CROWN HEIGHTS — The Brooklyn Museum is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year with a new branding campaign, a special Brooklyn Artists exhibition, the reinstallation of American Art Galleries and a birthday bash. 

Its new logo aims to communicate a bold, exciting new chapter for the museum’s future. The rebrand will roll out throughout the autumn through new signage and collateral, a digital campaign, a new website and merchandise. Other Means, a Brooklyn-based graphic design studio, collaborated with the museum’s in-house designers, led by Adam O’Reilly, for over a year of research and development to launch the new look.

“The ways that audiences are engaging with museums are expanding, and we needed a new brand that meets the demands of the day, honors our rich history, and brings a whole lot of energy,” said Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy, director of the Brooklyn Museum. “There’s no better time to launch it than our 200th anniversary!” 

The fresh look is inspired by the museum’s building and its evolution from the original neoclassical design by McKim, Mead and White to a modernist look in the 1930s and recent projects focused on creating open and welcoming spaces. 

The new logo features a modern sans serif typefaces and ligatures that express multidimensionality. Two dots bookend the new logo and text throughout the museum, inspired by the dots that frame the names of ancient philosophers, playwrights and poets across the museum’s facade, referencing the Brooklyn Museum’s beginnings as a library. The dots always appear at least twice to represent the two Os in Brooklyn. The Os in Brooklyn are intertwined and the M and U in Museum are merged. 

The color palette is made up of grays, like the limestone museum building, and brighter, saturated colors that resonate with the Brooklyn vibe. The energy of the new logo as multidimensional and energetic echo the Brooklyn Museum’s goal to communicate diverse ideas, identities and points of origin. The new branding represents the museum’s role as an art museum, educational center, forum for ideas, community space and more.

Other bicentennial celebrations include a birthday bash on Oct. 5 and 6; the Brooklyn Artists Exhibition starting Oct. 4 which features over 200 Brooklyn-based artists; the reopening of the American Art Galleries; and exclusive merchandise and community events which will soon be announced.