MIT Media Lab Color System
Brand identity, art direction, codeWhen I arrived at the MIT Media Lab, the Pentagram-designed identity was ten years old and had never included color. It was stark, beautiful, and complete in its black and white simplicity. Then I was asked to introduce color, and I approached that with as much trepidation as excitement.
The process began in the archives, specifically a closet full of historical print materials spanning the Lab's forty-year history, where I found a recurring six-color palette threading through decades of publications and ephemera. That palette became the foundation, updated to the present through one non-negotiable lens: accessibility. Every color meets WCAG contrast standards when paired together, ensuring legibility across a full range of vision differences, critical in a research environment where data visualization and infographics are central to how work is shared. This was not a compliance exercise. It was a design value.
Alongside the palette, I developed a generative color tool that splices the six core colors to produce new tones when needed, testing each automatically against WCAG standards and indicating whether black or white text provides optimal contrast. The system is designed to grow without breaking.
The color palette and generator were the first deliverables. The member engagement print system and biannual member events were among its first applications.
+ Research / design / coding: Olivia Verdugo
© 2026 Olivia S Verdugo