Hannah Traore Gallery (HTG) is a contemporary art gallery in New York with a mission to uplift Black, Indigenous, and marginalized artists through exciting programming that welcomes new and existing art audiences. Traore sought a team to help her articulate an inspiring purpose and ambition for the gallery, leading to the driving idea that HTG is a space for diverse perspectives.
In building a true space for diverse perspective HTG refutes the visual austerity we commonly see with art galleries. Responding to Traore’s personal vision, we designed a warm and inviting visual identity that centres around celebrating and nurturing diverse perspectives. The logo features customized typography, which lead to the development of an own able shape library featuring familiar but distinct forms from the typeface. The ovular shapes can hold and frame content, creating a spotlight on the artist’s work in a form that softens the sterile gallery environment.
In balance of the distinct letterforms and graphic devices, the brand’s colour palette consists of warm neutrals, designed to support work with a range of artist and collaborator work and compositional guidelines were developed to ensure that the brand system also suits the art-world context.
Client
Developer
Type
TEAM
SERVICES
INDUSTRY
Digital Chaos
All Round Gothic Sharp Sans
Creative Director — Paddy Harrington Associate Creative Director & Project Lead — Jessica Leong Senior Designer & Project Lead — Sarah Paul Designers — Eric Francisco, Deborah Khodanovich Project Manager — Maddie Cochran, Hannah Vance
The organic and rounded shapes of the logo and icon embrace the softer and more intuitive perspective the gallery brings to the contemporary art world. The colour palette is a spectrum of warm neutrals that responds to, and supports, the diverse perspectives the gallery showcases. The palette is warm and welcoming; a refreshing approach that expands upon the traditional neutrals of black and white.
PROCESS Virtual working session with Hannah Traore.
PROCESS Inspiration gathered from Hannah Traore’s curated content.
PROCESS Custom letterforms explored to develop the logo and icon.
The typefaces are an extension of the logo and icon, reinforcing the warm and welcoming tone across the brand landscape. The brand uses two typefaces: All Round Gothic is reserved for headlines, and Sharp Sans for subheadings and body copy.
Following the visual identity work, our collaboration continued with Hannah Traore, to roll out the brand across key applications. Leading up to the gallery opening, we designed, and produced a series of templated print materials, signage, website, and social for pre-and post-launch usage.
Materiality is a big part of the brand expression. The curves of the business cards and the paper selection for the stationery create a subtle, sophisticated, and elegant tactile experience.
The flyer is versatile and can showcase the flexibility of the brand by using the graphic device and colour to highlight the content. It can also be subtle, only using type and photography to let the artist’s content be the focus.
The e-newsletters feature engaging photography, clear hierarchies, and easy navigation.
The logo can be activated by expanding and connecting its forms. Subtle shifts in perspective and slight rotation can be applied to graphic devices to add movement and interest. Shifting colours can be used for unapologetic jump transitions. Video is a perfect opportunity to showcase the artist object, using 360° pans and purposeful zooms to fully capture all of the details.
The landing page can be very brand forward. As you go deeper into the website, the brand expression should become more subtle, allowing artist work to become the focus. View the live site.
The landing page can be very brand forward. As you go deeper into the website, the brand expression should become more subtle, allowing artist work to become the focus. View the live site.
The exterior signage features neutral, sophisticated, and understated colours, so not to take away from the exhibitions and programs inside.
The wall text focuses on the exhibition information by using clear typographic hierarchy and continued center-alignment.
