I played hooky earlier this week to visit the California Academy of Sciences’ new building in Golden Gate Park. It’s a beautiful, airy construction, a model of sustainable architecture from the lower level “water planet” of aquariums teeming with amazing sealife to the undulating 2.5-acre green roof of native plants. Critics are justifiably gushing. (See Nicolai Ouroussof’s review in the New York Times and the extensive coverage in Metropolis magazine, which examines all the sustainability aspects of Renzo Piano’s creation.) It’s expected to be the largest building to receive LEED Platinum status.

But the building and its exhibits aren’t the only things that amaze me. I love the clarity and simplicity of the academy’s communications. Language is plain and direct—it’s like a person is talking to you. Concepts aren’t dumbed down, they’re just distilled. (In the case of the video explaining climate change, it’s practically poetry.) It makes science accessible and fun.

This conversational style is an integral part of everything they do, from the exhibit signage and museum map to their website and member publication—it’s even reflected in their mission statement, “to explore, explain and protect the natural world.” It matches the spare, inviting visual design (by the creative folks at Pentagram).

The Academy of Sciences is taking its communications seriously—and having fun with it. It’s a great example of how words can deliver a brand—and fulfill a mission to simply explain.