An identity that gets out of the art's way

The first direction had a mark, a secondary palette and a set of graphic devices. It was good, and it was wrong, because every one of those elements was a thing that would end up on a wall next to a painting. We removed them one at a time until the identity was a typeface, a fixed grid and one rule about how a title is set, and only then did the catalogue covers stop fighting the art on them.

What is left is close to invisible on its own and unmistakable in a stack of four seasons. That is the correct outcome for a gallery.

The foundation installs and strikes an exhibition every twelve weeks with a crew of three and no designer. Anything requiring a print run per show was going to be abandoned by the second year.

The wayfinding is cut vinyl in two sizes, from a single set of artwork, applied to a positional drawing that stays the same show to show. Only the title wall changes, and the title wall is one file with one editable line.

Four catalogues a year, on a grid that accommodates a full bleed painting, a page of dense wall text and a plate list without anyone redesigning anything. The margins were set against the actual binding method, which is the sort of detail that only shows up when the first proof is trimmed.