10-year anniversary

In 2020, NYU Abu Dhabi celebrated its 10th anniversary with a series of virtual events and activations, marking a decade of excellence, innovation, and success. A design team led by the Public Affairs office and including faculty, alumni, and students, collaborated to design a simple and strong logotype for this historical event which highlighted the concept of growth and impact.

The visual identity and accompanying tagline, “Here, we grow” mark 10 years of NYU Abu Dhabi’s growth into a remarkable community of scholars, students, researchers, artists, inventors, and others who have contributed to the advancement of Abu Dhabi as a hub of knowledge and culture and whose impact is evident around the globe, while also setting the stage for our next decade of success. The visual identity was inspired by elements of nature and the world around us that symbolize growth and progress - the rings of a tree, ripples on water, a soundwave, with distinctive elements flowing outwards and expanding.The 10th-anniversary logo has been one of the largest branding projects on the NYUAD campus, and its wide influence can be seen through the number of mediums in which it was used: on brochures, outdoor banners, websites, and glass surfaces on campus, to name a few. The mark created a sense of unity and celebration as we remembered the past and looked forward to the future.

Despite having professors and instructors working on the logo in a team, the final version is based on a sketch by a student. It was a moment of pride for the professor of design, Goffredo Puccetti – the student surpassing the master. The moment he saw the design by one of his students, he knew it was the one they should choose.

“We were all sketching ideas but the moment we saw Van's design, we all felt we we’re going to put our notes and sketches aside and continue working on that concept. The dynamism in it was as beautiful as it was powerful,” said Puccetti.

“We’re such a young institution, unlike many other universities that have hundreds of years of history. And at the same time we have accomplished a lot, but we are also still trying to surpass what we’ve done before. So the tone we would talk about our anniversary with, is something like: “We are very proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we are also looking forward to the future,” said Van Anh Bui, the student who sketched the first version of the current 10-Year Anniversary logo.