Article By
Nick Cunkelman,
Acton Beacon
Before inciting region-wide panic surrounding the Discovery Museums’ unveiling of a new logo, officials want to make something crystal-clear regarding a certain large green dinosaur out front.
“Bessie is our mascot, will always be our mascot, and she’s not leaving,” said Vicki Greene, director of marketing.
Still, despite the fact that Bessie will remain an Acton landmark on Route 27 — and a well-loved jungle gym for visiting children — changes are afoot at the Discovery Museums.
Since its 25th anniversary in October 2007, the Museums has purchased the green Victorian-style house next door for its administrative offices, begun work on a new master plan for its 4.5-acre campus, added the Bessie’s Cove playground outside the Children’s Museum and, in a seemingly minor yet nevertheless influential move, re-done its logo.
The new design, a change from Bessie and a shooting star, features a smiling face with stars sprouting off in all directions out of the top of its head as well as the slogan “Hands-on, minds at play.”
“We wanted a unified design,” said Greene. “We had visitors coming who would say, ‘I didn’t know I could have fun there in eighth or ninth grade. I thought it was just the dinosaur museum.’ And it was a good time to do it, being the anniversary.”
The Museums began the redesign process in 2007, working with the Acton-based advertising and graphic design association MR Associates, who volunteered their services for the project.
“They certainly are a wonderful cause,” said Steven Renaccio, vice-president of MR, “and being in the same community, it’s fun to break the mold and do something out of the realm of everyday work.”
After a series of discussions with the Museums’ Board of Directors, in which the board emphasized it wanted a fresh and more inclusive look without losing sight of the Museums’ mission of interactive discovery, hands-on inquiry, and scientific investigation, MR Associates submitted three different designs.
The board then had donors, members, children and friends of the Museums examine the options. Officials heard the broad range of opinions and went back to MR for more design tweaking. Although it was a long process for a small design, the time was well worth it, especially considering the Museums’ wide appeal throughout Massachusetts and southern New England.
“One of the important questions to ask is ‘What was the value of the existing logo?’” said Renaccio. “And everybody loves Bessie the dinosaur, so it was kind of a tricky situation in that you don’t want to destroy recognition that had been built with the old logo but do want to let people know that its so much more than a dinosaur museum.”
Considering the new logo is a move away from Bessie, one of the factors that played into its recognition is the use of the time-tested blue, green, and yellow color scheme.
“We decided that the existing colors used in the logo will bring value to the redesign and we should stick to those,” said Renaccio.
As for the smiling face with shooting stars, Greene explained that the design falls right in line with the Museums’ interactive and imaginative education philosophy, an experience that occurs on the individual level.
“Many visitors call this museum ‘my museum,’” she said. “You could have a 7-year old and a 15-year old looking at the same exhibit, and they’re taking away something totally different. That’s what this place is all about.”
Indeed, whether it be standing inside a tornado or drawing with a harmonograph, visitors take away many different experiences from the Museums, and the new logo seeks to capture this phenomenon.
“Everybody sees something different in a logo,” said Renaccio, “so as designers we wanted to let that happen. It’s that idea of wide-eyed wonder, imagine the possibilities.”
