Project graduation_ Musée d'Arts de Nantes

musée d'arts de nantes

Project Graduation

Context

For my graduation project, i've chosen to work on the branding of the “Musée d'Arts de Nantes” given its position as a cultural institution and one of the 6 most important Fine Arts Museums in France. Its architecture is particular with its 3 iconic buildings :
“Le Palais” and “La Chapelle de l'Oratoire”, two historical buildings, and also “Le Cube”
a contemporary extension done by Stanton Williams in 2017.

Project

Here is my proposition for a new visual identity and a new design of the website for it to match the history and the architecture of the museum.

Museum research

Researches

In order to fully understand the project, I've decided to do some research on the museum itself. Unlike other Fine Arts Museums, the “Musée d'Arts de Nantes” had a strong connection with the Modern Art. During my researches I've seen a lot of architectural plans because of the recent renovation by Stanton Williams.The restraint of the plans inspired me for the branding by three points :
Architectural codes, black and white, and finally patterns

The graphic vocabulary of Architecture

Logotype

I've started on paper to insure myself a full freeness in my process and ideas. First I've considered the anagram “MAN”, however the typographical work had quickly set limits on the global design and composition.

Then, I took the profile of the three buildings of the museum and work on an interplay of solids and voids like in architecture. The mass highlight the proportions of the building and gives a reading flow to the logo.

My transition to the vectorial drawing was triggered by a concern for in-depth of the three shapes proportions, but also for the integration of the museum's name directly on the logo. I wanted the name to be a part of the composition and not just a baseline.
The name “MUSÉE D'ARTS DE NANTES” is disconnected to promote the museum and the city of Nantes. The hatching are part of the identity as they refer to the patterns used in architectural plans, they are integrate inside the shapes to refine the visual of the buildings without loosing the reading flow of the mass.

All this work brought me to establish three principles to be observed in the drawing of the logo. It must represent the architecture of the three buildings and therefore refer to a living space. The proportions have to respect the buildings volumes in order to be easily identifiable. The pattern draws a link between the architecture and the museum identity.

Final logo

Colors and Types

The black is the principal color of the new graphical chart of the museum. It combines the timelessness and the elegance and can be adapted easily to all the communication supports. The other colors are used to offer more options when the black and white work isn't possible.

The LATO is for me a good choice, less famous and used than the Futura, it allows a clear legibility even with small texts. To give some reading flow, i combine it with the PT SANS which has some interesting shapes when used in upper cases.

Print

Colorful layouts and small color charts have inspired me a lot in researches for the medium print. They have a high contrast that i wanted to apply to the black and white. This contrast will go though by visuals which will occupy a strong presence in my compostion.

The consistency between the different supports must be translate by a graphic system that can be adjusted easily to any format.

Templates

The advertisement is minimalist, particularly the typography, to give value to the visual.
This composition it's a nod to the film camera format, like a freeze frame in the exposition.

The hatching refers to the logo and draw the attention to the object of each expositions.

Some exemples of the template for different expositions

Business card

The business card is designed for professional interviews. I wanted to translate an idea of quality and the desire to preserve a piece of design. It reflects the luxury codes with a high quality print and much attention to the choice of papers and textures. The two types

of papers are laminated to play with different textures on the same object. Finally the logo is printed with a mat silver hot stamping to bring more details and elegance.

Museum plan

It's a four-panel brochure which allows a clear view of all the floors of the buildings on one document. The plan guides the visitors and spotlights the architecture.
The front cover presents the inside of the building, and a quote from Stanton Williams which echoes directly to the history of the museum and the will of its team.

Inside, I redesigned each floors to integrate the pattern. The secondary colors are used to identify the permanent collections (in blue), from the temporary expositions (in camel).

Tickets

Postcards

I wanted goodies that the visitors could keep and/or would share. The postcards was a natural choice because you could send them or keep and collect the all collection, it's a good way to increase advertisement for the museum to convince futur visitors. With a high quality paper it's a postcards but also a collection object.

Event : 220th anniversary

In 2021, the museum will celebrate its 220th birthday by organizing an exhibition that will show all the story of the museum since its creation in 1801. Also it's a good time to launch the new visual identity to the public.

The promotional campaign is focused on two photos from the museum one from 1801 and the other from 2021. The contrast between the two era marked the passage of time.

The exhibition “220 ans” will begin in September 2021. The announcement will start in the middle of the summer on social medias. On Instagram, both visuals will be presented and accompanied by several stories building a chronology of the museum and them leading to the website page of the exhibition.

To promote this event, there will be a private vernissage for all the medias, sponsorships, regional elected officials and celebrities. Each guests will receive an invitation with a very elegant and sober design.

Digital

To maintain the consistency of my inspirations, my web references are focused on museums, architecture and luxury websites. They are elegant and sober with a strong place for the visuals. Areas of colors create a rhythm on each page with the visuals and texts and the navigation is clear thanks to the header and footer.

Mobile app

The mobile app wireframe is still the same, it has simply been redesigned with the graphic chart. The emphasis was placed on the interactive plan to help the visitor navigate in the museum with many informations on each piece of art. A new feature has been made, the possibility to charge the visitor's ticket directly in the mobile app and access easily to their reservations.

Website

In the first instance, I have been interested by the actual structure of the website and decided to put on paper all the pages and possible paths. I found that in certain case when you want to access apparently the same page, you can find different pages depending on where you are on the website.
That way, I synthesized all of this with the number of action needed on several diagrams.