The logo

The original logo was created in 2011 by graphic designer Gianluca (www.motionous.com) and later on redesigned in 2022 by Bernat Font (www.bernatfont.com).

In his original design, Gianluca focussed on the open-mindedness of the laboratory both in its fundamental research activities and in its external relations.The symbol representing the laboratory should not limit the laboratory’s investigative field nor its flexibility in terms of technological and methodical innovation.

The Zerial Lab develops also through a constant dialogue with a variety of entities, such as government authorities, industry, world of art, the city of Dresden;  the design of the logo had to be meaningful not only to the scientific community, but also to a non-scientific audience.  However, when proposing a more abstract graphic design in order to reach a larger audience, we were regularly faced with the fact that biologists have their own interpretation of abstract forms, and that their interpretation may differ considerably from that perceived by the majority of people.

With its colorful mosaic design, the Zerial Lab logo symbolizes the vitality of the following “collective properties”: those of the biological systems studied, those of its team of collaborators, those of the various means employed in each project.

The metaphor

More than a simple visual reference to the laboratory’s activity, the choice of a mosaic has also a metaphorical advantage. The mosaic represents how heterogeneous elements, having a limited individual value, once united, work for a common cause and are able to fulfill a function as a whole. This is exactly the concept of “collective properties”, a key concept in systems biology which is deeply involved in the scientific approach of Zerial Lab, and which reflects at same time its own organization.

With a certain amount of graphic abstraction, the mosaic could then relate to numerous types of cellular organizations studied by the laboratory in the liver tissue, but it could also symbolize the team’s structure because of its mix of complementary talents and personalities, as well as the varied methods, knowledge and technologies which the laboratory implements.

Still in terms of graphics, to better illustrate each of these three interpretations, the mosaic was confined in a round shape. Thus, if we choose the interpretation of a cellular organization, it could be a detail observed through the lens of a a microscope to understand a much wider cellular process.  If instead we see that of a team of collaborators, the concept of unity for a common goal is reinforced.  Finally, if we see a multitude of components forming the expertise of Zerial Lab, such expertise, regardless of its complexity appears perfectly contained and controlled.