Nestled in the historic Franklin School in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Linguistic Arts (MoLA), formerly Planet Word Museum, underwent a bold hypothetical rebranding to redefine its appeal. Faced with the dual challenge of maintaining engagement with its core demographic of young language learners and attracting a more professional audience, I devised a strategic redesign that balanced the museum’s educational integrity with its signature interactive elements. This approach preserved and enhanced the museum’s identity by infusing the interactive elements across all touchpoints—from physical installations to digital interfaces. The result was a cohesive and engaging experience that resonated deeply with visitors, elevating MoLA’s status as a beacon of linguistic exploration and appreciation in a contemporary urban setting.

A Living Visual Identity That Speaks and Reacts

At the heart of MoLA’s visual DNA lies an adaptable, sound-reactive graphic element that forms the identity system. Just as language evolves based on geographic conditions, individual speech patterns, and cultural influences, MoLA’s graphic elements act as a living identity that reacts to each voice and adapts to every interaction.

This concept seamlessly extends to the custom modular typeface Ancestra Display, constructed from the grid structures and form language of the MoLA logo. Ancestra Display offers its responsiveness for various mediums with regular and condensed versions.

Expressing the Identity as a Form of Speaking the Brand’s Visual Language

Synthesizing MoLA’s belief that language shapes our perception of reality and identity, I underscored the visual system’s role as a consistent form of language to shape a consistent museum identity. Responsive to its content, MoLA’s visual language adapts across diverse formats—from museum tickets and wristbands to promotional posters—ensuring flexibility and recognizability across all touchpoints.

Introducing The Responscript Initiative.

Aligning with the mission statement, “Where We Explore Every Language Lore,” Responscript is an exhibition program inside MoLA that invites designers from various disciplines to preserve and transform ancient scripts into contemporary visual artifacts for modern audiences. These forms of artifacts can range from printed graphics to conceptual products.

Continuing the museum’s responsive and interactive features, the exhibition’s visual identity retains its interactivity by inviting visitors to form the graphics through the custom pattern generator. This tool allows visitors to craft their unique identities, essentially learning to speak the language of the exhibition itself.

Typography-inspired Furniture as a Form of Language

In Responscript Vol. 01, designers were invited to reinterpret and innovate upon the Batak Script, one of the significant ancient scripts from Indonesia, through a series of typography-inspired furniture. These pieces were custom-designed based on Batak Script letterforms and fused with construction and materials significant to the Batak Tribe. This concept is further showcased through promotional posters and zine publications, highlighting each piece’s conceptual underpinning.

Building a seamless Spatial Language inside the museum.

Bringing together MoLA’s newly conceived identity, the museum’s interior has been refreshed to create a unified visual narrative. A series of iconography and wayfinding systems were also designed to ensure coherence across spatial graphics, seamlessly integrating the museum’s vibrant identity into its physical environment.

A Space That Invites Visitors to Participate, Not Just Showcase

In the end, MoLA’s new identity and positioning aim to foster inclusivity and redefine interactivity, not only through its installations but also in the very process of crafting its identity. Every touchpoint has been meticulously designed to transform MoLA into a space for those passionate about language learning and gaining awareness of ancient languages.