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CAVEAT Logo Design

Designing a logo to capture the mission of the new Center of Applied Values & Ethics in Advancing Technologies (CAVEAT).

OVERVIEW:

  • I helped rebrand CAVEAT and designed their logo

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CHALLENGES:

  • Because the Center was just founded, not everyone was sure what was the mission/vision and how to best represent it

  • I wanted to include the opinions and perspectives of the founder and 7 other interns and conducted multiple 1:1 conversations and surveys to get everyone's input

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OUTCOMES:

  • I was able to design a low fi prototype of the logo which was later translated into a high-fidelity logo by Fiverr designer

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What's the mission?:
    I was part of a team of founding interns that helped rebrand a Center for Ethics at UCSC. Originally called the Center for Applied Ethics and Values in Emerging Technologies (CAEVET), I suggested changing the name to Center of Applied Values & Ethics in Advancing Technologies (CAVEAT). This made the acronym easier to remember and pronounce, while still retaining the same meaning. The meaning of the word 'caveat' also plays to the ethical warning that the Center hopes to communicate to soley profit or short-term structured businesses.

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As a growing Center, I wanted to help create a logo that could represent the vision and mission: 

  • Vision: We exist to support Values, Ethics, & Innovation that create a more just, equitable, and viable future.

  • Mission: We envision a collaborative environment for long-term solutions where ethical values go hand in hand with scientific and technological innovation.


​The founder of the Center wanted the logo to be reminiscent of this image:

C885DE8D-3101-4B11-9001-067D3ABF19CE.jpeg

01: Inspiration

Ideas to visualize the mission:
    Based on the images, I created some sketches in Procreate using the theme of hands, globe, light, and justice.  Another idea that came to mind was the idea of being a crossroads during moral/ethical decisions. I also wanted to try and play with the meaning of ‘caveat’: a warning, caution, so I made some in the theme of warning and crossroads. I also received a suggestion from a fellow intern to take inspiration from the house crests in Harry Potter. I thought it was an interesting idea and I did some research into folklore for inspiration. This last design was inspired by a Native American fable of how the crow became black. According to the legend, the crow used to have rainbow colored plumage, but in its attempt to bring fire to mankind, all its feathers became singed with soot. The symbolism of bringing light to the world fit well with the mission, and personally, I liked this design the best.

02: Sketching

01: Inspiration
02: Sketching

DECISIONS DECISION DECISIONS:
 

40BECD05-46E9-4227-B0D0-1EE563B3DE55.jpeg

   Then, I created a survey for the interns and directors of the Center to see what logo design we wanted to use to represent the center. After much deliberation the final selection was: 

One of the directors took this sketch and paid a designer from Fivrr to create a more polished look and now this became the official logo for CAVEAT:

9D1B12DB-CE51-48E9-A8E6-6EC39E89938F.jpeg

I was in conversation with the artist from Fiver and here are some designing decision between low fi -> high fi were:

1. Making the globe more globe like: this because we wanted to emphasize the planet we share and whose future our present decision affect

2. Transparent hands: to avoid representing a particular race and to simplify the logo color palette

3. Adding morse code on robot hand: this was an idea from the founder's husband to put the Morse letters 'ICQ' a short hand for "I seek you" to represent the search for truth and the right course of action

4. Text in circle: decided to spell out the acronym and have it surround the logo so it is clear what CAVEAT stands for

03: Survey & Selection

My Takeaways:
     .This project was had a big impact on me. When I was first accepted as an intern to CAVEAT I was very eager to help in any way I could. I liked the idea behind the Center and wanted to help it gain visibility. This was was what made me think of rebranding the Center from CEAVET -> CAVEAT. I had to present my idea to the interns and founders. After my proposal was accepted, I took the lead to create the logo and it was very challenging to create a simple icon that capture a mission of a company. Especially when the Center has just started and its values are still being tested. 

Overall, I discovered I really enjoyed visualizing abstract concepts into simple symbols. I also realized I enjoyed working with the big picture ideas and translating the concepts into the smaller details. This project opened my eyes to the impact I could make with UX/UI design and gave the confidence that my skills could benefit the real world.

Learnings

03: Selection
Logo Design Learnings
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