2012
Mystetskyi Arsenal
Kyiv

Branding for the National Art and Culture Museum Complex, Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kyiv, Ukraine. One of the largest contemporary & historic art galleries in Europe. The museum occupies The Old Arsenal building, an architectural monument of national importance, which was erected between 1783–1801.

The logotype is to be used alongside that of a number of museums that will become part of this larger organisation, therefore it was designed to be extremely minimal and long lasting. It has also been created in a number of languages.

The logo took inspiration from the shape of the building but also as a symbol of curatorial selection the logotype is a ‘frame’, a point of focus, an attitude to view the world. Finally the work of Malevich who was born in Kyiv was also a key influence for the design and its application.

For the main typeface Barnbrook selected the open source font DejaVu, making modifications to some of the characters and improving kerning. The font was released by Barnbrook for free in the spirit of the open source licence. An accompanying typeface was also developed with a randomised element for the branding of the major contemporary art biennale that was held at Mystetskyi Arsenal entitled Arsenale 

Also as part of this project Barnbrook designed several identities of the different annual events that are held here.

Please note this project is not yet completed and many of the items here are examples from the branding manual rather than printed items.