Atmos

Atmos: Visualizing a Networked Future for Spatial Science

Atmos is a spatial science consortium whose work lives at the intersection of physical space and advanced computation. Their teams use AI, IoT, and massive spatial datasets to understand and orchestrate the built environment, connecting physical and social worlds in ways that feel almost invisible to the end user.

The name “Atmos” is a deliberate play on “atmosphere” and “air” — something that is everywhere and nowhere at once. Our design challenge was to translate that sense of ubiquity, connectivity, and intelligence into a visual identity for their Chicago hub in the River West / Fulton Market area.

Strategy: Ubiquity, Connectivity, and the Built World

From the outset, the brand needed to reconcile a few tensions:

• Physical vs. digital

  Atmos operates on real buildings and cities, but their leverage comes from data, models, and computation.

• Scientific rigor vs. approachability

  It is a consortium of specialists, yet it must be clear and legible to partners, civic groups, and commercial clients.

• Networked and ubiquitous, not loud

  The brand should feel present everywhere in the system without overwhelming the environments it lives in.

We framed the identity around three core ideas:

1. Ubiquitous presence – Atmos as a kind of invisible infrastructure, always on and always aware.
2. Interconnected intelligence – A network of companies and disciplines sharing spatial data and insight.
3. Spatial clarity – A visual language rooted in architecture and urban grids, not sci‑fi tropes.

These principles guided every choice from typography and color to supporting graphics.

Typography: A Custom Sans Built on Avenir

Atmos needed a typographic voice that felt contemporary, precise, and human. Avenir provided a strong foundation: a geometric sans serif with enough warmth to avoid the coldness often associated with “tech” branding.

We created a custom sans serif based on Avenir, refining and extending it to better fit Atmos’ story:

• Geometry tuned for legibility

  We preserved Avenir’s clean geometric structure but adjusted proportions and spacing for clarity at both architectural scale (signage) and interface scale (dashboards and tools).

• Subtle custom moments

  Letterforms like the “A”, “M”, and “S” were given slight, distinctive cuts and angles that echo the idea of intersecting planes and spatial axes — a nod to mapping, floorplans, and 3D schematics.

• Neutral but characterful

  The final logotype feels grounded and professional, with enough personality to stand apart without resorting to heavy ornamentation.

The wordmark “ATMOS” becomes a confident anchor in a system that leaves room for rich data-driven visuals around it.

Color: Dark Navy, Black, and the Depth of Data

Atmos works with massive, layered datasets. We chose a dark navy and black palette to reflect that depth while staying timeless and flexible.

• Dark navy acts as the primary brand color, associated with intelligence, stability, and the night-sky metaphor of networks and constellations.
• Black creates strong contrast for the logotype and key applications, giving the brand a serious, research-grade presence.
• Tints and subtle gradients can be introduced in digital contexts to suggest dimensionality and layers of information without overwhelming the core palette.

This restrained color system ensures that when data visualizations, maps, and spatial interfaces come into play, they can carry color and motion without clashing with the brand.

Visual Language: Abstract Forms and Interconnected Lines

Beyond the logotype, we developed a graphic system built from abstract shapes and interconnecting lines. This toolkit gives Atmos a way to visualize connectivity and spatial relationships across applications.

Key components:

• Nodes and connectors

  Points, lines, and arcs represent sensors, data streams, and relationships between spaces and people.

• Layered fields

  Overlapping geometric shapes echo building footprints, parcels, and zoned areas.

• Directionality and flow

  Line systems bend, branch, and reconverge, mirroring how Atmos ingests data from many sources and outputs clear, actionable insight.

Visually, the system feels like a quiet, intelligent network: always present, always connected, but never chaotic.

Context: Rooted in Chicago’s River West / Fulton Market

The first Atmos identity deployment was for their Chicago location in the River West / Fulton Market district — an area known for its evolution from industrial corridor to innovation hub.

We drew inspiration from this context in a few subtle ways:

• Grid and infrastructure

  Chicago’s strong urban grid and history of infrastructure engineering influenced the structured, modular layouts used in print and digital.

• Industrial to digital

  The interplay of dark materials, concrete, steel, and glass in the neighborhood is echoed in the dark palette and clean geometry of the mark.

• Local but scalable

  While the Chicago office was the initial focus, the identity is designed to scale to other locations and partner organizations within the consortium.

Applications: From Building Scale to Interface

The Atmos mark and visual system were designed with multiple layers of use in mind, from the physical to the fully digital:

• Environmental branding

  Exterior signage and interior wayfinding can carry the logotype in its purest form, with line systems appearing as subtle wall graphics, frosted glass patterns, or floor overlays.

• Print and presentations

  Reports, board decks, and research summaries use the graphic language to bring structure and hierarchy to complex spatial data.

• Digital tools and dashboards

  Within interfaces, the identity recedes just enough to prioritize data, but type, color, and connection motifs keep the experience distinctly Atmos.

Across all of these, the goal is the same: help people understand and trust the invisible intelligence shaping the spaces around them.

Outcome

The Atmos logo and visual system encapsulate a consortium that:

• Works in the physical built environment, yet thinks in data and models.
• Connects AI, IoT, and advanced computing across scientific disciplines.
• Links physical and social worlds into smarter, more responsive spaces.

By anchoring the brand in a custom, modern sans serif, a deep and disciplined color system, and a flexible language of abstract forms and lines, we created an identity that can live quietly inside buildings, reports, and tools while still conveying the scale and ambition of Atmos’ vision.