University of Dayton Redesigns Magazine

The University of Dayton, a Marianist institution, engaged us to redesign their alumni magazine. The problem is not a lot of people know what being Marianist means. One of the things it boils down to is that the Marianist philosophy is one of community spirit and an inquisitive nature. Remember the old adage, “the more you know, the less you know”? Well that’s the idea. They know a lot, but believe there is so much more out there to learn and are interested in the constant pursuit of this knowledge. Now the real challenge we faced was how to exemplify this idea in a magazine.

We were initially contracted for a simple redesign of the magazine to bring it into a more consistent look and feel with the brand we had already established. However, it became clear pretty early on that in doing so we would be doing the University—and more importantly, its audience—a tremendous disservice, by not digging deeper and ensuring all the content and design to come would be firmly rooted in the philosophy of the University and reflect this accurately. After all, digging deeper is what the University of Dayton is all about.

So we decided to refocus the editorial mission, creating a publication that would engage, entertain and educate the world beyond UD – one that would rival that of any consumer publication out there. We also learned that to truly serve the University’s interest, it needed to be more than a brochure for the University. It needed to engage readers of all types. To do this, the goal became to create a publication that anyone would want to read, and not have the audience waiting for the other shoe to drop – or the donation envelope to fall out of the binding.

Once we solidified the mission, we set criteria to help shape any and everything that would end up in the magazine.

These guiding principles are:
1. Have cultural relevance beyond UD
2. Provide educational stimulus
3. Make a concerted effort to create entertaining and engaging stories
4. Take on a modernized look with dynamic visual hierarchy

In addition to this criterion we wanted to create something the internal staff at the University would be able to maintain. We evaluated every section of the current publication from cover to cover. We made recommendations based on how to improve each section, doing away with those that were not guided by the aforementioned principles and making additions that were. With help from the University Communications Staff, we wrote and designed the sections to show strong ties to the University’s Marianist philosophy of inclusive, community-mindedness and a genuine interest in the betterment of the world. One section entitled “Conversation Pieces” provides a sampling of items of interest in fields such as the arts, culture, sports and politics.

Another section allows insight into how a Marianist would answer life’s biggest questions, aptly titled “The Big Question.” The first issue asks, “If you had $2 Billion to help solve the world’s problems, which one would you choose?

One of the feature articles focused on political satire, and showcased the best and worst to come out of the 2008 Presidential election. It also provided us with an opportunity to interview Pentagram’s Paula Scher.

Another feature shed light on the everyday struggle of a village in Cameroon who lacked access to clean drinking water and the steps being taken to provide such access.

As for the cover, well that didn’t exactly go our way. We felt strongly that there needed to be a pretty significant departure from the current magazine in a lot of ways, but that the previously entitled publication, “University of Dayton Quarterly” could be a good basis for the new title of the magazine. We felt UDQ was the GQ of the University Magazine world. It paid homage to its ancestor while still showcasing a certain level of modernity. However, the University chose to go with the tried and true University of Dayton Magazine. Here is the original recommended cover and the final cover they selected.

Credits:
160over90
Creative Directors: Jim Walls, Darryl Cilli
Designers: Lindsey Gice
Illustrators: Adam Garcia, Dewey Saunders, Steven E. Hughes, Renee Nault
Copywriter: Brad Failor
Account Executive: Lindsay Hendler
Photographer: Tom Ammon
Production Managers and Artists: Rosemary Fahmie, Chris Van Auken, Tim Beitz
Traffic Manager: Bridget Yarusso, Jillian Jeffers

University Communications:
Vice President, University Advancement: Deborah Read
Associate Vice President, University Communications: Teri Rizvi
Assistant Vice President, University Marketing: Tracy Hughes
Director, Communications: Michelle Tedford
Assistant Directors, Senior Editors: Thomas Columbus, Matthew Dewald
Senior Editor: Maureen Schlangen
Production Manager: Jeaneen Parsons
Art Directors: Lisa Coffey, Frank Pauer
Designer: Gina Gray
Photographer: Larry Burgess

Some of the most polluted places on Earth

I was fortunate enough to spend this past holiday weekend hiking in the wilderness of Maine. We were in the vicinity of the 100 Mile Wilderness which is a section of the Appalachian Trail that does not cross a paved or public road for 100 miles.

While out there you can’t help but have thoughts of living in some Utopian society where you live of the land in perfect balance with your surroundings. Which is why when I came across this collection of photos I was blown away by what the other end of that spectrum looks like. Captured here are photographs of some of the most polluted places on the planet.

Shake it like a Polaroid picture

When we were all busy singing “Shake it like a Polaroid picture” along with OutKast a few years ago, we probably didn’t foresee the tumultuous future in store for Polaroid. With Polaroid film costs spiking to around $5 per page, it might be wise to treat the metaphorical photos with a little more care.

Polaroid has always been popular among hipsters who carry the boxy cameras around ironically and snap still photos of things like their feet and unsmiling friends and graffiti-covered urban landscapes. (Wondering if you are a hipster? Click here.) Still, the outdated technology witnessed a decline. By 2007, the Polaroid bigwigs to decide to stop producing cameras, followed a year later by the decision to halt film production as well.

But then, an interesting thing happened. As we all know in advertising (and in life), once something is denied us, we suddenly want it. Word started to spread that there was a finite store of Polaroid film and cameras left in the world, and suddenly a lot of people who hadn’t thought about Polaroid in years were reminded of their childhood photo shoots. Outdated, yes, but Polaroids took on a different, more nostalgic purpose.

Thus, the birth of a niche good.

Now, a group of Dutch scientists are trying to resuscitate the production of Polaroid instant film. (Read about it in more detail here.) Nobody’s going to document their entire life in a photo album full of $5 Polaroid pictures, but that doesn’t mean the good itself has to die. This is an interesting case of the way that a product can change roles within a marketplace by appealing to a new audience and occupying a different role.

While we’re on the subject, to look at a public gallery of uploaded Polaroids, click here.

Hey ya! He-ey ya!

Free Phillies Games at the Piazza

Monday night I went to the Piazza at Schmidt’s in Northern Liberty’s which is an “80,000 square foot open-air plaza with free events year-round, surrounded by three new buildings including 35 artist’s studios and boutiques, four new restaurants, 500 apartments and 50,000 square feet of office” (you can read more about the Piazza here). Since it was Memorial Day not everything was open; however, I did discover this cool fabric store and The Swift Half, which is a new bar owned by the same people who own Good Dog. Instead of eating a burger I enjoyed a fine SlyFox and watched the Phillies game on the 26 by 16 foot screen that is mounted to an adjacent building (see the above photo). Today, Thrillist Philadelphia featured the fabric store which reminded me of a blog post by Adam Flanagan from not to long ago regarding cool/fashionable bike wear. Among other things, Fabric Horse makes a unique U-lock belt holder, that I thought was pretty original, rad, and convenient for any city biker. All-in-all, definitely worth checking out the plaza, the stores, The Swift Half, etc.

As well, if you aren’t already a member of Thrillist I suggest you become one and quickly as they do a daily/bi-daily e-newsletter of what’s going on/new in Philly.

You can check out the Thrillist article here, or go to Fabric Horse’s homepage here.

Soundset ’09

This year, I had the opportunity to author the visual identity of the Soundset Music Festival in Minneapolis, which took place last Sunday. The criteria were that it would be used on many different media, and it had to have a somewhat broad appeal (not specifically “HipHop,” since next year it would encompass more kinds of music). The largest challenge was that I was in Philly, and the event was a handful of weeks away in Minneapolis. That meant that I wouldn’t be there for a lot of the pieces that needed to be created, and that other designers would be rolling out much of the work for the event. From dozens of ads to web banners and sites to motion to apparel, this thing was going to have a lot of visibility, and I just wouldn’t be able to handle it on my own.

The solution was creating a straightforward, flexible logotype and usage guidelines for the event that the rest of the identity system fell out of. To capture the energy of the event, bright colors and energetic patterns and marks were created by hand as part of a graphic toolbox to accompany the logo. The logotype is based on squares (actually, boxes), and can exist with those elements, or used as a container.

The event was born out of a weekly night that Rhymesayers organized back in the late 90s. Then it was a night that showcased hiphop in the Midwest, as well as helped to cement the label as a mainstay in the Twin Cities independent music scene. Ten years later, and they’ve resurrected the event, turning it into one of the largest showcases of indie music in the country.

Check out the letterpressed event poster from Studio On Fire here. Photo courtesy Beast Pieces.

Most of the wayfinding and signage was made of graphics adhered to white boxes and stacked. Afterwards the boxes were used to collect recycling and carry leftover merchandise.

My homey Sims created the maingate sign based on the logotype and graphic toolbox. Sims is not only a man-about-the-toolbox, but a damn-good rapper.

Hanging mainstage banners.

Rhymesayer’s Brother Ali sauntering.

The elusive MF DOOM assails the crowd

The logotype itself is based on the square, which enables it to work in a modular fashion with the boxes. Also, the letters itself can become containers for artist photography in situ.

New York-based Def Jux label founder El-P

There were a dozen-or-so-thousand in attendance. Not too shabby.

Members of the Seventh Letter Crew came out from L.A. to do some live wall-rocking.

Soundset shirt graphics. The back graphics are a little too much for me, but hey.

Kickflippin’ at the 3rd Lair Skatepark skate demo

Slug of Atmosphere creates a lens flare out of his hand

Photos courtesty Rhymesayers Entertainment photo dept. (Jake Schaefer, Skye Rossi, Jules Ameel, Jeff Luger)
Thank you to Siddiq and Skye and RSE for the opportunity.

More pics at City Pages and the Rhymesayers Flickr page.

Might as well Jump…Jump!

While the employees of 160over90 may not officially hold the world record for highest jump, neither does the man who actually has the unofficial highest vertical jump. Yan Zhi Cheng, a Chinese Acrobat, holds the unofficial record with a whopping 96.9 inches in 1988.

To learn more about other records and brush up on your jumping skills check this site out Powerful Vertical Jump Training Secrets