RA - Branding Exercise

For an assignment in a graphic design class, I developed a set of brand guidelines for an imagined sci-fi space farming company. The company RA - a play on “raw” food, and Ra the Egyptian god of the sun - develops and maintains “plant pods,” small orbiting enclosures that grow food for astronauts in an automated and self-regulating hydroponics system. The work was inspired by real research that suggests that long term space travel and colonization will only become feasible once food can be reliably grown off of Earth’s surface.

I was intent on not having RA’s branding fall into sci-fi corporation design tropes. I wanted it to feel optimistic, while maintaining a grounding in reality. Softly rounded hexagons dominated the shape language of the project, as they convey a scientific sort of precision and recall cellular structures, while still feeling friendly and welcoming. Similarly, concentric circles appear frequently and relate to mathematical concepts like orbits and atomic diagrams, as well as the patterns in a freshly split vegetable. Simple and cartoony veggie icons playfully convey the work being done. The fonts were chosen to feel vaguely futuristic without the usually sleekness or sharpness associated with that concept. A bright and saturated color selection of blue, magenta, gold, and green make the whole project feel vibrant and alive.