Barcelona’s museum of contemporary art, MACBA, asked Mucho to develop a renewed identity system for a museum entering a new phase. As the institution marked its 30th anniversary, prepared for an expansion and launched a new strategic plan, the objective was to create a visual language that felt more open, recognisable and adaptable across exhibitions, campaigns and the museum environment.
MACBA needed a system capable of holding very different kinds of content and applications without losing coherence. It had to work across exhibition campaigns, communications, signage, print and digital, bringing consistency while reflecting a museum that is open to the city, to dialogue and to constant change
Our response was to build the identity around openness. Starting from the idea of The Possible Museum, we developed a system that feels more accessible, permeable and alive, creating a framework clear enough to unify the museum while allowing each programme and exhibition to express its own voice.
The updated logo breaks out of the black box, becoming more present and flexible across applications. No longer confined, it can be split into MAC and BA, creating a space to play with images, text, and new meanings. The typographic compositions follow the same logic, moving away from a fixed centre and behaving in a more open and dynamic way. Built on a modular grid, with ABC Diatype and a restrained black-and-white palette, the new system introduces variation, without losing focus on the work.
The exhibition system allows each show to define its own tone while remaining recognisably MACBA. Depending on the content, the same framework can hold generous white space, integrated imagery or more immersive compositions. In collective shows, typography alone can lead the communication, avoiding the need to privilege one work over another.
The identity extends beyond posters into the full museum experience: exterior masts, outdoor and digital displays, seasonal programmes, corridor signage, room sheets, invitations and campaign materials. The same visual language adapts across formats and scales, giving the museum a more coherent presence across the building and the city.
The result is a visual system that gives MACBA greater consistency, flexibility and a clearer brand voice. It respects the singularity of each exhibition, bringing coherence across its programmes, spaces and communications, strengthening the museum as a whole.
The exhibition posters featured in this case study — Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano, Unknown City Beneath the Mist, Mari Chordà, and Teresa Solar Abboud — are fictitious and have been created solely to illustrate the new MACBA design system. The exhibitions themselves are real and took place at MACBA, but the poster designs shown here are not their actual campaigns.
