3rst for Merchandise Mart Identity

A modular logo built from the letters of the name.

Visual & Motion

At a glance

Company

3st, for Merchandise Mart Properties

May 2008

Role

Logo Mark Design

Team

Worked under the direction of Rick Valicenti.

Responsibilities

Visual design, interaction design, concept design.

Goal

Design the logo concept, color palette, block-theme variations, and an animated version of the mark for Merchandise Mart Properties

Outcome

A concept presentation, color palette, variations on the block theme, and an animated "kinetic" version of the mark, presented to the client.

Merchandise Mart Properties was a vast building of showrooms and exhibition space that is constantly rearranged. Its modularity began the conceptualization of building an identity mark with block-themed variations and an animated version of the mark.

blocks, and block options — Each word becomes a block in proportion to its letters, and each block can lie flat or stand up.

A mark for a modular space

Blocks represent the letters of the company name, so each word becomes a set of blocks of a matching length. This became a language of forms I began to work with. Could we build a kinetic identity to represent a modular space?

Combinations of options.

Blocks that rearrange

Making a mark that can change while staying recognizable constrains the creative process, leading to more possibilities. How might we build an identity that moves like a movable exhibition space?

A mark that evolves

I designed variations on the block theme in a color palette of blue, green, magenta, and black, one color for each word. Seen in three dimensions, the same four blocks form a family of marks, from solid stacks to thin, linear forms.

A sheet of Merchandise Mart Properties marks in blue, green, magenta, and black, from flat shapes to three-dimensional stacks — A mark that evolves: the same four blocks in many arrangements.

Bringing the marks to life

Putting the marks together in animation is the most compelling aspect of this concept. I created a kinetic version in which the blocks slide and stack into new forms.

Animated Merchandise Mart Properties mark, with blocks moving into new arrangements — The blocks shift between solid and open arrangements.

Merchandise Mart form design (animated) — Each arrangement settles into a mark, then moves on to the next.

Animation of Marks

This concept explored a graphic identity that would move. This reinforced the metaphor of the Merchandise Mart: a movable exhibition space.

Merchandise Mart form design, second version (animated) — The full sequence, moving from one form to the next.

Presented to the client

We presented the concept, the color palette, the variations, and the kinetic mark to the client. In the end, they wanted something less dynamic and more understated, but exploring movable identity marks with Rick Valicenti was a career highlight.