Charles & Ray Eames Foundation
Being asked to design the new identity for the Charles & Ray Eames Foundation is as daunting as it is exhilarating. Very quickly, the question became: how can we do them justice? How do we capture their spirit—their revolutionary, generous, and deeply human practice—today, in 2025 and beyond, without falling into mimicry or pastiche? Where to even start?
After exploring many different directions, we arrived at a structural approach rooted in language itself. Turning to the foundation’s name, using its constituent parts—Charles, &, Ray, Eames, and Foundation—it could become the basis for a modular communication system, an editorial mechanic that turns the name itself into a guiding framework, internally and externally: “Charles” for everything Charles, “&” for everything Charles and Ray together, “Ray” for everything Ray, “Eames” for the work and spirit of the studio, “Foundation” for the institution itself and its mission.
Stil, the “footnotes” needed shape, form, and tone. A flexible visual language to match a flexible conceptual one. The asterisks come from the sheer endless library of Eames’ extensive catalog. The result is a logo—and a mindset—that invites editorial thinking. It demands structure, but rewards play.
This approach opened a path forward. It wasn’t visual yet—but it was structural. It was systematic. And first and foremost was semantic, which would allow us to mostly stay away from solely relying on quoting Eames’ overpowering visual output.
- A project as daunting as it was exhilarating
- More to come over the summer
Eames is about education, and this approach opens space for new kinds of learning, telling, making, and organizing. So this identity-giving mechanic becomes the lens for storytelling, strategy, communication, decision-making, and identity. A living system, not a fixed style, enacting Eames’ philosophy with every use.
At karlssonwilker, we have two distinct ways of working. One is intuitive and experimental, guided by pure play and experimentation, leading to formal surprises. The other is rational, linear, and system-driven. For this project, we quickly entered the latter mode—out of respect, and it is what this project called for.
We’re excited to continue this work with the Foundation—especially as we begin to translate it into signage and wayfinding for the Eames House grounds in Los Angeles.
And as you can see on the next image, this approach allows for an extra-long business card (accordion fold), with text and image annotating the logo on the front:
