With its vision to become the leading online art retailer, Art Republic approached Pentagram to create a new strategy and brand identity, to help it build on its success, challenge the status quo and showcase its unique approach in the increasingly competitive art sales marketplace.
Established in 1999, Art Republic is an online art retailer selling affordable, limited edition prints, photography, and popular culture-influenced artworks. It works directly with a small number of carefully vetted galleries, dealers, and curators and collaborates with artists to produce new and exclusive editions.
Pentagram worked on the overall brand strategy and direction, including Art Republic’s tone of voice, UI and key messaging. By championing a more accessible and playful approach, Pentagram’s new strategy and brand identity are designed to enable Art Republic to bring exciting, inspiring and affordable art to mainstream audiences. This is neatly summed up in the new mantra created for Art Republic, a call to arms for everyone to ‘Rebel against bland interiors’.
Art Republic’s new tone of voice is purposefully unstuffy and enthusiastic while remaining engaging and opinionated. Carefully considered use of language helps the brand communicate with its customers in an open and conversational way across its various platforms. Using straplines such as ‘Fill your every day with extraordinary art’ and ‘Every wall needs a story’, this playful language distances Art Republic from the traditional, often stuffy art world approach.
Also included in Art Republic’s key messaging is its firm belief that every artist needs the opportunity to succeed—it supports its community of artists, helping them produce, market and distribute their artworks while also exploring opportunities to develop their creativity and careers.
The new hand-drawn logo features uppercase typography on a flag-inspired symbol with bold black horizontal bars. The standalone ‘AR’ monogram is used for the social media icon and in the roundel, which is designed for blind embossing print editions or certification. The monogram also features on stickers that are used for packaging and fulfilment.
A distinctive graphic language was created using the bold horizontal bars which form part of the logo. This acts as a functional and decorative device and gives the opportunity to create a branded space without simply relying on the logo. Olivier Gourvat’s Sofia Pro is used throughout as the primary typeface. Accessible and welcoming, the contemporary geometric sans serif typeface is modern, elegant and highly legible across all applications and at all sizes.
Colour plays an integral part in Art Republic’s new identity and required a palette that could work with many different styles and forms of artwork. Orange and light teal form the primary colour palette, with rose and dark teal as the secondary colours, alongside black and white and three different shades of grey.
Art Republic stands for art and people. Pentagram’s new brand identity perfectly encapsulates Art Republic’s mission to provide art for everyone by giving a voice to artists and buyers and ensuring that art lovers everywhere have easy access to ‘Great art that makes you think and feel’.
