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Teatre CCCB
The Centre of Contemporary Culture in Barcelona was expanded by the construction of a Theatre. We were asked to produce a typographically led design for the opening campaign. We created sentences based on the entertainment business onomatopoeias.

Typefaces: Benton Modern Two / Futura Bold

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Gandules’11
The Centre of Contemporary Culture in Barcelona contacted us three years ago in order to design the outdoor cinema season called Gandules; the campaign we designed in 2009 would set the basis for the following years.
This cinema season is based on a different topic every year and for Gandules 2011 the topic was based on ‘Action’ and how crisis generates new approaches and possibilities. Our illustration of a “new dawn” is representative of this idea.

Typefaces: Haas Unica

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Taurus Publishing
Every year we design several book covers for long-time client Taurus, a book publisher based in Madrid, Spain. We enjoy working with them because we are given a lot of creative freedom. As a result every book cover has a unique design and visual language that will continue to evolve in future publications.

Typefaces:
George Soros: Benton Modern One
Breve Historia de la corrupción: Beton SH
Peor que la Guerra: Plakat & Scout Condensed

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Projecta’t
Projecta’t is a program, which supports 1,000 entrepreneurs’ projects that have consolidation and growth potential, carried out by Catalonia’s Government. The briefing was quite simple and clear — they wanted an image that summarized their project. We expressed the idea of growth by means of an illustration consisting of a layered composition of squares that stress the idea of growth and expansion.

Typefaces: Helvetica Neue 75 Bold

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Monocle Illustrations
Some time ago we sent a PDF document with a selection of our illustration work to Monocle’s Art Director thinking that we would not get an answer. But after a few months we were asked to create a few illustrations for the magazine; we could not believe it! For us Monocle is top class in every sense of the word and to be able to work for them was such a great opportunity. The style of the illustrations themselves were created in collaboration with Monocle’s Art team and we continue to develop and refine this style with each issue.
We have had such a great experience working with Monocle so far and we thank them for the exposure the magazine has given us.

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Laus Bases
This brochure is part of the identity of the Spanish Laus Design Awards which turned 40 in 2010. When we were initially asked to design the campaign, we could not believe it — for us it was a real challenge to design something for designers because all eyes would be on our design. We created an abstract campaign that reflected the passing of time. The “L” that stands for “Laus” was represented in different color paper sheets in the shape of a die.

Typefaces: Benton Modern One

A Few Words from the Editor

Hot off the heels of Mucho’s SI Special, we head back to the vibrant, cosmopolitan city that is Barcelona, featuring the work of Hey, a small studio, with big ideas who are producing crisp, contemporary work that gives a nod to classic Modernist design principles: Asymmetry, geometric shapes, flat colours, considered typography, what’s not to like? :)

Estoy enormemente agradecido a Verònica for providing the high-res imagery, projects texts and for helping me brush up on my Spanish ;)

About the Studio

Hey is a multidisciplinary design studio based in Barcelona, Spain specializing in brand management and editorial design, packaging and interactive design.

They share the profound conviction that good design means combining content, functionality, graphical expression and strategy. As a result, they offer their clients a personal service based on mutual understanding and trust, working to innovate from rationality and directing advice to meet actual needs.

www.heystudio.es

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Primero Primera
Identity and stationery for a hotel.

This boutique hotel was the home for two generations of a family. When starting the project we realized that it would be nice to reflect all the memories of this 7 brother family. So we collected personal pictures in which parts of the house are in the background, or important events for them during the time they were living in the building. We based the identity in making collages with the images. For the brand and signage we designed a stencil font that contains special characters that allowed us to mix in a unique way certain characters like the “i” an the “m” in the word “primero”.

Typefaces used: Primero Roman, Helvetica

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Thinking Furniture by Pepe Andreu
Book Design

This book collects the work of Pepe Andreu, a furniture designer who came to the profession by carpentry. Pepe’s furniture and the way he think are full of details of functionality but they are very respectful with the tradition of artisan furniture. It is therefore that the design of the book should be viewed as an object consistent with his view, the form of binding, the pace of the book (not linear) and the typeface and colour choice breathe the idea of the reinvention of the classic.

The first part of the book is interspersed with ideas, thoughts and pieces from his collection (light green). In the last part the collection appears again but this time the furniture appears in lived, in-home environments. These photos are presented on cards with technical characteristics of the furniture. This card system allows us to produce new cards to complement the collection of Pepe as the production increases, thus making the book into a communication tool for the designer with his audience.

For this book we were interested in using an inline font and for the sake of consistency we decided to design a special cut of Akkurat Outline that for this book we called ‘Peppurat.’

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Escolà
Identity and packaging for a wine shop.

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Alma Hotels
Barcelona City Guide Book

Barcelona City Guide for Alma Hotels, a boutique hotel based in the exclusive Paseo de Gracia area. The content created by ‘It Comunicación’ is based on conversations among influential citizens from Barcelona, structured as Q&A’s. To link the image to that of the hotel (based on graphic drawings of the garden trees), a massive illustration of Barcelona was produced, portraying some key buildings, but also some hidden city treasures. This illustration was then used for the cover and inside dividers, giving identity to the publication. This was also brought to life by Rodrigo Diaz Wichmann’s fantastic photography of the conversations in a documentary and unforgiving manner that contrasts nicely with the graphic illustrations.

Fonts used were Alma’s own Helvetica Neue 75 Bold, plus DTL Fleischmann, in display and display italic versions for headlines and text version for the body copy.

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Buenas Migas (Focaccia) Restaurant
Corporate identity

Buenas Migas is a quality fast food chain of restaurants, which mixes Cornish with Genovese gastronomy to produce simple, fresh and tasty but healthy dishes at a value for money price. Their main distinctive trait when compared to their competitors is the high quality of their product, as a result of their artisan approach to their work.

When producing all of the communication materials: ranging from packaging pieces and poster promotions to signage, the main drive for the design was to show their core values of nature and craftsmanship. The idea is simple: everything they do is handmade, so all of the communication is handmade too—all of the products, the posters, the blackboards, the signage, the pricing tags, the service materials and any piece included in the restaurants is drawn by hand. Obviously, the pieces that are produced at a large scale are reproductions, but their initial design is handmade, and there is no serialized process allowed that can take away this truthful spirit to natural drawing, both of the type and the illustration.

A chunky, very commercial Futura Condensed Bold was chosen to complement this handmade approach. The use of this font tempers an otherwise ultra naturalistic view of the restaurant, and offers a commercial counterpoint which combined with the delicacy of watercolour illustrations we hope gives the whole image an edgy mainstream natural feel.

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‘Un año en Pago de los Capellanes’
DVD Packaging

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Andres Sarda: Fashion Love and Art
Book Design

Andres Sarda is a brand of lingerie and swimwear and a pioneer in haute couture and prêt-à-porter in Spain. After 50 years of life, they decided to publish a book containing photos, material fashion, editorials and highlights of its own history. This book consists of chapters, not organized in a linear way, opinion pieces relevant signatures and personal experiences of the designer in these 50 years. They asked us to design a series of pieces for an exhibition and book launch event. All pieces play with the sensuality of nudity in a graphic way, in the invitations and book, the cover paper can be unfolded to see the main image. In the pieces ‘Opi Totem and Bus’ we play more graphically with the number 50 so that it surrounds the picture and interacts with the silhouette of a woman.

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Murmuri
Identity and naming for hotel and restaurants

The identity plays with the repetitive character of the word ‘Murmuri’, using feminine typography but with attitude like the hotel. The graphic result is contemporary but respectful to the 19th century origin of the building. From there and based on that typography the identity of the restaurant and bar were created. The restaurant combines the two M’s and looks like an oriental ideogram, playing with superposition of grids. ‘Bar Marfil’ is the name of the bar and is rescued from a bar in Barcelona from the 50′s–60′s. This place was an icon of glamorous Barcelona. To visualize the identity we used a collage of old pictures saved from that period.

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Blau Restaurant
Menu design

Blau is a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant in Barcelona. For the menus, we based the idea on creating kinetic effects with the patterns inside the shape of the dishes. All the dishes are silkscreened on wood. We used the typeface: Calend (by atipo).

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Andres Sarda
Various Projects

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No Somos Hormigas: We Are No Ants
Book Design

This book dwells on the following idea: as a species, mankind is nowadays better off than ever, but there are certain issues unresolved which we have the obligation to address. It then shows a few initiatives, which are taking place, that to the author’s understanding are heading in the right direction towards social equilibrium and human relation with the environment.

The book is a compilation of strong concepts that are backed up by visual display of data. We had to create a visual language that was engaging enough, strong enough, and vindictive enough, but which kept the positive message that the book provides, while still being true to the statistics that illustrate each concept.

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Arte y Mecenazgo
Type Specimen

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Arte y Mecenazgo
Identity

An art foundation asked us for an identity. This foundation’s aim is to connect collectors, founders, galleries and artists in many different ways. As an important part of this project we created a typeface. The result consisted in designing a classic outline font using a geometric and rational approach often used in Sans Serif outline fonts but never in Serif. Based on the structure of a Didone typeface we designed a display and headline weight that could allow us to compose in a very classical way but with an edge, or be more daring in the composition and typesetting.

Some of the results of the type applied can be seen in these boards as well as a special edition type specimen designed for the board of trustees of this particular foundation. These pages also offer examples of the application of the typographical identity, event invitations and graphics.

A Few Words from the Editor

What better way to kick start the new year, than with a very generous selection of work (as is the SI way) from Mucho a studio that may come as a pleasant surprise to many who may not have been familiar with their work before. Project information and typefaces used are notably absent from today’s feature, but they’re on their way don’t you worry! :)

Big thank you to Pablo, Marc, Ximena and the team for making this feature possible and for supporting SI :)

About the Studio

Founded in 2003 by Marc Català and Pablo Juncadella having worked at Grafica (Madrid/Barcelona) and Pentagram (London) respectively, Mucho is a visual communication and graphics studio based in Barcelona, Spain.

Ideas are at the heart of every project they undertake and all work is done with the intention of it being unique, with a constant effort to avoid repetitive formulas. Mucho values the visual ambition of projects as much as the commercial will, and considers excellence its permanent objective.

The studio specializes in art direction, strategic and corporate identity, editorial design, packaging, graphic communications, digital design and motion graphics for small clients through to large brands.

mucho.ws

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Logo
Since its launch in 2004, the Nooka logo has been increasing in boldness for reasons of legibility. Unlike most corporate logos in which the artwork needs to be legible at 25mm, the Nooka logo needs to be legible at about half that, sometimes less. The solution was two-fold. One—to increase boldness for maximum legibility both small and large sizes, and two—to simplify the letterforms to better express our ethos. Along with these changes, subtle details were also introduced to make the Nooka logotype more visually pleasing.

Aside from the increase in weight, the infinity sign remains a constant in our visual identity – representing the infinite possibilities the future has to offer. We introduced rounded corners on both the “N” and “A” to compliment this shape. The top of the “N” has a 90 degree corner that juxtaposes the round corners and calls point of entry to begin reading the logo. The simplification of the “A” by removing the cross-bar is meant to evoke a future beyond the planet earth.

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Retail/Packaging
Nooka is a global brand. Our products—through wide distribution—must maintain a consistent brand image. We eliminated our existing bulky packaging and introduced a sleek, mylar bag. These mylar bags come in three sizes—which allow universal use for a multitude of products. In addition to eliminating bulk, we stopped using acrylic stands for our watches. Instead we introduced corrugated cardboard pieces which ship flat—and fold when needed to display our watches.

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Stationery
Nooka is a global brand, with a growing number of distributors, business relationships and retailers worldwide. Much thought went into how we can create a system that can function in multiple regions yet maintain Nooka identity. The solution was to stamp paper blanks which could later be customized upon requests. By pre-stamping blanks at a high number, we save time and money by having ready-made materials.
The Nooka system is created of paper stock with our logo stamped in silver foil. The branded stock allows us to create any changes that occur with moving, adding people, different office locations, etc. Communications can then be printed, either digitally or by offset, by following our templates to ensure brand consistency. Like the letterhead, Stamped blanks allow for later customization for our distributors worldwide. This truly universal system allows full customization while maintaining a global identity.

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Brand Guidelines Poster
In place of cumbersome guidelines, we developed a poster which can be distributed digitally as an interactive pdf and can be printed at large ISO sizes. Each image on the pdf is a direct download for all basic brand assets—such as logo, typeface, stationary—to use on their own.

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Internal Documents
Being that Nooka describes it’s working area as a LAB, an internal system was needed to keep consistency as well as create an aesthetic that represents this cconcept. In keeping with efficiency, a grid system was developed which allows easy customization to a wide-array of medias that are requested. These documents are for internal use and distributors, yet allow for a consistent brand aesthetic throughout.

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Application
The Nooka logo will be applied to all new products with sizes ranging from the micro to macro.

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Universal Instruction Manuals
Being a global brand, Nooka is constantly confronted with translating materials for specific languages. One of Nooka’s core values is universal communication. With that value in mind, we went out to create a universal system to be applied to our instruction manuals—one that eliminates most uses of text as well as works for a wide range of products. Using symbols and illustrations, a key was developed to give users a reference when learning how to use their watch.

Based on ISO dimensions, the manuals were developed to be printed as a small manual as well as a large A0 poster. These posters would be used for retail and trade shows to get customers more familiar with Nooka.

Printed in Pantone 812C, these one color manuals are a cheaper solution to a four color process.

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The story of NOOKA
Shot on a 5d and Zazza Slider—this is the story of Nooka—a New York based futurist brand. Founded by artist/designer Matthew Waldman, the ethos of Nooka is universal communication,which guides the creation of products with enhanced functionality that engage the mind as well as the body—mindstyle™.

Most prominently known for its line of timepieces, Nooka has expanded their range, creating a
Mindstyle™ brand with the addition of innovative accessories and a fragrance.

Direction/Editing: Jon Patterson
Filming: Patrick Phillips
Soundtrack: Com Truise

Nooka Design Team

Senior Designer: Jon Patterson
Creative Director: Matthew Waldman
Industrial Design: Alexander Yoo/ Michael Ubbesen
www.nooka.com

A Few Words from the Editor

As I write this there are just 8 days until 2012; I’m sitting here wondering what happened to the rest of 2011! Time really does fly doesn’t it? To end the year right I thought I’d feature something a little different from what I usually feature — different in the sense that whilst it’s still conventional graphic design, it was done completely in-house by the NOOKA Design team as opposed to a rebrand from an external studio/agency.

Lead designer Jon (who just so happens to be a big fan of SI — thank you sir!) got in touch a week ago informing me that NOOKA had just relaunched a rebrand (complete with universal instruction manuals) and had recently finished gathering all the assets for yours truly to review and potentially feature on the site. Bit of a no-brainer really ;)

Thank you once again to Jon and the rest of the cool cats at NOOKA for making this feature possible, and I wish all the lovely readers of SI a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for continuing to support this site (I couldn’t appreciate it more) and I’ll be back in January with your weekly dose of visual crack ;) I also have rather large plans for this site next year so stay tuned…

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El Camino

Husky Rescue and El Camino are both projects by Marko Nyberg, an artist and a producer. Husky Rescue is a well-known music group with a strong visual language, which we wanted to remain on the foreground throughout the website. El Camino Helsinki is Marko Nyberg’s audio design studio. Tsto based El Camino’s identity around an embossing stamp and a custom typeface, which was used for both projects. The forms of the typeface were shaped from ten geometric modules, resulting in a geometric sans with characteristic faults.

Typefaces: Custom, Neuzeit Grotesk

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Minni f. Ronya

Minni f. Ronya is a ready-to-wear women’s label from Helsinki. A mix of functionality and spontaneity, the label pays attention to detail in fit and finish while introducing wild printed patterns and avant-garde shapes in ultimately wearable garments.

Typefaces: P22 Underground, Linotype Brewery

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Flow

The identity for Flow Festival builds on the idea of the festival crowd as an urban tribe, united by a metaphorical mantra of a visual wordplay set in the bespoke Flow-typeface influenced by contemporary central European trends of postmodern craftsmanship. We see the font as smart, approachable, and humorous. Together with the amulet-like illustrations of Santtu Mustonen, the repetition of letters and images resembles the rhythm of music and creates the core visual language and imagery for the project. This arrangement of elements was used across all media platforms, from web and print to motion graphics, and from venue signage to office stationery.

Illustrator Santtu Mustonen, digital agency Byroo, video production Beige/Harmaa, and musician Matti Pentikäinen worked as Tsto’s key collaborators.

Typeface: Custom

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Regina

Regina is a three-piece band consisting of husband and wife duo Mikko and Iisa, and a third wheel also going by the name Mikko. Soita mulle is their fourth album and is heavily influenced by the youth and indie music of the 90′s. The band gave us a few iconic music videos of that era as a reference point. Being Boring by Pet Shop Boys struck us the most. The video is directed by fashion photographer Bruce Weber. After digging more into Mr. Weber’s body of work, we came across the 90′s Calvin Klein advertisements shot by him. So you may notice the slight resemblance between Calvin Klein’s Eternity and Regina logotypes. The photo is by Megan McIsaacs.

Typefaces: Futura, Custom

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Vuoden Huiput

With Vuoden Huiput (The Best of the Year in Finnish advertising and design) we wanted to experiment with the relatively dubious and unpredictable nature of crowdsourcing and the visual language of anonymous internet users. Together with a programmer we created an application that transformed any written word or sentence into a rebus, an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. In English, a rebus often uses homonyms, as seen in the classic IBM logo consisting of a picture of an eye, a picture of a bee and the letter M. However, homonyms are rare in Finnish language, therefore a rebus was constructed from a list of some 5000 words with the most used syllables and matched with an image search result from Google. The combinations of images and letters may seem just a visual gimmick at first glance, but challenged the audience to look beneath the mere surface.

Typeface: Sofia

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Duotone

Duotone is a photography bureau founded by photographers Taavetti Alin and Juho Huttunen. The brand was based on the dualism found in the focusing lenses of vintage cameras.

Typeface: Sofia

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We Are Helsinki

We Are Helsinki is a free city magazine. It is published six times a year and distributed to nearly 200 distribution spots in Helsinki. In connection with our redesign of We Are Helsinki, the magazine grew in content as well. New sections include the Product Placement spread (a conceptual photographic story connected with the different theme of each issue), the Portfolio section, articles by think tank duo OK-Do, and a follow up series on Helsinki World Design Capital.

Typeface: P22 Underground, Custom, Linotype Gneisenauette

From the Editor

This week on SI we continue the Scandinavian theme, moving from Heydays in Oslo last week to Tsto in Helsinki this week. It would have been nice to have gone full circle and include Stockholm and Copenhagen, but I guess that will have to wait until next time wont it? ;)

Tsto is a (one year old) creative agency founded by six designers. Their approach is thorough and hands-on, they tackle projects by first taking it apart to its bare essentials, and then building it in a new way that best serves the client. This design philosophy allows Tsto to go deeper than the surface, to the essence of each case.

Besides having a great selection of work, Tsto have a equally impressive website to showcase their work on. It’s colourful, functional, distinctive and just like Heydays’ website last week, it’s built entirely on WordPress!

It’ll certainly be interesting to see what this studio produces next year (provided we’re all still here) ;)

Kiitos to Antti and the rest of the lovely crew @ Tsto for supporting SI, providing all the high-res imagery and I hope you (discerning SI reader) enjoyed what you saw in today’s feature :)

tsto.org

If you’re new here, don’t forget to Subscribe & follow SI on Twitter for your weekly dose of visual crack. ;)

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Blokk – Identity

Blokk provides full architecture and interior design services. We created their identity and wanted to reflect their philosophy on embracing openness, a straightforward attitude and clear communication with their clients. With a bold word mark as a base, we wanted to investigate how typography could translate into architectonic shapes and landscapes. Creating a reference to light and shadows hitting the surface, and how the relationship between typography and printed material created hints to landscapes and architectural compositions.

Typeface: Neuzeit

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Heydays – identity

Our own identity comments on our own design principles. A development from the start in 2008, the identity is based on a dividing line half way through every surface, emphasizing a new period in time and a more confident studio. Paper stock, materials and print methods are carefully selected to make every surface a crafted production, with a feeling of quality and timelessness. Beneath, our logotype remains the same, accompanied by the single ‘H’.

Typeface: Univers

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Anorak – Identity

Anorak is a creative agency developing strategies and solutions for ad campaigns. They pride themselves on being creatives first, working close with their clients throughout their projects. We wanted to visualize the cut-through attitude that represents their approach towards their clients. An energetic green line divides every surface, creating to equal surfaces – Anorak and the client they’re working with. This green line appears in numerous ways, making each surface a new representation of this relationship.

Typeface: Trade Gothic

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Snitt – Magazine Redesign

Magazine on visual communication by Grafill, the norwegian trade organization. Snitts purpose was to raise the professional standard of visual communication in Norway and raise awareness by providing inspiration, information and grounds for debate. We were assigned to redesign Snitt. Our goal was to create a open layout, but maintain a good structure for the reader throughout. The purpose was to facilitate the reading flow, but create more room for experimenting in the layout and interpretations of the editorial content. We divided Snitt into three sections and used various paper stock to highlight these. The masthead reflects the name. We wanted the circular shape, inspired by a cross-section, to follow the reader in both section pages, detailing and iconography.

Typefaces: Aperçu, ITC Pacella

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Holien Mo – Identity

A young norwegian photographer with an eye for documenting stories and moments between people. Our task was to create a versatile identity that communicated his craftsmanship and sense of presence in his images. We created a solution based on a simple wordmark, a distinctive triangular shape later used in patterns, stamping and embossing. This, implemented on various tactile paper stocks, creating a warm, but sophisticated feel.

Typeface: Grotesque MT

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OD 2011 – Campaign Identity

Operation Day’s Work is today Norway’s largest solidarity campaign for youth, gathering students to collect funds for an elected international cause. Since 1964 ODW has grown to over 62 countries under slogans such as “Youth, Regardless”. The 2011 campaign were aimed at norwegian youth, challenging the negative perceptions many have on opportunities in Africa. The identity is based on visualizing a strong contrast between the negative and the positive through typography. This years funds were given to Plan Norway, working for better educational opportunities for youth in Rwanda.

Typeface: LL Brown

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Kibsgaard-Petersen – Identity

A full range architecture company that work on both public as well as private housing, founded in Ålesund 1966. The identity, based on the hyphen, communicates a bold and strong architectural language and visualizes the energy that represents Kibsgaard-Petersen, through young innovation combined with years of experience. Their solid red color combined with stamping and embossing tools tells a story of a modern company with solid traditions.

Typeface: DIN

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The Schmucks – Record Sleeve

The Schmucks is a punk band from Oslo. We did the art direction for their EP – Axes of Evil. We contacted illustrator Kristian Hammerstad to do the illustrations, as we felt his style matched both the genre and the title. Evil yet humorous. Togheter we came up with the idea and concept for the cover. Based on the title, it was only right that the cover typography got chopped off, just like in the illustration.

Typefaces: Helvetica Black Condensed, Times

From the Editor

It’s been a pretty eventful month to say the least, life has thrown some unexpected curve balls my way, but I’ve already started to throw a few of those balls back ;) More importantly SI is finally back in business and if you (dear reader) thought for a second that this was might have been the end, you’re sadly mistaken – this is only at the beginning as cliché as that sounds… ;)

Onto today’s main event: Heydays launched their new website a few days ago containing a plethora of new work and sporting a slick, new interface that ditches flash in favour of html – wise decision gents ;) Their work, both the new stuff and the old, speaks for itself the same way it always does and once again reaffirms their commitment to creative excellence. As a result they still have the most popular feature on SI and it wouldn’t surprise me if it happens again with this one too :)

Takk once again to Mathias and Lars @ HEYDAYS for making this feature possible and I hope you (discerning SI reader) enjoyed this visual treat and have a great a weekend :)

heydays.no

If you’re new here, don’t forget to Subscribe & follow SI on Twitter for your weekly dose of visual crack. ;)

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Guy & Max

Typefaces used: Gotham & Fournier

Guy & Max is the product of two brothers’ quest to create a collection of faultless precious metal
and diamond jewellery. The brothers have very different yet complimentary skill sets: Max trained
as a contemporary furniture designer and uses that knowledge to create unique, creative, yet
timeless jewellery; whilst Guy is steeped in the family’s rich heritage in the diamond trade.

The brothers approached us with a brief to bring the branding up to luxury brand status. Through
discussion we began to draw more analogies with high end fashion brands than with jewellery
firms.

We created an elegant set of marques and brand attributes that can be engaged for different
applications; including a roundel based on Tolkowsky’s ‘Round Brilliant’ and a refracted word
marque. We collaborated with Jason Tozer to create some super-macro diamond photography for
an online lookbook and series of printed mailers. Other applications include website, packaging,
store front and stationery.

We wanted to reinforce the unique nature of their brand; in particular the way they design their
pieces. Max trained as a furniture designer and thinks about creating jewellery in a very non-
traditional way. We researched all sorts of existing jewellery brands and felt like the Guy&Max
identity should lean more towards fashion than the more traditional jewellery set. This opened the
door to other creative innovations like the collaboration with Jason Tozer. He created sumptuous
images that don’t show the jewellery at all, but instead reflect Guy&Max’s collective passion for
both creativity and diamonds.

guyandmax.com

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Getty Images How

Typefaces used: Lubalin Graph + custom stencil version

The 2009 HOW Design Conference took place in Austin, Texas. HOW caters to all kinds of design
and media professionals – and as a recently appointed roster design agency of Getty Images, we
were asked to work on their presence at the event.

The stand aimed to capture the attention of the designer audience and drive new registrants to the
Getty Images website, whilst highlighting the Getty role as a creative partner – not just a supplier.

The concept for our visual campaign was informed by the five W’s; who? what? where? when?
why? (and the inevitable how? – an apt reference to the conference name). The five ‘W’s is a
concept used in journalism and research and is regarded as a key tool in information-gathering.
We used this to draw analogies with the Getty Images search engine and as a useful prompt for
sourcing media.

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Kemistry Gallery

Typeface used: Sabon

Kemistry Gallery is a small independent gallery dedicated to exhibiting the work of outstanding
designers, curated by Dan Witchell of Proud. Shows have included Geoff McFetridge, Parra,
Gregory Gilbert-Lodge, Experimental Jetset, UVA, Eine and Daniel Eatock. We created a
straightforward identity that lets the artists work shine – monochromatic and understated.

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Kemistry Gallery – Retrospective-One

Typeface used: Sabon

As part of Proud’s ongoing relationship with Kemistry Gallery, we were asked to design a poster to
coincide with the latest show: Retrospective-One. The double sided A1 poster also acts as a guide
to the exhibition; providing information about the artists. Printed with kind from Generation Press.

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Promax: Beyond

Typeface used: Akzidenz Grotesk

Promax wanted the conference and awards to reflect the way in which those in branding, advertising, marketing and promotion are being asked to work beyond their normal comfort zones. The broad theme of the brief was Beyond the Box. Early on we decided to simplify the title to ‘Beyond’.

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Proud Creative Volume 1

Typefaces used : Scala & Scala sans

Our first volume was designed to showcase the range of multidisciplinary work that we’d delivered
in our first two years. Dominated by the S4C project that first got us noticed, but also showing a
wide variation in the type of projects that we looked to take on then; and continue to seek out now.

Specifications:
Process: Cover Screen print + Litho
Cover stock: 4pp 300 gsm Arjo Wiggins Curious Touch Soft
Text stock: 36pp 120 gsm McNoughton Cyclus Offset
Finishing: Saddle stitched with hoops
Size: 220 x 300 mm
Edition: 500

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Proud Creative Volume 2

Typeface used: Proxima Nova

The second in our on-going series of Volumes was designed to explain our working philosophies
of Optimism, Simplicity & Brand Ergonomics; as well as giving an overview of our projects. A clean
and simple illustrative style was developed and executed in house, supported by client testimonials
and short introductions to the studio’s approach.

Specifications:
Process: Litho
Cover stock: 4pp 330 gsm
(GF Smith Naturalis Absolute White Matt)
Text stock: 14pp 250 gsm
(GF Smith Naturalis Absolute White Matt)
Finishing: Singer Sewn
Size: 280 x 380 mm
Edition: 350

△ PROUD CREATIVE × SI GIVEAWAY

THE SWAG:
5 copies of Proud Creative’s self commissioned typetables poster. That includes the 4 you see above and a limited edition foil version

HOW TO WIN:
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When we reach the “magic number” of followers, 5 winners will be picked at random or, according to the visual appeal of their Twitter avatar ;) Once 5 winners have been selected, the fine folk at Proud Creative will mail the posters to the 5 lucky winners.

Proud Creative in their own words…

We are a creatively led multidisciplinary design studio based in London. Founded in 2005 by Dan Witchell, Creative Director and joined by Roger Whittlesea, Partner & Head of Production. Our goal is to create work that makes our clients and everyone at the studio proud. It’s the reason for our name.

We understand that there’s always a story to tell and it’s rarely at the surface of the brief. To arrive at the true challenge we get below the surface; we interrogate, research and ask questions (lots of questions). More importantly, we listen.

We are a warm and optimistic bunch who will always go the extra mile (or late night) if that’s what it takes to make a job even the tiniest bit better.

www.proudcreative.com

Big thank you once again to Neşe, Dan & Roger for making this feature possible. Have a great weekend folks!

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John Lewis – Brand Positioning

(Larger Images to come shortly ;)

John Lewis wanted to create a new menswear range of authentic clothing with a heritage feel, timeless and classic. They approached Egelnick and Webb based on our reputation working with fashion brands; House of Holland, Matthew Williamson and Jaegar.

Our first step was to visit the John Lewis archive which holds a wealth of material which we were able to draw inspiration from: collections of hand-printed swing tickets, a Ticket writers guide from the 1950′s, the detailing and typesetting of past collections, brochures form various stores around the country. What struck us immediately was the genuine heritage and strength of the John Lewis brand, established in 1864, it sat along side brands like Burberry, Barbour and Hunter in its place in history.

We created a brand positioning based upon this credibility and provenance, which we then rolled out across a collection of garment labels and swing tickets and extended to the in-store concept and provided a starting point for the art direction.

Font used: Goudy Old Style

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Matches Editions – Branding

Matches launched a capsule collection of limited edition pieces commissioned from a range of global fashion brands. We were asked to create a sub brand that would encourage sales at a higher price point than their core range, primarily online. We developed the name and reinforced the exclusivity of the products by developing a site that linked directly to sales and so counted down in real time as items started to sell out.

Given the premium product value, we elevated their usual, functional product photography to create a more aspirational level of beauty to the pieces that highlighted key detailing. The brand look and feel was then rolled out to offline application in-store and at launch events.

Font used: Firencil

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Hub – Branding

‘Now celebrating the opening of their third store, North East London clothing boutique HUB approached us to refine their brand identity, in need of some TLC. We created a simple, iconic, ration book chic aesthetic. The brand identity developed for HUB was applied across all online and offline marketing materials and and post-sale merchandising; the bags and gift-wrap. Our primary focus for the store interior design was to ensure that the brand identity was delivered in-store.’

Font Used: AGBuch

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Boutique by Jaeger – Identity

Boutique by Jaeger is a new younger, fashion-forward diffusion line launched in July 2010. The brand identity developed by Egelnick and Webb has been cohesively used across all communications, including advertising, look books, website, swing tickets, labels and in-store.

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One Osnabugh Street – Identity

British Land is the UK’s second largest property developer. Following continued campaign success, we developed the brand identity for One Osnabugh Street. The identity and graphics communicated the reference and proximity to Regent’s Park. The strategic branding resulted in a unique identity with appropriate synergy when applied across online and offline communication.

Font Used: Archer

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Aganovich Invitation & Lookbook

‘Fashion’s duo Aganovich opened Paris Fashion Week in March. For another consecutive season, Egelnick and Webb worked with the Parisian Label for their AW 2011 show.

The Rubik’s cube inspired invitations, designed by Egelnick and Webb echoed the shades of blue used to define the collection for AW 2011. The show demonstrated a clear progression from ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ SS 2011, lighter shades of blue against cerulean for added definition. The collection itself championed modernity, alluding to something out of this world.

Aganovich are recognized for bringing a cerebral and complex point of view to the runway. Egelnick and Webb successfully designed the Lookbook to celebrate this very point of view delivering Aganovich’s design philosophy; ‘anarchy through elegance.’

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Luella – Brand Refresh

Luella appointed Egelnick and Webb to re-fresh the brand identity, which primarily focussed on the luxury product. We upgraded the format of the look books to reflect the more grownup collection and price architecture. Our art direction created a revised editorial focus and a shoot with increased commercial focus to maximise the sales potential of each collection.

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House of Holland – Invitations & Lookbooks

House of Holland shot to fame when Gareth Pugh and Giles Deacon donned his t-shirts at the end of their SS 07 shows; now he not only has a diffusion collection in Debenhams but his London Fashion week reviews just keep getting better and better.

We have worked with Henry since 2008; first working on his show invites and look books. We have since designed and built his website, an app for Blackberry and work on his full social media strategy which involves both applications for Facebook and the iPhone; ensuring that all communication is succinct and relevant and irreverently Henry.

Font Used: Franklin Gothic

Hard to believe that it’s been nearly 3 whole years since Egelnick and Webb were featured on SI! In that time they’ve amassed a large collection of brand new work, much of which I’ve been given the pleasure of showcasing in today’s feature. There’s some really great pieces of work on display here and if I were to pick a favourite, it would probably be the banana-leaf invites :) – I don’t know about you, but there’s something about the contrast of the gold typography with the whimsical nature of the banana-leaf that I find so appealing :)

Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed this feature and thank you once again to Luke and Alex @ E+W for the imagery. A few more images will be added later on in the day, so keep your eyes peeled (no pun intended) ;)

Egelnick and Webb are a multi disciplinary design agency based in London, who work with a broad range of clients, mainly in the fashion and luxury sector. The launch of their new website is just around the corner!

www.egelnickandwebb.com

If you’re new here, don’t forget to Subscribe, FFFFOUND! & follow SI on Twitter for your weekly dose of visual crack. ;)

During these Summer months things tend to get a little slower around here – studios go on holiday which generally means less updates; but you now what? Sometimes having less updates makes you appreciate the work even more especially if that work was designed by none other than North, a studio revered and respected for producing exceptional, thought-provoking design.

Now North have been perceived to carry an air of mystery and intrigue about them – they’re one of the hardest working studios in design, yet they generally prefer to stay under the publicity radar. With that said, I’m absolutely honored to be able to publish an Exclusive/Offical North feature for the very first time online. As Stephen (from North) explains:

In addition to these photographs of the book, the folks at North were kind enough to send in additional images that reference the other work they have been producing for Fourth Floor over the past 20 years. A sincere thank you goes out to Jeremy, Sean and Stephen for sharing all these images and for making this feature possible. :)

If you’re unfamiliar with the work of North I definitely suggest taking a look at this gargantuan feature that was posted back in January.

If you’re new to SI, don’t forget to Subscribe, FFFFOUND! & follow SI on Twitter for your weekly dose of visual crack. ;)

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Max Chocolatier – Project Notes
The process involved in creating the confectionery is unique, and the result will exceed anything you have ever tasted: at Max you will be savouring some of the best chocolate in the world.

Max Chocolatier offers a feast for all the senses. Your nose experiences the scent of truly great chocolate as you approach the shop. There, you can witness the care with which the staff create the products. Opening the exquisite packaging adds to the anticipation. Then, as the chocolate touches your tongue, it’s as if you were tasting chocolate for the very first time.

Fonts used: Logotype: Custom drawn / Primary typeface: Bodoni BE and Flama

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Mikael Simpson – Project Notes
Mikael Simpson is regarded as one of the most innovative artists in the field of Danish electronic music. The album is very dark and experimental with rhythmic melodies. Mikael Simpson does the vocals on all the tracks, and he has a strange voice that’s both eerie and uplifting at the same time, paired with dark orchestral melodies.

Fonts used: Logotype: Custom drawn / Primary typeface: Galaxie Polaris

Photography: Birds + Thailand: Mikkel Bache

As promised, here is part 2 of September Industry’s Muggie Ramadani Special. If, for some profound reason you missed the first installment of this series (complete with bio and mini-interview) you can check it out in all its high-res glory here ;)

As always, big thank you to Muggie for making this feature possible and I hope you (dear reader) enjoyed today’s helping of visual crack ;)

muggieramadani.com

If you’re new here, don’t forget to Subscribe, FFFFOUND! & follow SI on Twitter for your weekly dose of visual crack. ;)

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Biennale di Venezia
The Venice Biennale is the worlds most exciting visual arts event that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The 53rd International Art Exhibition, curated by Daniel Birnbaum, comprised works by over 90 artists from all over the world.

The assignment was to create a new strong visual identity that would communicate the theme‚ Making Worlds. The visual identity should both reflect the atmosphere of the Art Exhibition, keep all activities together and create an extraordinary interest.

The design concept for‚ Making Worlds‚ is a graphic language with a visible connection to the world, that stands strong and clear in its own communication. We combined elements from something truly universal‚ all the flags of the world‚ and created something new. The making of worlds with abstract forms.

Font used: Caslon 540

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Ohmine
A contemporary take on Sake.

Takeshi Akiyama is a exclusive sake manufacturer based in southern Japan. For generations, his family has produced sake in three qualities; Junmai, Junmai Ginjo, Junmai Daiginjo. The quality of the sake is determined by the percentage of the original rice grain that is used in the brewing process. The lesser the better. And that is also the core idea of our design. The label on the bottle of the best quality sake, Daiginjo, only shows one single grain. The Unique White bottle has à traditional cap and screenprinted text. In addition to the bottles, we have created the corporate identity.

Fonts use: Berthold Imago BQ

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Stadium
Norrköping-based Stadium AB, the largest sporting goods retailer in Scandinavia, is an authentic full-line sporting goods retailer offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel, and footwear in a specialty store environment.

Stockholm Design Lab, together with TEArk, got the assignment during fall 2005 to further develop Stadium’s corporate identity, including the next level of Stadium stores concept.

Font used: Stadium Sans

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IKEA
IKEA is a Swedish home furnishings company with 28 distribution centres and a global network of 200 stores attracting a total of 410 million visitors.

The assignment was to create, in close cooperation with the client, a new packaging programme for more than 8000 non-furniture IKEA products.

Stockholm Design Lab created an innovative packaging programme that is simple, cost efficient and environmentally defendable. The programme supports logistics and simplifies the buying process for millions of customers worldwide. The open package wraps in and reveals the product. Stockholm Design Lab created a unique graphic design program for IKEA with includes pictograms, symbols, a unique typography that clarifies the content.

Fonts used: IKEA Sans

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Sav
A Sparkling Elixir Reminiscent of Spring. From the Virginal Wine-making Region of Jämtland. Original recipe from 1785. Made of birch sap.

Stockholm Design Lab has created the total identity inspired by the birch and the northern Scandinavian pureness. Scope of work; brand name, graphic identity, photography language, packaging and web.

Font used: Univers

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Royal College of Music
KMH is one of the oldest and most prestigious music colleges in Sweden. We are very proud of the new visual identity which has been developed by Stockholm Design Lab and was launched on May 5 at their current premises. The new visual identity will be matched in a couple of years with a complete re-make of the college, including a new main building. This surely makes out a clear and exciting take-off for KMH’s journey ahead.

Font used: Graphik & Mercury Text G1

Ladies and gentlemen: Stockholm Design Lab, SI Special, need I say more? ;)

Stockholm Design Lab on the name:
Stockholm Design Lab

STOCKHOLM is our geographic lynchpin, but we work internationally. Nevertheless, our Scandinavian origins help to create relevant, functional solutions that reflect and influence the society.

DESIGN is assumed to be our starting-point, but in Scandinavia, we are alone in defying all attempts at disciplinary restrictions. Thanks to this cross-border philosophy, we created a brand for ourselves.

THE LABORATORY is the ideal starting-point, but sometimes the desire to experiment takes over scientific reasoning, and vice-versa. Just in case, we keep our suits hidden under the white coats. After all, identity is the ultimate combination of playfulness, disrespectful assault, attention to detail, well-planned strategy and uncompromising business professionalism.

www.stockholmdesignlab.se

Hope you enjoy this feature folks and a big thank you goes out to Mr. Björn Kusoffsky (SDL co-founder) and Mr. Daniel Söderstedt (SDL designer) for making this rather inspiring feature possible. ;)

If you’re new here, don’t forget to Subscribe, FFFFOUND! & follow SI on Twitter for your weekly dose of visual crack. ;)