Museums Association

A Marketing Story by Studio Output about Museums Association

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Museums Association

Brand Development

Challenge

The Museums Association is a membership organization with a mission – to inspire museums to change lives. The need to adapt The Museums Association represents 10,000+ individual members, 1,500 institutional member museums and 250 commercial companies. Its vision is to develop socially engaged and participatory museums at the heart of their communities, but an outdated site experience and tired brand were holding up this evolution into a campaigning organisation. We were challenged to create a site which balanced today’s audience needs with the association’s aims, while updating a brand identity which was rooted in the world of print.

Solution

We devised, designed and built a dynamic new website that reflects its vision and values, while evolving the visual identity of this active campaigning organisation. Intuitive architecture Despite its singular mission, the Museums Association has multiple roles for diverse audiences, from a campaigning body to a tool for finding jobs, objects and suppliers. This complexity wasn’t reflected in an internally driven site structure and taxonomy, which made discovery difficult and left user needs unmet. We created a concise and user-friendly navigation – making the site more intuitive to browse and find what you need. Active campaigning Campaigns are a huge part of what the Museums Association does, but it was difficult to see the full scope of this work and how much content existed. We explored the idea of depth and breadth, showing an overview of the campaigns at a glance, while offering the opportunity to go deeper. The ‘brand volume’ of this campaigning voice is turned up, leading with the most active color combinations and bolder typography. Quality journalism Much more than a blog, the Museums Journal is an integral part of the MA’s offer to members, providing access to quality editorial content. We wanted to create a credible reading experience, positioning the Journal as a news and information hub for museums. By introducing tags we could show the variety of content and activity for readers to browse. Brand revolution The previous corporate-feeling brand was out of step with the progressive nature of the topics the Museums Association speaks on. While it was important to remain inclusive and not alienate existing members, the new identity feels more relevant to current conversations, blending the organisation’s heritage with its forward-facing activist evolution. The color palette challenges the audience to take notice by throwing up unexpected combinations. The type stack also flexes – it’s conversational in the journal style, but more demanding in the campaigning voice. Other design components are functional and intuitive, with layered image frames inviting different perspectives to suggest that nobody ever sees the full picture. Beyond the site The identity lives beyond the website in social posts and marketing campaigns. Here, a flexible system ensures recognition of the brand, while adapting across everyday content to key campaigns and hero events.

Branding Strategy

User Experience (UX/UI)

Website Creation