Pentagram Designs Identity for Tokyo's Museum of Narratives

Pentagram partners Luke Powell and Alice Sherwin have created the visual identity for MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, a new cultural destination in Tokyo. The museum treats Japanese and global culture as a living narrative with a circular curation approach. The identity is built around a spiral logo that reads M, O, N and generates the entire layout logic. A bar element linearizes the concept for practical content framing. Typography is bilingual, treating Japanese and English equally. The color palette draws on natural cycles: sun, land, and water, giving the palette universal resonance and a sense of place in Takanawa. The design thinking started from the museum's circular curation plan, leading to the strategic idea of dimensional time—the understanding that ideas, traditions, and culture recur and loop back. The project involved deep discussions about cultural influence, including learning about Shinto and the concept of rocks as sacred vessels. The client's open-mindedness allowed for abstract conceptual discussions, enabling depth in the project.