Ideation
This is a project for a marketing and communications internship I did in the fall semester of 2022. Ideation is a non-profit organization connecting PhD candidates to professionals and academics in diverse fields to help publish, broadcast, and speak on their research. Although I didn’t know much about education at the doctorate level, I brought my experience as an undergraduate student with an eye for design to this internship. My job was to help the advancement of the organization by developing a social media presence and building a brand identity. Throughout the semester, I worked closely with the CEO to create a new logo design and reconstruct the website.
Logo Building
The old Ideation logo was the word “Ideation”. In order to build a brand image recognizable by the logo, I met with the CEO to discuss the organization’s mission and goals. In this meeting, we wanted these main things to be conveyed through our logo:
Ideation is a hub of ideas
Strong human connection
Always forward-thinking, reaching for new ideas
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“Today’s radically changing landscapes demand top-level and dynamic competencies. When you intentionally gather cross-sector, thought-leaders with the backgrounds and experiences that allow them to truly understand a challenge, and who are driven to collaborate as a think tank, something transformational happens. New networks are activated, dismantling the walls between sectors so that the best ideas and practices in each space can be shared. The power of what happens amongst doctoral cohorts and the inside that comes from a passion for excellence and rigorous research doesn’t have to end with successful dissertation defense. Our services and support mitigate the many barriers doctoral graduates face navigating these platforms and pathways on their own, creating a collaborative space for our clients, partners, and members to connect and thrive. The result is effective, efficient, innovative, impactful, scalable, and sustainable innovation, improvement and impact.”
This was the thinking behind this logo:
cloud = thought
forward arrow = progress
ideation maintained at CEO’s request
This was the thinking behind this logo:
head = humanity
light bulb = new ideas
ideation maintained at CEO’s request
Old logo
New Logo Building
After understanding what the organization needed, I came up with a better way of incorporating their mission using the images as context clues. Here are three prototypes I came up with based on our goals:
This was the thinking behind this logo:
cloud = thought
forward arrow = progress
ideation maintained at CEO’s request
ideation inside the cloud = thinking is internal
Testing
After meeting with the CEO to present the logo prototypes, the feedback I got gave preference to the second logo. Since the turnaround time for a completed logo was two weeks, we had to work quickly for testing. First, I presented the logo options to the Board of Directors, along with the typography and colors used.