— ROLE
Art Direction
Graphic Design
Branding
— DATE
2023
— COMPANY
Personal Project
As an avid reader, I was captivated by Planet Word, the word-centric museum in Washington, D.C., when I visited in 2021. Its playful and unique concept instantly inspired me. However, I felt the museum’s branding lacked the spirited energy of its exhibits and mission.
In this creative exercise, I reimagined the museum’s brand identity to reflect its vibrancy and magic. Drawing on principles of typography, I crafted a youthful and spunky wordmark that embodies the museum’s personality. I explored color theory to design a palette that captures the enchanting nature of the exhibits while ensuring clarity and accessibility. Additionally, I developed a complementary logomark centered around the museum’s planetary theme, tying the brand together with cohesion and charm. Finally, I created realistic mock-ups to showcase how these elements would come to life across various applications.
Development
To reimagine Planet Word’s logo, I focused on three key aspects:
Emphasizing the Planet Theme
I designed a more prominent logomark to highlight the museum’s planetary inspiration and reinforce its identity.
Injecting Personality Through Typography
I selected a typeface with a spunky and vibrant personality to reflect the museum’s playful and creative spirit.
Incorporating Syntax Elements
By adding a period, I drew a subtle connection to the concept of syntax, anchoring the logo in the museum’s word-centric mission.
Bringing the Brand to Life
These mock-ups showcase how the reimagined brand identity would interact with the real world. From eye-catching signage and engaging posters to thoughtfully designed gift shop merchandise, each application highlights the versatility and vibrancy of the new identity.
Logo Animation
This animation emphasizes the act of writing words, a fundamental element of language development. It reflects the museum’s mission to celebrate the building blocks of communication in a dynamic and engaging way.
Brand Pattern
This repeating pattern draws directly from the planet element of the logo, creating a cohesive visual connection across the brand. The design reinforces the museum’s planetary theme while adding a playful and dynamic texture that can be applied to signage, packaging, digital assets, and more.
Social Media Concepts
These social media designs extend the reimagined brand identity into the digital space. By incorporating the spunky typography, vibrant color palette, and planet-inspired elements, the concepts are crafted to engage audiences while maintaining a cohesive brand presence. Each design is optimized for shareability and reflects the museum’s playful and educational spirit.
Color Palette
The color palette is designed to capture the magic and energy of Planet Word’s exhibits. Vibrant and playful, the colors are carefully chosen to evoke curiosity and excitement while ensuring clarity and accessibility across all applications. This palette ties the brand identity together, creating a dynamic yet cohesive visual language.
Insights
This project underscored the importance of aligning every element of a brand identity with its mission and personality. By focusing on vibrant design choices, cohesive typography, and functional versatility, I was able to reimagine Planet Word’s branding in a way that feels fresh, engaging, and memorable.
The process reinforced the value of exploring creative concepts that not only resonate visually but also communicate a deeper story—an anchor in all my design work.