Berkeley Lab’s 90th Anniversary Branding and Website
THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY PROCESS
Government and Community Relations and Strategic Communications approached the Lab's Creative Services team (CSO) with the challenge of branding the 90th anniversary of Berkeley Lab. The challenge was to develop an identity that could be applied in various communications from a dedicated website (https://berkeleylabnext90.lbl.gov/), print materials, email headers, Zoom backgrounds, social media, and video (via YouTube).
Deliverables:
• Brand style guide
• Suite of logos
• Profile avatar image for Berkeley Lab on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram
• Zoom backgrounds
• Social media artwork
• Website
• Related speaker series and event announcements and graphics
• Videos
Process
After a kick-off meeting in August, CSO went to work in developing a wide range of directions based on the goals and criteria developed by Strategic Communications. After an iterative process, a direction was identified andrefined. The resulting suite of logos and brand style guide made applying the Next 90 identity to various environments and communications by CSO and its partners consistent, professional, and efficient.
Impact
“Celebrate the past. Imagine the future.”
The branding was applied on various electronic materials and was widely visible to the Berkeley Lab community and beyond garnering kudos from across the Lab, its partners, and the public.
BRANDING
Berkeley Lab’s monumental accomplishments over the past ninety years and its vision for the pace of progress for the next ninety years drive the design of the Next 90 identity and campaign.
The chevron of progress — the figurative next — is central to most of the artwork and typography, as is a representation of the ALS (Advanced Light Source) dome. A symbol of the Lab’s origins and its adaptation to the needs of our time, the dome originally housed an accelerator known as the 184-inch cyclotron, one of the founder E. O. Lawrence’s crowning accomplishments. Today, team science research continues there in the following areas: Applied Sciences, Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Energy Sciences, Material Sciences, and Physical Sciences.
The aerial photograph (the hero image) on the Next 90 website home page is the domed roof, crowned by the green patina copper structure, of the ALS building.
Style Guide Sample
Social Media Logo Samples
Zoom Backgrounds Samples
WEBSITE
Ninety years ago, in August of 1931, physics professor Ernest Lawrence created the Radiation Laboratory in a modest building on the UC Berkeley campus to house his cyclotron, a particle accelerator that ushered in a new era in the study of subatomic particles. The invention of the cyclotron would go on to win Lawrence the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics.
From this start, Lawrence’s unique approach of bringing together multidisciplinary teams, world-class research facilities, and bold discovery science has fueled nine decades of pioneering research at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). His team science approach also grew into today’s national laboratory system.
Over the years, as Berkeley Lab’s mission expanded to cover a remarkable range of science, this approach has delivered countless solutions to challenges in energy, environment, materials, biology, computing, and physics.
And this same approach will continue to deliver breakthroughs for decades to come.
In 2021, Berkeley Lab’s 90th year, we invite you to join our anniversary celebration, Berkeley Lab: The Next 90, as we celebrate our past and imagine our future.
“The pursuit of discovery science by multidisciplinary teams has brought, and will continue to bring, tremendous benefits to the nation and world,” said Berkeley Lab Director Mike Witherell. “Our celebration is a chance to honor everyone who has contributed to solving human problems through science, and to imagine what we can accomplish together in the next 90 years.”
Berkeley Lab’s 90th anniversary celebration honors the diverse efforts of the Lab community: from scientists and engineers to administrative and operations staff.
It also celebrates our commitment to discovery science, which explores the fundamental underpinnings of the universe, materials, biology, and more. This research requires patience — the dividends can be decades in the future — but the results are often surprising and profound, from the cyclotron of yesteryear to today’s CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology.
It’s an incredible story we’re proud to share, and inspired to continue with your support. Over the next several months, we’ll offer many ways to join our celebration. Visit Berkeley Lab: The Next 90 to learn more, and engage with us on Twitter at #BerkeleyLab90.
Here are several ways to join our celebration, all highlighted on the website:
Celebrate the Past
Imagine the Future
Charitable giving: In 2021, Berkeley Lab will support five non-profit organizations that help prepare young scholars to become leaders and problem solvers.
Basics 2 Breakthroughs: Research at Berkeley Lab often starts with basic science, which leads to breakthroughs that help the world. In this video series, early career scientists discuss their game-changing research — and what inspires them.
A Day in the Half Life: This podcast series chronicles the incredible and often unexpected ways that science evolves over time, as told by scientists who helped shape a research field, and those who will bring it into the future.
Speaker series: These monthly lectures offer a look at game-changing scientific breakthroughs of the last 90 years, highlight current research aimed at tackling the nation’s most pressing challenges, and offer a glimpse into future research that will spur discoveries yet to be made.
Connect
Virtual tours: These live, interactive tours will enable you to learn more about Berkeley Lab’s research efforts, hear from the scientists who conduct this important work, and peek inside our amazing facilities.
Social media: Join us on social media for fun and engaging content that will help you discover the Lab’s incredible history, and learn what we’re imagining for the future. #BerkeleyLab90.
90 Breakthroughs
To celebrate Berkeley Lab’s nine decades of transforming discovery science into solutions that benefit the world, we’ll roll out 90 Berkeley Lab breakthroughs over the next several months. These landmark achievements — by no means a comprehensive list and in no particular order — offer a tour of some of the many game-changing discoveries developed at Berkeley Lab over the years.
Interactive Timeline: Explore the Lab’s many remarkable achievements and events through the decades.
History and photos: Check out our decade-by-decade photo album and historical material.
SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Social Media Announcements
Speaker Announcement PDF
Conference Poster
ELEMENTS
Elements, the Lab’s employee communications platform, provides Lab news and information via mobile app, desktop, and email.
VIDEOS
Berkeley Lab: What’s in a Name?
The Lawrence Lab? The Berkeley Lab? Lawrence Livermore Berkeley Lab? Luther Burbank Laboratory? Berkeley Countrywide Laboratory? Nope. Not quite. We're Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, or Berkeley Lab for short. But we do understand the confusion --
Berkeley Lab is a Special Place
Our Mission: Our collective purpose is to serve humankind through science.
Our Mission: Our collective purpose is to serve humankind through science.
What’s Happening at Berkeley Lab?
Berkeley Lab is now offering virtual tours of many of its facilities.
See what’s happening at Berkeley Lab.
See what’s happening at Berkeley Lab.
Happy Birthday Messages
Did you know that 2021 marks Berkeley Lab's 90th anniversary?
As we celebrate our past achievements and imagine what the next 90 years may bring, we thank our friends for the warm birthday wishes to help us celebrate this landmark occasion — we couldn't do it without their support!
BERKELEY LAB CREDITS
Creative Services
Eduardo de Ugarte, Graphic Designer, Illustrator
Thor Swift, Photographer
Cait Youngquist, Creative Director
Web Services
Phil Butler, Web Developer
Government and Community Relations
Jenn Tang, Manager of Community Relations
Strategic Communications
Julie Chao, Science Communications Lead
Lyn Hunter, Strategic Communications
Dan Krotz, Deputy Communications Officer
Jenny Nuss, Digital Content Specialist
Kelly Owen, Social Media Lead
Marilyn Sargent, Multimedia Producer
Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 14 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab’s facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
For more information, please visit: www.lbl.gov and energy.gov/science.
