awaken the giant

Challenge
Create a brand identity and website for NYC Media Lab, a city-backed initiative that drives innovative collaboration in digital media.

Background
NYC Media Lab matches companies seeking to advance new media technologies with academic institutions undertaking relevant research, to answer the toughest challenges of the digital age. It needed a brand that would capture the attention of the media industry, academia, entrepreneurs, and the city at large.

Our Approach
We wanted to create a brand for NYC Media Lab that felt big and provocative, that could inspire not just participants but New York City as a whole. We fell in love the strategic idea of awakening New York as a center of innovation and industry for the digital age. From there, we created the line, 'If the future is now, what's next?,' which evolved into a series of thought-provoking questions that became central to the brand. This copy-driven approach led us naturally to the mark, which symbolizes a blinking cursor, looking forward, and possibility. For web, we wanted a site that was simple and motivating, so we told the story in one long scroll that can also be navigated. We also worked with data visualizer Luminoso to enable site visitors to display researchers whose work is relevant to them. Overall the NYC Media Lab brand and site represents optimism and opportunity.