Portland Museum of Art Branding & Design
Murphy Empire partnered with the Portland Museum of Art, one of New England’s most respected cultural institutions, to create its comprehensive brand identity system. The identity centers on a now-iconic circular logo inspired by the architectural forms of the museum’s Charles Shipman Payson Building. The visual system reflects the museum’s commitment to accessibility, clarity, and contemporary cultural engagement while honoring its historic legacy and connection to place.
Working closely with the PMA leadership team and curatorial staff, we developed a visual language that is flexible across exhibition materials, signage, educational programs, public communications, membership tiers, affinity groups, and merchandise. The result is a brand identity that is refined, recognizable, and deeply rooted in the museum’s mission to bring art and community together.
Working with the Portland Museum of Art required clarity, restraint, and deep respect for context.
Our role was to create a visual language that supports the institution’s mission and elevates the art itself.
Brand Identity & Creative Direction
Our branding and creative direction centered on coherence, architecture and institutional elegance. We crafted the museum’s visual identity system to reflect PMA’s legacy, institutional scale and community reach, while remaining refined and accessible. Each element—from typography and mark design to palette and layout logic—was designed to work across environments and media, reinforcing a unified identity across all facets of the institution.
Logo Design & Visual Language
The primary logo translates the circular and arch motifs of the Payson Building’s facade into a simple, modern mark—reflecting the museum’s architecture, place, and identity. Supporting marks and a refined visual language ensure flexibility across departments, membership tiers and special programs. The result is a system that scales from large-format signage to gift shop products to social media badges with consistent clarity and brand presence.
Design Rationale
The primary logo is based on the distinctive circular architectural elements that crown the façade of the Payson Building. By translating this structural form into a modern graphic symbol, the identity becomes both site-specific and universally recognizable. The mark carries the feeling of the museum itself — open, welcoming, and rooted in craft and spatial awareness.
The typographic system and color palette support clarity and accessibility, ensuring the museum’s communications feel thoughtful, inviting, and consistent across physical and digital environments.
Signage, Way-Finding & Application
We designed the museum’s environmental branding: exterior signage, interior way-finding, gallery identifiers, and departmental markers. Each application was crafted to reflect the architecture and bring visual coherence across physical space and printed media. The signage system echoes the rhythm and geometry of the building façade, aligning visitor experience with brand identity.
Print, Web & Social Media Branding
The identity was extended into print materials (brochures, membership collateral, event programs), web design, and social-media templates for campaigns and community outreach. Every piece was developed for consistency of tone, scale, and aesthetic—ensuring the museum’s visual identity remains unified online and offline.
Deliverables
Brand Strategy & Visual Identity System
Primary Logo & Supporting Mark Set
Department and Membership Secondary Branding Systems
Signage & Way-Finding Design (interior + exterior)
Print Materials (programs, brochures, membership kits)
Web & Social Media Branding Assets
Explore more of our work in Logo Design, or Website Design.