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Art DeCoded

A conceptual brand reimagining our relationship with art as open source, multi-perspective and participatory.

BRAND STRATEGY & IDENTITY, WEB DESIGN

CATEGORY

BRAND STRATEGY & IDENTITY, WEB DESIGN

DETAIL

2025 ArtCenter Graduate Studies
Instruction: Carolina Trigo

CREDIT

VIDEOS GENERATED WITH AI

Market research indicated that museum visitors often feel disconnected from gallery spaces; the work can feel insular and inaccessible. Art DeCoded reimagines the traditional gallery experience as open and participatory: a web platform and community hub for art lovers to connect in an open-source, participatory way, decoding art by adding their own voice to institutional narratives.

Interviews identified that traditional gallery spaces feel exclusive and narratives feel fixed. The brand strategy uses this tension—blur and clarity, shadow and light—as a visual metaphor for the shift from institutional exclusivity to participatory openness.

Ensuring the visual system didn't compete with the artwork on display was a key component of the brand strategy. The identity acts as a kind of gallery: sleek, minimalist typography with a black and white color palette, ensures the artwork on display remains the focal point of the brand experience.

Ensuring the visual system didn't compete with the artwork on display was a key component of the brand strategy. The identity acts as a kind of gallery: sleek, minimalist typography with a black and white color palette, ensures the artwork on display remains the focal point of the brand experience.

Ideating interaction

Logo ideations explore the geometry of letterforms A/D and abstracted graphics inspired by seeking. The final mark blurs when idle and sharpens with interaction: reinforcing the notion that art comes alive through active engagement.

Ideating interaction

Logo ideations explore the geometry of letterforms A/D and abstracted graphics inspired by seeking. The final mark blurs when idle and sharpens with interaction: reinforcing the notion that art comes alive through active engagement.

The app that scans art

AD's web platform allows users to scan artworks for open-source context, contribute to community forums, track museum acquisitions, and follow repatriation efforts. The desktop interface features multi-panels with artist information, origin details, and expandable context.

The app that scans art

AD's web platform allows users to scan artworks for open-source context, contribute to community forums, track museum acquisitions, and follow repatriation efforts. The desktop interface features multi-panels with artist information, origin details, and expandable context.

Dear, Return to Origin

The 'Dear, Return to Origin' PR campaign uses street posters highlighting different artworks requested for repatriation, like Egypt's demand for the Rosetta Stone, to drum up buzzy conversation around ethics in the art world and get the word out about AD's mission.

Dear, Return to Origin

The 'Dear, Return to Origin' PR campaign uses street posters highlighting different artworks requested for repatriation, like Egypt's demand for the Rosetta Stone, to drum up buzzy conversation around ethics in the art world and get the word out about AD's mission.

The empty gallery

Launch exhibitions at partner museums invite visitors to post interpretations beside artworks. Visitors walk into an empty gallery where absence is on display—signifying all of the voices left out of traditional art narratives.

The empty gallery

Launch exhibitions at partner museums invite visitors to post interpretations beside artworks. Visitors walk into an empty gallery where absence is on display—signifying all of the voices left out of traditional art narratives.

Hidden discoveries

Accordion book takeaways have die-cut logo windows that reveal content on the other side (see below in gallery); a secret poster hides inside the fold, only discoverable through interaction.

Hidden discoveries

Accordion book takeaways have die-cut logo windows that reveal content on the other side (see below in gallery); a secret poster hides inside the fold, only discoverable through interaction.

Beyond the gallery wall

Promotional posters featured blurred artworks with educational insights, turning city streets into open-air classrooms.

Beyond the gallery wall

Promotional posters featured blurred artworks with educational insights, turning city streets into open-air classrooms.

Open-source your art world

Art DeCoded bridges physical and digital space through a flexible identity system that adapts seamlessly across web applications, street campaigns and museum installations. By partnering with museums invested in decolonization, centering open-source artworks, and bringing meaningful context and diverse perspectives into the gallery, Art DeCoded reimagines the way we interact with and experience art.

On deck

On deck

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95 Weeks

95 Weeks

95 Weeks

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See all works

Jess_hylek_Design

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All images are owned and © by the respective holders and are presented here for educational purposes within the “fair use” terms of US Code: title 17, sec. 107. No paid promotion.

All images are owned and © by the respective holders and are presented here for educational purposes within the “fair use” terms of US Code: title 17, sec. 107. No paid promotion.

© Jess/ica Hylek 2025