Nordiska Museet was founded in 1873 and is Sweden's largest cultural history museum with over 1.5 million objects in its collections. Our brief was to create a distinct and adaptable brand identity for Nordiska that is anchored in the museum's rich cultural heritage but simplified and refined to work in the modern communication landscape, framing everything the museum has to offer.

We began the work with a comprehensive inventory of the museum building's architecture and rich graphic archives. Original drawings, engravings, symbols and architectural details provided the foundation for all the building blocks of the new identity.

The result is a new expression for the Nordic Museum that combines 150 years of history.

The new symbol is based on the quatrefoil that appears in the museum's original seal, drawn by the museum's architect. As a tribute the distinctive shape was refined and became the new symbol. It also serves as a framing device with the ability to take ownership of any media content.

The museum's new wordmark and bespoke headline typeface is based on recurring features found in original drawings and engravings and have distinct features from period styles combined in a modern and unique expression. We created a clear design system that unites the entire Nordic Museum.