Perth Museum — Unicorn
Nomination
Images
Videos
Direct link: https://vimeo.com/933658954
Direct link: https://vimeo.com/933685459
Direct link: https://vimeo.com/933681181
Category
Campaign Design
Company
Tangent
Client
Culture Perth and Kinross
Perth Museum
Summary
Unicorn: Unique, Universal.
We were commissioned to create a campaign identity for Unicorn, Perth Museum’s ambitious launch exhibition showcasing Scotland’s mythic national animal, its representations throughout history and it’s continued symbolic relevance. This identity would be a prominent part of the Museum’s launch and so our first challenge was to develop an identity that was distinct from but complimentary to the core Museum brand we also developed. We considered how these could visually sit together, but more importantly, we wanted to ensure the same principles from our Museum brand — of creating intrigue, suggesting different perspectives, looking to past and future — could be upheld in the Unicorn campaign. We worked with the client to define target audiences and thus the tone that the campaign should have.
Our focus was on creating a look that felt sophisticated and but had playfulness and surprise at heart, given the need to reach quite varied groups — children, students, the LGBTQIA+ community, Perthshire locals and national daytrippers, etc. We wanted to surprise — again challenging preconceptions of what a modern museum should look and feel like. Simultaneously everywhere and nowhere to be seen, the unicorn contains multitudes. Despite its unreality, its meaning continues to evolve and change. Viewing the unicorn through history is to look through a kaleidoscope: myths, legends, histories and identities shift and alter when seen through the lens of this untouchable creature.
Our approach took these qualities and contradictions — imaginary, but impactful; invisible, but perspective-shifting; fairytale, but formidable — and embodied them in the form of a clear glass horn. This 3D rendered horn refracts, subverts, distorts and simultaneously becomes something new, aligning with Perth Museum’s core brand concerns: to create intrigue and challenge established outlooks. With a digital-first approach, we animated the horn’s rotations over a series of different backgrounds, creating unexpected visuals as images, artworks, colours and text twisted and changed through the prism. The campaign animations featured on everything from website assets to social media videos, while we created a series of stills for print applications including OOH posters and promotional print.
An emotive wordmark, rendered in the italicised Editorial New typeface, echoed the shape of the horn itself and allowed the exhibition title to act as a core asset on placements where space was at a premium. This wordmark was later used in vinyl and in neon signage within the Museum, and features prominently on vertical banners adorning the building exterior.
We were commissioned to create a campaign identity for Unicorn, Perth Museum’s ambitious launch exhibition showcasing Scotland’s mythic national animal, its representations throughout history and it’s continued symbolic relevance. This identity would be a prominent part of the Museum’s launch and so our first challenge was to develop an identity that was distinct from but complimentary to the core Museum brand we also developed. We considered how these could visually sit together, but more importantly, we wanted to ensure the same principles from our Museum brand — of creating intrigue, suggesting different perspectives, looking to past and future — could be upheld in the Unicorn campaign. We worked with the client to define target audiences and thus the tone that the campaign should have.
Our focus was on creating a look that felt sophisticated and but had playfulness and surprise at heart, given the need to reach quite varied groups — children, students, the LGBTQIA+ community, Perthshire locals and national daytrippers, etc. We wanted to surprise — again challenging preconceptions of what a modern museum should look and feel like. Simultaneously everywhere and nowhere to be seen, the unicorn contains multitudes. Despite its unreality, its meaning continues to evolve and change. Viewing the unicorn through history is to look through a kaleidoscope: myths, legends, histories and identities shift and alter when seen through the lens of this untouchable creature.
Our approach took these qualities and contradictions — imaginary, but impactful; invisible, but perspective-shifting; fairytale, but formidable — and embodied them in the form of a clear glass horn. This 3D rendered horn refracts, subverts, distorts and simultaneously becomes something new, aligning with Perth Museum’s core brand concerns: to create intrigue and challenge established outlooks. With a digital-first approach, we animated the horn’s rotations over a series of different backgrounds, creating unexpected visuals as images, artworks, colours and text twisted and changed through the prism. The campaign animations featured on everything from website assets to social media videos, while we created a series of stills for print applications including OOH posters and promotional print.
An emotive wordmark, rendered in the italicised Editorial New typeface, echoed the shape of the horn itself and allowed the exhibition title to act as a core asset on placements where space was at a premium. This wordmark was later used in vinyl and in neon signage within the Museum, and features prominently on vertical banners adorning the building exterior.