UNAVCO and IRIS both got their start in the early 1980s. Both were consortia of academic institutions from across the U.S. And both studied all things Earth — earthquakes, glacial melt, atmospheric shifts, you name it — by contracting with the likes of NSF, NASA and the USGS to operate research facilities and release extensive scientific data and research findings. Over time, their missions and work intersected more and more. And in 2021, at the behest of funders, they decided to merge. The epicenter of the merger? A complete rebrand.

UNAVCO and IRIS were large organizations, each working with hundreds of scientists and geophysics experts around the world. We needed to not just create a new logo, but to also use the process to bring the organizations together and help build consensus. To do that, we facilitated a virtual work session with the leadership team to identify the core ideas the new identity needed to convey, as well as preferences for logo archetypes, fonts and colors. We then validated that direction with a survey across their broad constituencies.

From there, we worked to create both a visual and verbal identity. Initial designs covered a large range of options and explored different ways to present the name itself. On the verbal side, we hewed close to the work of the Consortium, pulling ideas from each organization’s mission, vision and values and framing them together in the language of geodesy and earth science.

Ultimately, the selected logo features a striking concentric circle icon representing both the type of science EarthScope conducts and the way it pushes out data and insight as an organization. The color palette is drawn from the original colors of the two organizations to represent their individual heritage and combined expertise. And we added the word Consortium to the official name to indicate the collaborative nature of the work conducted.

A complete set of brand guidelines was built out around the new identity, including verbal guidelines for brand positioning and communication. The identity was introduced across the organization to rave reviews and then officially rolled out in mid-December 2022 when the two entities completed their merger.