We’ve just finished the first stages of the new identity for Ravensbourne. Having launched it internally a couple of weeks ago, we’ve been given the go-ahead to share the work with a wider audience.
We were appointed well over a year ago to help the organisation as it moves later this year from its current Chislehurst home to a landmark new building (shown below, by Foreign Office Architects) next to the 02/Dome in Greenwich.
We were asked to help create a new verbal and visual identity that would reflect the huge change in emphasis that the new building will bring, one focussed on a digital future and innovation.
The building’s design is dominated by tens of thousands of anodised aluminium tiles that tessellate across its skin, following a tiling pattern established by Roger Penrose.
We decided that this visual signature should be included in the visual identity - the beauty of the tessellating pattern is that it seems to vary continuously, but only emanates from three basic tile shapes. It seemed an apt educational analogy that from just a few basic shapes, anything was possible.
From the three tiles, we then incorporated the Ravensbourne name, thrown through the tiles at different angles.
We’ve also made it integral to the scheme that there are multiple combinations of the logo itself.
In total there are six different combinations.
We’ve chosen the versions where the tiles seem in motion (either about to resolve, or about to spin again) so the tiles themselves appear to be ‘stills’ of an animation.
Here’s a trial animation of the logo in motion.
A key part of the scheme is a set of photographs of Ravensbourne students, which have then been retouched to incorporate the pattern.
Here’s Oluyinka Lapido...
...Kozue Sufu...
...and Osvaldo Moniz.
Jodie Mclean and Kirsty Nolan.
And Ronnie Howard.
There are around 20 shots of the students in total.
Below are some of the first applications of the scheme including stationery, a biased-edge prospectus and the proposed approach to the web.
Within the scheme there’s the freedom to experiment more with the pattern...
...and we’ve already begun trials of 3d ‘wraps’ of the building across shapes and objects for use in future applications.
Next stages on this project are a vast array of extra applications, and a cohesive approach to wayfinding within the building itself. We’ll post more on this closer to the opening date in the autumn.
Our thanks to an army of collaborators on this project: Ravensbourne student placements Chelsea Palmer and James Taylor (who also worked on the test animations), The Foundry for their sharp eyes on typography, Ross Cooper for his 3d visualisation, Jan Masny for the photography and Mike Reed for some wordsmithing. And of course to our student models.
Ravensbourne is a university sector college innovating in design and digital media.
