Fucking A Poster
As part of the Public Theater’s ongoing poster series produced under the art direction of Pentagram’s Paula Scher, Fucking A was commended by the jurors for its role in a widely varied yet cohesive campaign. Geissbuhler noted the influence of Ruedi Kulling’s seminal 1962 hand-scrawled advertisement for Bic ballpoint pens: “We’ve seen that same language a million times before, but Paula is a master at bringing it back, reappropriating it, and making it hers,” he said.
Client The Public Theater, New YorkDesign Pentagram, New York: Paula Scher, Sean CarmodyMaterials SilkscreenSoftware Adobe Photoshop
Charlie Chan and the Secret Book Annual Report
UFO Poster
Wisconsin Film Festival Promotion
Geissbuhler was impressed with the concept: “It was an interesting take to show this process of free association.” For Hayman, the work made its intentions apparent: “The idea that different people understand films differently came through and was clear—it wasn’t obscured by design.”
2wice Magazine
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Client 2wice Foundation, East Hampton, NYDesign Pentagram, New York: Abbott Miller, Jeremy HoffmanMaterials Four-color sheeted litho, perfect-boundSoftware Adobe Photoshop, QuarkXPress
Whitechapel Identity
Hayman and Geissbuhler enjoyed the transparency and “wittiness” of the identity, which is based on a typeface made of transparent, triangular building blocks recalling the intricate geometric shapes used in Islamic art (a nod, perhaps, to the strong Muslim presence in the Whitechapel area.) DeWilde singled out the use of full-bleed art images on brochures and posters. “The font becomes the overarching identity because the art always changes underneath it, and that makes perfect sense for a gallery.”
Absence
The jurors debated whether the design was too reminiscent of 1960s-era modernism, but Geissbuhler convinced the group of its effectiveness. “It sort of dates me, but I get a kick out of this. It’s so bold, it’s so brash, the minimal type, it’s beautiful. For an annual report it’s just ballsy.”
Bombay Sapphire “Drift”
“I especially love the transformation sequences, the change of scale, and the scissor-cut effect,” said Geissbuhler. “It is a different approach to advertising an alcoholic beverage and should therefore be encouraged. And I’ve always been a sucker for black-and-white—or blue, in this case.”
Client Margeotes Fertitta & Partners, New YorkDesign PSYOP, New York: Todd Meuller, Kylie Matulick, Justin Booth-Clibborn, Daniel Rosenbloom, Todd Akita, Eben Mears, Roi Werner, John Clausing, Tom Cushwa, Kevin Estey, Eric Borzi, Kent SekiSoftware Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Flame, Softimage XSI
Herman Miller Promotion
Connecting the entire sequence visually is a black line taking a walk through an archive’s worth of photographs, blueprints, and sketches by Herman Miller’s legendary designers Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, George Nelson, and Alvar Aalto. As the line travels across the screen, it forms the words real and not as well as signatures and sketches. At one point a well-known photograph of the Eameses on a motorcycle “rides” the line; at another the word not is misspelled knot and the line forms a knotted squiggle. The two minutes flew by, noted Hayman. The commercial “moved fast and left you wanting to see more.”
Client Herman Miller, Zeeland, MIDesign Imaginary Forces, Hollywood: Karin Fong, Grant Lau, Dan Meehan, Mark Hoffman, Ken Wallace, Jason Lang; Fairly Painless Advertising, Holland, Michigan: Peter Bell, creative director; Julie Lang, art directorSoftware Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, AfterEffects, Cinema 4D, Final Cut Pro
2wice Magazine
Client 2wice Foundation, East Hampton, NYDesign Pentagram, New York: Abbott Miller, Jeremy HoffmanMaterials Four-color sheeted litho, perfect-boundSoftware Adobe Photoshop, QuarkXPress
Whitechapel Identity
Hayman and Geissbuhler enjoyed the transparency and “wittiness” of the identity, which is based on a typeface made of transparent, triangular building blocks recalling the intricate geometric shapes used in Islamic art (a nod, perhaps, to the strong Muslim presence in the Whitechapel area.) DeWilde singled out the use of full-bleed art images on brochures and posters. “The font becomes the overarching identity because the art always changes underneath it, and that makes perfect sense for a gallery.”
Hella Jongerius
Hayman noted that the effect was to convey objects not as slick, perfect, or even finished designs, but as flowing narratives. “It’s an innovative book that pushes things forward. It is very overdesigned, but for a reason. I like the way the products are shot; it’s not the usual sterile art object on a white background. Jongerius’s work is original and I think this book is original, too.”
Client JongeriusLab, Rotterdam, the NetherlandsDesign COMA, New York/Amsterdam: Cornelia Blatter, Marcel HermansMaterials Full-color offset with one extra metallic PMS color, cover has extra spot UV varnishSoftware Adobe Photoshop, QuarkXPress
VAS: An Opera in Flatland
VAS takes inspiration from Edwin Abbott’s 1884 novel about a two-dimensional world, Flatland, that satirized blinkered bourgeois attitudes and anticipated subsequent developments in physics and mathematics. In VAS, the narrator, Square, a father about to undergo a vasectomy, ruminates on the limitations of current scientific thinking. The main text is set off-center, with frequent visual and typographic interventions, which provide a multiplicity of narrative voices—or perhaps the protagonist’s own research findings and fleeting thoughts. The jurors agreed that the “opera” was exquisitely produced if infuriatingly unconventional. “I’m looking for the fat lady here, but there’s no fat lady,” Geissbuhler joked. “It’s a novel taken to the nth degree,” countered Hayman. “It’s a beautiful object, with great material.”
Hornall Anderson Identity
“The check box is the best part,” said deWilde. “That piece of personality is so unexpected and delightful.” Hayman added, “The logo itself is really classic. It could have been done 40 years ago, or yesterday.”
Client/Design Hornall Anderson Design Works, Seattle, WA: Jack Anderson, John Hornall, Henry Yiu, Andrew Wicklund, Mark PopichSoftware Macromedia FreeHand, QuarkXPress