Design Bay Area is a new not-for-profit organization established to promote the diversity of design practice across the Bay Area.
A platform dedicated to promoting design and amplifying the voices of the California design community, and those in adjacent fields, DesignBayArea aims to create economic opportunities by fostering the local and international community. It is also the organizing body behind San Francisco Design Week, an annual design festival that spans the Bay Area.
Mucho was tasked with creating a visual identity for the new organization. The biggest challenge was creating a new identity that is unique to the Bay Area, while being able to represent all the different design disciplines within the region. This identity also needed to work alongside and as the umbrella brand for San Francisco Design Week.
The Bay Area is made up of nine counties and is known for its distinguished West Coast coastline and golden sunshine. These elements come together to form the basis of the Design Bay Area identity.
Our solution was to channel this optimism, warmth and openness of the Bay Area. We developed the concept of ‘West Coast Energy’ which is represented in a timeless, dynamic new symbol — Reminiscent of a spark, or sun, the symbol shines back from the West Coast.
The flat, vertical left hand side of the logo represents the Pacific, while each ray points to each of the 9 unique counties which make up the Bay Area. The symbol also creates a large letter ‘D’ for Design.
The color palette represents the ‘Golden Hour’ — a unique light that hits the Bay Area and California at the end of each day as the sun sets in the West, featuring ‘International Orange’ — the color of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The typography is also unique to the region, designed by Lucas Sharp of Sharp Type based in the Bay Area.
