The Centre for the Humanities and Medicine at The University of Hong Kong is the first institution of its kind in Asia and one of the few in the world with a mission to foster interdisciplinary research and teaching in relation to three broad interconnected themes: the challenges posed by the translation of biomedical technologies into society; the relationship between disease, health, culture and society; and the humanisation of our understanding and practice of medicine.
Process
What separates The Centre for the Humanities & Medicine (CHM) from other institutions is their anti-disciplinary model and radical thinking. The centre breaks the academic stereotype by leaving the impression that CHM is a modern, approachable and forward-thinking organisation.
kith&kin was given this rare opportunity to help CHM create a stand out visual identity in the academic environment. kith&kin worked with CHM through workshops to understand how they could break the conservative stereotype of academic institutions by using design as a way to differentiate themselves and establish their international position as a reputable research centre from Asia.
Visual Identity Design
We built a system that can expand over time as the centre branches out to multi-level research strands, campaigns and even events. kith&kin took a modular approach with a custom language system - a set of symbols created on a grid that can grow in an orderly and cohesive fashion. With the language in place, we set off to discover words to represent the centre and the three research strands that make up CHM: Technology, Ecology, and Antarchitecture. By following the structural visual system closely, we were able to create a logo and a set of iconography that related and communicated with each other.
The logo is a reflection of its modern approach. Geometric iconography and high contrast typography conveys simplicity and represents a centre that can take complex topics and make them approachable and easy to understand. As CHM is separated into three strands - Technologies, Ecologies, and Antarchitecture - each strand needed to be represented with a symbol. These symbols are built using the same grid that is used for the main CHM logomark.
Collaterals
The main application for the individual strand icons is to categorise topics within collaterals. This includes web articles on the website or promotional posters for events. The strand icon can be enlarged and used as a holding shape for key visual imagery for posters and other promotional materials. Another application of the strand icons is pattern making. The three icons can be put together in a variety of different ways to create patterns that can then be used on merchandise or promotional collaterals.
Impact
CHM took a bold step by acknowledging how visual design can reflect their modern approaches to complex research topics. We’re thankful for their trust in us and looking forward to seeing where this identity takes them.
