Out of the many designs, these were the logos I chose to present first. I am open for tweaks and suggestions. After speaking with professors and researchers from each department, I thought these were the most successful in representing the Department of Physics and Astronomy without being too tacky. I tried my hardest to include as much representation as I could into the design. I was worried that not everyone would feel that the logo represents their personal area of study, but once the design has too much going on it becomes an informational picture and is no longer a logo. The simplicity is key for creating identity and reproduction because if every logo was super complex, they would no longer differentiate from each other and hold significance to the department they represent.
This first design was one of the first I created and is still my favorite. The very well known and honored radiation belt is represented by the 5 partial rings that follow the same pattern as the radiation belt. To avoid chaos and establish identity, I kept it narrowed down to the primary colors. The multiple colors departing from the particle in the middle signifies high energy and the particle breakdown that occurs in the LHC in Switzerland which has significant ties back to this department at the UofI. The rings could also be viewed as a trail of a spinning electron as they taper off towards the end representing condensed matter.
I consider the middle three options one single design but I could not settle with one so I included three variations to show my ideas. At first the negative space spiral looks like a typical astronomy and physics college logo with a planet and a ring but the design is intended to depict a spinning electron representing condensed matter and potentially the LHC as well, with the multiple rotating layers in the tunnel. In physics, electron spin is represented with an arrow through the middle of the electron, seen in the middle option. High energy is also represented through the particle explosion as a small portion of the black particle flies away. That “particle piece” is actually a silhouette of the Voyager 1, another history element that is extremely important to the department. The top variation is in the shape of a triangle, or delta, meaning change. A deeper meaning might be interpreted as the Department of Physics and Astronomy values change and is always striving for improvement.
The third design is simple yet holds a large amount of significance that is important to what it represents as every successful logo does. Again, the primary colors and curved bars depict the radiation belt representing space based physics. The curved bars also tie back to the multiple layers of the tunnel as if you were looking down it. The CMS logo derived inspiration for this idea. The different colors also could be seen as undiscovered elements sliding around and shooting off of the particle representing high energy. The semi triangle at the top signifies electron spin, as an arrow through the middle of the electron. An arrow pointing uphill is always a positive element when depicting the department’s values through the logo as it represent the consistent push for greatness.
The executive board told me they would like to see characteristics from each of the three areas of study in a composition with negative space in the middle. Based on the feedback I received this is the second round of designs I decided to present. While the design idea had been in the running from the start, it was the top left design that was chosen to represent the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
