First came the motto, now comes the logo. Back in October, we brought you the news that Kendall Square (via the Kendall Square Association, of which Xconomy is a member) had adopted a motto: The Future Lives Here.
I wrote then that adopting a motto was only fitting, since “there is arguably no other place on Earth with the concentrated innovation power of Kendall Square.” And I quoted Sarah Gallop, co-director of government and community relations for MIT and chair of the KSA’s Marketing and Promotions Working Group, as saying her group was “deep into logo work now. After that is complete, we’ll focus on finishing the KSA website.”
So here (above—you can click on it for a larger view) is the logo, developed in conjunction with Dave Gilman of Cognito, a Concord, MA-based design firm. As Gallop writes, “The new logo is meant to project an image that represents Kendall Square’s core attributes which include the future, technology, density, accessibility, and the ‘bump factor.’ The literal interpretation of the logo is a zoomed out view of the actual boundaries of Kendall Square, and then represented by all of its distinct people in close proximity to one another. The font is Avenir which literally means ‘future,’ in French.”
Deep, huh? I just plain liked it, and when it came time as a KSA member to circle my top choices, this is one of the three I circled (and my favorite). Blue was an important choice for color, the KSA says, because it symbolizes sky and water and is therefore perceived as trustworthy, dependable, and everlasting. According to Gilman, it “can also be seen to represent hope and future.” (Too bad the nearby Charles River is closer to muddy brown than blue.) As for the color in the rest of the logo, he says: “Silver or Grey represents the future and is strongly seen as futuristic. Grey can be associated with elegance, innovation and the future. Blue paired with grey strengthens this association.” (My editor, Wade, points out that “grey” is an archaic/British spelling, so perhaps if we are talking about the future here in Cambridge, the KSA should be calling it “gray.”).
Now, we are on to step three: the website. Gallop says the revamped KSA site will be ready for unveiling in March.
