University of Pennsylvania Arthur Ross Gallery
A Relationship Built on Trust
Our work with the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania began in 2012 with an exhibition of California Impressionism and continued through 2024. Twenty-eight exhibitions, eleven annual reports, three scholarly catalogs, seasonal brochures, event invitations, holiday cards, lecture series materials, a 30th anniversary logo, and an email newsletter template. A connection through mutual colleagues became one of the most sustained design partnerships in our studio's history.
The Work Takes Center Stage
University gallery work demands restraint, precision, and a willingness to let the art lead. At the Arthur Ross Gallery, no two shows looked alike — Dutch genre painting from the 17th century called for something entirely different than a contemporary artist's retrospective. Our job was to create title designs and supporting materials that felt native to each exhibition without the design ever competing with what was on the walls.
Scholarly Catalogs
Three exhibitions received full scholarly catalog treatment: An Inner World: 17th Century Dutch Genre Painting, Courtly Treasures: The Collection of Thomas W. Evans, and At the Source: A Courbet Landscape Rediscovered. These long-format publications included essays and complete documentation of the work and were designed to function as lasting scholarly records.
Adapting to an Evolving Brand and Building on It
When we began working with the Gallery, they had an existing logo and color palette. In 2017 a new brand identity was developed by another firm. We incorporated the new system seamlessly — including the annual reports we began designing that same year — and continued expanding it in practice over the years that followed. By the time we designed an email newsletter template in 2024, the brand guidelines were only the starting point. Seven years of applied work had given us an understanding of the Gallery's visual identity that no document could fully capture. The result was a single flexible template serving the full range of their supporter communications — exhibition announcements, event invitations, news, and updates — built for production with a MailChimp developer.