Planet Word Museum
Capturing the Magic of Language
Challenge
Planet Word, a brand-new museum of language in DC, needed to establish a brand befitting its unique visitor experience and its mission to inspire language-lovers of all stripes. Planet Word has a lot to work with: a highly interactive and immersive visitor journey for people of all ages, a passion for unlocking the power, beauty, and fun of language, a connection to the local community, and a piece of architectural history—DC’s Franklin School—as its home. We needed to build a rich and functional brand to speak to what makes Planet Word special, and to establish the museum as a part of DC’s cultural life.
Approach
From groundbreaking on, we worked with the museum to create a suite of deliverables and articulate the nascent brand. In creating the design for everything from website to letterhead, signage to visitor maps, social media posts to invitations, and merchandise for the museum shop, we drew upon the museum’s values and visitor experience (and the building's remarkable architectural details) to translate the spirit of Planet Word into fitting visuals. We developed a robust guide to define the museum’s visual brand: color-filled, surprising, at times both playful and sophisticated, with words and type at the center.
