before
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About
(Est. 1970) “The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year. [It is] housed in a classical 1934 tea pavilion, it takes its name from the nearby Serpentine Lake.” (Source: Wikipedia)
Design by
Pentagram (Partner: Marina Willer, London)
Related links
Pentagram case study (plenty more images here)
Relevant quote
The logo acts as an aperture, opening for different content and different ideas in an ever-changing way. It also acts as a bridge, echoing the actual bridge over the Serpentine that links the two Galleries in Hyde Park.
The logo's typeface was specially designed by Ian Osborne, a designer in Willer's team. With a combination of sharp and rounded corners, it is both challenging and approachable; thought-provoking, but also conveying Serpentine's democratic spirit.
For the overall identity, a new typeface was designed by Patrick Giasson, creating a distinctive new voice for Serpentine. The sharp and modern typography, with its distinctive geometry and proportions, is a derivation from the logo but also complimentary to it.
Pentagram case study
Images (opinion after)
Opinion
I really like the way that flexibility has been built into this system. It's a bit unusual and I like how it plays off the name, as something that coils and contracts and expands. I wish the typography was less… customized. At least in the logo. This is a case where something like, say, Trade Gothic Condensed would have gotten out of the way of the concept and looked just as sharp.
Comments