Just the other day, I was reading a GeekWire article about Seattle's Mayor Bruce Harrell speaking at the opening of the "AI House" in downtown Seattle. In the cover photo's background, I noticed the logo I had created for the AI2 Incubator.
As I read the article, I immediately noticed the abbreviated usage of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence as "Ai2". Having been a long-time GeekWire reader, I found it odd that they would use this spelling instead of "AI2".
I worked for AI2 from 2019 to 2020, and alongside Carissa Schoenick, went through an extensive rebranding process for AI2. I strongly advocated for using "Ai2" due to its visual clarity, but was unsuccessful. The argument against it was that "Artificial Intelligence" should not be incorrectly abbreviated, emphasizing our identity as a scientific research company committed to accuracy.
Today, while reviewing my LinkedIn page, I noticed a strange pink logo in the AI2 portion of my work history. Confused, I refreshed the page, but it persisted. Things started to click.
I investigated Ai2's posts and found their brand refresh announcement, explaining the shift from AI2 to Ai2.
As a designer, seeing something like this evokes mixed emotions. There's elation that changes I felt were necessary have finally happened, even though I wasn't part of this particular update. The other emotion is trickier. Is it Anger, Jealousy, RAGE! Definitely not rage. It's probably closer to envy. 😅
Regardless, I'm genuinely pleased that Ai2 has rebranded and evolved from our previous design. The AI2 logo we created was a catalyst for change. While not perfect, it moved AI2 away from its original logo to something fresher. Now, Ai2 is embracing further change with a complete brand redesign four years later.
So yes, I'm happy, proud, and a bit envious that I couldn't have designed a logo using Ai2 instead of AI2. Congratulations, Ai2!
For those curious, here's a mockup of the 40 logo concepts I created back in 2019 during that rebranding process:
https://lnkd.in/gC5YJVfg
After months of behind-the-scenes research, interviews, and labors of love, we’re delighted to debut Ai2’s new brand and website today.
What we learned is that Ai2 is audacious but disciplined, grounded in science while being open and accessible with the purpose of building breakthrough AI to solve the world’s biggest problems. 🩷
We’re all of these things, and now, we come with a new look. 😎
Explore the evolution and follow along for more: https://lnkd.in/gV3-GwXv