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Spin thread a line through the Design Museum Shop
Posted by Mark Sinclair, 5 January 2012, 14:03 Permalink Comments (24)
London studio Spin has redesigned the identity of the Design Museum Shop and its range of own brand products, using a single line as the central graphic device...
According to creative director Tony Brook, "the idea came from the thought that the first physical articulation of a design, whatever the discipline and technology, is often a humble line. The journey the line takes is up to the designer."
The approach covers the identity of the Shop, its range of products and in-store environmental graphics, shopping bags, stationery, labels and tape. "The line, as a symbol for design, runs centrally through the core of the Shop's identity," says Brook.
The work replaces the identity design system created for the DM Shop by Build in 2007, which featured a more prominent type treatment and a recurring bird character design (shown below).
Spin's identity refers back to the main Design Museum logotype, originally created for the organisation by Graphic Thought Facility in 2003, complementing the existing typography with "+SHOP".
See designmuseumshop.com.
Related content
Read our Opinion piece on why the Design Museum Shop identity represents graphic design in microcosm here
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24 Comments
I love Spin but this is taking simplicity to the it's absolute limit. It's the sort of work that give designers a bad name in the public domain.
2012-01-05 15:02:00
Same Idea Used Here, different outcome: http://bit.ly/xfCSKl
2012-01-05 15:09:00
The build work was fantastic.
2012-01-05 15:13:48
Yes. Public will say "I could have done that!"
Yes when designing for a design audience (and the worlds harshest but most considered critics), keep it simple. Any personality trait, allegiance, acknowledgement to the past or ball on the line approach would bring potential criticism. The the proverbial new boy at school not wishing to stand out on his first day.
Eyes down and shuffle along...
2012-01-05 15:25:25
Spin by name. Spin by nature.
2012-01-05 15:32:09
I always loved the old script for the 'shop' it was welcoming and clean, this single line doesn't really mean anything to me. I totally agree with Jonny E, it gives designers a bit of a bad name in the public, which in this situation is awful, isn't the Design Museum supposed to be getting people into the world of design, not putting them off with confusion or pretension?
2012-01-05 15:32:31
@Jonny E: I presume that comment as supposed to be negative but I'm sure thats exactly what Spin were trying to achieve: simplicity to the absolute limit. You can't be 'half simple' can you?
2012-01-05 15:36:49
Mixed feelings about this – Like most designers I appreciate simplicity and understatement, but it feels like all of the soul has gone – as a massive fan of Build's identity i'm sad to see it go.
2012-01-05 15:42:28
Snoozefest. Typically Spin. Do very little. Post-rationalise it. 'Show me the money'. It looks dated already. Build's identity had a welcoming character, warmth and elegance.
2012-01-05 16:13:00
Sorry @johnjohn I should've clarified. Wasn't intended to be negative entirely. It's not that I don't like it, I advocate simplicity, but there's not much to like about it either. It's when design goes by unoticed it seems like a wasted opportunity. But then again, maybe that's what they were after. Subtle, Fuss-free whilst working with the parameters of the brand.
2012-01-05 16:27:00
If i'm not mistaken the Design Museum Shop is full of... Design - Books, objects, postcards, bags, toys etc.
This new identity lets the products breathe, gives them their own space to impact on the consumer while quietly getting on with it's job of bringing everything together under one identity. I loved the old identity too - but this just feels right to me.
Good work Spin!
2012-01-05 16:46:29
Surely the line should run along the length of the tape, not as it is above? I don't think this system works at all.
2012-01-05 16:48:00
Well I like it. I love that it's clean and simple. It's understated. Which for me is exactly the right level for a museums shop where its content should be the main draw.
Good job.
2012-01-05 17:12:34
Interesting to read Build's take on their project. 'We tried numerous approaches, many of them serious, even a little high-brow. The end result was much more fun, approachable and of course enticing, to get feet through the shop door at the end (or the start) of a visit.' On that rationale, I'm not sure that Spin's solution is an improvement.
2012-01-05 17:40:45
Interesting that having visited the online version of the shop before being aware of Spin's redesign, I thought that they had reverted back to their old logo!
From a purist, brand point of view, I like the fact that they are using the main museum identity and tagging on the "+Shop". It becomes a secondary marque that is part of a bigger overall picture, particular with it being housed within the museum anyway.
Reading the Build rationale posted in Barney's response, I can't help but think the brief and requirements from the Design Museum must have changed somewhat since 2007... maybe they wanted to steer away from something that was quite standalone in its aesthetics and instead wanted to look at reconciling the different parts of the space under one brand.
I think some of the applications look great; my main qualm with the new logo is it's positioning on the plastic carrier bag. The first image in this post shows it creased and unreadable in the bottom corner after being picked up! The bag could have been a great advertising vehicle as visitors left the museum; this could have been more considered to stop it simply looking like any old white carrier bag!
It will be interesting to see how the new Commonwealth site will affect the brand when it is completed and whether a whole new identity scheme will be introduced...
2012-01-05 21:39:53
Comment?
http://old.wearebuild.com/projects/b347
2012-01-06 09:52:00
Without seeing the brief Spin were given by The Design Museum it's hard to comment.
We can only comment on the brief we were given by the then DM Shop manager Simon Armstrong which was to give the shop character and a voice of its own.
As we stated in the Creative Review piece 'A month in the life of a graphic designer' we tried a multitude of routes from muted/high-brow to characterful before settling on the final route.
As the DM Shop now has a new manager we can only surmise that they (as is the clients prerogative) wanted to work with someone different. While we naturally feel disappointed that we weren't selected to work on the rebrand, we understand the possible reasoning behind the decision.
-
2012-01-06 11:05:45
Why is the logo at the BOTTOM of the carrier bags? That pretty basic error means it has virtually no visibility or impact and they're dull enough as it is - I'd expect better for that money.
2012-01-06 12:00:52
Isn't minimalism out yet?
2012-01-06 14:25:55
Where is the Design Museum? Is it the New York Museum of Modern Art?
2012-01-11 04:17:09
Lame.
I mean seriously Design Museum Plus Shop? This looks awful - I mean this is seriously not even close to the quality of Build's original work.
Adding the word +Shop to your logo is like saying 'London Eye + Shop'. Who the feck cares about a shop ?! that's not why people go! Duh.
The only positive I can think of is that when people remember the great work they see in the DM this stuff will be instantly forgettable. Possibly the reason why they toned down the branding in the first place!
__________________________________________ Hey look, it's spin's graphic identity.
2012-01-20 10:19:42
I like it. Visually it reminds me of this: http://heydays.no/2011/anorak/
2012-01-31 18:02:32
Anyone who uses the words "lame" and "duh" is barred from this here website indefinitely. Did they get rid of the pretty pictures and that's why you are upset? It is a much more suiting logo which fits in with the existing brand identity. I agree with a previous comment that the new identity lets the shop products 'breathe' and may I add that the previous Build identity to me just felt too disjointed. It felt like another business were renting space within the museum! Yet, I agree, that the decision to place the logo on the bag at the bottom is very strange.
2012-02-08 18:34:03
Anyone who prefixes their argument with snobbish patronization is also barred from this here website.
2012-02-08 22:45:42
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