ARTWORLD,

ARTWORLD exists as a platform that prioritizes thoughtful and alternative forms of visual communication, creating a framework that both appreciates and progresses innovative storytelling across multiple mediums.

Boasting a roster of some of the most forward-thinking visual artists working today, we were tasked to come up with a strategy and design system that kept the Artists at the forefront, while still allowing elements of the brand to subtly stand out and have their own moment.

One of the biggest hallmarks of this project was the exploration of blending a wordmark and logomark together. With such a distinct name, we leaned into the bold and expressive nature of the brand, and sought to pull out a distinct visual element. The result was the ARTWORLD Disc, a visual nod of sorts to the world they’re building. It was the first design system we implemented in this project, and we found ourselves constantly finding new ways to use and expand it. The mark ultimately offered us a device that was both graphic and contextual, allowing it to be used as a hero brand moment when we needed to stand out, and a subtle anchor when we needed to blend in.

In our design and development, we wanted to be empathetic of the experience of potential clients coming to ARTWORLD to discover talented new artists to work with. And while there was so much beautiful imagery to highlight and include in the site, we knew we needed to create an experience that allowed users to quickly sift through the work. But just having convenient overviews to digest multiple bodies of work at a time wasn’t the the goal though. It was important for us to respect that artists at hand, and offer each work its own moment. While seamlessness is the gold standard in web optimization, we found so much beauty in showing the seams here. So we introduced a bit of friction in places to allow the opportunity for the work to really land with a viewer — meaning we didn’t apply crops, effects, or scale the image down to a size that diminishes the viewing experience.

As time has passed, ARTWORLD remains one of our most successful projects because it is a container in the truest since of the world. With a brand and design system that flexes between standing out and blending in, the experience is able to constantly evolve as new work continues to be created. We’ve been amazed at the quality of talent that the ARTWORLD team continues to bring in, and can’t wait to see where they take the brand next.