Brand Guidelines Evaluation

Client: Field Museum
Date: June through September 2021
Services: Organizational Practices, Visual Description
A neatly arranged set of Field Museum brand materials on a gray surface. The design uses a strong cobalt-blue and white color palette with bold, all caps, condensed typography. Visible items include a large folder or brochure reading "EARTH. WE'RE ON IT.", a letterhead sheet, a rolled poster, business cards, an envelope or booklet with the Field Museum logo, two white pencils printed with the campaign slogan, and an open grid notebook containing handwritten notes and a small earth-like sketch.

PAC helped the Field Museum and Leo Burnett evaluate the museum’s new brand style guide for inclusive design, recommending color-contrast adjustments and accessibility specifications that expanded the guidelines for readable, usable, and brand-aligned print and digital materials.

Media

Three issues of Field Museum Member Magazine titled "IN THE FIELD," arranged horizontally. Each cover uses oversized bold typography in all caps at the top. The left cover is white with blue text with a photo of a person standing inside a glowing blue ice cave. The middle cover is black with white text with a dramatic solar eclipse image centered below the title. The right cover is blue with white text with an aerial satellite-style image of a green coastal volcanic landscape
A grid of printed museum materials mounted on a gray wall. Several brochures feature the "FIELD." logo in blue or white, with a clean modern design using large blue blocks, white backgrounds, and photographic exhibit imagery. Visible items include a large "Map" brochure, a "Cyrus Tang Hall of China" admission piece with a black-and-white statue image, a "Grainger Hall of Gems" brochure with icy blue gemstone imagery, and a bird-themed brochure showing a close-up of a yellow bird.
An interior museum or gallery corridor with a large modern wayfinding sign mounted on a pale wall. The sign lists the destination on the our left, "Plants of the World," "Earth Sciences," "Moving Earth," "Evolving Planet," "Restrooms," and "Cafe," with arrows indicating directions and floor numbers 1 and 2 on our right. The destinations are written in clear white text on a black background with ifons below the restrooms and cafe. To the right is a blue colum with the number two for the exhibits and a grey column underneath it with the number one for the restrooms and cafe. On the your right is the final column in the sign with large black arrows on a white background. The space has stone flooring, tall columns, and a clean institutional design. A person in a light-colored coat is motion-blurred while walking across the left side of the frame.
A wide outdoor billboard promoting a museum exhibition titled "MUMMIES." The design uses a stark white background with vivid blue and black typography in all caps. Huge blue letters spell "MUMMIES" across most of the sign, with the date "03.16.18" displayed prominently on the left. Several blue-tinted images of mummified remains and ancient artifacts appear across the billboard, including a wrapped mummy-like figure and a mask or sarcophagus-style face. A small museum logo and "FIELD" branding are visible near the left-center. The billboard is mounted along a street or building facade, with a modern glass building and blue sky with clouds above it.
A brown paper shopping bag photographed in a studio-like setting. The bag is upright and slightly angled, revealing both the front and left side. Its front is covered with large white block typography repeating the words "FIELD." and "MUSEUM" in different sizes and orientations, creating a dense graphic pattern. Two white twisted paper handles arch above the open top of the bag. The background and tabletop are neutral gray, emphasizing the bag's brown paper texture and high-contrast white print.

Project Description

When the Field Museum launched its new visual brand identity, it engaged PAC to review the brand style guide through the lens of inclusive design. The goal was to ensure that the museum’s new visual system could retain its intended aesthetic while also supporting legibility, usability, and accessibility across print and digital applications.

PAC worked with Leo Burnett, the museum’s agency, to evaluate the proposed color system and identify where adjustments were needed to improve contrast. This included clarifying which colors could be used together, which combinations should be avoided, and how the brand palette could be applied more accessibly across different types of materials.

Based on PAC’s recommendations, the Field Museum team expanded the style guide to include additional accessibility specifications for print applications. These additions helped ensure that future design work could embody the museum’s refreshed visual identity while giving staff, vendors, and design partners clearer guidance for producing materials that are readable, inclusive, and aligned with the brand.