Icsid, Icograda, and IFI unveiled the new visual identity for its biennial IDA Congress. Designed and developed by Pentagram, the new look focuses on an artistic restructuring of Pangaea, a theory of Greek origin meaning "all lands" in support of the idea that at one time, all of the earth's continents were once a single landmass. Pentagram's solution for a permanent identity for the IDA Congress is a seemingly abstract shape that is ultimately composed of the silhouettes of all continents. At small scale, its shape is ambiguous. Enlarged, the geographic details come into view.
Each Congress host, selected on a biennial basis, will be able to customise the identity within a system developed by Pentagram, showcasing the unique attributes and culture of the host city. The strong shape of the new IDA Congress logo provides a visual anchor for key text elements- the host city name, the year and theme-which can incorporate both roman and non-roman alphabets to reflect both the visual and verbal language of the Congress location.
The new visual harmoniously brings together the earth's continents, as the IDA Congress brings together design disciplines, uniting designers and their stakeholders-world bodies, governments, business and society - to shape regional and global agendas that further the impact of design.
Concluding a successful first congress in Taiwan in October 2011, the three partners of the IDA are looking forward to promoting future congresses with this unique visual identity.
The next IDA Congress will take place from November 17-19, 2013 in Istanbul. Istanbul Technical University (ITU), official host of the 2013 IDA Congress, will be the first to use this logo under the theme, "Design Dialects," which is presented as a metaphor for confrontation, communication and collaboration, fostering a creative discourse on design from all disciplines. ITU will continue on the path forged by the previous congress and provide a platform on which professionals from design and non-design backgrounds can discuss pertinent issues and work together to find solutions, through the congress programme and multidisciplinary sessions.