Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is Canada’s largest museum, a world-renowned institution of art, world culture and  natural history. Its expansive collections were simply not enough to appeal to a more diverse and younger audience anymore. Our challenge was to jolt and overhaul every touchpoint of the museum. And our goal was to help transform ROM into a contemporary, dynamic presence for the 21st century, making it a cultural destination to experience. The new visual identity of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) captures the history of our planet. 13 million moments in time — bones, beasts, butterflies, portraits, sculptures, textiles, art, culture, nature — from the past 4.2 billion years. Each object, each artifact, and each piece of art is like a single stitch along the vast timeline of our shared history.

Key to this visual identity was the creation of a new custom typeface — ROM Coign — designed to evoke the
timeline. This typeface pushes the absolute limits of condensed typography, with seven weights and four different widths, all super condensed. Designed to expand and contract, it can create the sensation of diving into single moments of our collective history, and then pulling back to reveal its immense scope. Every character representing a single stitch in time, all knit together in one immortal timeline.

ROM’s visual identity has revitalized and brought a fresh energy into the museum, creating a new heartbeat in the city and resonating with local/international art and culture lovers. Inspired by an immortal timeline of the past, present and future – our bold, new identity has been powerful and impactful, establishing a distinct visual perspective for ROM and its continual transformation.