Say hello to our new logo
After months of behind-the-scenes research, interviews, and labors of love, we’re delighted to debut Ai2’s new brand and website today. In partnership with our friends at the brand consultancy, Archetype Brands, we evolved our brand to better reflect our work, values, and vision.
Why did we evolve our brand? And why now?
Ai2 started 10 years ago with the “AI2” mark representing the spark of ideas. We started our rebrand process aiming to address a few design challenges. People often referred to Ai2 as “A twelve”, an easy mistake to make with the former logo. We also had a lot of brand confusion and dilution, as much of the work coming out of Ai2 was not being successfully attributed to Ai2. Take Hellaswag for instance. It is one of the most influential ways to evaluate modern language models, yet many people are not aware these fundamental benchmarks were developed at Ai2.
A new look
We have no doubt that this is the moment Paul Allen envisioned 10 years ago when he started Ai2, a research institute designed to make big bets on artificial intelligence. With many of the field’s early dreams for AI finally coming into reality, it felt like there was no better time for us to explore and focus on Ai2's purpose and reason for being, the foundation under which our brand stands.
But first we checked with OLMo, our open LLM...
Should Ai2 update its brand? OLMo thinks so…
“An update to the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) brand might be beneficial in several ways. While the current brand remains successful and influential in the field of AI research and technology, an update could help AI2 remain current and relevant in a rapidly evolving landscape. As AI2 moves forward with its research and collaborative efforts, an updated brand could help solidify its position as a leader in AI innovation, while also staying true to its mission and values.”
– Response generated from OLMo
It starts with research
Like everything at Ai2, our rebranding journey started with research. We partnered with Archetype Brands to collect data, analyze, question, sketch, reflect, and review every network architecture and visualization in modern AI to understand the visual language that exists today.
Our purpose and reason for being
Our previous mission, AI for the Common Good, is still a core motivator, but the team was pushing for something bolder and more audacious to meet the moment. As we dived deeper, it became clear that our team’s purpose and reason for being is to build breakthrough AI to solve the world’s biggest problems.
What became apparent throughout the process was that at the core of everything we do is true openness. We are setting the standard for truly open AI to deliver real-world impact. At Ai2, true openness goes beyond open data, open model weights, and open licenses. It is all those things, but it’s also much more – Ai2 champions showing up with open minds, taking a different perspective with an open heart, inclusiveness of the whole AI community.
Opportunity lies in the spaces in between
All this research led to a lot of (good) tension in our creative brand brief. Ai2 is audacious but disciplined, grounded in science while being open and accessible, and guided by heritage but yet fresh and playful. Magically, the Archetype Brands team was able to bring all of these concepts together into our new brand.
At the heart of our brand is our logo. It represents who we are and what we do.
The four corner pins represent collaboration, joining forces, building connections. The negative space between the brackets opens the spark of creativity that drives our breakthrough “aha” moments. The spark is a nod to Ai2’s heritage, the original lightbulb in our first logo, which we wanted to bring forward. The distinctive lower case “i” reflects the corner pins from the brackets and provides greater legibility, to help solve our “A twelve” issue. And the slight asymmetry is a reminder to always take a different perspective and hold comfort in the spaces between.
Open up to break through
We can further bring these concepts to life by animating the logo. As the four pins break apart, we can showcase the negative space opening up to reveal the breakthrough moment.
A pop of pink
We meticulously analyzed the color space to find a brand palette that represented who we are, and that passed accessibility benchmarks. We wanted something bold, audacious, collaborative, inclusive, and playful, which is how we landed on Ai2 Pink Hex. F0529c. But it was important that the color palette represented our full personality, including the quieter, detailed, experienced side, which is why we paired it with a warm cream Hex. FAF2E9 and a dark, sophisticated teal Hex. 0A3235.
Color was probably the biggest change to our overall brand, but at Ai2 we are always taking a different perspective, looking at the world and our potential to change it, so introducing pink was just one of our many bold steps into the future.
Opening our brand toolkit
For those interested in understanding the details behind crafting a modern AI brand, check out our full brand toolkit.
Join us on the journey
Follow along in our efforts to build breakthrough AI that is open to all.