Restyling natural history.
Client
Comune di Trieste
Work
Visual Identity
Services
- Art Direction
- Graphic Design
- Editorial Design
Challenge
The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Trieste ranks among Italy's oldest natural history museums, housing a collection of specimens found nowhere else in the world. As part of a broader renewal, the City of Trieste, the museum's governing body, commissioned a restyling of its visual identity, with a particular focus on wayfinding signage and promotional materials.
Thinking
The design approach centred on building a visual identity that could carry the museum's scientific character and historical depth without retreating into a purely classical register. The colour palette grew out of that very tension: blue, the primary colour, evokes Trieste's maritime identity, while orange draws its hue from the museum's extensive coral collection, turning a piece of the collection itself into a distinguishing brand trait. The typographic choice follows the same logic — a serif typeface that reinterprets, in a contemporary key, the typography of nineteenth-century scientific treatises, anchoring the project in the museum's naturalist tradition while giving it a modern bearing.
Outcome
The identity system was rolled out consistently across the museum's internal signage and promotional materials, from exhibition panels to printed collateral, giving every visitor touchpoint a unified, recognisable language. Blue and orange, balanced in careful alternation, mark out the different exhibition spaces, while the serif typeface carries didactic texts and institutional communication with the same graphic coherence.
Impact
The restyling gave the museum an image consistent with both its scientific heritage and its place within the city, strengthening the perceived bond between the museum and Trieste's identity. The result is a visual identity able to speak to specialist audiences and casual visitors alike, helping make the museum's heritage more recognisable and more accessible.
