iPlant Collaborative

Created with a mission to build an entirely new, multi-disciplinary community of scientists, teachers, and students, as well as a new cyberinfrastructure that facilitates significant scientific advances, iPlant ambitiously straddles the worlds of communications and technology, plant biology and computer science. But, in its first formative year, misperceptions about the iPlant Collaborative took root. It's first logo lacked a universally accessible symbolism and rendering problems made it flat, weak and visually drab. With an emerging need to provide a higher level of public outreach, iPlant leadership saw the importance of refining and strengthening their communications tools - beginning with a re-examination of iPlant's home-grown logo.

Godat Design's analytical approach allowed project stakeholders to define iPlant's diverse audiences and to reach consensus on a visual approach that respected the needs of both highly specialized scientists as well as a science-savvy general public. Because the organization was young, it was determined that the best approach was to build an evolutionary reinterpretation of iPlant's original meristem icon.

Godat Design engaged in detailed research of plant physiology and notation methods to develop an appropriate rendering of a plant whorl that captured both the professionalism of the organization and expressed the dynamism of the collaborative. Communications attributes were defined and supported with reference materials, allowing iPlant management to develop context and a high comfort level with the group's updated identity. Color, typography and implementation standards were all set to ensure synergistic applications of the new identity. Because the program would be applied by many Collaborative partners, basic stationery, web and collateral demonstrations all helped shape the direction of the program's launch.

Today, iPlant is developing new tools to help improve high-level gene annotation and genome analysis. Through applications of computational thinking and a fearless approach to the challenges of plant biology and computer science, the iPlant Collaborative is leveraging their newly cultivated visibility to help plant researchers and educators expand the reach of modern biology.