Pentagram was approached by the newly renamed George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing to create a visual retrospective on the school's 50-year history, one that looks back while continuing to push forward into the future.
The custom numeral typography created by Pentagram reflects the 45, 90, and 180-degree angles of Michael Heizer's sculpture, which resides in the courtyard at the center of the school's campus.
Inside, the numerals are placed throughout the book as dividers for the decades, and, in combination with a vertical folio, allow alumni readers to flip to their own formative years.
Rice is a Houston-based university that has explored and broken boundaries. Pentagram was approached by the newly renamed George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing to create a visual retrospective on the school's 50-year history, one that looks back while continuing to push forward into the future.
Their innovations include the first artificial heart, the collaborative development of NASA's Houston space center, and a field of nanotechnology that continues to shape the world today.
Following a chronological format, the school's history is split into decades, highlighting key figures, innovations, and moments. Silos were created at the end of each chapter, creating cross-time peeks into student life, the expanding campus, and the impact on computing across the full 50 years.
The colors reflect Rice's recognizable and established brand, while the typography creates a foundation of structure: PP Eiko's chiseled edges sit in contrast to the utilitarian construction of GT Planar, the two paired for their shared structural sensibility.
The custom numeral typography created by Pentagram reflects the 45, 90, and 180-degree angles of Michael Heizer's sculpture, which resides in the courtyard at the center of the school's campus. The behemoth monoliths are an artful distillation of engineering. The sculpture is meant to "demonstrate all the attitudes an object can take," Heizer said of the work in 1985. They have provided consistency to a place that has, over the years, seen many renovations and additions as the university continues to grow.
On the cover, a stacked '50' sits debossed in a fabric cover while an arrow is highlighted with a die-cut reflective foil, emphasizing the onward and upward mentality of an institution that continues to break boundaries.
Inside, the numerals are placed throughout the book as dividers for the decades, and, in combination with a vertical folio, allow alumni readers to flip to their own formative years.
The title, "Breaking Through," reflects the ideals of the institution, capturing its scrappy but continually persevering energy.
Office
- Austin
Partner
Project team
- Connor O’Neill
Collaborators
- Joe Nick Patoski, writer
- Nick Cabrera, photography
