Generative design

Member lesson

Identity systems that generate themselves

Lesson 3 of 10 in Generative design.

MIT Media Lab Logo - Michael Bierut | Logo design & Designer review · Gareth David Studio
Lesson

A dynamic identity varies by rule. The MIT Media Lab's system generated a mark per person from one geometry. The Nordkyn identity changed with live weather data. In each case something was locked so the variation read as one system rather than as inconsistency.

the logothe smallest parttypecolourlayoutimagevoicemotionpeople can name the logo and nothing elsethe other six are what they actually recognise you by
What an identity system holds beyond the logo: type, colour, layout, image and voice.
Eight identical square frames with the same thick border and a small notch in the top corner hang in a row. Inside each is something different: waves, petals, a spiral, stripes, clouds, dots, an arc and a grid.
The contents change every time. The frame never does, and that is why they belong together.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A mark or system designed to vary within stated rules.”

    • Dynamic identity
    • Wallpaper group
    • Data-driven design
    • Live data
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A fixed frame holding changing content. The commonest workable form.”

    • Container
    • Credit
    • Rule
    • Constraint
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “How much harder a varying identity is to remember. Real, and frequently ignored.”

    • Sketch
    • Recognition cost
    • Plotter
    • Edition

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