Brand Identity

Since joining Carnegie Mellon Architecture as head in 2020, Omar Khan envisioned a new visual identity for the school to reflect its vibrancy, inclusiveness and interdisciplinarity. In 2023, we began working with the Office of Luke Bulman to envision a new brand identity, which we have rolled out over the course of the 2023-24 academic year.

In our initial meetings with Bulman, Khan described Carnegie Mellon Architecture as a “school of many.” With that in mind, the visual identity is simultaneously well-formed and open. It combines two primary elements: a unit mark and an icon, which may be used independently or in tandem.

In addition to the new visual identity, we have also taken on a new name. Going forward we are using Carnegie Mellon Architecture to foreground our association with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), emphasize our identity as an architecture school and to move away from SoA (School of Architecture), an acronym that often obscured the school’s identity out in the world. This new name is also evident in our new website, architecture.cmu.edu.

Many thanks to the Communications Committee members who collaborated with Bulman on the iterative work of developing the new visual identity: Christi Danner, Jeremy Ficca, Stefan Gruber, Omar Khan, Eddy Man Kim, Meredith Marsh and Sarah Rafson.

The unit mark is meant to clearly state the association of the school with Carnegie Mellon University while also projecting a quality of precision and clarity. The standard formation is used in most every case, but when an object is very small or area is limited by format, the abbreviated form may be used. The typeface for the unit mark is Inter light, which is used across all materials.

The icon, which exists in multiple iterations, suggests the confluence of measurement, multiplicity and shape. Inspired by diatoms, it is simultaneously well-formed and open. The icon is meant to correlate with the key concept that Carnegie Mellon Architecture is a “school of many.”

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The icon is derived from a series of transformations and repetitions to create a variety of forms. Each expression of the icon uses two hexagons of different proportions that are rotated to create a circular form that is light, open and well-formed.

The icon’s color is available in cold, warm, multi and neutral hues to allow for visibility, contrast and differentiation in a range of applications.

There are a dozen different instances of the icon, which is fewer than the number of programs, labs and research centers at the school. This is because no one icon is the “main” one. Though they are each different, each icon stands for the school as a whole. Each icon has the same weight and value. 

The selected typeface is Inter, available to download from Google's type site. It is important for the typeface to be accessible to those who need to use it, and that it is adaptable and legible in a variety of contexts, from web to print. Sentence case is to be used, minimizing the use of all capital letter typography to enhance legibility and accessibility for various audiences. Inter light and inter semi-bold are the two weights used in the brand.

The color palette is vibrant and energetic — we seek to embrace the use of color in our identity and communications. The bright color palette expresses a multiplicity of disciplines, identities and perspectives that are indicative of our school community. It represents fresh optimism for the future as we tackle the challenges of climate change, artificial intelligence and social justice.

Color sets of two, three, four and five or more applications have been developed to provide flexibility for a variety of use cases without overwhelming the viewer.

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Color block versions of the unit mark have been developed using the same hue family for the text and the block color to avoid visual noise. When the unit mark is to appear with other logos it may be preferable that the block version of the unit mark is used so it has equal visual balance to other logos that are present.

Over the course of this academic year, we have begun rolling out the identity throughout our community. It can be seen on t-shirts and tote bags in our classrooms and around campus, on recruitment materials in the hands of prospective students, and in the virtual space on our social media and new website.

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As the identity goes into use, our hope is for it to remain flexible and expressive, reflecting and extending how the school sees itself and is seen by others for years to come.