Minneapolis Institute of Art identity 2016
Mia Grotesk, the museum’s proprietary typeface, was created in collaboration with Josh Finklea. It is a customized version of Post Grotesk that has been significantly modified to relate to the logo and give the font a stronger presence. Changes included squaring off the dots on the “i,” the terminals, and all circular punctuation, and widening the “M” and “N.” The weights of the typeface were also reconsidered, combining the book and medium weights to make a regular and adding a black weight, resulting in four custom weights—light, regular, bold and black.
An alternate unicase “M” glyph that echoes the letter in the mark is used in display typography such as taglines, exhibition titles and sub-brands, threading a little bit of the logo through high-visibility applications like billboards, advertisements and posters. The designers also developed a system of custom icons inspired by the typeface and the unimark “M,” drawn on a grid that uses the “M” of the logo as a dimensional base.
The custom Black weight for Mia Grotesk became the impetus for the expansion of the retail version of Post Grotesk, which was re-released in April 2017 with Sharp Type.
