Case Study: Barbur Gallery Design System
Client: Barbur GalleryServices: Visual Rebranding, Design System, Print & Digital Collateral, Exhibition Identity
Year: 2025
Collaboration: Lars Sergel, Curator
Background
Founded in 2005, Barbur Gallery in Jerusalem is an artist-run space that has become a cornerstone of the city’s contemporary art scene. Known for its independence, experimentation, and community engagement, the gallery has long served as a platform for diverse artistic voices. As the gallery matured, it became clear that its visual identity needed to evolve – something that could mirror its growing role as a respected cultural institution, while retaining its independent and experimental spirit. Our task was to reimagine Barbur’s identity into one that would feel timeless, elegant, and institutionally clear, but also unexpected and contemporary, much like the art it presents.
Challenge
The challenge lay in bridging two worlds. On the one hand, Barbur needed a sense of visual gravity and refinement, the kind of identity usually associated with established museums or institutional galleries.
On the other hand, the gallery’s DNA is rooted in experimentation, inclusivity, and risk-taking:
qualities that risk being lost under sterile modernist approaches. Too often in the past, the 70s and 80s offered “clean” and textureless reproductions that erased material qualities. We wanted the opposite: an identity that felt archival, tactile, and alive, yet precise and structured. The system also needed to work seamlessly across trilingual formats, from Hebrew and Arabic to English, and adapt to both print and digital outputs.
What We Did
We began by looking at mid-century typographic composition: strict grids, clear hierarchies, and balanced placements. This became the backbone of the system. Onto that structure we layered a subtle sense of tactility – scanned textures, faint shadows, and archival details that give each piece the feel of a document pulled from an artist’s file or a museum archive. The combination of order and imperfection gave the identity both authority and humanity.
From there, we applied the system across Barbur’s most important touchpoints. Exhibition texts were reformatted into a trilingual structure that allowed equal weight to Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Invitations and posters were designed to feel elegant but never sterile, each carrying the slight imperfections of texture and shadow that signal authenticity. Inside the gallery, wall texts and signage carried the same balance of clarity and materiality, ensuring visitors felt both welcomed and anchored in a contemporary yet timeless space. Every detail, from digital invitations to physical prints, was designed to carry the gallery’s unique blend of seriousness and openness.
Outcome
The new design system gave Barbur Gallery a renewed sense of institutional presence while keeping true to its experimental soul. Visitors now encounter an identity that feels at once grounded in cultural history and open to contemporary interpretations. The trilingual system reinforced the gallery’s inclusivity, while the tactile archival feel established a clear differentiation from other art spaces that favor sterile minimalism.
Ultimately, the rebrand elevated Barbur’s standing within Jerusalem’s cultural landscape, strengthening both its public visibility and its connection with artists and audiences. The gallery now speaks visually in the same way it has always spoken through its programming: with clarity, boldness, and a commitment to art that challenges boundaries.