MONTAGUE GALLERY
CONTEXT:
When Dani Montague decided to open her glass gallery in San Francisco she knew she needed an identity that would manifest color, light and reflection — the very qualities of glass itself. She also needed the design to be an appropriate match for the sophistication of both her artists and her customer demographic. A complete logo exploration followed that resulted in a fresh and creative identity that achieved all of her goals.
LOGO DESIGN:
Initially several different designs were evaluated, with an emphasis on simplicity and the more typical glass palette of blue and green. One direction however stood out that used flat transparent planes in the shape of an M.
PALETTE:
The essential nature of glass is that it looks different as you move in relation to the object. This is because of refraction. Light waves bend as they enter glass and the result is the spectrum moves as you do. In order to capture this I created a double ombré fade that was then applied to each of the 4 planes. Combining these with layer effects in photoshop creates the dimensional quality of the logo. By using three color stops in each of the four planes even more colors are created by the blending modes of the different layers as they overlap. After exploring 3 different gradations the orange/yellow/teal combination was selected.
TYPOGRAPHY:
To offset and contrast the complexity of the colors in the logo form I turned to the timeless simplicity and clean lines of Helvetic Neue light and Helvetica Neue Thin. The all lower case treatment allowed me to create a tight lock up by tucking the g's together with negative leading.
BUSINESS SYSTEM AND PROMOTIONAL ITEMS:
A comprehensive business system was needed, including a branded notebook as a gift for attendees at the opening event along with a set of gift bags for purchases.
MARKETING COLLATERAL:
The gallery hosts shows for specific artists at various times during the year. Souvenir posters for these events along with SF Muni bus shelter advertising help to promote and commemorate these events.