IconicSpace - Archive Index

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library_books

Branding the Void

Why do organizations that celebrate disruption converge on such visually conformist identities? This archive collects 500+ space organizations, missions, and programs across six continents to study how corporate visual identity constructs legitimacy through institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) and transforms placeless frontiers into legible, investable places through what we call visual placemaking.

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About This Project

info Research Context

IconicSpace is a scholarly research archive examining how visual identity constructs legitimacy in the space industry. Drawing on DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) theory of institutional isomorphism, this project documents and taxonomizes the logos, emblems, and brand marks of 500+ space organizations, missions, and programs across six continents.

The archive serves as both a primary dataset for ongoing research into visual placemaking and a pedagogical instrument for understanding how frontier industries negotiate identity between disruption and conformity, sovereignty and globalization, heritage and futurism.

This project is part of the Space Graphic Design research initiative at the intersection of GIScience, design theory, and cultural geography.

person Principal Investigator

Dr. Anwar Sounny-Slitine

GIScience, Spatial Reasoning, Visual Placemaking

Geographer and GIScientist researching the intersection of spatial technologies, visual culture, and institutional identity. His work explores how organizations use graphic design to construct place, legitimacy, and meaning in frontier environments.

Research interests include GIS as Art, spatial reasoning, megafan geomorphology, and the role of AI agents in geographic information systems.

open_in_new sounny.github.io

person Co-Investigator

Sara Bensalem

Placemaking, Workplace Design, Sustainability

Researcher in placemaking and workplace design, investigating how spatial environments shape human experience and organizational culture. Her work bridges architectural theory, environmental psychology, and sustainability science.

Her doctoral research focuses on "Placemaking at Work," examining how meaningful and sustainable workplaces are created in the age of remote and hybrid work through the lens of the IPAT framework.

open_in_new sarabensalem.com

format_quote Suggested Citation

Sounny-Slitine, A. and Bensalem, S. (2025). IconicSpace: A Visual Archive of Space Industry Identity. Available at: https://sounny.github.io/iconicspace/