Icon stands out, despite talk of clashing symbols
Countries have flags, families have crests, and institutions have logos: the symbol by which each chooses to identify itself.
``Logos aren't things but holders of meaning," says Roger Sametz , president of Sametz Blackstone Associates, a brand-focused strategic consulting firm in the South End. That meaning is an organization's public identity. Logos are the most immediate and visible statement an organization makes about itself.
They're also among the most familiar images in our culture. Think of the cursive white letters that spell out ``
So when the Institute of Contemporary Art decided to come up with a new logo, it was a major undertaking. The resulting symbol, which consists of the letters ``ICA" in white on a red, irregularly angular background, resembles a banner being unfurled.
Ned Campbell , the London-based graphic designer and branding consultant who created the logo, explains the message -- or messages -- he sought to convey with the design.
``It's an expression of the idea of uncovering -- discovering something," Campbell says. ``Formally, there's a game that's played visually with the way the letters are concealed behind different planes, as if something is emerging."
Campbell wanted an image that emphasized boldness and simplicity, clarity and accessibility. Ideally, the logo would stand out, so that even when sharing a poster with a striking piece of art it could hold its own and remain easily recognizable. What he didn't want, Campbell says, was ``the kind of cliche in the cultural world where everything is very polite, elegant."
The resulting logo, Campbell says. ``looks bright and it's punchy. It has a thrusting, upward, optimistic side to it. It's got energy to it. These are all things that are important that the ICA communicate to people."
Sametz, for one, likes the new logo. ``It's way more active," he says. ``It looks edgy. It looks a little unpredictable." Furthermore, he detects an allusion to the ICA's new building. ``It connects to the profile of the steps and the glass," Sametz says.
What the new logo also connects to is a network of independently owned grocery stores. It bears a distant visual kinship with the logo for IGA Inc.
The resemblance was noted after the new logo was designed, Campbell says, but it didn't faze anyone at the ICA. ``In terms of graphic simil arity, there is a relationship," he says. ``But there's no opportunity for confusion. Supermarkets have absolutely nothing to do with contemporary art."
MARK FEENEY 
