Montague Street Business Improvement District
A new identity for the non-profit organization is inspired by the shape of the Brooklyn district.
Located in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, Montague Street is one of Brooklyn’s most charming downtown streets and an important commercial corridor that hosts a mix of more than 100 shops, restaurants and services along tree-lined blocks of architecturally historic buildings and residences. Pentagram’s Emily Oberman and her team have designed a new identity for the Montague Street Business Improvement District, the not-for-profit organization with the mission of making the street a great place to work, live and shop.
Oberman and her team worked closely with the BID’s Executive Director Brigit Pinnell to develop the identity. Oberman knows Montague Street well, having called it home for the past 8 years.
The program establishes a memorable identity inspired by the shape of the district itself. Viewed from above, the three-block BID resembles a rectangle running along Montague Street from the waterfront Brooklyn Promenade to Columbus Park. The identity transforms this modified rectangle into a graphic device that houses the BID name. The designers were delighted to discover the shape could easily tuck into the letter "M," where it becomes one of the legs.
The shape can be used on its own or as part of the larger "M" monogram. Set within the outline of the shape, the logotype resembles a street sign. DIN is the primary typeface.
The outline can also be used as a map on BID materials. On applications, the "M" is cropped to play with the edges, and wraps around items like business cards, banners and totes. The identity appears in a bright green inspired by the leafy district.
