MAD



 

This is the work of design collective 'Pentagram', (this particular project was headed by Michael Beirut). The above image is the typeface or logo for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. 'MAD' is an acronym for the museum name.

 



Pentagram were approached by the Museum to give them a new identity and image. They created the 'MAD' typface that is associated with the museum. The typeface is based on the idea of every letter in the alphabet being made up of purely a combination of 2 shapes, cirles and squares. This resulted, in my opinion, a very strange and unique design. The letters were very obscure and hard to read, characteristics that are not desirable when creating a typeface in a technical point of view, but because of this fact it did draw my attention to it. The typeface itself has a very urban modern finish to it while being totally unique and unlike anything else. The acronym 'MAD' for the museum also fits the characteristics of the typeface as its outlandish and alien. It stands out from any other typeface I've ever seen. I think that the mood and the sense of uniqueness that the typeface gave acomplished Pentagrams goal of creating a new identity for the museum while grabbing people's attention with the very distinctive style and design.

Some 'MAD' lettering on a New York bus.

Leaflets and booklets created for the Museum of Arts and Design.

All images from - http://new.pentagram.com/2008/09/new-work-museum-of-arts-and-de/