Lena Holger
Majken Schultz
Marie-Louise Bowallius
Per Mollerup
Olle Granath
Ingalill Holmberg
The exhibition illuminates the modern history of design but also the co-ordination between culture, commerce and research. There is also focus on how knowledge is growing about the role and importance of logos, symbols and brands. The exhibition has sketches, graphic art handbooks, posters, film, photography and objects, all loaded with the brand message. The development and design history of selected logos are given extra attention.
Widening its mandate concerning current and modern
design, Nationalmuseum presents Identity -
Trademarks, Logotypes and Symbols. The exhibition
reveals, from the viewpoints of both design history
and commerce, the process that makes a logotype
into a symbol or a strong brand. Identity -
Trademarks, Logotypes and Symbols illuminates the
modern history of design but also the co-ordination
between culture, commerce and research. There is
also focus on how knowledge is growing about the
role and importance of logos, symbols and brands.
How are we affected by the brands around us and
how do we use them to create our own identities?
How is a brand built? What happens with brands and
logos when companies merge? Where is the line
between advertising and art? The exhibition has
sketches, graphic art handbooks, posters, film,
photography and objects, all loaded with the brand
message. The development and design history of
selected logos are given extra attention. Partner
companies are AstraZeneca, Kooperativa Förbundet
(Cooperative Union), Posten (Swedish Post Office),
Tera Pak and Trygg-Hansa. Also involved are the Red
Cross and Nationalmuseum, with its own design
progression.
Identity - Trademarks, Logotypes and Symbols is a
co-operative project involving Nationalmuseum and
the Stockholm School of Economics. The project
consists of an exhibition, a catalogue and a series of
seminars. The seminars illustrate and inspect symbols
and trademarks from the viewpoints of economy,
society and design history. The purpose is to open a
discussion and invite reflections on the making of a
brand, the moral and ethical aspects of branding, the
brand as mass-produced art artefact and the
construction of identities.
The six seminars will be held in Nationalmuseum's
auditorium, concurrently with the exhibition. Several
will be combined with research seminars at the
School of Economics. Three speakers have been
invited for each occasion. In charge of the seminars
is Associate Professor Ingalill Holmberg of the
Stockholm School of Economics.
A score of writers have contributed to the catalogue.
Among them are historians, art and design historians
and business economists. They include Professor
Majken Schultz, Copenhagen School of Economics,
design historian Marie-Louise Bowallius, Stockholm's
School of Arts, Crafts and Design, Copenhagen
architect Per Mollerup Ph.D., and Olle Granath,
former director general of Nationalmuseum. Also
represented: business economists Frans Melin Ph.D.
of Lund University, Lars Strannegård Ph.D.,
Associate Professor Miriam Salzer-Mörling D. Econ.,
and Associate Professor Magnus Söderlund - the
three latter from the Stockholm School of
Economics. Doctoral candidates Johan Eriksson (Art
History), of Stockholm University, and HÃ¥kan
Jönsson (Ethnology) of Lund University, are also
among the contributors.
Image: Poster from the Red Cross
Exhibition curator: senior curator Lena Holger
In charge of the seminars: Associate Professor Ingalill Holmberg, the Stockholm School of Economics +46 (0)8-736 96 21, ingalill.holmberg@hhs.se
Nationalmuseum Södra Blasieholmshamnen, Stockholm
Opening Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 11 am - 8 pm
Wednesday and Friday - Sunday 11 am - 5 pm
Monday closed, 1 June - 31 August closed on Thursdays 5 pm - 8pm.
For more information please contact: Lena Munther, and Annika Ekdahl