San Francisco Art Institute

Rebranding a legacy of exploration
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Brand Audit
Brand Platform
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Audience, Competitors & Trends
Brand & Rebrand
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San Francisco Art Institute logo. It uses bold, black text on a light grey background.
Large group of people gathered at an event on SFAI's campus. It is evening and there is a band playing.
San Francisco Art Institute

San Francisco Art Institute is the first and oldest school of fine arts in the western U.S., producing such iconic artists as photographer Annie Leibovitz, director Kathryn Bigelow and painter Kehinde Wiley.

Gil and Amy Gershoni look at a collage of photographs and designs. Both are wearing black suits.
Variety of color schemes for the SFAI logo.
San Francisco Art Institute

SFAI had spent a century and a half developing artists as critical thinkers and culture-maker but was struggling to find its own voice amid a chorus of alumni, faculty, students and other stakeholders.

The school reached out to Gershoni to develop a brand system that celebrated open debate and edgy experimentation and captured its renegade spirit.

Brand guidelines for Gershoni's rebrand of the San Francisco Art Institute.
Collage of various artworks created by SFAI students.
San Francisco Art Institute

After facilitating several workshops and more than 100 interviews with stakeholders, we rallied the organization around a set of insights that celebrated what had been perceived as their greatest struggle: contrast.

We developed a brand built around SFAI’s culture of diversity, experimentation and breaking boundaries, uniting the organization with a flexible brand, codified language and visuals that represented the role of the arts in pushing society’s boundaries. From a fully realized brand book to a complete web redesign, Gershoni brought a unified and unifying brand experience to life at every touchpoint.

Mock-up of a phone and a computer opened to SFAI's website. The landing page reads, "Push beyond boundaries."
“

The relationship was very collaborative. Gershoni was able to respect the opinions of the many strong-willed, creative people who had input in the project. Gil is a true visionary. The team took all the input and distilled that in a really beautiful way. He made everybody feel heard, and that was a big deal.”

Janette Andrawes
Director of Marketing, SFAI

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