5 MARCH, 2012
Play Press: Graphis Logo 8
Four mongrams and one icon system we created are included in the new logo design anthology curated by Graphis. Included are symbols for BlackDog, CCA’s Graphic Design BBQ, Four Barrel Coffee, and Group MB, as well as a system of icons we designed for Wired Magazine’s iPad app. The BlackDog monogram is a Platinum award winner, one of only ten.
The work of a number of our CCA colleagues is included in Graphis Logo Design 8 as well, including symbols designed by Jennifer Jerde and Scott Hesselink of Elixir Design, Christopher Simmons of Mine, and Michael Vanderbyl of Vanderbyl Design. This volume also features an interview with our friend—and Mark’s “boss” in 1985—Michael Schwab. Michael is one of the few designers we know of who still uses a Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph inking pen in the development of his final art.
See more examples of our trademark designs under Design is Play Studio Symbols.
9 JANUARY, 2012
Play Press: Communication Arts 2012 Typography Annual
We are pleased to note that our March Pantry Packaging System is featured in Communication Arts 2012 Typography Annual. Of the 1,723 competition entries, 150 were selected for publication by the jury.
Check back soon for the complete March Pantry project in our Studio Systems section.
5 DECEMBER, 2011
Play Press: 2011 Print Regional Design Annual
The Far West category in Print’s 31st Regional Design Annual was judged by Brigitta Bungard, Assistant Creative Director in the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Advertising and Graphic Design. Fortunately for us, Brigitta responded to work that she believed demonstrated “a sense of craft,” and she chose three of our pieces to represent our region: an elephant icon we created for BO.LT, the CCA CraftForward symposium announcement, and our own announcement for the Design is Play website launch.
We were also quoted in the issue. In case you missed it:
Q: What visual stereotype would you eliminate from the Bay Area?
A: San Francisco, like any urban American center, is rife with folks who excel at using software to alter and recombine found images. Our culture would be richer without the ensuing visual mash-ups. They are ultimately cannibalistic. As instructors, we insist that our students create all of the imagery they work with in our classes. They shoot their own photographs, generate their own drawings, and hand-ink their symbols. We want our students to become designers who will elevate the visual culture.
We are pleased to note that a number of our CCA colleagues are also represented in the Far West category: Christopher Simmons of Mine, Michael Vanderbyl of Vanderbyl Design, and Cinthia Wen of Noon. Sputnik, CCA’s in-house undergraduate graphic design studio, is honored as well.
See the BO.LT icon under Design is Play Studio Symbols; the CCA CraftForward symposium announcement under Design is Play Studio Systems; and the Design is Play website announcement under Design is Play Studio Systems.
14 NOVEMBER, 2011
Play at RE:DESIGN / Creative Directors, 11.07.2011 (part 2)
“There is ecstasy in paying attention.” —Anne Lamott
Some of the interrelated themes we explored at the RE:DESIGN / Creative Directors conference earlier this month were notions of detail, craft, and tempo. In both our studio practice as well as in our classes at California College of the Arts, we strive to create and foster work that is the result of disciplined focus. Angie’s class, in particular, stresses attention to typographic detail.
In the act of reading, all of us are accustomed to seeing letters (and words) as discrete units of meaning; as a result, we are unaccustomed to paying attention to the nuanced details of individual letterforms. (And for good reason! Paying attention to these details impedes the process of reading.) Angie’s second assignment requires her students to create abstract compositions with the dissected forms and counterforms of letter anatomy. The nature of the assignment leads her students to focus on the very details of letterform design that are typically overlooked. These small, revelatory moments of seeing—fulfillments of Josef Albers’ teaching dictum “I want the eyes to open”—are essential to the development of any competent designer.
The images above show Jeff Lin at work and a finished composition by Constance Smith, two students in Angie’s Fall, 2011 class. See more examples of abstract typographic compositions under Design is Play Classroom Letters.
24 OCTOBER, 2011
Play Press: Typography Sketchbooks
We are pleased to be among the designers whose work is featured in Steven Heller’s latest book published by Princeton Architectural Press. Co-authored with Lita Talarico, Typography Sketchbooks reproduces the private sketchbook pages and working drawings of more than ninety of the world’s leading designers and typographers, including our CCA colleagues Bob Aufuldish of Aufuldish & Warinner, and Rod Cavazos of PsyOps.
Erratum department: Angie’s typographic explorations of the Design is Play identity are included in Typography Sketchbooks as well, but she is unfortunately not credited. The iterations of play generated by slicing up xeroxed copies of 15th century blackletters are hers….
26 SEPTEMBER, 2011
Play at RE:DESIGN / Creative Directors, 11.07.2011
We have been invited to speak at the RE:DESIGN / Creative Directors Conference in Palm Springs this November. The conference will open with a keynote conversation with Paula Scher; other presenters include a number of our friends and colleagues from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. The topic of our conversation will be “Get Back: Working Analog in a Digital World.” Don’t forget to bring pens and paper!
5 SEPTEMBER, 2011
Play Press: Communication Arts 2011 Design Annual
Following a win in Communication Art’s Typography Annual earlier this year, our Anson Mills Packaging System is currently featured in CA’s 52nd Design Annual. Of the 4,291 competition entries, 174 were selected for publication by the jury. (That’s 4% of the entries for those of you who don’t want to do the math!)
We are currently working on Anson Mills’ site redesign. Look for the launch sometime in 2012.
14 MARCH, 2011
Play at the Pasadena Museum of California Art
Curator Amos Klausner charged twenty-six designers with re-imagining one letter from the alphabet, using the illegibility and deconstructive nature of graffiti as their starting point. (We chose the letter A.) The ensuing exhibition, Getting Upper, will open at the Pasadena Museum of California Art on May 15, 2011.
Our lowercase letter a is derived from Albrecht Dürer’s schema for blackletter construction published in 1538. Dürer’s line drawing breaks down the letter into component parts to reveal its design. We subvert this intent by reversing the diagram, flipping the negative spaces to positive ones. The resulting segments are then printed in a palette of modulated colors that further fragment (and deconstruct) the constructed letter. Our poster layout utilizes Jan Tschichold’s non-arbitrary page proportioning system to suggest a book page with the image area as the text block.
Each of the twenty-six letters will be published as a screen printed poster by Bloom Screen Printing Co. and made available for sale at the museum and online.
See more examples of our poster designs under Design is Play Studio Posters.
3 JANUARY, 2011
Play Press: Communication Arts 2011 Typography Annual
We are pleased to announce that our studio website—yes, the one you are currently viewing!—as well as our 2010 New Year Card and Anson Mills Packaging System are featured in Communication Arts 2011 Typography Annual. Of the 2,135 competition entries, 179 were selected for publication by the jury.
08 FEBRUARY, 2010
Play Press: TDC Typography 30
Our hand-lettered identity for One Catering is featured in the 30th Annual of The Type Directors Club. Drawing from the flavors of eight distinct restaurants, One Catering is the E pluribus unum of Charlotte, North Carolina. Different numeral ones are grafted together to form an identity that is both singular—one—and diverse.
18 JANUARY, 2010
Play Press: Typography Essentials; No Rules! Logos
Our studio identity appears in the books Typography Essentials: 100 Design Principles for Working with Type (Ina Saltz, Rockport Publishers), and in No Rules! Logos: Radical Design Solutions That Break the Rules (John Stones, Rockport Publishers).
See more examples of our identity at Design is Play Studio Systems.
11 JANUARY, 2010
Play Press: TDC Typography 29; PAGE Magazine
Our studio identity and stationery system are selected for inclusion in the 29th Annual of The Type Directors Club, as well as in PAGE magazine (Germany).
See more examples of our identity at Design is Play Studio Systems.
04 JANUARY, 2010
Play Press: 2008 Print Regional Design Annual
Our monogram for a San Francisco real estate agent specializing in modernist architecture is featured in the 2008 Print Regional Design Annual.
See the Group MB monogram under Design is Play Studio Symbols.
