Shifting Perspectives

Kunstsilo, the art museum in a converted grain silo in Kristiansand, needed a brand that could carry its ambition to become a local, national and international destination. Nonspace developed the brand strategy "Shifting Perspectives", visual identity, a custom typeface, signage and wayfinding, website and screens ahead of the opening in May 2024.

Highlights

Aerial twilight view of a modern waterfront residential development with illuminated apartment buildings along a harbor — by Nonspace

Five vertical banners for Kunstsilo featuring bold oval patterns in yellow, blue, and green against a blue sky — by Nonspace

A brutalist concrete interior atrium with circular skylights, multiple levels, and a large suspended white panel — by Nonspace

Two overlapping rounded shapes creating a lens-shaped negative space in the center — by Nonspace

A white t-shirt with a yellow Kunstsilo hang tag attached by string to the collar — by Nonspace

Two billboard posters advertising a Cindy Sherman exhibition at Kunstsilo running from June to October 2024 — by Nonspace

A 500 piece puzzle box featuring Amaldus Nielsen's 1885 painting "Morgen ved Ny-Hellesund" for Kunstsilo — by Nonspace

A gray hardcover book titled "The Tangen Collection" sliding out of a blue translucent case with circular patterns — by Nonspace

Three museum brochures for Kunstsilo featuring geometric patterns and an Else Hagen exhibition with a painted figure — by Nonspace

Three outdoor advertising posters promoting Nordic Modernism exhibition at Kunstsilo museum running from March to October 2024 — by Nonspace

A black tote bag with a geometric circular pattern and Kunstsilo branding carried by someone in a brown coat — by Nonspace

Four admission tickets for Kunstsilo museum featuring the Tangen-Samlingen collection dated 28 June 2024 — by Nonspace

Three shopping bags in yellow, blue, and teal featuring a black optical illusion pattern with circles — by Nonspace

Six colorful membership cards for Kunstsilo museum featuring a geometric circular pattern in yellow, white, orange, blue, green and gray — by Nonspace

Three framed black and white posters featuring Kunstsilo branding with repeated typography and circular grid patterns — by Nonspace

An upward view of cylindrical white tubes arranged in a grid pattern allowing light to filter through — by Nonspace

Three outdoor sign stands promoting Kunstsilo museum featuring spring programs, amenities, and yoga classes — by Nonspace

Alternating exhibition posters for Refik Anadol and Modernismens Pionerer at Kunstsilo on a gray brick wall — by Nonspace

A gray cloth-bound art book titled The Tangen Collection with Kunstsilo on the spine — by Nonspace

Industrial grain silo facility with storage towers shown alongside architectural cross-section and floor plan drawings — by Nonspace

Bold typography showing ABC letters on blue background with punctuation marks and the number 3 — by Nonspace

A specimen sheet showing the Silo Display typeface with full character set and letterforms in white on black — by Nonspace

A hand holding a smartphone displaying a yellow Kunstsilo family ticket with QR code valid for 12.03.2024 — by Nonspace

Four silver 500mL SILØL beer cans with diagonal colored stripes indicating different varieties and ABV percentages — by Nonspace

About the project

Kunstsilo is a contemporary art museum located in Kristiansand, housed in a transformed 1930s grain silo on the island of Odderøya. The museum brings together the Sørlandet Art Museum, Kristianssands Picture Gallery, and the Tangen Collection, one of the world's largest collections of Nordic modernist art. With its bold architectural redesign and a mix of exhibitions, digital installations, and cultural events, Kunstsilo has become a dynamic hub for art, design, and community in Southern Norway.

Visit the website

Kunstsilo opened in May 2024 as the permanent home of the Tangen Collection, the world's largest collection of modernist art from the Nordic countries, and the Sørlandets Collection, and as a platform for international digital contemporary art, with permanent and temporary exhibitions, lectures, concerts, workshops and events.

Brand

Technology

Web design

Visual Identity

Packaging Design

E-commerce

This bold, and sometimes politically challenged project, demanded a clear brand strategy, and creative platform to match its social, architectural and cultural ambitions. Our responsibility is ongoing and covers everything from brand design, advertising and communications, editorial and social, product design, wayfinding, visitor experience and conceptual development of exhibitions, workflow tools to drive innovation, digital design and development and much more for a holistic brand experience.

The Kunstsilo brand was launched in 2022 to much acclaim. Reflecting Kunstsilo’s high ambitions of positioning themselves as a local, national, and international destination. With many moving parts, including hospitality and retail, education and research, we formulated a strong and flexible identity that could grow and evolve over time.

Working with Kunstsilo, we developed an identity and communication platform centred around the theme of "Shifting Perspectives" to build anticipation and engagement leading up to the grand opening.

The brand strategy, "Shifting Perspectives," is inspired by the silo's iconic architecture and represents the subjective changes that occur both in space and in reaction to exhibits and events at Kunstsilo. An open and reflecting identity where everyone is invited to create new discoveries and new conversations, shifting perspectives through art and real life experience.

The visual identity captures characteristic elements of the silo with reference to 20th Century modernism, including its tall proportions, cylindrical forms, and striking voids and brutalism.

The logo symbol is a graphic representation of the silo's cylindrical form, while the brand pattern is derived from both the architecture of the building and the logo symbol. This pattern can become a powerful visual element to help build the iconic nature of the brand - connecting the institution with the building.

The idea of "Shifting Perspectives" is embodied in the symbol through a distortion in the perception of depth.

Our custom designed display font ‘Silo Display’ is the centre of the typographic palette.

Overall, the visual identity aims to connect the institution with the building, creating an timeless and iconic brand.

Read more about how we work with spatial brand experience.

Kunstsilo opened in May 2024 and has since been featured in TIME's World's Greatest Places 2024 and The New York Times' 52 Places to Go in 2025. In December 2025 the museum building, designed by Mestres Wåge Arquitectes, BAX and Mendoza Partida, received the Prix Versailles World Title as the world's most beautiful museum.