Museums of History NSW

Brand Strategy
Brand Architecture
Visual identity
Verbal Identity
Brand Toolkit
Motion
Art Direction
Guidelines

Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) is a new cultural institution comprising the former Sydney Living Museums, the NSW State Archives and the Government Records Repository. Home to one of the most extensive archival collections in the world, as well as the conservation, management and visitations experiences across 12 historic houses, gardens and museums, MHNSW is the primary custodian and advocate of NSW’s history.

Merging three distinctly different entities into one institution, brings with it inherent challenges. Balancing the requirements and working cultures of these existing entities meant designing an identity that catered practically to the needs of each organisation — whilst simultaneously delivering a broad and engaging range of content that constructively subverted people’s expectations to help them rethink their relationship with history, and develop their understanding of MHNSW.

The identity is bound by time’s relativity and contextuality. The new logo is a splintering in time, caught in a layer. The design system builds on this to provide maximum flexibility paired with accessible typography. The multi-faceted and multi-dimensional view of history opens up a world of storytelling opportunities.

The new identity allows MHNSW to tell a more complete story of a place, person or thing, bringing interesting new insights into locations and experiences. It encourages audiences to share their own interactions with history and bring them into MHNSW, and in doing so help audiences understand the enduring relevance of history and challenge the belief the past has already been written.

Collaborators

Creative Director
— Alexis Waller
Design Directors
— Floriane Jambu
Strategists
— Damian Borchok
— James Cooper
— Claudia Henderson
Executive Directors
— Mel Baillache
— Jo Roca
Designers
— Emma Turney
— Atsaya Gabiryalpillai
— Dash O’Brien-Georgeson
— Georgia Urie
— Joseph Dennis
— Tom Clayton
Writers
— Mat Groom
— Amy Scott
— Daniel St Vincent
Motion Designers
— Mac Archibald
— Atsaya Gabiryalpillai
— Emma Turney
Illustrator
— Dash O’Brien-Georgeson
Account Director
— Alice Marrows
Account Manager
— Monique Tadrous

Recognition

Transform Awards
— Gold