Press Release - The Breman unveils compelling new branding

PRESS RELEASE

04/12/2024

The Breman unveils compelling new branding aimed at conveying institution’s broadening profile

– Atlanta agency Matchstic builds on audience, staff and trustee feedback to help the Midtown museum communicate its transition into a cultural center –

For Immediate Release

Atlanta, GA. The Breman is officially launching its new branding on April 12, pointing toward a new era and evolving identity for the institution.

With the intent to represent itself more accurately today and into the future, the Breman initiated a two-year process of discovery in 2022 that has helped sharpen its focus internally so that it can better represent itself to Atlanta and the world externally. A key partner in this pursuit has been Matchstic, an Atlanta brand identity house that helps “growing brands become radically relevant.”

04/12/2024

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Opened as the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Midtown Atlanta’s Selig Center in 1996, the year the city hosted the Centennial Olympic Games, the Breman was primarily an exhibiting institution until it launched the Molly Blank Concert Series in 2014. The series’ success over its first years led The Breman’s board to seek “an inspiring leader to bring the vision of a Jewish cultural center to life.”

In 2019, it appointed Leslie Gordon, who had served as Director of the Rialto Center for Arts at Georgia State University since 2003, as executive director. Under Gordon’s guidance over the last five years, the Breman has presented a panoply of performances and events showcasing the richness of Jewish culture for increasingly diverse audiences.

Fittingly, Matchstic along with a group of Breman trustees and staff, has produced a positioning statement that aligns with its 2024 profile: “The Breman is where story keepers and story seekers share the wonder of the Jewish experience.”

Headlines that will succinctly convey this message – from banners stretching along the Selig Center’s fence facing busy Spring Street to The Breman’s website – include: “Our histories are woven. Come see what makes it yours,” “Resilience runs deep,” and “Seeking out a good story? We’ve got several (hundred).”

Headlines hitting a lighter note, while nodding to The Breman’s role as a Jewish cultural center in the capital city of the South, include: “Where y’all gets its Chutzpah” and “Where you can oooh, aaah and oy vey in one afternoon.”

A key tool in graphically conveying the new identity will be what Matchstic dubbed the “Dynamic B,” an eye-catching elongated first letter for Breman. This “instantly recognizable symbol,” Matchstic writes in its design guide, “represents the cultural stories we champion. Flexible in its use, it can be a container for messaging, photography or be used on its own, depending on the application”.

The Dynamic B will have a starring role in applications including banners, brochures, signs, social media, wayfinding, business cards, stationery, wristbands, tickets, posters, enamel pins, tote bags and T-shirts.

The Breman’s wordmark uses a “storied brand font,” Domaine Display Condensed. Appropriately, its imaginative forms and unique curves subtly evoke Hebrew characters.

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“We love how Matchstic has helped us express The Breman’s ‘radical relevance,’” Leslie Gordon said. “It smartly drew inspiration from our programs that have long put us in the role of ‘story keepers’ such as our annual series of ‘Bearing Witness’ talks by Holocaust survivors with jazz, theater and other expressions of Jewish culture that we are now presenting. Gradually and carefully, an exciting new brand aimed at ‘story seekers’ emerged.”

Early in the process of discovery, The Breman hosted focus groups with cultural consumers, both ones who were well familiar with the institution and others who had rarely or never stepped foot in its home of more than 25 years.

“The Breman has long enjoyed respect as an Atlanta institution,” Gordon said, “and now we will put these new tools to work to become a higher profile and more essential force of connection in the city we serve.”

Tracy Clark, Matchstic’s Director of Strategy, praised the give and take with Breman trustees and staff that led to a new brand that communicates its valued place in the community while also embracing its future ambitions.

“Atlanta is our home, and we are honored to be part of this evolution for such an important local institution,” Clark said. “Our team got to experience first-hand all of the amazing programming that the Breman offers – and the personal connections we built with their mission and team prompted a flow of inspiration and creativity.”

For more information about The Breman and our lineup of compelling current exhibitions and exciting upcoming events, please visit www.TheBreman.org.

Link to Graphic Assets: https://bit.ly/4cK5gl3

Contact:

David Schendowich | Director of Marketing & Communications

The Breman | 1440 Spring Street | Atlanta, GA 30309 dschendowich@thebreman.org

Office: 678.222.3732 | Cell: 678.571.4605 #