National Blues Museum

A new identity and website for the National Blues Museum

A new look for the Home of the Blues

The National Blues Museum, a 501 non-profit museum in St. Louis, Missouri, dedicated to exploring the musical history and impact of the blues, first engaged CARTEL for gift shop merchandise designs. As the collaboration unfolded, they entrusted us with a holistic rebrand. Our contributions spanned brand assessment, a new logo suite, brand standards, print collateral, and a comprehensive merchandising campaign. Additionally, we redefined their website's user experience, from sitemap to SEO optimization, ensuring a seamless digital interface for visitors.

Logo for the National Blues Museum with the word 'BLUES' in large, bold letters and 'NATIONAL BLUES MUSEUM' written below.

Primary Logo

Black text on gray background reading "BLUES NATIONAL BLUES MUSEUM" with stylized typography for "BLUES."
Logo of the National Blues Museum with black text on a light gray background.
A blank, light gray background with no discernible objects or details.

The NBM “B” can be used to contain imagery.

An acoustic guitar with a natural wood finish on a green background. The word 'SOUNDM' is partially visible on the left side.
Black and white photo of a man wearing a hat and necklace, passionately playing an acoustic guitar on stage.
Display showcasing a bold, rounded blue font with the text 'DISPLAY FONT FOR THE NATIONAL BLUES MUSEUM' on the left, a complete uppercase alphabet and numbers in the same font in the middle, and various alternative font styles and weights with sample words like 'QUIT', 'JEFF', and 'BLUES' on the right.

The Blues custom alphabet

We introduced high contrast letter construction with thinned middles to create a typeface that evokes the genre without compromising readability.

Three smartphones displaying different pages of the National Blues Museum website on a light gray background. The first phone shows the museum's homepage with blue background and white text, an image of singing musicians. The second shows the Blog page with a black background and white text, with images of musical instruments. The third shows the Store page with blue background, white text, and items like a cap, tote bag, and guitar in the image.
A digital poster promoting an event called Smino at Blue's, taking place on August 8th at 6:00 PM at 615 Washington Ave, St. Louis, Missouri. The poster features a young man with braided hair crouching, wearing a white long-sleeve shirt with printed text on the sleeves, red pants, and white sneakers, set against a divided background with gray and green sections, and the event details in blue and white text.
Street billboard advertising Chuck Flowers tribute concert at the National Blues Museum on May 8 at 7:00 PM, featuring a black and white photo of Chuck Flowers in vintage attire with a hat and vest.
A white T-shirt hanging on a wooden hanger on a plain wall. The T-shirt has a graphic design of a duck with the text "GO JOHNNY GO" in blue letters, and the duck has an orange beak and orange feet.
A tote bag with the words "JUST GOT PAID" printed in large, bold letters. The letters are filled with a blue dollar bill print, featuring images of a face and eye from the bill.
A woman playing an acoustic guitar, wearing sunglasses and a blue supporter music t-shirt, sitting outdoors on a small blue chair.
Black-and-white cartoon image of a person standing and pointing at a large speech bubble that contains several lines of text, with a downward arrow beside it.
Three colorful graphic illustrations: a trumpet atop a geometric shape with the text 'City of Blues', a stylized duck with the words 'Go Johnny Go', and a woman with a headdress and sunglasses with the text 'Tina STL'.

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