I have a deep, abiding love of abstraction, limits, and logos that afford creative application. ![]()
Designed by DJ Stout of Pentagram, the playful logo for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History reflects the institution’s early roots as a children’s museum and their comittement to learning. The logo was also inspired by the design of the new building. Architect Ricardo Legorretta is known for his bold Mexican-influenced color palette and recurring use of the square as a design motif.
Is it abstract?
Look at all those squares! It’s just a bunch of colored shapes, and it’s a set of letters. The designers developed not only the letters within the logo, but an entire alphabet composed exclusively of . . .
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On Limits:
Look at all those squares! And right angles. All in three colors. Each letter is contained within a solid, identically sized square with counters and negative space formed by squares or groups of squares.
Creativity is often seen as a product of freedom, while the vital role of restriction is overlooked. Restriction is the obstacle that must be overcome, the problem that must be solved. Limits allow creativity to shine in this work.
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Creative Application:
Thinking of a logo as a building block, a sort of Lego you can play with and rearrange to create new interest is not an analogy but a literal description of this design. In the museum monogram above, the logo work beautifully in a vertical format as well as horizontally. Go to Pentagram’s site and see this design in line form on a van, integrated with graphics on a poster, and proposed as various three-dimensional objects.
Designed by DJ Stout of Pentagram, the playful logo for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History reflects the institution’s early roots as a children’s museum and their comittement to learning. The logo was also inspired by the design of the new building. Architect Ricardo Legorretta is known for his bold Mexican-influenced color palette and recurring use of the square as a design motif.
Is it abstract?
Look at all those squares! It’s just a bunch of colored shapes, and it’s a set of letters. The designers developed not only the letters within the logo, but an entire alphabet composed exclusively of . . .
On Limits:
Look at all those squares! And right angles. All in three colors. Each letter is contained within a solid, identically sized square with counters and negative space formed by squares or groups of squares.
Creativity is often seen as a product of freedom, while the vital role of restriction is overlooked. Restriction is the obstacle that must be overcome, the problem that must be solved. Limits allow creativity to shine in this work.
Creative Application:Thinking of a logo as a building block, a sort of Lego you can play with and rearrange to create new interest is not an analogy but a literal description of this design. In the museum monogram above, the logo work beautifully in a vertical format as well as horizontally. Go to Pentagram’s site and see this design in line form on a van, integrated with graphics on a poster, and proposed as various three-dimensional objects.
