Why did we care?
Inspiration
Two documents that helped to ground the work were the EERI Style Guide and diagrams from an important 2015 report detailing the Wasatch fault. After reading through the report and looking at geology and scientific diagrams, I was ready to begin. I gathered images of standard earthquake logos, looked at the branding for similar conferences, and also looked at Utah-specific logos to see what elements featured most prominently. I challenged myself to explore at least eight ideas.
From fault to foresight
The conference tagline 'reimagining risk and resilience' calls one to look onward and to imagine a possibility beyond the immediate threat. In this case, the fault is the threat, the risk. The immovable, ancient Wasatch mountains represent resilience, permanence, and higher peaks. By using the tones closest to red and blue in EERI's style guide and get creative with Illustrator's blend tool. I came up with first strong concepts for the logo. I used gradual gradients as well as lines, which are common in scientific communication for elevation and topography, to begin the explorations. The three concepts that followed this one mainly centered around seismograph and fault imagery from a recent earthquake event.
Geology as concept
Though the previous concepts all had their merits, the themes and colors felt heavy. In an attempt to think outside the box, I searched for scientific diagrams that accurately represented layers, sediment, and geology without being brown and weighty. Analyses of fault scarps, which are visible areas of a fault where one can see that the two sections of ground have moved vertically to one another, were featured prominently. By using fault scarp LIDAR data, layering the resulting shapes intentionally, and using pastel colors rather than browns and greens, I was able to create a colorful logo that would transmit the concepts of the conference in a more subtle way.
State size and fault length
The logo featured the Utah state outline with the fault was directly inspired by a small legend in one of the maps analyzing the fault. This logo accurately shows the immense risk present in Utah due to the sheer length of this fault. We decided that, due to its simplicity and rootedness in place, it could be a secondary logo for the conference.
In the end, the staff at EERI preferred the fault to frontier concept, and felt it would read more prominently on swag, presentations, and other materials.
And the tl;dr
I had one week to complete this project, and found it to be a phenomenal experience. I did an internship with EERI in 2014, so it felt wonderful to work with some of the same folks again at a later stage in my career. This work was also a great complement to my upcoming studies at UCSD for Structural & Earthquake Engineering.
A few adages that I abided by during this fast but fruitful process:
- Scour dense articles for new ways of presenting information.
- A simple color palette goes a long way.
- Bartering can work for both parties.*
In lieu of direct payment, I asked for registration to the conference to be waived. While the dollars were comparable, as an incoming graduate student, a once-in-four-years opportunity to network with peers was unmatched. Money's nice, but what I really valued was access. I'm so glad this agreement worked out, and I loved the conference.
