Celera Genomics

The May, 1998 announcement was big news; "Scientist’s Plan: Map All DNA Within 3 Years" was the New York Times headline. The story: Dr. J. Craig Venter, "a pioneer in genetic sequencing" and Perkin-Elmer Corp. were forming a company as yet un-named, "with the aim of deciphering the entire DNA, or genome, of humans within three years, far faster and cheaper than the Federal Government is planning."

We wrote the identity platform, named and designed Celera Genomics Corporation in just thirteen weeks. The name was inspired by ‘celerity’ or swiftness, with "era of the cell" as a nicely subliminal secondary meaning. The logo, chosen by Dr. Venter for its lively human spirit, combines a simple, confident wordmark with a snippet of the double helix. Tony Spaeth was the consultant/namer on the project; Nat Connacher handled the design.