The New Mural Arts Logo Contains Multitides

J2 Design had the privilege of working with Mural Arts Philadelphia to help this amazing institution rebrand. The brand begins with a foundational M, which has been reinterpreted in this animation by a number of J2 Designers and our great friend Melissa McFeeters

There’s a bit of — well, there’s a lot of — the classic MTV logo in the new Mural Arts logo, which is being rolled out as we speak, in the walk-up to Mural Arts Month. And to take it in as it flips through just a sampling of the iterations that are sure to come (as the video above illustrates), that’s not a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s deeply satisfying on a visual level, and you can see how it might spawn infinite variations. Created and hatched by Philly’s J2 Design — read their explainer on it here — that is exactly the idea. “We're hoping that the logo will be the foundation for artists and the public to interpret,” says J2’s Emma Fried-Cassorla. (The J2 staff will be talking about the project at this Design Philadelphia event on Oct 13.)

“All of the new Mural Arts collateral,” she says, “brochures, overview pieces, and postcards incorporate the new logo, and as Mural Arts month starts, we'll be asking people to draw their own 'M' (we've already collected about 75 from a previous event). We've also specifically worked with non-muralists to get M's that ‘go beyond the paint.’”

Already, you can see how that might shake out. There's a few added bonuses, too: That graffiti-esque “M” is a subtle acknowledgement of the Philly mural’s roots in (and often fraught relationship) with what we’ll call unlawful public wall writing. And in a town where we often talk about public art we don’t like, this new jawn is a uniter, too — it shifts shape in a way, ironically, a mural never could.