Harvard Innovation Labs:
Brand Refresh
Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab) is a university-wide ecosystem supporting Harvard students and alumni in exploring and building entrepreneurial ventures. Drawing participants from all 13 Harvard schools, the i-lab connects early-stage founders with mentors, resources, and a collaborative community designed to spark innovation.
Client
Harvard Innovation Labs
Role
Art director and design lead
Communications Director
Alexandra Stephens
The Challenge
While the i-lab’s programming was strong, its brand was not keeping pace. The organization faced:
A fragmented visual identity across digital and physical touchpoints
Disconnected tools and workflows that made brand execution difficult for non-designers
An overemphasis on abstraction that obscured the human stories driving innovation—visual language often prioritized style over substance, overshadowing the founders and ventures at the heart of the work
The Opportunity
These challenges created the need to establish a unified, modern identity across platforms and build a flexible system that could scale with the organization.
What I Did
Directed creative strategy and art direction across digital, print, and environmental platforms
Led the redesign of the visual identity, including logo refinement and subbrand architecture
Designed environmental graphics, including wayfinding, digital signage, venture displays, and staff walls
Created a library of customizable templates in PowerPoint, Canva, and Mailchimp
Centralized brand guidelines, tools, and assets in Dropbox, Notion, and ClickUp to support organization-wide adoption
Photographed ventures and events to create an archive of candid photography
Conclusion and Results
The refreshed brand reintroduced Harvard Innovation Labs as a vibrant, cohesive ecosystem—one that reflects its community-driven ethos.
Key outcomes included:
A successful rollout of the new visual system
Streamlined operations and improved cross-team collaboration
Broad adoption of brand assets by non-designers
Clearer, more consistent storytelling across events, digital channels, and venture communications
A scalable design framework that supports future growth