SQUARED
30th June 2013
‘Squared’ (sometimes referred to as ‘Google Squared’) is a new education initiative developed by Google in London and piloted in 2012. I discovered Squared in February of last year, when I met some recent graduates from another advertising agency who had been invited to join the first, in house pilot round of the programme.
I instantly resonated with Squared, as I’ve never embraced our slow and outdated educational system. I joined the creative and advertising industry when I was 17, having skipped college and University; so I’ve spent my life learning by doing. I’ve followed Squared since it’s inception, watching it evolve into the refined and respected educational programme that it is today. However, I’ve always felt that something was missing.


I wanted to create a symbol that students and mentors could wear with pride. Something brutally simple, yet tastefully inspired and instantly recognisable.
After experimenting with variations on Bank Gothic and similar typefaces, I realised that they looked like they belonged on an old Sci-Fi movie poster. They were generic and forgettable.
I decided to drop the word mark completely and focus solely on the Q, the letter that bears the closest resemblance to a square while retaining it’s legibility.




Until now, the majority of SQUARED applications came from professionals already working in the creative and advertising industry. Now that SQUARED is available online, a more direct response to applications is needed as some of the candidates may not work in Central London. In all instances, new SQUARES are now sent invitations by both email and post.
This is represented by the email subject line ‘You’re in.’ as opposed to ‘Welcome to SQUARED!’ and the print invitations subtle, barely noticeable use of the SQUARED logo and Google accent, featuring no explicit branding or mention of the programme.









The back of a SQUARED name card. The front features a portrait photo of the SQUARE, taken from their Google+ profile. The cards are designed to encourage interaction between SQUARES during and after events by establishing a common ground and helping to inspire conversation.
They contain only the essential information you need to make a connection with someone: a face, a name, an identifier and a casual piece of contact information.
To find out more about Squared, head over to the official course website.
Thanks for reading. I’m @jckmgn on Twitter.
UPDATE
This project led to the official rebranding of Squared in April 2014. Read the full case study.
Some content including text copy, photographic imagery and vector imagery are © Copyright Jack Morgan 2013.