The second logo I want to feature in this series is the identity for the Museum of Art and Design in New York – which of course is affectionally known as MAD. The museum was formally known as the American Craft Museum but changed it’s name in 2002 – the new identity was designed by Michael Beirut at Pentagram when it moved to it’s new location – the iconic building, 2 Columbus Circle.
The highly stylized letterforms pay homage to the original architecture of the building (designed by Edward Durell Stone in 1964) which relied heavily on circular arches (see slide 6). The pure exterior geometry was unfortunately lost in the redesign of the building by Allied Works Architecture (see slide 7) but some elements are retained on the interior.
What I like about the logo is it’s versatility (as shown in the slide show) - because the letterforms are so strong it can work as a picture frame for any background, no matter how complicated, without losing it’s impact. They actually expanded the letterforms to an entire alphabet which was used for the early PR blitz. The Pentagram website has a great feature on the project.