Google Arts & Culture is a non-commercial initiative that works to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere. The GAC team tasked Parker with developing a unique identity that communicates their mission while still feeling at home within the primary Google brand.

Year

2022

Industries

Technology
Education

Services

Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
Campaign
Digital Media
Signage & Wayfinding
Motion

Credit

Pentagram – Motion & Audio Identity

When Google Brand Studios first approached Parker to update Google Arts & Culture's app icon, GAC was best known for its "Art Selfie" launch, which compared uploaded selfies to GAC's database of art with both freakishly similar and hilariously off-base results. The conversation quickly identified the need to develop a broader identity system and a deeper understanding of what GAC represents. Our team spent the better part of two years helping GAC develop its visual language and brand identity.

The primary point of brand expansion centered on the ampersand, the action point in Google Arts & Culture's name. We built the visual identity around the ampersand, letting the conversation pivot to a variety of topics beyond traditional “Arts” or “Culture.”

Our logo solution focused on the inflection point within the name. This actionable characteristic provided the opportunity to align with Google's strategic goal for GAC — to expand its contents beyond what "Arts" and "Culture" traditionally represent. Our logo borrows from existing geometry found throughout Google's global identity to represent what GAC truly aims to showcase: the sum of humanity's creative parts.

Scaleability

Our challenge was developing an identity that set GAC apart while still allowing it to fit within the primary Google brand. Leveraging Google's existing design language, we developed a unique identity and set of devices that scale across a wide range of digital and physical touch-points.

As part of the effort to broaden the definition of Arts & Culture, we considered a range of topics that fit under that umbrella. The primary identity leaves room to flex and adapt to themes spanning from specific art mediums to human achievements, historic events, nature, and visual expressions of the everyday (aka, pet buddies).

Arts & Culture Themes