What happens when students learn directly from industry professionals in the same environments and using the same equipment they’ll encounter in the workplace? What doors are opened when you bring together students with different talents and interests to work on projects commissioned by local businesses — and when the mentors evaluate those projects using professional standards instead of educational norms?
This is the vision behind the Canyons Innovation Center, and the new logo created to embody it.
“The goal of this learning center is to prepare students for immediate entry to high-demand careers, and we really wanted a logo that speaks to those industrial connections while also feeling authentic and approachable to students,” said Innovation Center Director Reid Newey.
The CIC acronym is clearly evident in the final mark, a series of rippling “C” rings anchored by an “I” as the focal point, which is reminiscent of a lighthouse or camera aperture.
“The logo reflects how we see this learning center as a collision space for new ideas, a space where students are encouraged to push beyond what’s immediately visible to discover new ways of seeing and doing,” Newey said. “The concentric forms and focal point lend naturally to motion. In digital spaces, it can rotate, sharpen, and come alive, much like the ideas that will be born within the Innovation Center itself.”
The primary mark feels industrial like it belongs in boardrooms, labs, or on the side of a piece of equipment, but can also live comfortably on a hat or t-shirt.
It grew from months of collaboration and student-driven competitive analysis, SWOT work, focus groups, and graphic design. Contributing directly were students from the Canyons Technical Education Center’s Business Leadership and Media Design classes as well as external designers and the District’s graphic design team.
Canyons employees, parents, and industry partners also helped define the center’s personality and purpose.
“What we heard from stakeholders was they wanted a brand that came across as competent and professional while also evoking excitement, creativity, and playfulness,” said Kirsten Stewart, Canyons District’s Associate Director of Communications. “The design challenge was not to lean more one way than the other, but to bridge these personalities.”
One solution was to position the identity system to evolve.
While the core mark will remain consistent, color expression and secondary applications can flex depending on how the logo is being used, whether on signage for a specific CIC program, or digitally on backlit and dark-mode screens where most of today’s brands live.
“This flexibility and dynamism speak to the what the Innovation Center is all about, a fast-forward educational experience that adapts to prepare students for the jobs of today and the jobs of the future,” Stewart said. “The credentials, college credit and durable students earn at this center are structured and grounded, while the work being done onsite by students will be experimental and exploratory.”
