Ivan Chermayeff’s MoMA logotype first surfaced in 1964, making effective and appropriately modern use of Franklin Gothic No. 2 to create a starkly typography approach.
Chermayeff, son of the modernist architect Serge Chermayeff, worked across graphic design, branding, writing, and design theory, creating logos for Barneys New York, Chase Bank, New York University and many other American institutions. A custom typeface by Matthew Carter, MoMA Gothic, was introduced in 2004 and five years later Pentagram were appointed to create guidelines for the use of MoMA Gothic across the museum’s entire visual output, from signage to posters and publications.
The agency worked in parallel with Julia Hoffmann, MoMA’s Creative Director for Graphics and Advertising, to devise ways it could be cropped, coloured and paired with content, reducing the logo down to an abstracted set of letters. It’s a visual shorthand for high art, cementing the connection between bold graphical simplicity and intellectual rigour, whilst also flexible enough to accommodate the visual splash of Pop or the sober tones of minimalism.
Chermayeff’s original solution proved so enduring that it remains the foundation stone of the museum’s visual identity over sixty years after it was devised. Today, it is used everywhere from the 53rd Street façade to MoMA’s website and across its range of merchandise, all without missing a beat.