April 19, 2011 • 10:23 am • POSTED BY timothy o'donnell
Currently, there’s an A to Z blogging challenge underway — post about a letter of the alphabet every day in April except Sundays; beginning with ‘A’ on the April Fool’s Day and ending with ‘Z’ on the 30th. You don’t need to be Nostradamus to foresee an avalanche of x-ray and xylophone-related posts on April 28.
I’m not even going to try to meet that challenge, but it did remind me about something I was working on last year. Intended as a type specimen book as written by Charles Addams or Edward Gorey, Character Assassination (or, Accidents Grotesque) chronicles the grisly deaths of various typefaces, led to their doom by weaknesses in their characters — just like people.
We do attribute personality traits to fonts, subconsciously; an art director may select Univers because it is rational and unemotional — if you break up with Univers, it’s not going to call you at 3am in a torrent of drunken tears. Similarly, a kindergarten teacher putting together a class handout will choose Comic Sans because it’s fun and friendly — if you’re waiting for Univers to bring in cupcakes for your birthday, you’ve got a long, frosting-less wait ahead. Once you start assigning human characteristics to typefaces, it’s a short hop to developing emotionally biased relationships with them. There are fonts that we love — Helvetica even has its own movie — and fonts we’d love to see come to a horrible end (see the aforementioned Comic Sans.)
Today’s* letter in the A-Z blog challenge is “M” — here’s a cautionary tale just in time for grilling season, but sadly too late to save hapless Madrone.
Wise gourmets will heed the warning
left behind by dead Madrone –
‘Cook poultry thoroughly’, the words
they etched upon his stone
* well, last Friday, when this was written
April 18, 2011 • 10:41 am • POSTED BY anna hartley
When you’re eighteen, choosing where to go to college is a huge step and a small leap of faith. It’s a decision that impacts the rest of your life. It’s a financial investment. And in many cases, it’s hard to know which college or university to choose.
So when Loyola University Maryland hired 160over90 to create the acceptance packet for their incoming class, we knew it had to be something more than a letter of acceptance and a bumper sticker. It had to appropriately conclude the Loyola story that we began telling with the Sophomore/Junior Search Piece, and it had to inspire accepted students to commit to Loyola.
We looked at the acceptance packet as a chance to excite, immerse, and help students imagine their future at Loyola. Keeping these goals in mind, we created a suite of acceptance materials that, as a whole, emulate the Loyola education in all of its complexities.
The resulting Acceptance Initiative provides a glimpse into greyhound life from every angle—through a booklet, a Web site, and various social media tie-ins.
The acceptance booklet is a pocket-sized guide to Loyola that reflects just how frenetic, exciting, and inspiring college can be. Thought a series of provocations, prompts, questions, statements, facts, and descriptions, the booklet features content that’s as wide-ranging as the Loyola experience. Basically, it’s the teaser before a movie you really want to see.
The booklet’s provocative (yet static) content leads naturally into the Accepted Student Web site, which features constantly changing information and digital tie-ins to the Loyola virtual tour and facebook. The site itself encourages engagement by aggregating incoming student statistics, viewpoints, and interests.
On the whole, the Loyola acceptance initiative takes something exciting yet unknown, and turns it into a tangible, vibrant experience. It makes the decision to take that next step a little more certain. And it helps students be confident that the choice to enroll at Loyola is the right one.
(more photos after the break)
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April 15, 2011 • 1:59 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning
Ever wonder how your favorite cereal brand finds its way to the store shelf? Well, before it arrives at the store, a truck needs to pick up the shipment. Before it picks up the shipment, the cereal needs to get into a shipping container. Before it gets into a shipping container, someone needs to make sure that the journey of your Cap’n Crunch is happening in the most cost efficient manner possible so that when you arrive at the supermarket your not stuck buying the store brand version of old Cap’n. And that’s where Mode comes in.
Mode Transportation is comprised of agents who broker deals with an array of transportation companies, ultimately ensuring the arrival of your coveted breakfast treat. When they hired us they were known as Exel Transportation and after being acquired they were not only looking for a new name but also a new identity.
Lets start with the name. While we came up with a handful of recommendations, we along with our client felt Mode was indicative of the service they provide. That is, they are able to customize the best mode or modes of transportation for your business need. It is also broad enough to encompass all of the transportation segments they interface with and isn’t so newfangled that it would require a large investment to stick.
One thing that’s fairly consistent within the world of transportation is that the products are shipped in a container (you know – those large rectangular boxes you see on huge shipping vessels that people sometimes repurpose for living spaces). These containers became a jumping off point for the identity.
The mark we created consists of a series of containers linked and stacked that create a three-dimensional M. The linking of containers is a visual metaphor for Mode being the link between your business need and their resources. The three dimensionality connotes the progressive nature of the organization as well as their ability to see an array of vantage points when problem solving. The logotype is set in Vitesse Sans Black. The geometry of the letter forms compliments the mark and is appropriate for the transportation industry.
Look for the logo next time you get stuck at a railroad crossing and are watching hundreds of containers pass by. Or maybe just think about Mode the next time you buy a box of Cap’n Crunch.
Creative Director: Stephen Penning
Copywriters (aka naming folks): Jill Spradley, Brad Failor, Cory McCall
Designer: Chelsea Brink
Strategy & Account Management: Lindsay Hendler, Meredith Kearney
April 15, 2011 • 12:24 am • POSTED BY Jim Walls
First off, thank you for all of your submissions to the 160over90 2010 Design Crutch Awards (sponsored by FFFFFFFOUND!!). We received more than 1200 entrants—our most ever! Our esteemed judges spent a weekend in Philly pouring over your work, and only trashed one room at the La Quinta. (John Maeda, check your fax for the damages bill.)
The dust has finally cleared, and we’re proud to announce this year’s winner:
Triangles!
You served us well in 2010, Triangles. Congratulations on finally unseating our 2008 and 2009 two-time champion, Antlers.
We look forward to next year’s competition. In the meantime, watch your e-mail for your exclusive $49 early bird entry form next January.
April 12, 2011 • 9:13 pm • POSTED BY tim beitz
We need a Production Intern!
The position requires a highly motivated individual who can provide support for the production team utilizing InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and sometimes by sending an email or two. Yes, strong graphic design and typography skills are required. The right candidate will be personable, enthusiastic, work well in a team environment, and be ready to switch gears at any moment. You’ll be creating print ready documents, layouts, comps, managing assets/archiving, scanning and typesetting. Working alongside designers will teach you about the creation of brand concepts, and leaving your Facebook page open will teach you the basics of public relations.
Sound fun? Check out our jobs page over here, and send us an application. Curious about what separates production and design? Add a comment below, and I’ll happily answer your questions.
April 11, 2011 • 6:47 pm • POSTED BY Tammo Walter
Interesting art series done by Milan based collective Carnovsky. The RGB work is a series of wallpapers that surprisingly mutate and interact with different chromatic stimulus. Find more images on their website.
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