Graphic Credit

This web graphic was designed by MIT Campus Wide Information Systems.

The letters in this graphic are represented by characters known collectively as runes. Runes were used in various forms by the peoples of Europe since approximately the 4th century A.D. Popularized by J.R.R. Tolkien in his books The Hobbit and the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, runes became part of popular culture and have since been used in computer and board games. The most well known runic alphabet, the Futhark alphabet, had only 24 letters. Of these, several had two letter English equivalents, such as 'th'.

The MIT home page is an interactive site with the goal of informing and engaging the MIT community and visitors. The Spotlight, with a changing graphic that calls attention to the new topic, supports MIT's mission and reflects the diversity of MIT itself. It does not represent a single voice but rather many voices, showing the Institute in a full and evolving way. The changing nature of the Spotlight reflects this goal of diversity by integrating and showcasing a multitude of aspects of MIT.