13Case study / Brand
AiR HUB at UNLV
The identity for UNLV’s research lab on AI and gambling: modern and understated, without relying on overused symbols.
Introduction
Where AI meets gambling: an identity for UNLV’s new research lab.
AiR HUB is a new research lab from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, focused on where artificial intelligence meets the gambling industry. A forward-thinking initiative within the UNLV International Gaming Institute, it connects academic researchers, industry operators, regulators, and customers to explore the risks, opportunities, and ethical implications of AI in gambling.
The goal: a modern, understated logo that communicates the lab’s mission, bridging AI, research, and gambling, without relying on clichés or overly academic symbolism. It had to convey trust, innovation, and interdisciplinary connection, and flex across digital, print, and presentations.
The logo was delivered, and it’s live today.
Discovery
I began with an in-depth discovery session with the AiR HUB team, to understand their vision, goals, and stakeholder landscape:
- Mission
- Advance the responsible adoption of AI in gambling, through interdisciplinary research.
- Difference
- A pragmatic, industry-integrated hub: not just academic, but connected.
- Tone
- Clean, modern, and trustworthy.
- Avoid
- Gambling clichés like dice and spades, shields, cartoonish logos, and overly technical symbols.
Visual inspirations: Anthropic, Evident AI, Robust Intelligence, and Alchemy Health.
From there, the work was translating that strategy into a minimalist mark, balancing symbolism with restraint.
Sketches
Early concepts explored 22 distinct directions, hand-sketched in Procreate and reviewed against the client’s goals:
The R
Emphasis on the R in AIRHUB (“AI Research Hub”), to convey convergence.
Venn diagrams
Venn-diagram-inspired layouts, to reflect overlapping domains.
Hub and spoke
Hub-and-spoke models, symbolizing interdisciplinary connection.
Typography
Typographic studies, exploring personality through form.
Iterations
From sketch to Figma
After narrowing the direction, I created multiple digital mockups in Figma: variations in the weight and shape of the R, monogram and wordmark configurations, icon-only and full lockups, and light, dark, and color variants with understated accents of UNLV’s scarlet and gray.
The client was especially drawn to concepts that subtly implied AI, gambling, and research, without being overt.
Final Result
Read the logo
- The iconA network of nodes, also delivered as an icon-only version.
- A refined wordmarkThe final logo centers on a refined wordmark.
- The I in AIA standout I subtly separates AI from Rhub, to underscore the idea of AI meets gambling. It’s a quiet focal point, symbolizing the lab’s role as a pillar of insight and intelligence.
- Its homeAt UNLV International Gaming Institute.
A minimal but intentional typographic choice lets the logo speak to AI’s presence without relying on overused symbols. The result is a modern, understated identity: confident, flexible, and suited to both academic and industry audiences.
The palette
- #000000
- #FFFFFF
- #A30202
Black and white, with a red accent on the i. Color variants use understated accents of UNLV’s scarlet and gray.
Deliverables
- Full wordmark, light and dark
- Icon only
- Color
- Grayscale
- Black and white
What the lab received.
Conclusion
The logo captures the lab’s role as a trusted center for responsible AI research in gambling. By leaning into abstraction, typographic nuance, and thoughtful structure, the brand avoids industry stereotypes and establishes a clear, confident identity aligned with UNLV’s forward-thinking legacy.
She took the time to really understand what we were aiming for, asked thoughtful questions, and clearly laid out how the whole process would work. The final product really exceeded my expectations.