Benaroya Research Institute

Brief

Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) was founded in 1956 as the Virginia Mason Research Center. In 1999, the building moved and became the Benaroya Research Institute in honor of support from the Benaroya family.  Last year Virgina Mason merged with CHI Franciscan health system with parent company CommonSpirit Health which is what prompted BRI’s brand overhaul.

Discovery

BRI came to me with some initial website ideas from another agency, fonts and a color palate to use. Then, I need to learn a little about the institutute, the immunology research industry, how they do it and what makes them special. 

Logo Activity

To help focus my logo solution efforts, I ask my clients to play a logo activity. I learn a lot about their preferences.

Research – Competition

I researched local and national research centers so I could better see how they position themselves from a branding and messaging standpoint.

Research – Immunology 101

Next, I had to learn about what immunology is and how the body does it.

Research – other centers

I researched other reseach centers and institution to get myself aquainted with the industry.

Research – Pharmaceutical companies

Inspiration – word cloud

Inspiration – icons and logos

Inspiration – natural patterns

Sketches

I took what I learned about BRI and immunology with what I discovered, explored and found inspiring to sketch ideas focused on the logo symbol. 

Concepts

Benaroya Research Institute selected some sketches to digitalize. I always riff on the sketch and pair them with wordmark options.

Refinements

We decided to refine two options. We looked at several discriptor and spacing solutions.

Old to new

Final Solution

Benaroya Research Institute selected a strong and modern mark that resignates with scientists and researchers. The symbol tells the story of helping people, guidance, pathways and a nod at how immunology works.