Lanyard and name badge for Alan Walker, Lead Researcher at the National Landing Research group, designed for Creative Cycle’s 2022 Focus Group event — showcasing custom branding and event collateral

National Museum of the American Latino - Branding

Client: Smithsonian Institution | Meraki Communications Group | Ogilvy

Brand Identity

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Brand Strategy

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Brand Guidelines

Overview

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino is the first museum dedicated to the full story of Latinos in the United States — centuries of history, culture, and contribution that have never had a permanent home on the National Mall. Creative Cycle partnered with Meraki Communications Group and Ogilvy to co-lead the creative development of the museum's founding brand identity — a visual system that had to hold the stories of over 60 million people while standing proudly within the Smithsonian family.

Team

Co-Creative Director

Jose Caicedo

Co-Creative Director

Carlos Murguia

Art Director

Barbara Condemarín

Senior Designer

Edward Acaro

Deliverables

Brand Identity System

Brand Guidelines Document

Color Accessibility Framework

Challenge

This wasn't a typical branding project. The museum represents the lived experience of over 60 million Latinos in the U.S. — Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central and South American, Afro-Latino, Indigenous — communities with distinct histories, traditions, and visual cultures. A single identity had to hold all of that without flattening any of it.

The brand also needed to live within the Smithsonian — one of the most recognized institutional identities in the world. It had to feel distinctly Latino and unmistakably Smithsonian. That's a tension most brand projects never have to navigate.

And it needed to work before the museum itself exists. No building, no permanent collection on display — just a mission, a name, and the weight of what it promises. The brand would be the first thing the public encounters. It had to carry the full story on its own.

Challenge

Solution

Three creative directors from three organizations brought different perspectives to the table — which is exactly what this project demanded. A brand for this community couldn't come from a single point of view.

We started with research and listening. Stakeholder interviews with Smithsonian leadership. Workshops with cultural advisors and community voices. Deep study of Latino visual traditions, art history, and design heritage — looking for what felt authentic without leaning on cliché. The goal wasn't to illustrate Latino culture. It was to design something that Latinos would recognize as theirs.

The visual identity system includes primary and secondary logos, a bold color palette drawn from the warmth and diversity of Latino cultural influences, custom typography that balances personality with institutional legibility, and supporting patterns and graphic elements that add richness across applications.

Color accessibility was a priority from day one. Every palette combination was tested for contrast compliance across digital and print, and verified for legibility by people with color vision deficiencies. A museum for all Latinos had to be visually accessible to all of them.

Comprehensive brand guidelines were delivered so Smithsonian teams and partners could apply the identity consistently across print, digital, merchandise, environmental, and future museum spaces — a system built to scale as the museum grows from concept to reality.

Solution

Branded office stationery design for the National Landing Research on a bright purple background showcasing Creative Cycle’s print collateral and visual identity work for the organization.

Impact

The National Museum of the American Latino now has a founding visual identity that is distinctly Latino, authentically Smithsonian, and built to grow. The brand system provides the foundation for every future communication, exhibition, and public experience the museum will create — from its current programming to the day the building opens on the National Mall.

This project represents what Creative Cycle was built for: work that sits at the intersection of culture, strategy, and identity — where design isn't decoration but a form of translation. Three creative directors, three perspectives, one identity that had to hold 60 million stories. We're proud to have been part of the team that built it.

Impact

Final logotype of the Nactional Landing Research in silver displayed on a blue wall.

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Let's talk

hello@creativecycle.io

2303 Cavendish Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308

Virginia

Make it happen

Let's talk

hello@creativecycle.io

2303 Cavendish Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308

Virginia

Make it happen