A Thinking Sam @ITP

For visual design, we had the fun and challenging task of designing a new logo for ITP.

But first, we also were asked about an iconic  logo that we think is successful. My choice was simple: the Nike Swoosh.

I like it because it is so recognizable and iconic and conveys the dynamism of the brand (exciting, energetic, etc.). It also has a unique story. Nike was named after the Greek goddess of victory. The swoosh design was created by graphic designer Carolyn Davidson in 1971 (along with 35 other designers!). The swoosh is supposed to signify the “wings” of the Greek goddess. With a deadline looming, Phil Knight chose it saying “I don’t love it, but it will grow on me.” (ha.). Davidson charged just $35 at the time, but was later given a golden swoosh embedded inside a diamond ring, as well as an undisclosed amount of Nike stock.

Now on to my ITP logo.

My concept was simple, but difficult to execute: ITP as its own universe. I first put together a basic layout of an ITP logo (using Helvetica as the base font), and then I brought it into Processing to make it render as a universe. The Processing code renders the image in tiny dots, giving the appearance of a universe.

I especially like how ITP almost seems to have its own force of attraction within the universe (not a bad metaphor for ITP at all).

Here’s the universe coming together (the image rendering):

And here is the final logo (which likely needs a bit more time to render in Processing):