60 years young – Tel Aviv University’s new branding

Reinventing a brand identity for a 60-year old institution (old in Israeli terms, please remember our country just celebrated 67), with 9 faculties, almost 30,000 students and dozens of research fields, was not easy. We wanted to stand out as the market leader that we are, but still emphasize that our minds are on the future and not on what we’ve already achieved.  We wanted to address applicants’ concerns when picking a university (academic excellence, thoughts about future career, etc.) but in our own way. To be proactive and state who we are and what we do, rather than belaboring the obvious.

So…Who are we?

For us, Tel Aviv University isn’t just a name. We’re a part of the great city of Tel Aviv, which stands for modern and progressive Israel and for values such as personal liberty, diversity and pluralism. We symbolize and nurture that Tel Aviv spirit. Our campus is a place where everyone can write, speak or research on any topic or any field. We are committed to true academic freedom.

What do we do?

Like any research university, our number one goal is just that – research. As we dug deeper into the meaning of this concept, we realized that research isn’t something that’s done exclusively in the lab. The basis of all research is curiosity: that urge that we have to search for an answer or try something we’ve never done before.  This is how a baby learns how to move his hands, and this is how mountains, oceans and continents were discovered.

Once we established that we are all potential researchers, it was easy to move from the concept of research done in a closed lab (“the lab is my world”) to the idea that the whole world is our lab – waiting to be researched and explored. At Tel Aviv University we want to gather all those who have not forgotten how to be curious.

Out of these thoughts came the realization that although there is a vast amount of knowledge that has accumulated here, passing it on to future generations is not enough. Our minds are always on the future – on the next breakthrough, the next big thing to discover. We do not dwell on what we know; rather, we focus on what is yet unknown. And that is the essence of what we do: we are  Pursuing the Unknown.

So there you have it – our new university motto.

How will it look?

In terms of graphics, there is no other color that can convey the unknown better than black. So our new graphic language is black and white.  Our logo is also transformed.  There is much respect for the tradition the old logo stands for, so it has not disappeared. Instead – it has evolved. The logo is now a journey of discovery. Three circles that take you on a journey through the pursuit of knowledge – at first unclear, than glimpsing something more coherent.

We would like to thank branding expert Atara Beiler and the studio of designer Uri Naveh and copy-writer Tal  Berkovitch for the large part they played in this project.