How do you create a visual identity for a radical new concept? That’s what the minds behind Queen’s University’s brand new Innovation Park were thinking about. They contacted Boom Strategy and BmDodo Strategic Design to help them find the answer.

The Challenge:

We needed to position Innovation Park as a place where scientists and business people could come together to develop their ideas and bring them to market. But because their target audience was so broad, we couldn’t get too specific in our design choices.

The Solution:

The Innovation Park logo solution represents the lifecycle of an idea from research to development to commercialization.

At first glance, the logo is almost like a thought bubble, emanating upwards as the idea grows and builds toward its potential. The symbol contains separate elements that are balanced and strengthened as a unified entity, like bright minds that come together to achieve a common goal. As such, the logo embodies synergy, collaboration, networking, and a focused progression of ideas.

Each piece of the symbol links to the next through a common pathway, like stepping stones on the way to something great – a symbol of the journey that every idea takes on its way to becoming successful in the marketplace. The stepping stones also represent the support, advice and resources that will be an integral part of the Innovation Park experience. The pathway within the graphic evokes a sense of direction and momentum. As the path extends beyond the borders of the logo, a sense of unbounded, limitlessness is created, as if anything is possible here.

The Results:

The bright colours and growth imagery generated excitement and attracted tenants to Innovation Park almost immediately. People in the Kingston area now think of the complex as an established, prestigious institution.

The Innovation Park identity package was recognized with Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario Design at Work award.