Best of CASE District I Award
 

Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Title of entry: MIT Brand Guide website

About this entry: MIT’s former brand system consisted of just the MIT logo, seal, and a few legacy colors. Our logo was created in 2003, and after 20 years we wanted to refresh the logo and expand the overall system to spark inspiration and encourage adoption. We also needed a new brand guide website to showcase the updated system and to replace our former site, which had a very outdated design and was not in a content management system.

Our two main audiences are the internal MIT community and creative vendors who produce work for MIT.

After working with a branding firm to update the system, we partnered with design and writing firms to bring the guidelines to life through the new MIT Brand Guide website.

The MIT Brand Guide site showcases the elements of our updated brand system:
- A modernized MIT logo that’s been simplified to one color
- An expanded color palette
- A set of suggested typefaces
- Updated options for how departments may express themselves relative to the MIT parent brand
- Updated MIT seal and Tim the Beaver illustrations
- Templates for letterhead and presentation decks
- New designs for printed stationery and business cards

We announced the brand system updates and MIT Brand Guide website launch in September 2023. The site continues to receive steady traffic, and we’ve received positive feedback on the site design and its ease of use.