Moderna Museet

Contributed by Stephen Coles on Jul 27th, 2012. Artwork published in February 2004.

The modern art museum of Stockholm and Malmö was rebranded by Stockholm Design Lab in 2004 using a handwritten logo by Robert Rauschenberg and customized Gridnik for all signage, publications, and branding.

Typefaces

Formats

Industries

Designers/Agencies

Stockholm Design Lab

Tagged with

Foundries

The Foundry

4 Comments on “Moderna Museet”

Brendan Berg says:
Jul 28th, 2012 7:13 pm

It looks very much the distinctive typeface Ed Ruscha used in his paintings. (Like this, for example.) His work isn't mentioned here, but the similarity can't be coincidence.
Stephen Coles says:
Jul 31st, 2012 12:09 am

Perhaps the designers were indeed inspired by Ruscha’s work, but Gridnik has a wholly different source:

Foundry Gridnik was developed from the single weight monospaced 'typewriter’ face, originally created by Dutch designer Wim Crouwel in the 1960s. Crouwel's devotion to grids and systems led to his affectionate nickname of ‘Mr Gridnik’, and this inspired the new typeface family name. Foundry Gridnik’s distinct geometric design has been described as ‘the thinking man’s Courier’. Crouwel said, ‘I am a functionalist troubled by aesthetics’, and although Gridnik is based on logic, rationality and strict adherence to the grid, it also has a human dimension that sets it apart.

If you are interested in a pretty faithful typeface interpretation of Ruscha’s letters, check out Pacific by Julian Morey.
Peter Ström says:
Aug 26th, 2012 8:14 pm

Stephen, a small typo has found its way here; the rebranding was done in 2004, not 1994.
Stephen Coles says:
Aug 27th, 2012 2:07 am

Oops! Fixed. Thank you.