Updating the Rita Lab Brand: Reflections From a New Horizon

A Brand Evolution

As we expanded our offerings and community, our brand itself needed to evolve to meet the newest iteration of who we are today and who we will grow to be. The community started as Inclusion Design Lab, then became Rita Creative Lab as initiatives merged, but now on the precipice of a greater evolution something needed to shift.

But first, in order to move forwards we had to look back. Leaning into Miguel’s story of how and why Rita Creative was born, his creation of Inclusion Design Lab, and his love for Space, a vision started to form.

Meet Rita Lab

The first stop on a 3 station tour in the Rita Group universe. A community for creatives, technologists, designers, and future innovators at the intersection of career, creativity, and culture. But what is a brand without a voice and an ethos? This was the keystone of establishing a new look and feel. This culminated with the creation of the tagline “Discover Your Future” and the dropping of the word “creative” from the brand name.

This was not an easy decision. This was a collaborate process with the entire team. After narrowing down a few options we discussed and voted. Within the branding process, especially with an already established brand, you need to know the foundation the brand was built on. This can range from current or past visuals, guidelines, interviews with founders and stakeholders, and anything else that will let you tap in to the essence of the brand. Evolution can be messy, but this distillation process it essential for creating a focus for future growth. Even if uncomfortable it prompts us to keep honing in on what is really important and authentic, discarding what no longer serves the greater good and potential of the brand.

Rita Lab will be a place for community members to explore the possibilities of a career in tech and design and build relationships to inspire and grow together.

So, How does this come to life?

One of the most obvious changes you will see is the move from a light to dark. Starting here we can appreciate the nuance and beauty of the light that is only visible in the dark. Next, the brand colors got a refresh. Futuristic, vibrant shades were added to our dark ground. Invoking a sense of adventure and excitement. We kept the 3 original primary brand colors as a base to build on, but lead with black versus white. We also added a collection of grays to enable us to create greater hierarchy and flexibility across all brand touch points.

The cornerstone of our visuals is the nebula.

A nebula is a cloud of dust and gas from the explosion of a dying star. A place where new stars are formed acting as a nursery as they grow. A continuous cycle of evolution, just like our community and its members.

Building off of our place in Space, other graphic elements were added to bring the brand to life. Evolving our open-ended circles inspired by Kat Holmes’s book Mismatch, audio waves as a nod to our passion for music and the transmissions that will be broadcast throughout the community in the form of seminars and talks.

Using these elements alongside glass cards keeps our website feeling expansive, deep, and free- forming just like the community itself.

Lift Off

We are happy you are here and will be exploring right along side you as we all work towards building a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse future within the creative community and beyond.