Creating artwork to complement a revolutionary education space

The Waukee Innovation and Learning Center is home to Waukee APEX, a program that brings together students, business professionals, and community members. Students work on real-world projects and learn industry skills as opposed to spending their day in a traditional high school setting.

The project

Waukee Aspring Professional Experience was an innovative idea that needed an equally innovative building. The Waukee Innovation and Learning Center is what resulted — and it was my task to create a brand that draws inspiration from the architecture.

Keywords

I begin every project by defining a set of keywords to guide my design. The keywords for this project are:

1. Innovative
2. Collaborative
3. Modern

Logo

This logo has the most interesting story of all the logos I've designed. I sat on the idea for several weeks and made some sketches, but none of them were hits. It wasn't until I saw a birds-eye view of the building on Google Maps that I was inspired. The triangular shape of the building is exactly what I needed to highlight in my design — it perfectly illustrates the collaborative nature of the APEX program.

I also knew that a "Concentrak" style was the way to go. This style is popular for modern venues and is reminiscent of the colored lines found throughout the building. The fonts I chose match the fonts of the APEX logo and create a modern look.

Colors

The colors of this brand are pulled directly from the decorative pieces within the building. The brand perfectly encapsulates the building design as a result.

Elements

The Concentrak style plays through the other designs in unique ways. The dark green color is used to evoke a unique experience for events and welcome signage, where simpler white designs is used for functional pieces.