Plaza De La Raza logo before refresh

Plaza De La Raza after refresh

Plaza De La Raza came to me via CauseConnect® they had a dated website that was piecemeal, difficult to update and a logo that had enormous potential but was not representing the organization well. The identity refresh is a fantastic case study. It illustrates the dramatic difference a meaningful type choice, color choice and thoughtful design can have.

501C’s have a difficult time managing assets including websites so the more manageable the content the better the odds the organization will be able to maintain even with new volunteers. I moved Plaza’s website to a CMS where they could edit/add content and images easily. I also considered their existing logo and worked with the client to devise a more functional system for the identity as well as one that better represented the organization. The original was heavy, lacked balance and focused heavily on a very dated typeface. The client requested we keep the sun as it had become so easily identified with the organization however I revised the vector to give it more weight, introduced a second more appropriate color. I also updated the tone of the tone of the red to be more orange-red instead of the orignal blue red. As you can see illustrated the word Raza was the focal point of the original design which is decidedly incorrect, the real focus is the Plaza which is a stunning location in East LA complete with lovely grounds including a Lake and beautiful traditional Mission buildings. In the after you can see the the introduction of the typeface Espinoza Nova, designed by Cristóbal Henestrosa, an award typographer who makes his home in Mexico City. The typeface is a revival face based on Antonio de Espinosa the most important Mexican printer of the Sixteenth century. Of course there is much more to read on Cristóbal and Antonio on the final page of the style guide. As a self professed type lover I recommend it!

Web design and Horizontal and veritcal identity refreshes

Title:Website and Logo Refresh and Style guide

Description:CauseConnect® is a marketing consulting firm that specializes in helping companies and charities achieve business returns on charitable investments.™ They had a dated flash website when they came to us. It was impossible to update and of course they were also experiencing complaints from mobile device users unable to load the site. CauseConnect® has a dynamic schedule, regularly rotating event and festival announcements. The most logical solution for Melissa and her staff was the wordpress CMS. It’s relatively painless for them to update integrated flickr galleries, post new events, change copy, add a sign-up form on the fly and rotate sponsor banners. Over a year and half later the site functions as seamlessly as the day it launched. In fact we estimate it’s functioning even more seamlessly as the staff has continued to learn more about the CMS. Aesthetically the website palette was chosen with the greens and warm tones because they are indeed opposite ends of the spectrum the combination vibrates energy. Note that I chose a slightly conservative shade of the greens and a muted orange. That’s most obviously to avoid the easy trap of christmas color combinations. As this branding was being considered we took note that we were seeing a lot of trend based brights, fuschia, pink, bright purple. That’s all fine and good for the VC’s but CauseConnect® is a tried and true brand. I believe the subdued colors chosen and used in the CauseConnect® system give a sense of weight. While the red-orange keeps the spark in the mix. I also could not shake the reference to a conte crayon as well, which many artists begin their sketches.

The identity refresh required that the hands be vectorized and we also revisited the typography of the original. I chose Bernhard Gothic which I believe beautifully encompasses the CauseConnect® brand. In modern times sans serifs are inherently corporate centric, but humanist sans serifs are meant to be “calligraphic”, by nature they are more accessible. That is exactly what CauseConnect® is doing, by facilitating community building, philanthropy for the arts, and ultimately creating positive connections. I built an accompanying style guide for future projects to pass on to other vendors and maintain unity across all assets.

Good Neighbor USA Inforgraphics

Client:Good Neighbors USA

Title:Annual Report

Description: Good Neighbors is an international, humanitarian, and development NGO working to improve lives, especially children’s lives, through education, food, shelter, community development, medical care, advocacy and emergency relief in 27 developing countries around the world. They requested an annual report design, that was more airy than the prior year which was set on a black flood with copious amounts of reverse type. To that end we used the bowl on the front cover and echoed it in a circular shape throughout the document to both compartmentalize data for sections and open up the pages. Although only a few are seen here a half dozen charts and graphs where custom designed to reflect the color and tone of the brand The project leans heavily on an impressive group of photos taken by Good Neighbors staff on charity missions. All in all the document is light, easily digested and representative of the culture at Good Neighbors.

Solidworks: (Design for the Environment) Microsite

Client:SolidWorks

Title:Microsite Design

Description: SolidWorks marketing requested a microsite design to exclusively feature their sustainable design and designer clients. It’s primary function was to cross promote their existing whitepapers and podcasts. While maintaining the brand guide was critical they also wanted a clean fresh “green” aesthetic.

Beverly Hills School of Music Branding

Client: Beverly Hills School of Music

Title: Branding including: Logo Design, Business Card, Website

Description: The Beverly Hills School of Music was started By Pierre Andre Lowenstein. Pierre Andre was born and educated in Paris including studies in Jazz Composition at the American School of Modern Music and Film Scoring at the legendary Berklee College of Music. Pierre has a passion for bringing the gift of music to young people. As we developed the brand, we discussed at length the message BH School of Music wanted to convey in it’s brand. Sophistication, European, Classic but just witty enough to engage an audience. The dapper gentleman with a flip top head used as a mascot was devised to appeal to parents. The classic etching alone would have just been a bit of a snooze, but what if we could illustrate his head full of music knowledge! We bet the kids would laugh at the absurdity of the flip top head too. To keep it from being a complete farce we used a much loved revival turn of the century typeface from Letterhead called “Billhead”. Modeled after classic letterheads from turn of the century “billhead” made a perfect compliment to the illustration. The website is a customized WordPress framework based on a design by GraphPaper Press. Minimal, sophisticated, easily updated with new content by the client it was the ideal solution for a small business startup.

Brian Spence, "On the Mend"

Client:Brian Spence

Title:Digipak and CD-screen design

Description: “On the Mend” is the debut release from Americana artist, Brian Spence. The album is full of incredibly honest songwriting. Honesty almost always means pain. Pain to find it and painful while you mend from the truth. Brian’s album immediately reminded me of stitches. Stitches going in, stitches coming out and sometimes just stitches unraveling. We kept the pastoral photo of the sea for the cover.The image was Brian’s choice and spoke to him and his concept. I used the interior to tie a visual analogy between the sun rays to the radial made of sewing needles. I also “unraveled” the type on the disk and on the interior titles. While the rest of the typography is formal, to me the strength of this debut, experimental for Brian and I, is in the concept and the visual analogies. I look forward to working with Brian again so we can explore more thoughtful journeys.

Angela Easterling, Mon Secret Album Design

Client:Angela Easterling

Title:Digipak and CD-screen design

Description: A proper francophile Angela Easterling has diligently studied the french language for years. This is her french music debut, fulfilling a dream of hers several years in the making! The cover photo by Jen Holloway set the tone, particularly the fab blue wool coat. Something about it looks positively French Chic. Paired with a ghost of old love letters from her grandfather W. Harold Hammett from decades before, vintage art noveau print ornaments, and 1/2 of a sunset view taken with my 1939 stereo camera, together do a lovely design make.

Square One Album Design 2011

Client:Nikolas Metaxas

Title:Digipak and CD-screen design
(digibook coming soon!)

Description: Nikolas Metaxas is a force having accumulated more than 1,000,000 views on Youtube combined and maintaining a following of over 21,000 and counting. We are excited to add him to our roster of talented clients! No really it’s true the Eurovision song “Firefly” by Nikolas was released by Sony Greece and was in the top ten on iTunes Greece for 2 weeks, topping the #2 spot. (Yeah awesome we know.

Vincent Leungs’ photographs were the launch point for the design as was the title Square One. I am especially pleased with the “Square” inspired typesetting on the back plate and disk.

I love experimenting with type and using type in a way that both represents the artist and/or their theme. The original type designer of “Agency”,  Morris Fuller Benton was a ture innovator. He changed the physical manner of type design and production by refining a process for creating scalable drawings for each letter. What better representation of starting at Square one?! And the well known designer David Berlow did an amazing job building a system from Morris Bentons’Original work.

Anya Ivanova Business Card

Client:Anya Ivanova

Title:Business Card Design
(website pending for april 2011)

Description: Anya is a gifted Pianist. Classically trained she performs often in Los Angeles, teaches and has even instructed a few students in the Russian language which she is fluent in. Most recently she garnered a co-producing credit on international piano sensation Carter Larsen’s new album. Anya and I talked at length about this first step into her rebrand. Many of the key points that kept surfacing were location centric. The two most notable of those being her Russian Homeland and her newly adopted home for over 10 years, Los Angeles. I introduced Anya to the work of the work of several Russian avant garde visual artists and she was immediately drawn to the work of one of my personal favorites El Lissitzky. To that end I paid homage with color and dynamism to El in the typographic treatments for her name including the symbolism/design of the black and white keys, staff on the front, and the emerging piano on the back. At the same time I incorporated decidedly modern allusions to LA culture. From the (in this case sea birds) birds taking flight, which are often associated with the freedom/soaring nature of music, to the warm toned distressed paper. Also of note is the typeset for the phone number, echoing a far east sentiment. Which certainly may sound incongruous, until you recall we are echoing the spirit of life in Los Angeles which is hyper-focused on practices like yoga and eastern spirituality both of which Anya takes an interest in. The birds on the back and the paper texture equally tie into this sentiment. At the end I hope we have achieved a cultural lenticular of sorts between homage to Anya’s Russian homeland and pursuit of of a new kind of creative life here on the west coast. Typefaces include Greg Hutchinson’s Badloc and Univers designed by Frutiger. I’m aware that both post date El Lissitzky by a fair margin. I feel confident he would have found badloc interesting despite the novelty as it’s meant to be more a graphic element here. Now the mechanical numbering system of Univers, that I’m certain would have been right up his alley. In any case it’s a nod to El and I hope the choices are interpreted as such.

Digipak and CD screen design for Ryan Schmidt "Black Sheep Run"

Client:Ryan Schmidt

Title:Black Sheep Run, Digipak and disc design

Description: Digipak and cd-screen Design for Ryan Schmidt.

Ryan Schmidt is well aware and is often inspired by analogue, image and sound alike. To that end his first request was to manipulate a single digital image. It needed light leaks, dust, and faded colors. My goal was to evoke that feeling of picking up a vintage photo at a swap meet. To me these images are always oddly poignant. Why were they lost or left behind? The lost image concept was applied to all of the photos on the package. The rust texture that fills the background reinforces the illusion that these images have been here a while. Are you opening up an old metal box from an attic, maybe a rusted out locker? In the stack are scraps of paper and notes. Note also the hand-drawn titles on the cover. The dominant typeface outside of the hand-drawn type is a departure for me. It’s called “Blur” designed by Neville Brody in 1991 a full 19 years ago! Why use this 90′s vintage face for a new artist? One it evokes exactly what the name implies, out of focus and a bit disorientating. As we make out the letters we hope to find focus, maybe a story in these lost objects. Second this typeface was designed in the era of grunge and radar magazine, anyone that’s a generation X’er will appreciate the homage to what was our own version of anti-establishment anthems. Ryan is of a new generation and in this album he tips his hat to his roots in more ways than one.