Bob Dylan CenterMr Tambourine Man
Representing the life’s work of one of America’s greatest songwriters
The life and work of Bob Dylan is celebrated at a new cultural center in Tulsa, which aims to inspire and influence generations of music fans. Pulling elements from Dylan’s archives, from annotated manuscripts to woodblock-printed posters, BaseNYC captured the spirit of his 60-year career with an identity developed in reverence to his craft.
No one represents the sound of Americana like Bob Dylan. Layering twangy guitar strings, high-pitched harmonica harmonies, and masterful storytelling through song – which earned him a Nobel Prize, no less – his music is as important to US culture today as it was in the 1960s and 70s. (Who’s humming the riff from ‘Hurricane’ while reading this?).
Along with the release of a critically acclaimed new album in 2020, the creation of a cultural venue dedicated to Dylan’s life and career was announced for the Tulsa Arts District. As the primary public venue for The Bob Dylan Archive, this center will curate and exhibit an extraordinary collection of more than 100,000 items spanning the musician’s career, and facilitate the study and appreciation of his music and worldwide cultural significance.
When imagining an iconic visual identity system for the center, we sought to celebrate 20th-century Americana through imagery based on protest posters of the 60s. For both the on- and offline presence, the ink-blue annotations found in Dylan’s manuscripts provided inspiration. Typefaces evocative of American newspapers, but with a contemporary flair, and the woodblock types used for many of Dylan’s concert posters and record sleeves also served as influences for the final product. The resulting logotype visually fuses the familiar (Bob Dylan) with the new (The Center) while emphasizing the importance of the site’s location in Tulsa.
Slated to open in 2021, in a building by world-renowned architecture firm Olson Kundig, the center will serve to educate, motivate and inspire visitors to engage their own capacity as creators. And its holistic brand experience will help create an appropriate home for one of America’s most important artists.
The life and work of Bob Dylan is celebrated at a new cultural center in Tulsa, which aims to inspire and influence generations of music fans. Pulling elements from Dylan’s archives, from annotated manuscripts to woodblock-printed posters, BaseNYC captured the spirit of his 60-year career with an identity developed in reverence to his craft.
No one represents the sound of Americana like Bob Dylan. Layering twangy guitar strings, high-pitched harmonica harmonies, and masterful storytelling through song – which earned him a Nobel Prize, no less – his music is as important to US culture today as it was in the 1960s and 70s. (Who’s humming the riff from ‘Hurricane’ while reading this?).
Along with the release of a critically acclaimed new album in 2020, the creation of a cultural venue dedicated to Dylan’s life and career was announced for the Tulsa Arts District. As the primary public venue for The Bob Dylan Archive, this center will curate and exhibit an extraordinary collection of more than 100,000 items spanning the musician’s career, and facilitate the study and appreciation of his music and worldwide cultural significance.
When imagining an iconic visual identity system for the center, we sought to celebrate 20th-century Americana through imagery based on protest posters of the 60s. For both the on- and offline presence, the ink-blue annotations found in Dylan’s manuscripts provided inspiration. Typefaces evocative of American newspapers, but with a contemporary flair, and the woodblock types used for many of Dylan’s concert posters and record sleeves also served as influences for the final product. The resulting logotype visually fuses the familiar (Bob Dylan) with the new (The Center) while emphasizing the importance of the site’s location in Tulsa.
Slated to open in 2021, in a building by world-renowned architecture firm Olson Kundig, the center will serve to educate, motivate and inspire visitors to engage their own capacity as creators. And its holistic brand experience will help create an appropriate home for one of America’s most important artists.
- Creative DirectionMin Lew
- DesignDaniel Peterson, Gabriela Carnabuci
- Digital Design & DevelopmentMirek Nisenbaum, Andrey Starkov, Ross Gendels, Gabriela Carnabuci
- Project ManagementJake Post
- TypographyMatter of Sorts
- 2019 Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) AwardsMerit in Typefaces
