We might be better known for identity, print and websites, but we love it when quick special projects pop up.
In June, the Episcopal Church in Minnesota hosted the triennial Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) that brought together 1500 youth for workshops, fun and worship. The focal project was construction of a Zero-Energy House being donated to East Central Habitat for Humanity for a deserving family.
We were asked to design a special T-shirt with one design to work on three shirt colors (supervisors, adults and youth) for the Minnesota contingent of about 250. And they were needed within the week! We jumped right on it and had some fun!
Once upon a time in America there was a company known as the Container Corporation of America (it survives today as a subsidiary of a larger organization) – a rather prosaic name that belied the sophistication and worldliness of its head, Walter Paepcke. Though the company manufactured corrugated paper boxes, Paepke saw an opportunity to make CCA a patron of the arts and design.
In the late ’40’s, Paepke commissioned Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer to create a World Geo-Graphic Atlas that reflected the new geopolitical realities of post-WWII life. Bayer and a team of designers spent five years on the project. The atlas was published in one edition in 1953 and was distributed free to more than 150 colleges and universities (it was never available commercially). It is a triumph of the Bauhaus ideology of clarity put into practice. It is also a high point of American book design and production, from the rosette-inspired endpaper designs to the incredible ten-color printing throughout (CMYK plus custom spot blues, reds and others).
Bayer’s clarity of vision set a benchmark for information graphics that has yet to be equaled. According to Bayer, “Successful map study provides two kinds of knowledge: interpretation of landscape, and human development in the physical setting… swiftly spreading global communications and increasing interdependence of all peoples compel us to consider the world as one. This Atlas places emphasis on the physical and material background against which man is set.”
This short video by designer Nate Burgos tells the story of the atlas and gives a glimpse of its content. It is the first of a series of videos Nate plans to make about the timeless character of books. Enjoy!
Communication Breakdown was an event hosted by the Melvilles and two other bands made up of creative industry folks, and held at the Fine Line Music Cafe in downtown Minneapolis. The event was designed as a creative industry meet-up with built in entertainment, held in one of the premier music venues in town. The poster concept combines a retro/time-worn feel with very persnickety and precise typographic design – two themes explored over the years by local creative agencies.
Incidentally, we had an opportunity to employ the best practices of social media to promote the event – beginning with email announcements, creating a Facebook event page and sending invitations through Facebook, and posting Facebook and Twitter reminders and updates as the event date approached.
Minneahaha Falls is a rare treasure right in the heart of Minneapolis. It’s got a super cool “Song of Hiawatha” vibe that just makes us think of vintage postcards, hence the styling of the Falls poster. The Sea Salt Eatery, located right next to the bandstand, was just named by the Star Tribune as one of the one of The Taste 50 – recognizing those people, places, products and ideas that make Minnesota such a great place for those who love to eat.
We recently updated the ThinkSpring Marketing & Communications website with 3 goals in mind:
> Add a new blog that demonstrates owner Diane Fiderlein’s thought leadership.
> Add a case studies section that’s easily updated and expanded.
> Make the home page dynamic and user-friendly, with content boxes that are easily customized to current news.
The solution: Migrate it to a WordPress platform, adjust layout and let Diane realize flexibility and long-term cost savings by bringing content management in-house.
There’s a pattern I’ve seen happen over and over in business: consolidation or mass-adoption of new technologies in a particular area opens up space for alternatives. Think of the beer industry and the rise of micro-brews. The music industry with DIY efforts and independent record labels challenging big labels. Industrial farming and community-supported agriculture. In each case, there’s a desire to hang on to or rediscover a methodology that once had great value – one in which the human activity involved in production is more obvious – and make that methodology viable again today.
Here are two examples from our own industry we’ve run across recently:
Letterpress Video Letterpress printing is a technology that dates back to the invention of movable type. Despite advances over the years, the basic idea remains the same – ink is applied directly to a designed surface (usually wood or metal) which is pressed against a sheet of paper, transferring an image. Letterpress never completely disappeared and is undergoing quite a revival, despite the printing industry’s long-ago switch to offset (and now digital) printing.
Here is a beautiful video about letterpress printing produced by a motion graphics designer from New York City. Shot with careful attention to focus and lighting, this is less a how-to and more of an ode to process. If there is anything that these mini-movements share, it’s that process is king, and has worth and beauty all on its own. It imparts a value to the result that’s missing in more industrialized methods of production. Be sure to look for the moving type captions throughout – I had to watch it a couple times to catch them all.
Susan and I are especially interested in this because we recently bought an old Chandler & Price Pilot Press and are anxious to get it up and running.
Sign painter And here’s a cool thing – a sign painter in London. His website includes this description of his services: East London Signwriter offering a traditional approach to Commercial Art. It’s funny, I’ve spent my whole professional life running away from the term “Commercial Art” but here’s a guy celebrating it and it works for him. No digital printing on plastic substrate – these are one-off, hand-painted projects that stand out for their uniqueness and hand-rendered quirks.
By the way, I found this site through one of my current favorites, Death Spray Custom, a spray paint shop in London that does a lot of custom work on motorcycles and related accessories. Check out their Selected Work links.
Any other examples of re-emerging technologies or professions you can think of? Send me your discoveries and I’ll share them.
Came across Galleria’s website today. Someone’s thought that through nicely. WordPress, custom theme, simple, easy to navigate. I really like the interactive mall directory.
Here is a wonderful video featuring designer Michael Wolff, of the British branding firm Wolff Olins. Very inspiring, and if you have a hankering for living in a color-coded world, this film will give you some insight. So many of Wolff’s comments are dead on, but I especially like his definition of a brand: “A brand is really a way of remembering what something is like for future reference – something you value, something you feel attracted to.” Seems very much like our definition of brand: A brand is an expectation.
A few years ago, when Susan and I were working on the Y2K contingency plans for Target, we became well acquainted with the word “Millennium” and the fact that it’s a difficult word for people to spell. For the record, it has two “L’s” and two “N’s.” Always. The basis is Latin: mille (thousand) and annus (year). It became one of those things we’d always point out to each other. “Look, there it is again with one ‘N’.” Sorry, it’s the anal-retentive designers in us – we’re just sticklers for proper spelling (and grammar).
So, last week in Chicago, home to Millennium Park (the signs are everywhere), we spotted this banner for a nearby real estate development. Note that the URL is spelled correctly. We just had to laugh!
Here’s a cool web home page idea – the new site for Sagmeister, Inc. in New York features a 24-hour camera view of their offices (with the navigation buttons painted on the studio floor). Check it out!
Someone’s having fun at the library! I guess this has been around for a while, but I just ran across it. It’s a little online application to create your own card catalog card. Just fill in the info and it generates a down-loadable card. Give it a try here.
Communication Breakdown was an event hosted by the Melvilles and two other bands made up of creative industry folks, and held at the Fine Line Music Cafe in downtown Minneapolis. The event was designed as a creative industry meet-up with built in entertainment, held in one of the premier music venues in town. The poster concept combines a retro/time-worn feel with very persnickety and precise typographic design – two themes explored over the years by local creative agencies.
Sign painter And here’s a cool thing – a sign painter in London. His 
Someone’s having fun at the library! I guess this has been around for a while, but I just ran across it. It’s a little online application to create your own card catalog card. Just fill in the info and it generates a down-loadable card. Give it a try