Missouri Botanical Garden
160 Years of Botanical Excellence
Background & Challenge
Insights & Logo
The solution responds to both the natural and built environments, balancing the Garden’s existing landscape with its scientific and technological advancements. The identity is 70% expected and 30% unexpected, using familiar botanical forms while introducing more contemporary, flexible elements. This creates a brand that feels rooted in the Garden’s history while allowing it to grow across future platforms and experiences.
Inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, referencing timelessness and historical integrity, showcasing line forms of a classic botanical style. Keeping the mark airy and disconnected to reference light always being able to shine through, as seen in the branding system
Graphic Generation
Merging the architectural environment and the spirit of nature within science and technology, the canopy generator expands those systems and interacts with graphics in a new mix of shadow and light.
The print system plays into the 70/30 ratio, with 70% nodding to the archival and historical spirit of the Garden through overlapping motifs and an unconventional, ordered typographic system inspired by how specimen data was once recorded. The remaining 30% comes from assets derived from the Canopy Generator, creating an airy, elegant quality reminiscent of something light such as lace or feathers, while ragged edges preserve a sense of the natural within something highly digital.
Social Media
The social media templates were designed with simple, sharp motion to keep the system feeling dynamic and engaging. This is where the system began pushing beyond the established overlapping and asset-generation rules, expanding into new expressions such as stacking, color-blocked transitions, and image-scaling carousels.
Website Design
The website was designed with the user truly at the forefront. Rather than simply “re-skinning” the existing site, the rebrand provided an opportunity to rethink accessibility and the overall user experience. In areas such as “Plan Your Visit,” instead of relying on a traditional calendar, the site guides users through a custom journey to build their visit. This includes estimating travel time between gardens, generating personalized itineraries based on individual needs, and recommending accessible walking paths or family-friendly areas throughout the gardens. The site also emphasizes the educational aspects of the brand through interactive diagrams, archives, and weather modules on the “Science & Learning” page and throughout the site.
App Design
The mobile app is designed as an “at the garden” experience, bringing the rebrand to life through a custom itinerary, easy food ordering, AR experiences, and interactive games. The AR experience encourages exploration and education by allowing visitors to tap on plants, collect their cards, and build their own digital archive. Daily challenges and garden scavenger hunts add another layer of interaction, encouraging visitors to experience the gardens in a new way.
Takeaways
Variety + Expansion
There are key moments that are used repeatedly, but it was important to continue developing additional elements so the brand could remain flexible and expandable across platforms.
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