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We recently had the pleasure of creating a new identity for...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:24:08 -0500

We recently had the pleasure of creating a new identity for Ristorante Lombardo––an institution in Buffalo. Here’s a peak at the new business cards. More to come soon!

-Brandon

We’re always looking for ways to help locally owned...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:32:00 -0500

We’re always looking for ways to help locally owned business thrive; it’s part of our core values at Block Club. When we were approached by Insyte Consulting, a manufacturing consultancy with a mission to strengthen manufacturing in Western New York, we knew this would be a match made in heaven!

After getting to know Insyte and their clients, we got to work on developing a new tagline. This would shape the direction of all brand communication going forward. We arrived at “Innovation. Growth. Profit.”, Insyte’s brand promise.

In print ads, we introduced the new messaging with a series of complementary illustrations. Ad headlines use “Insyte” as a double entendre, and reinforce the new tagline. Supporting copy highlights results. A spot color treatment is employed for its bold contrast and simplicity.

In a new website, the simplified messaging translates to a cleaner look and a more user-friendly experience. We worked with Insyte to simplify and organize information. Case studies were edited to be more concise and digestible. Prospective and current clients can access information easily, as it’s exactly where it should be.

The homepage features three case study videos outlining Insyte’s brand promise. “Meet Insyte” videos highlight each employee’s personality and skill set as it relates to Insyte’s approach to helping WNY manufacturing. We worked closely with John Paget of Paget Films to produce the videos.

View the full case study on our website.

Video credits: Block Club, producer and creative director; Paget Films, director and camera; dPost, editor

-Brandon

Back in the spring, we worked on a really fun project with The...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:09:34 -0500

Back in the spring, we worked on a really fun project with The Community Foundation’s GrowWNY.org. We were tasked with creating a collateral piece that would spread awareness of the organization and its online Go Outside Map.

We envisioned a large-scale fold-up map that would highlight more than 50 of the 200-plus outdoor destinations featured on GrowWNY.org’s online Go Outside Map. We designed the map to complement the color palette and simple aesthetic of the GrowWNY brand. Vector illustrations are simple in shape. On the reverse side of the map, a chart and accompanying icon system indicate the activities and amenities at each destination.

A perforated tear-off portion encourages people to make a green pledge, declaring, “I GROW WNY BY______”. Spreading the word is as easy as photographing and posting on their social network of choice using the branded hashtag: #IGROWWNY.

View the full case study and additional images here.

-Brandon

A wrinkle in time: Legs Media presents a short and simple...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:24:00 -0500

A wrinkle in time: Legs Media presents a short and simple history of the GIF, that well-loved, lurching, socially awkward host to the internet’s never ending sticky-floored basement party (which may arguably have peaked with the Dancing Baby craze of ‘96 but, bless its heart, fist pumps tirelessly on into the night).

- Maggie

Everything Tidy: French artist Armelle Caron plays with and...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:08:13 -0500

New York

Paris

Istanbul

Berlin

Everything Tidy: French artist Armelle Caron plays with and pulls apart the notion of urban identity, deconstructing the iconic layout of several gridded cities in a clean-cut visual accounting for. Urban anagrams, of sorts.

- Maggie

On the lookout for some new stationary and holiday cards, I...

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:58:00 -0500

On the lookout for some new stationary and holiday cards, I recently stumbled into the online Rifle Paper Co. shop. I’ve seen their cards once or twice before but never remembered the name, so I’m happy to have come across them again.

If you’re in the market for new recipe cards, Rifle Paper Co. is quite the sweet find: you’ve got a few to choose from between the big spoon, the lemon card, and the hanging garden.

Alternatively, there are some lovely offerings for party invitations, notes, and holiday cards, as well as several beautiful stationary sets. Check it out!

- Maggie

A student of Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany, Yusuf...

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:10:00 -0400

A student of Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany, Yusuf Algan evolved an assignment for an original type font into a typographic exploration of language. Each letter built by the alphabet of one distinct language, Algan’s typography puts a thousand minuscule spins on the classic latin alphabet structure it employs. His “World Font” includes commonly spoken languages, religious languages, and rarer dialects spoken by only several hundred thousand people. See Algan’s complete type font here.

- Maggie

Artist Austin Richards and copywriter Des Creedon have...

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:09:00 -0400

Artist Austin Richards and copywriter Des Creedon have collaborated on a fun series of movie posters that reimagine popular films by taking out one letter from the title.

View more of their creations here.

- Steve

Since we’ve already got books on the brain: Imprint has...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:02:00 -0400

Girl Scouts of the United States of America booklet, 1954

Monsieur Teste, 1947

Silver and Judaica Collection, 1963

God and the Ways of Knowing, 1957

Since we’ve already got books on the brain: Imprint has reviewed ”The Lustig’s: A Cover Story,” currently showing at the College of Visual Arts Gallery in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Marking the first time both Lustigs’ work can be viewed side by side, the collection includes over 500 covers designed and illustrated by the modernist heavyweights, graphic designers Alvin and Elaine Lustig.

It’s well worth taking a peek at the Alvin and Elaine Lustig Design group over on Flickr for a larger sample of the Lustigs’ astonishingly enormous body of work, well-worn covers and all.

- Maggie

Designers Jon Gray and Jamie Keenan throw around some theories...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:06:00 -0400

Otherwise Pandemonium by Nick Hornby

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Designers Jon Gray and Jamie Keenan throw around some theories on what attracts readers to a book cover. Some silly, some serious - it’s mostly just light psychological hypothesizing and it’s all in good fun, but if you were to really investigate, there’s a whole slew of psychology studies on aesthetics out there that can back up any good design principle. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that a naturally talented designer will simply intuit the visual landscape that brain studies can only play catch-up to after the fact, confirming that, yes, this or that specific design type is inherently cognitively pleasing.

Also, I guess I’m just in a mid-Monday brain fog, but I completely missed the entire underwear angle of this great Lolita cover re-design when I first saw it. Whew! All for the best, I suppose.

- Maggie

How much do you know about the Olympic history of pictograms?...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:33:00 -0400

How much do you know about the Olympic history of pictograms? Back in 2010, designer Steven Heller put together a short video for the New York Times outlining the games’ use of pictograms, a history that began with the German-hosted 1936 Olympics and continues to this day. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian blog recently put together its own rundown on Olympic design history.

What’s your favorite year in Olympic pictogram design? Heller argues most for Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and I’m inclined to agree with him - I’m a big fan of the Athens take on the traditional design.

- Maggie

Astrid Stavro Studio, a graphic design studio based out of...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:50:00 -0400

Astrid Stavro Studio, a graphic design studio based out of Spain, collaborated with publishing house Sol de Ícaro to create these handsome minimal covers for a 2011 collection of classic essays.

- Maggie

Chris Spurlock has achieved the pinnacle of purposeful infographic success. (Click the image for...

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:30:00 -0400

Chris Spurlock has achieved the pinnacle of purposeful infographic success.

(Click the image for full interactive graphics).

- Maggie

Sideshow Sign Co. specializes in giant vintage prints and light...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:50:00 -0400

Sideshow Sign Co. specializes in giant vintage prints and light up marquee letters, inspired by old school entertainment industry venues. Based out of Nashville, Sideshow Sign Co. is run by Australian native Luke Stockdale, who seems to have perfectly channelled the southern city’s vintage musical charm into his design.

- Maggie

All I’ve ever wanted to do was to make album art. It’s one of the reasons I became...

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:36:00 -0400

All I’ve ever wanted to do was to make album art. It’s one of the reasons I became a graphic designer. As a child, I recall going through my parents’ records and finding The Beach Boys’ Endless Summer album and thinking the illustrations throughout the package were so cool. The bright colors, the bearded scruffy surfers and that seagull perched on that woman’s breast made me want listen to the record. And that was that. I was hooked. I wanted to be a Beach Boy. I still to this day think I will wind up a beach bum surfer dude some day. All because of a record’s packaging.

(Radiohead, In Rainbows)

I know the saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but I’ve never picked up a book with a crappy cover. What’s on the outside counts when it comes to design. An artist who spends hours, months, sometimes years on their music should also spend a decidedly decent amount of time on how he or she presents their music to the world.

(Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping)

As a designer I find the current trend of vinyl exciting. My canvas just tripled in size, but that’s still the old way. Everyone listens to music through iTunes on their computer or through an iPod. So here is our problem: how can we, as designers, bring the music to their audience as a reflection of the artist and their work in a unique way?

There were a few bands who offered their albums up on the internet for whatever their fans thought they should pay for it. Radiohead has done it, and that worked. The band Of Montreal offered a goodie bag of different band merch with the purchase of their record Skeletal Lamping. It included vinyl records, T-shirts, canvas totes, buttons, wall clings, a lantern and download codes for the record. Mos Def’s The Ecstatic record was a t-shirt and a download code. The album’s cover was silk screened on the tee.

(Mos Def, The Ecstatic)

The psychedelic freaks from Oklahoma, the Flaming Lips, have gone all gummy. They have been releasing live albums and EPs through flash drives embedded in deliciously sweet gummy candy - giant marijuana-flavored gummy skulls that require about 16 people to devour, and a smaller offering of gummy 3-song fetus EPs. They’ve turned that whole experience of opening up a new record into some form of tribal initiation or sacrifice. We now ingest the album, literally becoming one with the band. Kool Aid anyone?

The way we think about music is no longer in two dimensions or just 50MBs of space filled on your hard drive either. It’s an idea, a brand and sometimes a yummy treat. Record packaging is ever evolving, just the same way as how we all are listening to it.

-Tim