Terra Foundation for American Art

Brand

Having made its collection available to visitors in Chicago and Giverny, France for more than 20 years, the Terra Foundation for American Art transitioned from a museum-centered institution to a grant-making entity. The Terra collection and endowment allows for the "exploration, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States." Studio Blue was engaged to transition the identity system to better reflect the Foundation’s new purpose.

Brand ToolsA new communication system was designed to provide consistent standards for implementing the Terra brand identity in the U.S. and Europe. Knowing that we needed to balance mission and the perspectives of our French and American colleagues and their respective audiences, we engaged in cross-cultural dialogue. The outcome provides a unified visual system with enough diversity to be dynamic and communicate the Terra’s intent: "to be the greatest foundation for American art in the world."

 

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Terra Foundation for American Art
Brand
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Brand ToolsA new communication system was designed to provide consistent standards for implementing the Terra brand identity in the U.S. and Europe. Knowing that we needed to balance mission and the perspectives of our French and American colleagues and their respective audiences, we engaged in cross-cultural dialogue. The outcome provides a unified visual system with enough diversity to be dynamic and communicate the Terra’s intent: "to be the greatest foundation for American art in the world."

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Terra Foundation for American Art
Brand
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Brand ToolsOur concept for the mark: "revealing layers of meaning," became a transparent square that could be used alone or layered over art from the collection. The mark in application allowed use of the collection, ensuring that layered meaning was conveyed through the pairing of the Terra name with a piece from the collection on nearly every formal communication.

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Terra Foundation for American Art
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Brand ToolsStationery system.

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Terra Foundation for American Art
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Brand ToolsAs collection images are central to the brand system, we created an image library and guidelines for their use. The library includes two primary types of image details: portraits and landscapes. The portraits have an accessible human quality and are cropped to enhance that focus. The landscapes are quiet and tranquil, with a focus on color and detail. It was our recommendation to use the "people" images for general audience materials and the "place" images for scholarly communications.

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Terra Foundation for American Art
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Brand ToolsImage guidelines applied to brochure system

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Terra Foundation for American Art
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