Hasta La Ideas

Irma Boom has designed a new logo for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, replacing the previous logo by Studio Dumbar, which had been in place for 32 years.

The above image, by Johan van Walsem, shows Boom watching the logo being unveiled on the exterior of the museum. Shown below is the new logo in full:

And here is the previous one by Studio Dumbar:

Speaking of her design, Boom comments: “My starting point was the fact that the Rijksmuseum is a national museum with international appeal. The design is clear and powerful and anchors the museum in the present.” Her design is clean and simple and puts clear emphasis on the Dutch ij digraph (more on that here), which was also a feature of the recently redesigned identity for the Stedelijk Museum by Mevis and van Deursen (see Michael Evamy’s CR piece, here).

The new Rijksmuseum house style also incorprates a newly designed typeface, developed by Paul van der Laan of the Bold Monday font foundry, and a colour palette which is based upon highlights of the museum’s collection. Below are some uses of the new logo on Rijksmuseum merchandise:

Boom, who is perhaps best known for her book designs, is also responsible for the design of all the publications for the new Rijksmuseum. Subscribers to CR can read more about her work in this feature, which appeared in the December 2011 issue of Creative Review.