Tate

The Tate galleries, often referred to as The Tate, consist of four galleries in the U.K. (Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St. Ives). It was named after its founder, Sir Henry Tate. The original Tate Gallery opened in 1897 at Millbank in London. It was affiliated with the National Gallery until 1955. The latest branch of the Tate (The Tate Modern) was established in 2000.

Also at this time, due to the recent launch of the Tate Britain and Tate Modern, it was decided that a rebranding was necessary for this new start. Wolff Olins designed the new brand, making it fresh and colorful. He created four different type treatments to go on his custom-designed typeface which blurred the letters and played with different amounts of visual focus. There is a standard logo, a blurred logo, a faded logo, and a halftone logo. "Allowing flexibility within a unified identity, the design conveys transformation and nonconformity. Tate's luminous and expansive color palette is unpredictable and fresh," (Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler, p. 253). There are 18 colors in the palette which are divided into strong hues and subtle hues.

The brand is very successful. It is unique in the way that the type is handled. As designers, we're constantly striving for clearness and legibility. If someone is trying to blur type and make it look out of focus, it can easily mess up legibility. However, the Tate logo is still easy to read and is different from most other brands, making it stand out and remain recognizable. It is consistent in the look and feel, yet dynamic and flexible enough to be shown in different ways, with different colors and still remain within the identity of the brand. It clearly "Expresses the theme, 'One Tate, yet many Tates'."

It also helps give a different view of the institution side of art. Art is changing eveyday, just as the logo allows for change. It gives a modern look. The new brand has significantly helped the gallery: "In 1999 Tate galleries recorded 4 million visitors. Between 2000 and 2001 more than 7.5 million visited the newly branded Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St. Ives," (p. 253). In 2003 it won Cool Brand Leader for the second year running (http://www.tate.org.uk/about/faqs/about.shtm). The website is very organized as well, clearly linking all 4 galleries, but keeping them seperate and clear at the same time.

I love this brand. It clearly identifies what the galleries stand for and works sucessfully to introduce viewers to (what I think is) the greatest galleries in the world.