The City Reliquary

Brand identity
When the world gets modernized and updated, the items they’re replacing get left behind, often forgotten and unable to be treasured and appreciated for their history. The City Reliquary is, in a way, a place for these objects to live. A place where, despite how they might be perceived in the outside world, these objects aren’t useless trash. They have educational and historical value, and it is important to treasure these objects and show what came before what we take for granted today.

Founded in 2002, The City Reliquary is a community-based museum located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Reliquaries are traditionally vessels housing the bones of dead saints; however The City Reliquary houses the bones of old New York. The museum is comprised of unique artifacts from all corners of the city, as well as collections from various community members. This branding project aims not to erase the unique character of the institution but rather magnify it, by adding new graphics on top of what already exists. The logo is inspired by the fact that almost everything in the museum might be considered trash, but within the greater collection is very valuable and significant. The brand identity is cheeky, loud, and diverse, just like the city itself.

Poster campaign highlighting individual items in the collection that might be overlooked in everyday world, but are important artifacts at The City Reliquary.

The tickets at The City Reliquary become a collectors' item of their own. Each ticket is unique and changes regularly; offering visitors a unique souvenir from their visit each time.

Merch for The City Reliquary is comprised of upcycled NYC garments, screenprinted with various logotypes.

Rather than having wayfinding graphics inside the museum, the wayfinding exists outside, in the surrounding neighborhood.

Logo in motion, being uncrumpled/crumpled like a piece of trash.