The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, houses the world’s largest Shakespeare collection and is a leading center for the study of the playwright and Renaissance culture. Opened in 1932 by Henry and Emily Folger as a gift to the American people, the landmark building designed by Paul Cret stands a block from the US Capitol. In addition to its Shakespeare holdings, the Folger preserves major collections of rare books, manuscripts, and works of art, and presents award-winning productions in the Folger Theatre.

A major 2024 renovation by KieranTimberlake expanded public space and brought more of the collection into view—including all 82 of the library’s First Folios—through the addition of the 12,000-square-foot Adams Pavilion, which introduces accessible entrances, new galleries, learning, research, and gathering spaces below the library’s front lawn.

As part of this revitalization, Pentagram developed a new visual identity for the Folger that draws on its history while presenting a vibrant, contemporary, and welcoming face for a broader audience. Like the expansion itself, the branding opens up the Folger—making it more inviting and approachable—and is supported by a comprehensive signage and environmental graphics program that enhances the visitor experience.

A central goal of the identity was to express the modernity of Shakespeare and affirm his continued relevance. This is conveyed through a dynamic graphic system that adapts and expands across the full range of the Folger programming—from performances and exhibitions to publications, educational resources, and its role as a Washington, DC destination.

The Folger building is distinguished by its extensive exterior and interior inscriptions, encompassing a range of lettering styles. In shaping the identity, the Pentagram designers looked to the Art Deco lettering engraved on the base of the Puck statue created by sculptor Brenda Putnam (1932) at the west entrance, a line from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Lord, what fooles these mortals be!”

​​The letterforms of the epitaph inspired a custom typeface, Puck Headline, developed with type designer Tobias Frere-Jones (Frere-Jones Type) based on his existing font Mallory. Featured across the identity program and in posters and other applications, the typography recalls the broadsides and playbills long associated with Shakespearean performance. Along with Puck and Mallory, the identity incorporates the versatile serif Practice by François Rappo (Optimo).

The Folger logo isolates the distinctive “F” from the Puck typeface, transforming it into an icon that represents the institution’s wide-ranging and singular contributions. The primary brand color is a rich red with a subtle hint of orange, a brilliant hue that is pervasive as an accent in the First Folios. This is complemented by a subdued supporting palette of neutrals—paper white, black, and a range of greys.

The visual identity anchors a signage system rooted in the building’s typographic tradition. The classical white marble façade of Cret’s 1932 building has always been an austere and imposing presence. The renovation reorients the “front door” to the new Adams Pavilion, approached through welcoming garden plazas on either side. Faceted letters, based on the building’s original engraved letters and rendered in silver—following Cret’s distinctive use of aluminum ornamentation—effectively reorient visitors to the new, ramped entrances. Interior wayfinding and interior and exterior digital displays support the visitor experience; donor signage is carefully woven into the architectural expression.

Language threads through the gardens, integrated with landscape design by OLIN. At the east and west entrances, quotations from Troilus and Cressida and As You Like It highlight Shakespeare’s love of nature. The lines are rendered in custom aluminum lettering, set within recesses cast in the concrete walls. The team worked with US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove on the design of a “walking” poem at the west entrance. Commissioned by the Folger, the text is inscribed into the curbing that surrounds the garden along the descending path to the pavilion. The marble was carefully preserved from the excavation of materials removed during construction.

Pentagram previously designed two exhibitions at the Folger that commemorated the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Shakespeare, Life of an Icon, and America’s Shakespeare.