Louis Armstrong House Museum
Design Studio: C&G Partners
Louis Armstrong, one of the most renowned entertainers worldwide, chose to live and work in the blue-collar neighborhood of Corona, Queens, where his house was converted into a museum in 2003. The house meticulously preserves Armstrong and his wife Lucille’s home, as well as in-depth archives, making it a historic and iconic site. It provides public access to Armstrong’s extensive archives, offers educational programs, and hosts performances by multi-disciplinary artists from around the world.
Identity, Exhibition, Environmental, Digital, and Wayfinding Design
Updated Logo
In 2018, construction began on an additional museum by Caples Jefferson Architects, located across the street. Our team was responsible for designing the way-finding system, environmental graphics, and re-branding, as well as developing an exhibition space. The exhibition was curated by the renowned Jazz musician Jason Moran and was housed within the dynamic structure—fabrication and installation by Art Guild.
Poster System
The original logo was designed by the late Milton Glaser. Therefore, when we were assigned the task, we decided to modify and elaborate on the logo instead of starting from scratch. Following this guiding principle, we used the newly tailored logo to inform the branding. This included using hoops, circles, condensed typography on angles, and, of course, the most important ingredient—Louis.
Brand Toolkit
Our branding toolkit was designed to be in sync with the exhibition’s aesthetic, incorporating many of its typographic elements, animation systems, and colors to create a cohesive look. A major source of inspiration for the assignment was Louis’ paper collage work, in which he created his own tape box covers and even covered the walls of his house.
Brand Collateral
Main Space
The golden circular forms from Milton Glaser's logo influenced the physical space by creating case enclosures where artifacts, graphics, and a video display express themes from Louis’s life.
Temporary Artifact Case
A key design decision for the cases was to make them flexible and organically arranged. By utilizing different height pedestals, magnets, and metal backers, we had the freedom to move and position various types of artifacts. A centerpiece of the experience is a giant interactive surface evoking a spinning vinyl record. Overhead projections create ever-changing motion with spinning center labels and grooves revolving around the perimeter. The media technology design for the table was provided by Potion.
Detail of Case
Gold Record and Letters Wall
The exhibition brand primarily focused on gold, white, and black. We aimed for the label rails to blend into the background while making the type stand out. Each case was assigned a texture and color associated with a specific artifact.
Detail of Cases
We produced five different mini-documentaries focusing on the following themes: Armstrong as an Ambassador, Artist, on Film, his Roots, and his Tools as an artist. Considering the ambient sounds produced by the centerpiece in the space, we used high-fidelity headsets to concentrate the sound from the films. When designing the animations, we treated the subtitles and titles as dynamically designed elements, enhancing the overall experience. Each subtitle container, video, and image is thoughtfully placed as if they were posters.
Detail of Case
Digital Signage
We created an updatable PowerPoint presentation that served as digital signage, where it was essential to simplify the information while introducing our toolkit in the brand's presentation. The left screen displays ticketing information, while the right shows more in-depth content, including initiatives, activities, rules, and museum areas.