IdeaStream: NextGen 2026
Team: Abby Conant, Annika Pyo, Brady George, Gloria Huang, Hangi Cho, Vea Ran
Timeline: Spring 2025, 3 months
IdeaStream: NextGen is an annual business development event hosted by the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. I worked on the brand identity for the 2026 event with six more teammates in collaboration with the MIT Team. We created a Minimum Viable Brand (MVB) for the event.
Preface
MIT IdeaStream: NextGen is a business-building event that connects MIT spinout companies with the resources needed to grow.
It features a range of companies, from those seeking major funding to early-stage startups.
Largely categorizes into health + climate
Our team took this as an opportunity to craft a dynamic, strategic brand identity that strengthens IdeaStream: NextGen’s presence and impact, setting the stage for its continued evolution.
01) Interview with the stakeholder, Rana K Gupta executive director of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation.
Q: Who is the audience and what experience do you want them to have?
A: Corporations, VCs, talent (people who want to join these companies), other commercialization and entrepreneurial resources both within and outside of MIT. Experience: an event not just about pitching to raise funds but also business development, supply chain, and sales: dynamic, lively, fun.
Q: Is there anything specific you do NOT want in this identity or surrounding the event?
A: Most such events are either a demo day or VC day or showcase. This is an event that should convey momentum. I told the teams they are not giving pitches, these are invitation presentations. They are inviting the players in the audience to join them on their journey. Therefore, we don’t want the usual investor & pitch scene.
02) Process
Confirmed Direction -- [techno-future]
Keywords: energetic, fluid, digital, movement with speed, and acceleration
Color: a flexible palette, bright gradients, glowing neon tones, high contrast & high saturation
Tone: visually buzzing with energy, "fun" and lively
Typeface: stylized display type paired with sans serif / monospace body
Motion gradient experiments:
03) Defining the image
04) Delieverables
