Posts filed under 'Denver'
This coming Monday July 14, Jaime Kopke and Angela Schwab are hosting another Pecha Kucha Night in Denver. Pecha Kucha Night is an opportunity to see, meet, and share work with other designers/creatives with only 20 images in 20 seconds a piece. It should be a blast, so def stop by and check out cool peoples like Scot LeFavor, Lynn Brunning, and The Magnet Mafia. Now all we need is a Pechu Kucha Night here in MPLS.
There may still be an small window of opportunity to become a presenter if you can get all your stuff together by this week. Check guidelines here.
July 8th, 2008
Above is a hand-bill created by yours truly for the Super Fresh Block Party taking place this weekend, July 5th ( FIF! ) on East Colfax! Starting at 6pm you can swing by the Rock Bar parking lot for some BBQ and check out Live Painting by: Shitty Kitten, Mike Graves, Robert Maestas, Josh Wills, Eric Cox… and possibly a few other super secret and extra special guests, Hearts of Palm will serenade your soul! The shenanigans will continue throughout the night up until around midnight… A guerilla fashion show will take place along the super block at about 10pm and will feature the Denver Roller Dolls. Opening receptions for the following art shows will also be taking place throughout the night: Watermelon Belly Featuring new works by Shitty Kitten @ The Shoppe, Layer Upon Layer featuring the work of Robert Maestas @ Plastic Chapel, Paul Moschell is showing new work @ The Fabric Lab, and IKON is showing work @ Newspeak! DJ’s will be setup all along the East Colfax corridor pumping out Block Rock’n beats that are sure to seduce your ear drums & make your ass jiggle! We could think of nothing more patriotic than collaborating together to bring you all a FREE event in an effort to celebrate our individual freedoms! Goodie bags will be handed out to all that attend while supplies last… America at it’s finest!
July 2nd, 2008
It seems harmless enough to take some time every so often to realign yourself based on the changes in the market. People change, their habits come and go and how they spend their money is always effected. Recently I’ve seen a lot of corporate identity refreshes. Honestly none of them seem to be doing a very good job in my opinion and I’m curious why that is.
The two most recent I came across were Walmart and Miller Coors. Neither company holds much of my interest to start with but I realize their longevity and contribution to both of their markets. My problem comes in a few forms. The first being the most important in my mind, which is the relevance of recognition to its own consumers and clients. To me, it’s quite obvious that neither of these logos have done a good job staying consistent with their placement in the each of their markets.
Walmart changed, the colorway, the typeface, changed the name to a title case structure and added a totally unnecessary sunburst icon in an attempt to be seen as a more contemporary company with “bright” ideas. I’m sure if they would have hired the bunch of hippies that make up Pentagram they would have plenty of buzz words and drawn out explanations of what the starburst means and how that color blue influences people during the recession and so on. Whatever. My problem is that the new Walmart logo looks like it should be for an investment bank like WaMu or something. I also feel they missed some great opportunities to address their fastest growing demographic, Hispanics. Shit, I think they took a leap away from addressing their original target market (boomers) and didn’t even think about trying to grab the attention of the second most important demographic, the eco-conscious young person.
Miller Coors is another story all together. Corporate identities are generally used to represent the brand and relate to the consumer or at least the product. This does neither in my opinion. It could be argued that this isn’t the intent and of course it could be said that the generic look and feel is a fair representation of a corporation that holds share in multiple businesses. With this being said I can see the reasoning behind the direction chosen but it’s hard for me to see any longevity in stripping a company of all of it’s cultural equity to prepare for the future. Pentagram takes what many might see as daring steps into reevaluating a brand and bringing it back down to earth. But more times than not, they seem to over simplify everything they touch, which of course is ok by the client as long they have some over analytical interpretation of it’s meaning to calm their curiousities.
Why does this method seem so prevalent lately? Tear it apart and leave it as a blank canvas for those who will be there to critique it in the future? Or should we all leave it alone and just get used to it? What makes more sense in this case or any other similar? Why are these refreshes turning out so poorly? I’m all spent on this for now, but let us know what you think. Give us your opinion on this trend and what you think its significance is if there is any at all.
Side Note: Sounds like Coors is moving their headquarters somewhere outside of CO. I wonder how seriously that will effect all of the CO agencies on the Coors dollar? Hmmm…
Via Brand New & Pentagram Blog
July 1st, 2008
Our friends at Cypher13 brought to our attention a logo competition for a soon-to-be custom, handmade line of designer collectible toys dubbed Soft&Furry.
You can submit up to 3 logos every week. The S&F™ review board will post the weeks winner every Sunday night. At the end of 8 weeks a grand champion will be picked from the 8 finalist.
The winning logo will appear on all collateral materials for S&F™ and the winner will also receive a complete line of signed and numbered limited edition S&F™ toys, along with a stash of limited edition screenprinted posters, t-shirts, and other wholesome goodies.
The first deadline is this Friday! Get your shit together and submit but eh there’s always next week.
June 4th, 2008
Found this submission today to The Denver Egotist’s Beautiful Losers Contest. I’m looking for the owner, any ideas?
*UPDATE
TDE just informed me that our good friend Matt Schreiber, created this masterpiece! I had no idea Schreibs had it in him to whip up such hotness. Where’s the rest homie? Send that shit our way.
June 4th, 2008
Peter. Designer. Portfolio.
June 4th, 2008
We are showing the anime movie Tekkonkinkreet Saturday night 5.31.2008 around 10pm, down at The Shoppe, as part of Postmans May movie series. This is the last movie from Postmans selections, and one of my new favs! Regardless if you can make it down or not on Saturday, I would still highly recommend putting this one into the Netflix cue or stopping by your local movie store to pick it up. The art direction and illustration style really stood out in this film when compared to most anime… the lines are a bit looser and the overall tone of the movie has a gritty, vintage feel to it.
The Shoppe : 3103 East Colfax : Denver, CO : 10 PM
May 30th, 2008
The man behind some of my favorite movie titles.
May 29th, 2008
Another excellent site from Ian Coyle’s Superheroes.
May 16th, 2008
John Fellows and Kris Fry have been working on some super fun stuff over the past two months… and it sounds like they are going to be cranking out work up until the day of the show. Kris dropped me a line and said they’ll have a healthy amount of silk screen posters, lino cuts, drawings, and even a tasty zine available this Saturday down at the Plastic Chapel on East Colfax for the reception of their collaborative show In Cahoots.
John and Kris are both super nice guys & really talented creatives… plus Dea & Dave from the Plastic Chapel are just plain rad!… Come out and show some of the nicest and talented people involved in the Denver art/design community some love!!!
In Cahoots : Plastic Chapel : May 10th : 7PM - 10PM : 3109 East Colfax Denver
May 8th, 2008
I was cruising around Benny Gold’s blog a few weeks back and on there I stumbled across a link to Speakeasy on Broadway, a new clothing boutique here in Denver that carries his line… Along with a handful of other established and up and coming brands including: Crooks and Castles, Manik, Stussy, Mash, The Hundreds, In4mation…. Honestly the list just keeps going. Basically all the dope shit you see in vapors, juxtapoz, swindle, XLR8R, or on tasty design blogs just like this one!… You now have the opportunity to peep in real life, and unlike the internets…. You now have the chance to try some of that creative driven gear on. No more are the days of ordering an XXL that fits like mesh half shirt or vice versa, no more dropping your hard earned lootcakes an a herion chic XS and receiving a shirt that could double as a fucking tent!… all thanks to Speakeasy on Broadway!!!
Speakeasy on Broadway :: 70 Broadway #150 Denver, CO :: 303.962.9519 :: mySpace
May 1st, 2008
Here is a peek at an identity / collateral project I’ve been working on for 3 Little Birds Salon in Denver. The project is just about ready for print with a few tweaks here and there. I was pumped to hear how excited the girls were for the final version and to see young people striking out to start a business that aims to support the community in a fresh and creative way (visually and in mission). Obviously some of that was up to me to interpret and execute but it ultimately comes down to their business and involvement in the community itself. They are still working on getting their site put together and will surely be adding this beautiful logo to the facade of the building soon. Make sure to swing by their studio and get a trim from one of their “scissor ninjas” when you have some time to spare.
April 26th, 2008
Holy sex panther! The cypher13 crew out of Boulder dropped a new site… and it looks amazing, they look amazing! Great use of flash, custom typefaces, and photography… all around just really well designed! Sometimes flash sites can get a little tedious… not here skeptic ones… the load times are minimal, and everything seems disgustingly appropriate… they did fanfuckingtastic job!!!!
The work they’ve been cranking out over the past year is also insane!… impressive! It’s rare that you see a design agency that is able to communicate their design vision in a way that empowers them… I think the cypher13 portfolio is a solid showcase of just that. They’ve made my heart smile! Cheers guys, you’ve been killing it!
April 15th, 2008
Yup thats right, the one and only. Scot is doing everything he can to stay sharp and creative. Generally referred to as “Last Minute Lefavor” he is making way to vanquishing that pseudonym in hopes to replace it with “Rich Ass Lefavor…” He just put an online store feature on his site and is making moves to getting paid. He has a lot of cool shit up there and is gonna to try to add new art on a weekly basis. Make sure to take a peek and maybe click the “buy” button once or twice. He’s a really talented guy and deserves to be repped and supported!
April 2nd, 2008
The Yummies are going to holding it down at this years’ Pirate Invitational 2008! Word is the Ninja Nate, Mascot Mannie, Donut Dave, and the rest of the Yummies crew are traveling around the country on a press junket, so they won’t be able to make it… but I hear RYC will be in full effect showing off his ability to smile from ear to ear!
A mega hi-five goes out to RYC… getting invited to show at Pirate is huge. They have been showcasing the heavy hitters in obscure and niche genres of contemporary art here in Denver for over 20 years. Ray has been busting his ass for a few years now, not only opening doors for himself but others around him. One of the nicest guys you could meet, funny, eccentric… he has all of the qualities of a great! Swing through Pirate check out his work and pick up a piece… as his popularity rises so will his prices… get it while it’s gettable!
Pirate Invitational 2008 : Opening reception March 21 : 6 – 10 PM
Pirate Gallery :: 3655 Navajo Street :: Denver, CO :: 303 . 458 . 6058 :: www.pirategallery.com
Also after the show or before perhaps… I offer up the suggestion to swing through Gaetano’s for some mob Italian food. They are on 38th and Tejon just down the way from Pirate gallery. Calzones, Clams and Pasta… the Chauncey Burger… it’s all tasty! Super chill environment straight out of a Sinatra flick… tucked diamond upholstery and bullet proof glass!!!
March 21st, 2008
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