The Whale received a new identity ahead of the opening of its knowledge and experience center in Andenes. The project began as an initiative back in 2014, and the opening is planned for June 2027. The center will be dedicated to whales, marine ecosystems, science, and ocean protection. The new identity was developed by the Oslo studio Schnitler&Co, formerly known as Metric Design.
The old logo suited the project’s early stage. It directly connected the brand with whales and tourism, but that was no longer enough for a future international center. The new approach is built around the idea of an encounter. It refers to the moment when a whale rises from the depths, the sea meets the air, and a hidden world becomes visible.
Instead of making another whale silhouette, the studio made the name “The Whale” and the custom typeface “Whale Grotesk” the main focus. The logo looks as if the word is rising out of the water. The strokes are thinner at the edges, while the letters become denser and heavier toward the center. This creates a sense of surfacing.
Whale Grotesk became the foundation of the entire system. The typeface has several states: “Below,” “Surface,” and “Above.” They move from a lightweight to a heavier one and relate to themes of depth, the sea surface, and upward emergence. In this structure, the letters carry the brand’s main idea.
The new identity moves The Whale away from the image of a conventional whale tourism project. Through typography, scale, and letterform, the brand conveys the themes of the ocean, science, and a human encounter with one of the largest animals on the planet. For the future center, this style feels closer to a cultural and research project than to a tourist attraction.
