A shifting identity for future innovation research

The Innovation Growth Lab (IGL) is a team based at Nesta, bringing together governments, researchers and foundations to trial new approaches to increase innovation, accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship and support business growth. They didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, but needed a brand that could keep up with their future-facing goals and have an ownable look and feel. It needed to capture the ethos of their work; bringing people together to test new approaches and shift perspectives. The rebrand also involved building a clearer design framework for the IGL conference branding, that could be updated year on year.

We felt that vibrance and optimism were key in creating a brand that stood out in its field and could visualise innovation and growth in a clear and original manner. The notion of collaboration also became a big part of the visual language too, as we built a system that brought together smaller elements to create a bigger picture.

A custom typeface was created and used to build the IGL acronym, while a subtle arrow was built into the G, and the full brand name set to the top right to reinforce the growth element of their work. A bold colour treatment gives the brand a slightly playful and series of bold, geometric building blocks visualise the organised, professional way they approach innovation. The end result was a flexible, shifting visual identity that could adapt to the space it sits in.

A comprehensive brand book was compiled alongside various digital and print assets, and the conference branding was rolled out at IGL2019 in Berlin across wayfinding, print and stage design.