SFAI x Matrix 277
Exhibition Identity
Exhibition Identity
Orbits of Known and Unknown Objects: SFAI Histories / MATRIX 277 is an exhibition in the form of a website for the Berkeley Art Museum. In honor of the San Francisco Art Institute’s 150th Anniversary, I collaborated with SFAI librarians and archivists Jeff Gunderson, Becky Alexander, and Nina Zurier, along with curator Apsara DiQuinzio to celebrate the school through a series of objects that speak to the history, community, and creative output of this remarkable institution.
Creative Direction:
Brett MacFadden & Scott Thorpe
The typography in the title treatment had an intentional lo-fi quality, referencing the original methods used to archive the collection of objects. An orbital path cuts through the center of the title, exposing its underlying structure and playing on the tension between the known and the unknown.
A zine was also created as a supplemental piece to the website and housed longer-form articles alongside a conceptual diagram that mapped the relationships, or “orbits,” between items from the archive.
The website was designed to evoke the feeling of discovery found in a physical gallery space. The homepage featured ten randomly generated “gallery walls,” each unified by a common theme. Objects appear initially in stark black and white, then fade on hover to reveal their full color, mirroring the gradual uncovering of detail as viewers move through an exhibition.