A Bold New Visual Identity for Graphcore Hardware
Map and Pentagram aimed to demonstrate that our computer hardware doesn’t have to be a cold, hard box. They managed to do this by designing colourful products for Graphcore, the machine-learning technology startup company established in 2016.
The two agencies worked together on the industrial design of the startup’s Artificial Intelligence chip system, which will help speed up the resource-intensive deployment and process of AI. It includes an Intelligent Processing Unit, a version of a central processing unit developed by the company itself, and the rackmount chassis containing it.
Transforming the Physical Design
Luke Powell and Jody Hudson-Powell, the Pentagram partners based in London, UK, had already established a visual identity for the brand. It includes a pixelated typeface and Quadree, a bespoke software tool that is utilised to generate one-of-a-kind geometric patterns. They enlisted the help of Map, a studio also based in London, to convert this in to an actual physical design, representing a sense of individuality and the potential for change.
As we all know, whether we work on computers daily or just use them for shopping or to enjoy the fun of the online slots real money Canada has to offer, for example, the standard is anonymous computer systems inhabiting unfriendly, dark boxes in unpleasant, darkened rooms! Map and Pentagram have created a great alternative.
Pentagram Designed, Map Translated
Pentagram created a design consisting of a number of colourful modular tiles which can be assembled in a variety of different ways, much like a game. Map then translated these elements in to a totally customisable system of panels made up of more than 50 distinct plastic tiles moulded by injection. The Quadtree system was used to generate colours, layouts, and patterns for new tiles.
The Rackmount Chassis Is Included
The design also incorporates the rackmount chassis containing the IPU. The design agency put nine of these tiles to practical use for each Graphcore IPU, which allows for over 1000 unique combinations, each of which grants each unit with its own clear-cut identity.
Each of the tiles is coloured in with the palette characteristic to Graphcore, in shades of light blue, pale yellow, pink, and navy. The front face design of the rackmount chassis makes use of patterns lifted from the company’s visual identity as ventilation openings.
Affording this amount of time on the beauty of a product that largely goes unnoticed inside of a larger computer system is not common, reports the design team. However, the Graphcore IPU is a distinctive piece of breakthrough technology, and it’s vital that its launch products reflect this.
This is not the first time that Pentagram has developed new branding for a tech company. They gave Cytora, the insurance technology organisation, an animated visual identity that sets out to clarify how the business works and make it easier to understand. In order to reflect the constant changing of the AI-powered risk engine belonging to Cytora, Pentagram made visualisations based on these algorithms to remake their brand identity. It features a number of blocks constantly shifting, layered with both bright and pastel colours.
