Realised by a donation by Jonathan Milner (Abcam), the aim of the Milner Therapeutics Institute will be to help understand how drugs work and to push forward new ideas and technologies to improve the development of novel therapies, with a focus on cancer.
Angie explains the thinking behind the design of the logo:
The first thoughts on the design of the logo were around ‘symbiosis’ and ‘synergy’ – to reflect bringing together researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. For symbiosis, the immediate and obvious thoughts were of the flower and the bee, or even e-coli when it is where it should be! But they were real-world images and that would be confusing.
For synergy, the thinking was around yin-yan. Following those thought processes, I arrived at the Möbius strip – it is a three dimensional structure, it has two sides or faces and they are separate but inter-dependent. Translating the usual fluid shape into a solid square 'cornerstone' also gave it a new dimension - an optical illusion as found in the works of Escher: two equal parts creating something new and strong.
The final logo, a three dimensional structure with two 'faces' that are separate but inter-dependent, represents the symbiosis of research and industry facilitated by the institute. The colours represent the mix of creativity (orange) and stability (dark blue). With its building block, three dimensional form, it's also perfect for animating, which, as video content becomes a more important factor on websites and social media, gives this logo 'legs'!
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