Los Alamos National Laboratory | Creative Director
Los Alamos National Laboratory brand identity
Established in 1943 to conduct scientific research for the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory now specializes in a wide range of progressive science, technology, and engineering across many fields, including space exploration, geophysics, renewable energy, supercomputing, medicine, and nanotechnology.
When the Laboratory Staff Director approached me to lead a rebrand, I was invited to consider an identity for the 21st century, that acknowledged the lab’s renowned legacy, but that’s firmly looking towards the future. We developed a cohesive brand language to align the lab’s identity with it’s more focused and progressive vision and culture.
The challenge
In its 80 year history, LANL never had a brand, only a logo. In fact, the lab had hundreds of logos — each uniquely identifying siloed organizations within the greater bureaucracy. But this was the old lab. The new lab prioritizes modern platforms, accessible UX, and clarity of vision.
The opportunity
We asked, “How do we benchmark against our peers?” “What makes a great brand?” To bring a new perspective, literally, to our process, we began by designing in Blender. After eight months of research and iteration, the One Lab, One Voice proposal was approved as-is by lab leadership and the DOE.
Brand standards and brand architecture
LANL is a large and complex institution, made up of 900 individual facilities on 40 square miles, with a total workforce over 17,000. It was imperative we implement a vibrant but flexible brand language and architecture that could accommodate a wide variety of organizations, products, and touchpoints — both internal and external.
The dozens of sub-brand treatments made to-date have been used on everything from rockets, supercomputers, and accelerators, to magazines, websites, and coffee cups. They’ve been blasted into space, etched in aluminum, and patterned into silicon at the width of a human hair.
Brand templates and products
Prior to the rebrand, the lab had no single template for business cards, Powerpoints, or memos. There was no institutional design for wayfinding signage, or standard for ensuring the quality of production and installation. New-hires would receive a packet of mismatched forms, often featuring embarrassing clipart and outdated logos, since there was no central resource for branded content.
LANL’s products now not only look better, but work better too. Standardized communications templates and libraries guarantee accessibility, inclusivity, and ADA compliance. They also reflect a more confident and contemporary culture.
Brand storytelling
Multimedia content, including photographs, videos, podcasts, displays, exhibits, illustrations, and interactive experiences presents the opportunity for informative and inspiring brand expressions.
We developed a system to allow these efforts to materialize cohesively across a variety of channels. For illustration, we created guidance for illustration as design and illustration as story. For photography, we define five visual and thematic approaches.
Brand journey
The One Lab, One Voice rebrand has become an effective platform for brand campaigns.
We implemented a 360 campaign aimed at accelerating hiring to meet an ambitious DOE goal. Our strategy sought to drive traffic to an all-new lanl.jobs website from multiple touchpoints, including job fairs, billboards, banner ads, social media and more. After one year, we progressed the job application completion rate to an industry-leading 50% and exceeded our directive to hire 2,000 new employees in 2023.
Our employer branding efforts have also proven effective in internal campaigns, enhancing transparency and trust among the workforce, and driving record contributions to annual charitable and volunteer events.
The outcome
The brand has demonstrated value in contributing to the lab’s goals. It resonates with customers, prospective employees, and the workforce.
It also now aligns with the core values, vision, and culture of the institution, and will be an effective platform as the lab’s mission and priorities continue to evolve.