The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled a new logo designed by British-American branding firm Wolff Olins in advance of its expansion into the former home of the Whitney Museum, which will be known as the Met Breuer.
The new logo is a stacked version of the words The Met, as the museum is commonly called, with conjoined letters in each word.
The version that has been released shows the new logo in red, but it has also already appeared in white against a red background on promotional material for the Met Breuer.
It replaces a logo based on the letter M, surrounded by grids and circles like Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing of the Vitruvian man, which the institution has used since the 1970s.
In a statement explaining the rationale behind the new design, the museum explained that it is meant to connect more directly with visitors.
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"The new logo no longer relies on symbols and, instead, is based on the commonly used name The Met, which has an immediacy that speaks to all audiences," said the museum. "It is an original drawing, a hybrid that combines and connects serif and sans serif, classical and modern letterforms."
"In this respect, it reflects the scope of the museum's collection and the connections that exist within it," the museum added.
Initial reaction to the new logo has been less than positive. New York Magazine's architecture ...