Local designer/street artist/activist, Nick Adam has permanently installed his painted alphabet Rare Form first shown in the Typeforce show inside the Thirst studios. You are invited and encouraged to stop by and see Nick’s work up close as it is a rare and intelligent typographic gem. Drop us and email or call first to let us know you are coming by in the months approaching the mid-term elections.

Here’s  a sample from Nick’s description of Rare Form

… Rare Form’s objective was to offer moments of visual silence while celebrating the power and the beauty of typography. In an act of info-reduction, signage from Illinois’s 2010 primaries was removed from public spaces to be repurposed as canvases. Violating the one-color graphics with hand lettered type substituted the multiple messages once held by the sign for a much simpler one. The slab-serif letters are a custom alphabet created for this project. Each was freestyled following the hand techniques of traditional sign-painters as well in their medium of brush and 1-shot enamel.

Displayed individually as well in groupings, we are privy to observe each character outside of its common codependent context of conveying a message. Sans-statement, these letters will not judge your lifestyle, ask you for help, nor will they tell you where to be. Simply these symbols exemplify the power and capabilities of our human kind.

Also on display inside Thirst are rare and unique work by Ed Fella, Paul Rand, Paul Sahre, Frank Gerhy, April Greiman, Mike Perry, Dennis Ichiyama, Jason Pickleman, Marian Bantjes, Sonnenzimer, to name but a few.

Please let us know when you are in the area, we would like to share the collection.

Rare Form
Hand-Lettering in 1-Shot Enamel on Removed Corrugated-Plastic Signs. 26 individual 18″ X 24″

Our previously announced exhibition, Curiosities, is coming together nicely. Above are some images of our over the top installation. We are thankful to all the design students of Florida Atlantic University for bringing our work to life.

The exhibition opens with a lecture by Rick Valicenti on Friday February 12th.

For more detailed information about Curiosities see the press release below.

Boca Raton Graphic Design Exhibition Features Rick Valicenti and Thirst

CHICAGO (February 12, 2010) –A retrospective exhibition of work from graphic design studio Thirst opens Saturday, February 13 at the Schmidt Center Gallery on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus. Thirst is a graphic design firm based in Chicago that was founded in 1988 by internationally known designer/artist Rick Valicenti.

This marks the first national retrospective exhibition of Thirst’s work. The opening reception for the exhibition will be Friday, February 12 from 7 to 9 pm, beginning with a free public lecture by Valicenti.

The exhibition runs through April 3 and is open Tuesday–Friday 1:00–4:00 pm, Saturday 1:00–5:00 pm and is at the Schmidt Center Gallery & Ritter Art Gallery at Florida Atlantic University: 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The show, entitled Curiosities: Rick Valicenti + the 21st Century Thirst displays both commercial designs created for clients and personal art from the past decade. Over 150 pieces cover the gallery walls and display tables to showcase the energy and connection to human emotion inherent in Thirst’s designs.

Some of the work shown includes designs with designers Adrian Smith, Jeanne Gang, Arik Levy, Martin Felsen, and for clients like Richard Wright, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Herman Miller, and more.

Thirst is a studio devoted to “art with function” and serves a collection of clients from the worlds of design + culture: architects, industrial designers, furniture designers, engineers, and artists. Thirst’s work continues to lead the industry and express intelligence, high fashion, and a connection to the human spirit within today’s world of communication.

The Burj Khalifa was designed by Smith while a partner at SOM (read more on SOM.com). Adrian Smith is now a partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which sports a Thirst designed identity system and website.

smithgill.com

3st’s John Pobojewski and Bud Rodecker are on Humble Pied today. They remind us to be fearless and remember that design is for people by people. Take a minute and jump on over to humblepied.com and watch all of the great tips that our friend Mig Reyes has collected.

Thirst + Moving Design are now accepting applications for an intern specializing in digital design for the summer of 2010. We are looking for someone smart, capable, with an interest and talent set for all things within the interactive and media-rich realms of design. This is an unpaid internship.

you will
gain exposure to the design process and engagement in the work of thirst + moving design
develop a project aligned with your interests together with rick valicenti + john pobojewski
collaborate on the design development of one semester-long moving design initiative
receive serious mentoring from experienced professionals

you get
letters of introduction and recommendation from rick + john upon leaving
access to the chicago, national, and international design community

previous interns have said

“You might think you know your stuff pretty well until Rick, John or Bud sits down next to you and leaves you scratching your head, swearing there was some sort of magic involved in what they just showed you.”

“Becoming a part of Thirst will certainly propel you to a new level.”

“I would not be where I am now without the experience that I’ve gained at Thirst.”

and experience in software:
Flash
After Effects

we also would love experience in programming:
Flash AS3
Processing
C++
OpenGL

and experience in software:
Maya/Cinema4D/Comparable 3D Software

It was a sad day last week to read of the demise of Paul Rand’s seminal YALE PRESS logotype.

While I have always loved the simple magic inherent in these four constructed letters, a few years ago I decided to channel Mr. Rand’s spirit into a collection of typographic experiments and expressions including the Thirst logotype. Whenever I work within the Yale Press linguistic typology, I think of myself as someone who is carrying the spark of life belonging to someone else. It has been a personal and professional pleasure leading me to creative places I could never have imagined two years ago and therefore, I am both changed and grateful to this Mr. Rand’s press mark.

Now, upon re-reading the dialog that surrounds the announcement of Yale’s decision, I am disappointed by the decision to put this iconic form to pasture and in turn swap it with the ubiquitous/generic. The only question that comes to my mind is why didn’t they adopt this typographic brilliance to represent the university? Cowards all of them.

from yale daily news:
The two organizations, which have “complementary missions,” may be trying to bring together paths that have diverged in recent years, University Printer John Gambell said. Although Gambell said he was fond of Rand’s logo, he added that the design had plenty of critics.

“A lot of people didn’t like it,” Gambell said. “A lot of people found it kind of asymmetrical and untraditional and kind of a little bit hard to decode.”

i4 Design Editorial Spreads

AIGA Miami Lecture Poster and Classic Color’s Las Vegas Poster

Lyric’s ‘09 Season Poster

Jessica LaGrange Valentine

Moving Design’s Logo