About the new B.a.d logo
In the 30 years that Foundation B.a.d has existed, it has had several different logos. B.a.d’s new graphic identity builds on the previous one (see below), which used the building’s silhouette and our name set in Arial typeface.
B.a.d’s new graphic identity is in Helvetica Light. The new logo uses an uppercase ‘F’ to create a visual and typographic balance with the uppercase ‘B’. The words ‘Foundation’ and ‘B.a.d’ are stacked, echoing the use of the building’s silhouette in the former logo. The ‘B’ and ‘d’ are united, and the tracking between the letters is closer together, both implying the sense of community that has always underscored B.a.d as an organisation. The former cyan colour is now more green: a recognition of the building’s beautiful gardens and also our move towards more sustainable energy sources (we have installed a pellet burner with carbon-capture for our heating, and soon we hope to install solar panels to capitalise on our large roof spaces).
A consistent feature of the B.a.d name and logo is the use of two points on either side of the ‘a’ – thus ‘B.a.d’, not ‘B.a.d.’ (and why Bad? Well, our first location was a disused bath house, and ‘bad’ is Dutch for ‘bath’). Since there’s a third dot above the ‘i’ of ‘foundation’, the three dots are consolidated to form an ellipsis (…). The ellipsis is a punctuation symbol used to indicate an unfinished thought or a pause. In Theodor Adorno’s essay ‘Punctuation Marks’, he describes the ellipsis as suggesting ‘an infinitude of thoughts and associations.’ As such, this three-dotted glyph encapsulates B.a.d’s commitment both to creativity and providing space.
