The Media Lab's visual identity communicates who we are: an innovative, interdisciplinary research laboratory at MIT. Apply it consistently to convey the rigor and imagination that define our work.

Media Lab logo

The MIT Media Lab monogram glyph was based on a 7x7, 49-unit grid. The grid forms the basis for the glyph, which spells the Lab’s acronym ML. The diagram below shows the configuration of the glyph in relation to its underlying grid. The size of the M is dominant over that of the L, for easy legibility.

The MIT Media Lab logo combines the glyph with a wordmark spelling out MIT Media Lab. The wordmark helps further explain the glyph, and is essential for external communications. The wordmark is placed one grid unit away from the glyph, as detailed below.

The logo may be rendered in either black or white. 

Color

Primary colors

The MIT Media Lab's primary colors are black, white, and grey. Most designs should stick to this palette.

Secondary colors

While black and white alone should be used most of the time, color may be introduced sparingly. This Secondary palette may be employed one color at a time along with black and white, i.e., black and white and blue, or black and white and magenta, but not blue and magenta in the absence of black and white.

Tertiary colors

Additional colors may be needed on a case-by-case basis. To create novel colors to brand events, for instance, use the accessible color generation tool. This generator uses combinations of the six secondary colors to create vivid in-between colors that achieve at least 7:1 contrast with either black or white.

Typography

Typography is an important and high-visibility part of the Media Lab's brand. Our typography emphasizes clarity and legibility, and reinforces the brand’s key elements.

We suggest using our brand typefaces to further reinforce the connection to MIT and help create a unified look and feel. These typefaces are available to the MIT community at no cost.

Neue Haas Grotesk

The MIT Media Lab's primary typeface is Neue Haas Grotesk, also referred to as NHG. Designed in the late 1950s, it became extremely popular around the world and was seen by many as a symbol of modernist graphic design. The typeface was later renamed Helvetica. 

Due to its immense popularity, many versions of Helvetica — some of them poorly crafted digital interpretations —have been developed over the years. The version of Neue Haas Grotesk used for the MIT brand is not the same as today’s Helvetica: it is a sophisticated digital revival of the original Helvetica design that reflects the quality and fidelity of its original shapes. 

We strongly recommend using NHG for all professionally designed communications. For internal communications, such as MS Word docs and PowerPoint presentations, Helvetica or Arial can be used as an alternative.

The MIT community can access Neue Haas Grotesk through Adobe Fonts. Note that Adobe Fonts are tied to each employee’s Creative Cloud account. If the staff member who manages your web and print collateral leaves MIT, the new employee will need to activate the NHG typefaces within their own account.

An important exception: If you are unable to use Neue Haas Grotesk, Helvetica or Arial are acceptable alternatives and may be used instead. For example, you will see Helvetica is the default font in our slide deck templates, to make sharing decks easier.

NHG Display vs. Text

To optimize its appearance and readability within various size ranges, there are two variations of NHG available: Display and Text.

NHG Display styles
Digital use: larger than 20 px
Print use: larger than 16 pt

NHG Text styles
Digital use: 20 px and below
Print use: 16 pt and below

Setting headlines (NHG Display)

At large sizes, NHGD looks best with tight leading, which gives the typography greater impact. As a rough guide, leading should fall somewhere between 85% and 100% of the type size. Use this range as a starting point, but always optimize based on the application. For large headlines, up to -20 units of letter spacing, or tracking, may be used. Never add additional tracking to the typeface, as it is designed to be set tight.

Setting body copy (NHG Text)

Smaller text tends to require more leading than headline typography. As a rough guide, leading should fall somewhere between 100% and 125% of the type size. Use this range as a starting point, but always optimize based on the application. Letter spacing, or tracking, should typically be set to its default (0) for body text.

How to access Neue Haas Grotesk

Neue Haas Grotesk Display and Text are available to the MIT community at no cost. MIT has an Adobe Creative Cloud enterprise license for staff, faculty, and students. Note that when you activate Adobe Fonts, they become available on all of your desktop apps, not just Adobe products.

To activate Neue Haas Grotesk:

1. Open the Creative Cloud desktop app. (Select the Creative Cloud icon in your Windows taskbar or macOS menu bar.)
2. Click Manage fonts in the left sidebar.
3. Click Browse more fonts at the top right.
4. You’ll be prompted to log in to the Adobe website.
5. Search for the Neue Haas Grotesk fonts and click the Add Family button.
6. In the Manage fonts in the Creative Cloud app pop-up window, click the Open app button.
7. Once back in the app, select Install family.

See the Getting and Using Fonts section of Adobe’s user guide if you have questions.

Affiliates are not covered by MIT’s Creative Cloud license. Departments, labs, and centers can purchase a license for an affiliate.

Brand architecture

There are several types of entities that coexist under the umbrella of the MIT Media Lab. Both the entities’ physical location and their contributions play a part in how each is identified in the larger context of the Lab. All logos are generated by the communications + design team. 

Program in Media Arts and Sciences

The Program in Media Arts and Sciences contributes to the teaching structure inside the Lab; the program’s name is shown inside the Media Lab monogram glyph.

Groups

The Media Lab’s structure is predominantly made up of the groups performing the research. Groups address the primary goal of the Lab in creating technologies that radically improve the way people live, learn, express themselves, work, and play. For this reason, each of the groups is represented by a monogram glyph. The glyph is created in the same way in which the overall Lab’s identity has been created, thus flattening the hierarchy between the overarching entity and the groups that make up the Lab.

Initiatives

Since initiatives are typically collaborative efforts, they are typeset in the same typeface as the Media Lab wordmark and signed with a superscript Media Lab symbol.

Programs + other 

Programs and other entities should be signed with the "program lockup" in order to visually connect them as contributing entities to the Lab. Programs are typeset in the same typeface as the Media Lab wordmark, set below the Media Lab logo at 50% opacity. 

Group, initiative, and program logos

Download logos below:

Logo use + applying the brand

Logo clear space

Maintaining a clear space or area around the logo in which no other elements can be placed is essential in order for the logo to clearly communicate. The clear space is shown in grey below. The clear space is equal to two grid units around the entire logo. Do not place any elements within the area specified. 

The same clear space rules apply for the sub-logos, including groups, initiatives, and programs. In order to maintain maximum legibility, always make sure to include the proper clear space around the logos.

Logo lockups

When showing another logo next to the Media Lab logo — this includes both sub-logos such as group logos, and external logos such as the MIT logo — two units of space should be used horizontally between the two logos to ensure maximum legibility and compliance with clear space rules are being followed. 

When locking up group logos with the Media Lab logo, always align to the top edge of their glyphs to ensure that the logos align vertically with each other. When locking up sub-logos lacking glyphs with glyph-having logos (group logos or the Media Lab logo), ensure the text is the same size for each, and align to baseline. 

When in doubt, reach out to the communications team for assistance!

Logo do's and don'ts

All rules listed below relate to both the MIT Media Lab logo and all group logos.

1. DO use the logo on solid backgrounds to ensure maximum legibility.
2. DO use the white version of the logo on dark-colored backgrounds to ensure legibility.
3. Do not put the logo on patterned and busy photographic images.
4. Do not stretch or distort the logo.
5. Do not type out the wordmark “MIT Media Lab”.
6. Do not use colorways or logos that have not been approved.
7. Do not create your own lockups of unofficial logos — please contact Communications for assistance!
8. Do not invent your own glyphs — please contact Communications for assistance!

Templates

Various identity materials, including letterhead, slide templates, poster templates, etc., are available to the Media Lab community at the link below:

Using the Media Lab Name

Accepted variations on the Lab's name include:

• MIT Media Lab (preferred)
• Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab

Please note that we no longer use MIT Media Laboratory.

If using "the Lab" as a second reference, "Lab" should be capitalized. Example: "Media Lab research covers a broad array of disciplines; at the Lab, the future is lived, not just imagined."

Using the ML logo or brand is limited by certain rules. Members of the Media Lab community must not imply any endorsement of a for-profit product or service. If you are not sure whether the use of the name or logo is appropriate, contact Communications.