Repositioning the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for a New Era

Engaging Northwesterners has long been a focus of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, founded in 1944 to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. When current OMSI administrators sought to reach a broader audience—particularly underserved com­mu­nities—they turned to Gensler Seattle to help reposition the institution’s brand identity. “We invited partners across the state to participate,” senior associate and design director Krista Reeder says, the goal being to represent a range of perspectives and develop a concept that would reflect that diversity of voices. Her team and OMSI went on to establish a committee of individuals from LGBTQ, BIPOC, Native American, and rural communities.

Their involvement included initial visioning sessions to explore brand positioning as well as subsequent design reviews to ensure that everything was as inclusive as possible. The results encompass unique individual letter forms that create unified word marks and open-source typefaces accessible to everyone, all in a palette drawn from the Oregon thunder egg, an intricate rock formation that contains a rainbow of colors. Gensler also worked with OMSI to identify local creators from those communities to contribute to marketing campaigns, photograph products and events, and even temporarily display their work at the museum.

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Interior Design celebrates Gensler's 60th anniversary with this special section featuring Q&As and dozens of projects in four of the firm's practice areas including cities, health, workplace, and lifestyle. Check it out today.

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KRISTA REEDER; FRANCI VIRGILI; RYAN COLLIER; SARA THOMPSON; PETER MULLER; NATASHA FIELD-RAHMAN.