AdamsTyler Design
COSI DESIGN SYSTEM REBRAND
For my graphic design class, I was tasked with rebranding a museum of my choosing. As someone who grew up in Columbus, I was drawn to COSI as I had visited it many times as a kid, and I had a lot of ideas on how they could upgrade their visual identity.
BRAND IDENTITY RESEARCH
I began by studying how COSI (Center of Science and Industry) wants to be seen by its audience. Their current branding markets toward children and families, showing how learning can be interactive and fun. I distinguished three core values of innovation, inspiration, and engagement. I wanted to hone in on these three ideas when visually showcasing their brand. Their current branding does have their target audience in mind, but I believe it loses some of the ideas of “lifelong learning” that COSI boasts.
MOOD BOARDS
I created a mood board of each core value to research ways of conveying ideas through color, type, image, and aesthetics. These boards would fuel the brainstorming process in designing an initial logo.
SKETCHING
Now with visual inspiration, I then set out to design the logo that encompassed COSI as a brand. To start, I began brainstorming and sketching possible logos with the 3 key ideas in mind. Some concepts leaned into one direction more than the other, but the end goal was to have a logo that could represent the brand as a whole and be flexible enough to be used in many instances.
DIGITAL ITERATIONS
With a basic idea of the directions I could go with for this identity, I used Illustrator to begin fleshing out concepts to see what they could look like as a finalized logo. This is where I began to narrow down the options and ultimately come to a final logo that felt engaging, innovative, and inspiring.
FINAL LOGO
The final logo uses geometric shapes, vibrant colors, and a dynamic and asymmetrical grid to inspire, educate, and engage the audience. Each letter symbolizes an aspect of science that Cosi helps teach. The C is green and appears similar to a leaf, representing life. The O is a vibrant red and remains a solid circle to represent a star and outer space. The S houses a deep blue, shifts the baseline grid, and represents a wave and the science of the ocean. And finally, the i stands for industry and all “man-made” science.
FLEXIBLE BRAND IDENTITY
With the logo complete, I now needed to carry over all of the concepts that I had used to establish an identity that could be easily recognizable and flexible enough to use with all possible assets. The key visual elements that I leaned into when creating brand assets each represented a core value. The diagonal change in the baseline is not only an interesting visual element, but it also represents the hands-on side of COSI, which they are famously known for. Gradients and leading lines show the process of arriving from one place to another, or in other words, innovation. In addition, the simple geometric shapes call back to education at its earliest roots and inspires lifelong learning in the audience.
BIG IDEA
Finally, I wanted to create a “Big Idea” to go along with my branding. This is something unique to Cosi that goes beyond assets any museum would have, like a website or t-shirts. This took form in the “Bring the Science Home” Initiative. A way for guests to continue learning after going back home. They do this by purchasing fun scientific merchandise such as microscopes, ant farms, telescopes, or anything that will get the customer hooked on learning. Of course, each of these products will have unmistakable COSI branding so that the guests will bring those core values home with them.