Eye Catching Museum Logo Design

From Nike’s “swoosh” symbol to the iconic Apple logo, brands know that a strong identity is essential to their success. The same is true for museum logo design.

Museums have also embraced the power of brand. With the world’s best known institutions crafting infamy not only with their collections, exhibitions and buildings, but also with strong communications that cut through the noise of our modern media landscape.

Below are five museum logo’s launched in the past twelve months that caught our attention. From Sydney to Buenos Aires to Paris, all have invested in their museum branding to help them to reach new audiences or reinvent how people think about their institutions.

London Museum

London Museum (formerly known as Museum of London) launched a new logo in August 2024 featuring a porcelain pigeon and a glittery poo splat . The director of the museum, Sharon Ament, said the pigeon and splat represented the “grit and glitter” of the capital.

The museum turned to 500 Londoners and tourists to get their thoughts and to inspire us in focus groups, workshops and surveys. The museum said that this process affirmed their founding principles, “We are here to enhance the understanding and appreciation of London and all its people – past, present, future”.

The new museum logo itself was designed by Uncommon Creative. Nils Leonard, from the studio said, “We wanted more than a new identity for this amazing museum, we wanted to find a new icon for London itself. Something honest, something remarkable.”

Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum revealed a striking new logo in September 2024 to mark its bicentennial year. The rebranding process involved more than a year of audience research and essential discussions with staff and key stakeholders in order to marry the institution’s rich history with a contemporary vision.

The refreshed museum logo feature a modern sans serif typeface. The designers have introduced an intriguing element here: two dots bookending the logo, inspired by the punctuation framing the names of ancient thinkers on the building’s facade. This subtle nod to the museum’s literary roots (it began as a library) adds depth to the visual narrative.

The new design system showcases remarkable flexibility. The dots serve multiple functions, from motion graphics to textual elements, and can even be replaced with symbols or illustrations. A particularly clever touch is the interlocking of the double ‘O’s in ‘Brooklyn’ and the merging of ‘M’s and ‘U’s in ‘Museum’, creating a visually engaging logotype that speaks to the institution’s multifaceted nature.

Natural History Museum (London)

In July 2024, the UK’s most popular museum unveiled a new logo. The new logo features a circular formation of the letters NHM, it represents the energy of a ripple effect, which pulsates from the centre to form a three-colour sunburst. It’s a shape born from nature— embodying the collective energy and positivity that reflects the Museum’s mission to become an agent for change.

The Museum’s Head of Marketing Richard Orr and Head of Public Space Programme Lucy Clark spearheaded the work. Richard says: “With a bolder and more contemporary voice the new brand positioning can better engage both existing and new audiences and help us highlight how the Museum is finding solutions to the urgent issues that face our planet.”

Toledo Museum of Art (TMA)

In March 2024, the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) launched a fresh new logo featuring a dynamic, multifaceted icon.

The redesign spanned from on-campus to online. All elements are inspired by transformation, with a  logo system, adaptive colour palette, and symbolism recalling pride for the community and Toledo’s history as “The Glass City.” The logo portrays the continual reframing of art history and evokes the dynamism of emerging futures.

Wereldmuseum

At the end of 2023, four museums in the Netherlands – Tropenmuseum, Africa Museum, Museum Volkenkunde, and Wereldmuseum – came together under one name: Wereldmuseum. The idea was to unite these institutions into one large network as each site collectively explores what it means to be human and our connections with the world around us.

In order to create some unity and a more consolidated look and feel, Wereldmuseum enlisted the help of Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam’s design studio to update the branding.

The new museum logo is adaptable so it can be used easily both offline and digitally, and motion design is used to “reflect the diversity of the audience and different exhibition subject matters”.

The Best Museum Logo Design?

All of the museum logo’s above were launched in 2024. Which museum logo design has caught your eye this year?

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