The Communication Arts Design Annual 51 (September/October issue) will feature two of our favorite Loyola University Maryland pieces, the Sophomore/Junior Search Piece, which is printed on newsprint and the School of Education Viewbook. There’s been a lot of interest in the newsprint piece so we’ve posted more images after the jump for your viewing pleasure…

Goodbye, and a hearty salute to Grafik Magazine, which folded a few days ago. This cover gallery, here, is a fitting testament to its accomplishments – a cavalcade of top notch design, and an ad-hoc primer to just about every style and mode in vogue since 2003.

Glockenspiels, graphic patterns on Pyrex bakeware, the Work in Progress Society, cardboard sculpture, and foxes! Fine company for an article I wrote for the fifth issue of Uppercase Magazine – a visual survey of the design and aesthetics of DuPont’s marketing of synthetic fabrics from the 1920’s to the early 80’s. The history of the development of synthetic fabrics is a fascinating nexus of science, industry, design, advertising, fashion and culture. In turn, the same goes for focusing specifically on the promotion of the fabrics themselves. It is a rich core sample of prevailing trends in design, typography, advertising illustration and photography, etc over the decades…

Uppercase Magazine? Let me say again – The clue to what distinguishes Uppercase Magazine lies in its motto “A magazine for the creative and curious” It’s the “curious” – It accounts for the joyful, inclusive sense of collaboration and sharing that pervades the whole shebang. The magazine reads like a conversation between like-minded folk riffing on the impossibly cool thing they’ve drawn, thought, photographed, collected, discovered, etc. No lofty curatorial snobbishness or hipster veneration of the mindlessly shocking or willfully ugly for these cats – just a democratic spirit and a celebration of beautiful things.

The magazine, as a project and physical object, is the very embodiment of what it celebrates. It works on a collaborative publishing model, and is designed and produced with great care and craft. Feels great in the hand. The covers so far have been stunning. The whole Uppercase venture, gallery, books, blog etc… seem of all of a piece. Well worth it. Explore here. Subscribe! Subscribe!

Newsprint is an immersive, temporary material. It is disposable. It crumples easily and yellows quickly.  It has a short lifetime. It is intentionally imperfect. This is what we love about it, and why, when we were asked to create a search piece for Loyola University Maryland back in January, we chose newsprint. We wanted to use a material that was as immediate, honest, and unvarnished as the messaging contained in its pages.

The task was to create a mailer for Loyola that was aimed at high school Sophomores and Juniors—a time when many prospective students are feeling overwhelming emotions (both good and bad) about college. So instead of going down a tried and trite path full of generic campus photography and preemptive university information, we decided to instead tackle the immediate emotions that students feel at that particular moment in their lives: excitement, uncertainty, nervousness, and above all, possibility. We wanted to create something that was welcoming, immersive, and relatable—a bit of relevant life advice, rather than marketing jargon.

We explained the idea to Loyola as a piece that’s about the now—one that doesn’t immediately refer to Loyola, but instead reflects the school’s ideals and the type of attention and life skills that students can garner from their time on the Evergreen campus. Loyola was so excited by the idea that they encouraged us to make a double-edition piece that would be mailed out in two waves over a month-long period.

Looking back, it was really exciting to have the opportunity to work on a piece that pushed the boundaries of what a piece of university branding can be—going so far as to have the first volume appear without any logo or mention of Loyola whatsoever, besides a discrete seal on the back cover. The first volume focuses on the types of questions and uncertainties that high school students might be dealing with, and encourages them to embrace their facets, take advantage of their ability to try many things, and to focus on what makes them happy.

The type- and photo-driven first volume was followed by a graphic-heavy second volume that goes into specific detail about the tenets of Loyola University Maryland, and the University’s devotion to care of the whole person. Volume 2 asks students to examine their own personalities and interests as a means of uncovering what university is best for them—whether or not that school ends up being Loyola.

In its playful nature, curiosity-inspiring approach, and intellectual roots, the piece reflects Loyola University Maryland on a fundamental level. And like Loyola’s tenets, it provides advice that remains relevant throughout different periods in your life.

Think of it this way…if Medalist was a band, I’d like to think they’d be Cheap Trick. Direct and intense with just enough humor and art to make you realize how well made and smart it really is….

Medalist is a small, smart outfit out in Reading, PA. They have a technology that does this thing, and does it really well…it’s a fabric, SilverMax, that eliminates/controls scent and body temperature. And weighs next to nothing. And is comfortable. The apparel is used by hunters, cops, firemen, and performance athletes. Oh, and astronauts! And anyone else who puts it on- regular folk, expecting moms, construction workers, etc…It works exactly as described, and it’s the best.  And they need a brand.

So the brand we built is as direct and unfussy as the product. What do hunters, cops, firemen, and performance athletes have in common?  They are demanding, passionate experts. And when they do what they do, they are defined by moments. The score, the count, the save, the rescue. Straight as pie. Just make it count. Same thing with the work. Great headlines, powerful type, epic photography, bold intense color palette – same thing.  Just simple, classic advertising done with passion and chops. Check out the work here.

Loyola University Maryland is quickly becoming my favorite client to work for. They are always open to trying something new and different. We recently completed a double-edition Sophomore/Junior Search Piece, and if all goes according to plan, it’s going to totally blow some high schoolers’ minds. Or at the very least, get them thinking about THE FUTURE. The pieces are finally printed, and within the next couple of weeks, high school students throughout the east coast will be receiving not one, but TWO oversize newsprint editions in their mailboxes. I know! Rad— right???

Mad props to Alcom and Evergreen for helping make our newsprint dreams come true. It was my first time on press for a web job, so I took a ton of photos. I’ve included some here to give you a sneak peek. Photos of the finished pieces will be up soon. Enjoy!

Watch ya self.

Our fearless print reps

Our man JT, Snappy Dresser and Production Manager Bad-Ass

Can happiness be visualized through design? How can design and creativity evoke happiness? And in the age of tongue-in-cheek visual media and mass advertising, do representations of happiness have to be so cynical?

I recently stumbled upon this interesting TED talk, in which graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister discusses the ways that design can portray happiness, and the distinct moments when design has brought unexpected happiness to his life.

Interestingly, Sagmeister cites a couple of urban guerilla projects that reframe the way that people normally interact with the city. (Examples? One project that replaced boring subway signage with graphically identical “life instructions”; another that placed blank voice bubble stickers over existing signage, inspiring passers-by to contribute their own dialogue to a given scene.) From a branding and creativity perspective, these are inspiring examples about how unexpected creativity and design can contribute to the happiness of a visually-savvy audience–on a deeply personal level.

Check out that toaster! These are prime example of the work of a fab outfit called Plan Toys. Based in Thailand, they are the worlds largest manufacturer of recycled toys. Totally green, committed to sustainable wages, the outfit is a model of vision, conscience and aesthetics. Everything they make is made from rubber-wood trees to old to produce latex. The textured flat pop colors? – water based stains. And the stuff is built – practically carpentered, like in the olden days. But it’s more that quality materials, progressive ideals, and great design. We are talking a totally inspired aesthetic that borders on art. The world of Plan Toys is like magic dimension where everything is designed by Eero Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, Walter Gropius and overseen by the watchful eye of Chris Ware. Seriously – again – check out that toaster. (via shepelavy.com)

Bauhaus craft book, Aero Saarinen: TWA Terminal,
Alvar Aalto: Paimio Chair, Chris Ware: excerpt

Loyola University Maryland hired us to do a whole magilla, top to bottom, rebranding of the entire institution. Early on in our discovery process, we came across a phrase – “Strong truths well lived” – Loyola’s motto. Stirring and profound, and if you’ll excuse the “advertising,” a righteously killer line. It also happened to hold the key to what distinguished Loyola.

It describes a very particular culture: morally engaged, smart, rigorous,  passionate, and with a real zest for life. That culture and environment produces a very specific graduate… intellectually supple, sophisticated, ethical, worldly – along w/ something less tangible – this ability to “see the matrix.”  That is, to discern the essence of a situation and act on it… that character of the graduate became the essence of the brand.  Translating that for each division of the school was a blast. For the undergraduate brand, we drew inspiration from some left of the dial fashion and snowboard catalogs with a healthy dollop of indie magazines thrown in… for the new School of Education, we created bold pop, inspirational manifestos… for the College of Arts and Sciences, a clean, elegant, modular brand…. and for the Sellinger School of Business, an elevated editorial tone inspired by outfits like the Economist and Monocle.

We just finished laying the foundation of the brand and built its major pieces. Check out the case study here…

When I discovered Site Inspire I immediately saved it with every bookmark method I knew. If you too are obsessed with this blog, you may find a surprise today! We are in fact featured on the latest showcase. Have a look at it here.