POPS Logo Design Competition - “OPEN”

New York, NY

Seeking to support a clear distinction between public and private space - “places people can go” vs. “places people can’t go” - we propose an invitation. “OPEN.” OPEN space visually communicated.

Angled for dimensional architectural effect we intend to draw connections to other civic and pop-culture cons and lettermarks. This new POPS logo aspires to a legible (and literal) graphic identity that is less complex and more accessible.

Letters converge to resemble that of a Nolli map, revealing only space and mass. The “O’s” center eschews the rigid spatial order of the lettermark generated by its underlying grid; at once resembling a leaf. While functioning in black, the “leaf” offers a whimsical opportunity to introduce color, announcing the social and natural life of each place while uniting its users with a common visual language.

Attachment Methodology

OPEN offers binary and pragmatic flexibility in its ability to be installed within and on a variety of mediums. It’s blocky and figure-ground format allows for ease of:

• laser etching or engraving glass

• sandblasting or bush hammering stone

• painting or laser cutting/water jetting metals

• printing to adhesive window films

• stencil/carbon transfer to wood for wood burning

Render either figure or ground on the chosen medium and be left with an identity/message that reflects the diversity of those using these spaces and a common thread marking not an isolated space, but a small place within a much larger system.