UA College of Science

As one of the largest colleges at the University of Arizona and with thirteen major academic departments and research units, for many years the UA College of Science was hidden in plain sight. With key accomplishments that include being the first American university to manage a mission to Mars, serving as manager of Biosphere 2, serving as a key contributor in the development of the Large Hadron Collider, and being the source of the world’s largest and most accurate telescope mirrors, the University of Arizona College of Science has an unmatched portfolio of research, education and achievement; but for years remained virtually unrecognized.

Spurred to action by Dean Joaquin Ruiz, simple preliminary steps were taken to define the college both visually and organizationally. When it was explained that several of the college's departments could embrace the commonality of the its previous symbol (a 3D rendering of the Fibonacci sequence) Godat Design’s response was that there was one icon that was even more universal and could be shared by all of the college's many parts, the word "science" itself. To that end, we designed a deceptively simple "UA Science" wordmark that was universally comprehensible, accessible to the broader public, and that aligned with University of Arizona graphic standards.

Critical to the success of the new wordmark was its ability to be used at very small sizes – as an endorsement tag associated with its many departments' and programs' diverse activities. Implemented strategically over several years, typographic, color, logo and web standards all now serve to generate a image of interrelationship and synergy within the College of Science.

Today, UA Science is at the forefront of discoveries that are changing our world. With globally prominent faculty in disciplines at the core of scientific inquiry and education (and supported by an effective marketing program), the College of Science continues to grow as a nexus of award-winning departments, programs and centers that encourage both independent and collaborative-driven research and education.