UPGRADE – UPgrade GRAphic DEsign

The museum I’ve created is UPgrade GRAphic DEsign: it’s a recursive acronym, containing the concept itself. The whole museum is centered around science and math-inspired visions and methods; specifically, the identity takes inspiration from the Chaos Theory, both in the logo design process and the brand mission/vision.

The identity is dynamic, based on the shape of a Lorenz Attractor, the most iconic visual symbol of Chaos Theory. There is an “algorithm”, based on grids, circles and tangents, that allows the logo to take different shapes depending on the context. The main logo also resembles the shape of a “U”, standing for UPGRADE.

The Lorenz system is a system of ordinary differential equations (the Lorenz equations) first studied by Edward Lorenz. It is notable for having chaotic solutions for certain parameter values and initial conditions. So, the context is the initial parameters, and the shape of the logo is the resultant system.

The main Vision of the museum is “bringing the graphic design to the next level through museum experience and technology, amplifying their scope of science and culture“.

The Mission of the museum is “steadily upgrading medium and contents for a multisensory and interactive museum experience“.

The designer assigned to me for the exhibition was the swiss Claudia Cocchi. Her style is made of plain fills, typography, pastel colours and patterns. The communication is made of a series of posters, (six, one for every letter of COCCHI), a flyer and a banner.

Every element is based on the same grid: the elements (the logo, the pattern, the colors) are the mix between the museum’s identity and the designer’s elements. I also designed a 16-pages booklet, explaining the style of the author through the sentence “MATTER OF LETTERS” formed by her characteristic elements: typography, patterns and physical materials.