The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - 5

Small-scale branding

Two days ago I went to
the unveiling of the new
William E. Upjohn Wing
of the Kelsey Museum of Archae-
ology where,
among the
ceramic cunei-
form tablets,
marble heads
of conquerors,
samples of
honey mead and
baked ancient WHITNEY
Egyptian bread, POW
there was
something new: The Kelsey had
an updated logo. The logo was a
depiction of a fragmented Roman
mosaic in the collection, placed
prominently on the wall near the
entrance. It was large, looming
and prominent, declarative of the
renovated museum's new identity.
With the new addition to the
museum came the need to re-
invent the Kelsey and what it
stands for. Logos themselves are
one of the ways a museum estab-
lishes itself, as they are symbols
of identity, and they change with
identity changes. Where the
Kelsey's logo was once the simple
title "Kelsey Museum of Archae-
ology" written in a nondescript
serif typeface - each of the words
stacked upon one another like
slices of bread - now the logo con-
veys actual symbolism, attempting
to represent the "interlocking of
cultures" (according to the visitor
guide) displayed in the Kelsey's
collection of artifacts from ancient
Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire
and Mesopotamia.
The Kelsey's re-branding
through logo is an attempt to iden-
tify how the new museum relates
to the campus and how the collec-
tion itself has expanded to reach
areas and audiences the old build-
ing wasn't able to contain or enter-
tain. We can see this new sense
of community-orientedness and
outreach physically, too: The old
buildings looks rigid and boarding
school-like, with small windows
and the old entrance hidden in
the front porch. The new wing,
however, is sleek and modern with
boxy edges, wide, gaping win-
dows and an open, conspicuous
entrance at the new front of the
structure.
The renovation itself visually

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For a
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is a new direction for the Thompson, the senior designer of
to the public, presenting, the UMMA and Tish Holbrook of
e to make archaeology Holbrook Design, who are design-
ing accessible and read- ers who have been working with
lable to the community. the new museum. The new logo
rection is also emulated in was designed by Pentagram, one
sey's logo with the logo's of the world's most renowned
t to represent the way design firms.
s intersect, not only in the According to Thompson,
f the interconnectedness of Pentagram produced a hand-
cultures, but in the sense ful of potential candidates for
ecting our contemporary the UMMA logo. Two of these
to these historical cultures logos, however, stick out in my
mind: One potential design used
akes sense that with a tall and columnar font with long
in the physical struc- lines for the verticals in the 'M's,
)ntents and identity of a emulating a sense of age-marked
am, there should be a change classical architecture found in the
ogo as well, as the public old building, Alumni Memorial
y of an organization is often Hall, and its columns out front.
ing that is constructed Thompson mentioned that there
tnsciously through archi- was more of a negative response to
logo and design. A logo this logo, as focus groups review-
ing the logos noted how it seemed
imposing and uninviting.
The other logo candidate was
Fat your logo what we see now - the rounded,
Says about shorter letters offer a sense of
accessibility and openness in the
u identity repatng, famiiar""urature.
O~r ien y- The logo seems to represent the
new building with its open spaces
between floors, inviting and
mo be more than an image encouragingthe viewer to explore
ted with an institution - it the museum. This logo was likely
s a symbol, representing chosen by focus groups because
e institution stands for, it offered a sense of accessibility,
wishes to be conceived and having a deeper relationship with
e public conceives it. the new UMMA's mission to be a
ave seen this process of community place, one that is inte-
ng and re-branding identity grated with the lives of students,
h the new UMMA as well, teachers and the public.
after a three-year hiatus, A museum's identity is deeply
museum has emerged with linked to its architecture and logo..
uilding and a new logo - After all, it's the museum's archi-
h repeating, rounded, arch- tecture that houses and welcomes
mps in the 'M's and 'A.' the public, and it is through the
e was a great deal of con- logo that a museum represents
on taken into establishing itself and its ideals to the public.
seum's new self asa per- The Kelsey's Upjohn Wing and the
nd community resource, new UMMAintroduce new spaces
ere, according to the and new identities for these muse-
m's mission statement, the ums as part of a larger update to
wishes to be "your muse- the way that they interact with
he new logo was designed and represent themselves within
tempt to highlight this idea the community. Museums aren't
is often considered "other" meant to be static - they adapt.a,
often museums are seen as to the communities around them
hable institutions separate using new buildings, new logos
e public) and presenting it and new identities.

COURTESY OF COLUMBIA

Too soon?

Mike's last dance

'F'
i
P

Wh
Live
that i
to cro
ture f
Micha
son's
footag
weeks
death
of 50,
raged.
tation

his Is It' peers insisted upon perfection in his per-
formances. Millions of box office
nto the King of dollars later, AEG Live succeeded
in making a profit, and Jackson
op's final days fans will be pleasantly surprised to
learn that "This Is It" is a genuine
By NICK COSTON and exciting glimpse at the life of
Daily Arts Writer a performer who gave the world
such a high caliber of music and
en concert promoter AEG showmanship.
announced "This Is It" chronicles Jack-
t intended **- son's rehearsal performances of
aft a fea- the set list for what would've been
ilm out of This Is It his upcoming series of concerts
el Jack- at London's 02 Arena. Jackson
rehearsal At Qualityl6 performs 2,1 songs, including the
e mere and Showcase necessary smash hits "Thriller,"
after his Columbia "Billie Jean" and "Beat It." In addi-
at the age tion to Jackson singing and danc-
fans worldwide were out- ing his way through the numbers,
They protested the exploi- the film presents a number of skits
of a man who had always in various states ofcompletion that

would've accompanied the perfor-
mances..
"This Is It" marks Jackson's first
prolonged appearance performing
in front of a camera since I997.
Since his HIStory World Tour
concluded, audiences worldwide
have only been treated to short,
uncomfortable glimpses of the star
at Neverland Ranch, outside a Los
Angeles courthouse or evading
paparazzi'
As "This Is It" fades into the
King of Pop's rehearsal of "Wanna
Be Startin' Somethin'," the audi-
ence sees a man of immeasurable
talent and physical grace gyrating
fluidly to the infectious beat he
crafted 27 years ago. We are imme-
diately reminded why Jackson hit
so many milestones duringhis pro-
See MICHAEL, Page 7


ssible, community-oriented
pace.
project in a museum stud-
s, I recently talked to Susan

Pow is baking some ancient
Egyptian bread. Would you like some?
E-mail her at poww sumich.edu.

Kings' convenient ambiance

By SHARON JACOBS
Daily Arts Writer
When considering a duo like
Kings of Convenience, it's impor-
tant to think
about the pur-
pose of the
music. Kings Kingsof
don't write songs
you can dance ColVenience
to, or songs that Declaration of
will be played Decand of
on any radio sta- Dependence
tion, ever. Kings Virgin
write lovely sim-
pIe melodies outlined by acoustic
guitars. It's mellow background
music for studying or for quiet
conversation in a cozy caf6. While
they'll never headline a major fes-
tival, Erlend Oye and Rinik Glam-
baek Bee manage the task they've
set out for themselves. While their
third studio album, Declaration of
Dependence, doesn't have much
movement or development, its
IS HULU
YOUR
HEAVEN?
ARE VIDEO
GAMES
. YOUR JAM?
WRITE FOR
TV/NEW
MEDIA.
Send an e-mail to
battlebots@umich.edu
for an ppplication.

sweet delicacy and sheer pretti-
ness count for a lot.
The duo hails from Scandinavia,
the region responsible for ABBA
and its Euro-pop friends, border-
line-insane metal acts like Opeth
and the occasional combustible
indie-pop darling (most recently
Peter Bjorn and John). Kings of
Convenience neatly fall into this
third category - their carefully
crafted songs are precious and

appealing at first, but they won't
hold the listener's interest for long.
Some of Kings' rambling ballads
bring to mind empty Nordic ice
fields and peaceful cities full of tall
blondes. It's a nice picture, if a bit
boring.
It's hard to believe, but Dec-
laration of Dependence is even
mellower than its dreamy prede-
cessors, Quiet is the New Loud and
See KINGS, Page 7

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