Joslyn Art Museum: Custom Typography for a Museum in Omaha

Shortlist Award

Custom Typography for a Museum in Omaha

Joslyn Art Museum

United States

2025

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Entrant Company

Pentagram Design

Entry Type

Public Service

Program

Clio Awards 2025

Medium Type

Professional

Medium

Design Craft

Category

Typography

Nodding to the past, present and future, The Joslyn typefaces encompass several different variations inspired by the structures and collections that comprise the revitalized Museum. These can be used on their own or combined with each other to form a distinct graphic language. The letterforms of the variations have qualities that reflect the architecture of each of the 3 buildings at The Joslyn: sharp and angular for the original 1931 building by John and Alan McDonald, with flares that evoke the hand-drawn Art Deco lettering of its entrance inscription; rectilinear for the 1994 Scott Pavilion; and both rectilinear and curving for the new Hawks Pavilion. The Pentagram designers developed a full alphabet for each of the fonts. The letterforms vary in their angled cuts and crossbars, slight flares and sharp corners. The design can be further modified along a chronological continuum from historical to contemporary, with characteristics like serifs and flares adjusted accordingly. This flexibility allows the typefaces to grow along with the Museum and its community. The typefaces encompass an alphabet of glyphs and phonetic characters for Umóⁿhoⁿ (Omaha) and related Indigenous languages spoken in this region. The new typefaces are utilized in signage and wayfinding throughout the museum, in exhibition graphics, in promotional campaigns and on The Joslyn website and social media channels.

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Credits

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