Over the past few months, we’ve been working with the Pulitzer Arts Foundation to design new signage for the Museum. Designed by Tadao Ando in 2001, our intent has been to help visitors locate and navigate the museum more easily, without interfering in any way with the architecture. We’re very excited to see the new signage installed next month. It’s been lovely to spend so much time in such an incredible space over the course of the project. More updates to come…
We’ve been working on the launch of Trace, a new clothing line tailored to fit alternative body shapes, in particular for women who have had double mastectomies. The label is being launched by Windy Gay, a breast cancer survivor who chose not to undergo reconstruction. Having long-struggled to find apparel tailored to fit her new figure – not hide it – she set out to launch a collection for women who embrace their flatness. It’s about confidence, resilience and an embrace of the diversity of beauty.
We designed the brand’s identity and landing page where individuals can sign-up for updates and make a gift to support the project. They’re currently fundraising to launch the full collection in the next year. Please check it out!
We’ve recently been working with artist and handbag designer Kyoko Wainai on her new identity and website. Her bags have a sumptuous quality using vintage kimono silks and handmade fabrics, yet are designed for daily wear with functional silhouettes and details. Having just finished a shoot with photographer Céline Bodin to document the collection, we’re excited to launch the site later this summer – more soon!
Last week saw the closing night Ramen Fest for our exhibition Slurp! Honoring the Ramen Bowl, curated by Kiku Obata and organized by Craft Alliance Center for Art and Design. The exhibition featured bowls by leading American ceramicists, including Dan Anderson, Linda Christianson, Blair Clemo, Brett Freund, Randy Johnston, Nina Lalli, Beth Lo, Lee Love, Warren MacKenzie, Ron Meyers, Malinda Reich, Suzanne Marie Sullivan and others.
Ramen has become an international food sensation with hundreds of cult shops popping up around the globe and infinite varieties of noodles, broths and toppings. There have been serious debates over authenticity, origins and proper ways to eat this dish. At the center sits the Ramen Bowl, a simple ceramic vessel of humble beginnings, simple markings and glazes, but with careful consideration to shape, size and rim, that allows one to intimately inhale the aroma and slurp away with chopsticks and a deep spoon.
At the closing night Ramen Fest, Bernie Lee of Hiro’s Asian Kitchen prepared ramen and served it up in the bowls purchased from the exhibition. Thank you to all the potters, Craft Alliance, Hiro’s and everyone who attended.
In September we participated in TypeClinic, the international type design workshop, run by Tomato Kosir in Triglav national park, Trenta, Slovenia. Before coming to the workshop you had to have formulated what kind of typeface you wanted to design.
Our intent was to create a quirky characterful contemporary grotesque that we could use in the studio. The workshop was intense but in a good way, starting at the very beginning with sketching letterforms, getting the proportions, stem widths and shapes right before transitioning to the computer.
Over the course of the work, after continual refinement, we managed to have the lowercase and half of the uppercase alphabet. Post TypeClinic we are continuing to finish the rest of the glyphs so will have the first weight of Noa to use – watch this space!
We have just completed wayfinding and signage for Washington University’s new Sumers Recreation Center, a 60,000 square foot athletic complex for students and athletic teams. We’ve been working with architects Bohlin Cywinski Jackson over the past two years on the project and are excited to see the first signs installed – more soon!
Photographer Mike Sinclair returned to Mt. Sterling last week to document how the revitalization efforts have progressed over the last three years. On his first trip in 2013, he photographed the town prior to most work commencing, documenting the existing conditions and character of the place (more about the project here).
We’ve pulled together some of our favorite photos from both trips: the hand-made signs in the courthouse; a WPA mural in the post office; the earliest buildings constructed around the time of the Civil War; and some of the more unusual structures around town. The photographs capture this small Midwest town that our team has loved visiting over these past few years.
Travelling in Cuba earlier this month, one of the most noticeable sights was the hand-painted signs. Without corporate branding, there seems little need for commercial printing, so most signs, whether at a small shop or government sponsored, are made by hand. Yet despite the inconsistencies, there’s consistency, as if one person painted them all – with similar colors and styles, they read as another unifying element of the landscape.
The new book documenting the Gateway Foundation’s public sculpture collection and most notable project, Citygarden, has just arrived. Published in collaboration with Prestel and launching at this week’s London Book Fair. Read more about the project here.
Yesterday, Kiku gave a talk at the University of Arkansas’ Fay Jones School of Architecture. She discussed the studio’s work and her own background, including her early work as a photographer. In pulling together slides for her talk, the team saw many of her early photographs for the first time, most shot in the early 70s in San Francisco and the West.
