Alumni offer to redo IISc logo for free

Disappointed with the Indian Institute of Science’s choice of new brand identity, a group of nine alumni from the institute’s design school is putting together a proposal to redesign the brand for free.

Nitin Gupta, a 2013 graduate of the IISc’s Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing (CPDM), expressed bewilderment over why the institute would sanction the services of a professional agency when it had the services of its own design department — the CPDM.

“We want a brand identity that does justice to an illustrious institution such as IISc,” Gupta said. Institute director Anurag Kumar said he would look at the proposal if it was brought to him. A Facebook post that garnered attention from students and alumni showed images comparing the new brand’s similarity with another used by the ‘March for Science’ rallies, utilising semi-identical design and colours.

An alumnus said: “It is a copy-paste and looks like some cheap startup logo.”

In an email thread weighed in on by students and faculty, another alumnus compared the brand to the ‘90s pop culture icon of Shaktiman’, adding that “it will hamper the institute’s image”.

According to sources, the brand, which was designed by a Mumbai-based creative agency and involved over a year of work, came with a price tag of between Rs 2 and Rs 3.5 crore. The group of nine claimed that they are willing to do a revamp for free.

Vinay Reddy, a 2012 graduate of CPDM, said the group of nine’s primary motivation revolves around their attachment to the institute. “We want the administration to give us a chance to come up with something better. Something that does justice to our alma mater,” Reddy said.