brand identity

NOVA

Overview

NOVA is an organization dedicated to internet safety and privacy, providing education through online resources and community programs.

NOVA addresses the shift away from safe internet practices, re-teaching lifelong lessons on privacy for those less familiar with the internet. They build school and community programs for K-12 and the elderly. NOVA holds discussions about and advocates for safer internet experiences.

Final deliverables include a fully-fleshed style guide document, logo variations, an animated logo bumper, and sample applications ready for production guidelines and execution.

View the style guide here.

The Challenge and Pitch

Dressing the right way for the weather can be complicated when
In the recent age, there has been a shift in how the internet was approached by the general public. Rather than heeding the warnings of never putting your real information online and following stranger danger rules, users online were starting to use the internet like a diary.

At NOVA, we value freedom and privacy when it comes to traversing the vast landscape the internet has to offer. We do so without sacrificing the safety of any individual or community. We embrace the internet not as a space to be feared, but as a space to be harnessed. Our mission is to provide the tools and knowledge necessary for people to safely explore the internet, steering away from any potential dangers. Go on, fly away, and build your personal planet.

Key Points
Engaging a community.
Innovating the future.
Protection and freedom.

The Process

Methodological Ideating
The early ideation process explored all the ways the group’s mission could be actualized, through writing exercises and type and image studies. These would then inform the direction of the identity, and how it worked with the group’s name.

Bumps and Breakthroughs
The working name for the project was ‘Charge’, there was no real connection between the name and mission, making it difficult to advance further.

By examining metaphors related to the internet and technology, as well as how people have used these tools, I came to the word ‘space’. Not only is the internet a ‘space’ where people gather from across the globe, it’s a ‘space’ whose potential still being navigated through to this very day.

Pivoting directions, the name ‘NOVA’ came into place. NOVA’s identity system uses motifs and metaphors related to space, comparing the exploration of the internet to traversing the galaxy.

The Takeaway

Make, Make, Make — And Try Everything!
When facing difficulties during this project, I found myself getting stuck and too stumped to keep creating. I would run ideas through my head, but would scrap them before even trying them out, thinking they wouldn’t work anyway. The path to the best solution is never the easiest one, and I’ve learned that I just need to make everything I can, even if it feels wrong or ugly. Who knows? You just might find a diamond among stones.