, setting a mood that immediately draws the visitor in. Variations in visual depth create a peaceful tension: differentiating types of content while at the same time providing focus.
The challenge: make thousands of artworks searchableThe solution: a full-screen search that filters live as you typeThe result: a seamless, responsive experience that feels effortless
Events page mid-fidelity wireframe
Home drop-down menu
Events filter dropdown
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