Area 17
The rebrand was based on the museum’s aim to work with partners to decolonise its collection; Area 17 thus held 300 interviews with employees, youth artists, transformation consultants, and Indigenous Elders and artists to inform the design restructuring. Among the many core shifts that occurred through the project, Area 17 lead the museum’s identity from one of rigid geometry – “linear, patriarchal, red-dominant” – to a “more circular, matriarchal, dynamic identity”, says Carolyn Centeno Milton, Area 17’s strategy director. Keep up to date with Area 17’s ongoing projects in arts, culture and social progress here.
As outlined on its website, brand and digital-product agency Area 17 is focused on “crafting brands and products that are fundamental to our interactions as people”. For the National Gallery of Canada, this meant overhauling not just the design of the gallery but the Western worldview behind those original design decisions.