Team !melk is one of 5 finalist teams to submit their proposed vision for the redesign of Navy Pier as part of its 2016 Centennial Vision. The great plan is called The Great Pier of the Great Lakes.

The MCA Theater was bursting at its seams last night as the crowds poured in to see the unveiling of the initial three plans.

Team !melk’s presentation included a holistic vision of the pier, developed within the context of Chicago’s rich topographic and cultural history, and the voices of the city’s residents. The team explored the pier’s potential through seven key touchpoints, beginning with the Gateway Park, and following the visitor experience through the entire landscape. Past the East end of the pier, Team !melk put an exclamation point on our vision with an impactful icon that will become known as The Glacier.

All of the work will be on display beginning this Friday at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, 224 South Michigan Avenue.

When Team !melk is selected at the end of February, some of Thirst’s greatest typographic explorations will live on forever in Chicago.

We’re proud to announce 3st’s first collection of design in motion, celebrating the new intermedia dimension of our studio.

Design, Direction, Animation, and 3D:
Rick Valicenti/3st, John Pobojewski/3st, Bud Rodecker/3st

Additional Collaborators:
Music: skinny girl with c’s by Charlie Deets
Editing: Micah Gardner, Charlie Smith
3D Animation: Matt Daly, Michael Cone, Ronan Leyesa
Photography: Francois Robert, Hedrich Blessing
Motion Capture: Red Eye Studios
Architectural Rendering: visualizedconcepts, inc.

Rick Valicenti / 3st and John Pobojewski / 3st recently completed a commemorative poster series and folio celebrating the performance of ABACUS at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Running from January 19–29, the legendary festival marks 3st’s first step to Hollywood!

Visionary director/producer Lars Jan and 2012 TED Fellow explains the concept behind the performance:

Riding the wave of TED talk fanaticism and armed with the latest wizardry in media technology and data visualization, the visionary/prophet/madman/cult icon Paul Abacus comes to Sundance to surf the boundary of what is real and what is hyperreal and preach visions of a world without national borders. Culminating in three performances at New Frontier, Abacus delivers a master class in persuasion for the Screen Age that promises to usher civilization into a new era.

Watch the trailer below:

ABACUS first premiered at EMPAC and will leave Sundance to show at the Red Cat Theatre in Los Angeles this February.

Four versions of a very limited edition 24 x 36 inch silkscreened poster show ABACUS crumbling into a pile, and get switched out over the course of the ten-day festival. Expertly printed by Delicious Design League on Curious Black Skin paper. Want your own? Download a hi-res PDF here.

In addition, a 6 x 9 32-page folio serves as a introductory to Paul Abacus’ universe. Designed to be a high-art primer, every spread is a lesson in the ways of the great provocateur, often challenging conventions and preaching a new world order. Illustrations by Valicenti and Pobojewski, with additional contributions (not shown) by Cousins & Sears and Tinne Van Loon.

Expertly printed by Classic Color on Sappi’s Opus Cover.

Rick Valicenti’s So Last Year is both a tribute to the way Steve Jobs
made innovation endure and an artifact of this moment in time.

“His life’s work, his living presence, and this authorized biography,
are already beginning to feel so last year.” – RV

A one day acknowledgement of how elusive brilliance is… Long live freedom,
the internet, and life.

Limited edition
5 in both Black or White silkscreen
$500 each

Book signed/dated verso: Rick Valicenti / January 2012

Colors

Black $500.00 USD White $500.00 USD

Tinne Van Loon and Rick Valicenti collaborated on the poster design for the IIT 2011 Fall lecture series.

Original image by Iwan Baan provided by IIT

The design is an imagined virtual conversation between Thirst, Paula Scher, and Wolfgang Weingart.

Weingart’s work, hanging in our office, Paula Scher’s iconic typography, and our design.

Printing handled by Curtiss Haug at Graphic Art Studio in Barrington, IL.
Special thanks to Dean Donna Robertson for her continual support and giving us a long leash for our design process over the many years.

1000 greetings,
Stefan
Sagmeister Inc.

Americana nostalgia made modern!
October 1 is the night to get Show Boat, the commemorative poster for the 2011/2012 Lyric Opera season designed by Rick Valicenti/3st.

Classic Color’s 8-color printing plus a spot gloss UV coating brings that extra sparkle to the already flamboyant digital extrusion, wrapped in Rick’s pixelated bunting.

Rick’s layout to Susan Mathieson-Mayer, Lyric Opera’s director of communications, and to Chicago typographer, Jackson Cavanaugh, served as a conceptual layout and a flash card for design direction.

Jackson Cavanaugh‘s typographic response

The contributing sponsors of Lyric’s annual poster: Rick/3st and Classic Color president, Ray Bell

Rick extends a special thank you to Classic Color’s Rogelio Guzman and Bill Cornman for their digital rendering wizardry.

We recently completed several short films for SOM’s Urban Design team, led by Philip Enquist. For the past two years, 3st has helped tell the conceptual story behind several master plans from around the world.

This film for a new mixed-use community in Nanjing told the story of SOM design concepts through metaphor and organic imagery. SOM director Doug Voigt shared the good news after his presentation:

We have won the project in Nanjing. It was quite an effort and the competition was intense. Working with you early on provided us with more than an amazing film… it gave us a narrative to organize the entire plan. Thanks again for all your brilliant work and collaboration.

Direction + Design: John Pobojewski / 3st, Rick Valicenti / 3st
Editing: Micah Gardner, Mike Cone
Illustrative Mandarin: Baozhen Li
Soundtrack: Air

Baietan is a revitalized city in central Guangzhou, China on the banks of the Pearl River designed to grow sustainably. For SOM San Francisco.

Film: John Pobojewski / 3st, Rick Valicenti / 3st
Soundtrack: Richard D. James

A master plan for a sustainable residential community in Danang, Vietnam, focused on balancing the edge between an “Eco” and “Urban” lifestyle. For SOM London.

Film: John Pobojewski / 3st, Rick Valicenti / 3st
Soundtrack: John Pobojewski / 3st, Rebekka Takamizu

We recently worked with the University of Chicago and HYPa to imagine a new community art program for Chicago’s mid-South side. Visitors were asked to speak ‘Culture Coast’ and have their words rendered into three-dimensional form.

The resulting forms would then be given back to the community at public events through sculpture and interactive inflatables.

A modified prefab photo booth would provide a place to collect the spoken words at cultural events around the city. A camera would also be available to those who wished to share a personal story or connection to the mid-South side.

These stories would then be curated into an online archive sorted by location or experience for all to engage in the richness of the community.

Over time, the collection of 3D forms would grow, and would be used to broadcast the voice of the community throughout the city.

The first phase of ideation is complete, and future phases are planned pending further funding.

Concept + Creative Direction: Rick Valicenti
Design + Programming [Cinder]: John Pobojewski

The 2011-2012 Loeb Fellowship poster is in the mail.

Tinne Van Loon and Rick Valicenti collaborated on this year’s poster design for the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The names of all nine Loeb fellows are woven together into a dense gossamer, visualizing the connectedness within their architecture, planning, engineering, curating, and advocacy work.

Here is the sequence of Rick and Tinne’s presented designs.

We recently completed a new identity and online presence for The Acting Company, the major touring classical theater in the U.S. Founded in NYC in 1972 by legendary producer/director/actor John Houseman and current Producing Director Margot Harley, The Acting Company has shaped the early careers of many notable actors including Kevin Kline and Rainn Wilson.

The launch caused quite a buzz, mainly thanks by Rainn Wilson’s tweet to over 2 million+ followers. We think marketing director Gerry Cornez put it best:

Were you one of the 1859 visitors to our NEW WEBSITE, signing on to www.theactingcompany.org — from 48 states (we’re not big in Montana or Wyoming) and 43 foreign countries?

Special thanks to associate artistic director Ian Belknap, production designer Paula Raymond, Margot, Gerry, and the entire TAC team for the herculean effort in digitizing and modernizing 30+ years of content!

The online presence, designed/programmed by John Pobojewski and Tinne Van Loon, is richly layered with all aspects of TAC’s rich program. The what, where, and when for all performances is presented with clarity. Current events, backstage commentary from the actors, and various education programs are also showcased.

Rick Valicenti and John collaborated on a new identity that is stenciled and strong, inspired by the visual language of the traveling case. 3st intern Rebekka Takamizu imagined future logo variations that could represent specific activities of the company from growing education programs to acclaimed productions.

We’re pleased to announce our participation in The Society of Typographic Arts (STA) Archive11 program. With Bud Rodecker / 3st and Rick Valicenti / 3st leading the design, we set out to elevate the archive event, connect it to the Chicago Design Archive (CDA), and increase participation.

We want to emphasize the stability and continuity of CDA. Amid the insecurity, instability, hiring/firing, questions of income and rapid change, the CDA provides an unchanging unsurpassed standard of craftsmanship, insight and beauty of work, while the STA provides a safe haven for personal relationships.

—Bob Zeni, Chairman of Archive11

We’re incredibly proud to be part of Chicago’s design history, and the Archive event provides a chance for all Chicago-area designers to measure up to the masters of Chicago design.
The Archive competition gets a new patina every year, so we started our process by looking to increase participation in the Chicago community. With the help of this year’s tremendous sponsors the Society of Typographic Arts was able to dramatically cut the cost of entry.

We selected a diverse, accomplished, and discerning set of judges including: Stefan Bucher, James Goggin, Robert Petrick, Paul Sych, and Nancy Skolos. Their selections will be displayed for the Month of October at the Harrington College of Design Monroe street galleries. In addition, we created two new awards to recognize the best of all the accepted work.

Our visual statement for Archive11 is one that emphasizes the STA’s connection to the CDA. We designed a trio of commemorative posters that feature a list of every designer ever inducted into the CDA. A selection of 33 pieces represent the best of class work from each decade, including 12 collectible designer cards, variations of which will be sent via mail to those on the STA mailing list.

Posters will be available 21 July at the Gig Poster show + Sale, as well as at all the events surrounding Archive11.

Enter your work now, the deadline is 23 July.
Go to archive.sta-chicago.org for more information

Here’s something fun to whet your appetite for Art Chicago 2011: Art Chicago’s identity, designed by Thirst, now lives on a cheeky ad for Classic Color.

Art Chicago® 2011, the annual international fair of contemporary and modern art, brings together the world’s leading emerging and established galleries. Art Chicago offers curators, collectors, artists and art enthusiasts a comprehensive survey of current and historic work, from cutting-edge to modern masters in a wide variety of media including: painting, photography, drawings, prints, sculpture, video and special installations.

Art Chicago opens today, Friday the 29. Get your tickets here.

Chain of Events [2010], for percussion ensemble, actor, and interactive visuals, was performed in Naperville by the students of the Drumshow. John Pobojewski /3st created the music and visuals for this intermedia work, in close collaboration with Drumshow conductor Ben Wahlund.

The piece in is 3 movements that explore a sequence of events taking place after an unexplained dramatic moment:

1. MINUTE LATER
2. DAYS LATER
3. MONTHS LATER

1. MINUTE LATER [2:58] The setting for the first movement is 60 seconds after this dramatic moment occurs — the lead is in a panic reacting to the swirling thoughts and emotions in his head. The ensemble (4 players) is his physiological response: getting more and more frantic as the movement goes on. Psychosomatic visuals by former 3st apprentice Jason Mcaloon punctuate the mood and place the audience into a cold sweat.

2. DAYS LATER [3:30] The second movement takes place two days later, with a group of friends (played by the ensemble) gossiping online on instant messaging about the trainwreck that the lead has caused. Their conversation is displayed overhead in realtime, tightly synced to the score.

3. MONTHS LATER [4:20] The closing third movement occurs much later, as the lead reflects in his journal. The ensemble accompanies here on marimba and vibes, as our protagonist’s thoughts appear scribbled on screen in front of blurry memories coming in and out of focus.

JP/3ST:

After any event… any tragedy, any victory, any birth, any death… we live through a chain of perceptions that embed that event into our memory. Over time, our view of any situation ultimately changes. No one can predict how we will perceive our own history: while some may speculate, the end view is always a mystery.

Rick Valicenti/3st recently conceived and directed a book for Francois Robert‘s photography exhibition Stop the Violence. This keepsake features a beautiful alphabet painstakingly arranged by Robert. Each letterform is composed solely of human bones.

To announce the book, 3st produced a 60 sec short film edited by John Pobojewski/3st and Bud Rodecker/3st which features an original soundscape composed by Pobojewski.

To request a complimentary copy, visit 3st.com/stoptheviolence and fill out your information.

Valicenti juxtaposed these letterforms with a typed transcript of President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech from 2009.

On each of the 26 spreads, the alphabet of bones punctuates the President’s speech as he advocates peace while accepting the notion of a “just war.”

The exhibition opened in Tucson on the Saturday evening of the shooting rampage that killed six people and injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others. The visceral impact of Robert’s work has never felt more relevant or more important.

Classic Color deserves the highest accolades for getting behind this project as publisher. Ray Bell, Classic’s president, believed in Valicenti’s idea and Robert’s imagery and led his craftsman to deliver the most remarkable reproduction we have seen in quite some time.

to justify is tragic
to accept is unacceptable
stop the violence

We are excited to announce a partnership with Hedrich Blessing in a new series of short architectural films we refer to as The Moving Image. Hedrich Blessing, home to history’s most important architectural photographers, now combines their unparalleled view of space, composition, and lighting with 3st’s unique vision in direction, editing, and sound design.

Jeanne Gang‘s Columbia College Chicago Media Production Center is the first in this series.

Cinematography is by Dave Burk/Hedrich Blessing
Direction by Rick Valicenti/3st
Editing by Bud Rodecker/3st
Sound design by John Pobojewski/3st

To date, The Moving Image 01 has generated a lot of interest online from several feeds including
e-architect. Stay tuned for the second installment within the next few months.

For more information, please contact us.

On 4 December our friend, Ilene Smith, held a very special event designed to fill her spectacular new home in Phoenix AZ with the spirit of generosity and beautiful hand-crafted objects. Before moving in, Ilene and her husband, real estate developer Bill Smith, turned their home into a gallery and for a one-night only reception and modern quilt exhibition of 74 quilts, designed by the best artisans of the region. Proceeds from the sale of quilts went to the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center /SARRC.

Tinne Van Loon/3st, under the direction of Rick Valicenti designed the 36-page catalog.

More images after the jump.

Last summer, Moving Design organized Call to Action: A Design Intervention on Water. The 6-week, 18-night workshop included an intense line-up of speakers ranging from Bruce Mau to Jeanne Gang, Daniel Eatock, Ed Marszewski, and 14 more. The Moving Designers were also informed on water issues by local expert thought leaders.

Catalyzed and very prolific, the Moving Designers created inspiring site-specific, multi-media projects which were conceptually one with the subject: downtown data projections, frozen water messages, a Google flight from Lake Michigan to the Gulf, water murals, and a poster campaign… Water was also personified through Twitter exchanges between the The Chicago River, Lake Michigan, and City Hall called “We Really Need to Talk.”

The intervention ended with big splash March on Water, a police-escorted parade from the original Water Tower on Michigan Avenue to Oak Street Beach complete with their very own mascot – “The 2 Billion Gallon Man.” Projects and speaker presentations are available on the workshop blog and ItsOurWater.org

Moving Design is a coalition of designers and artists, working with community partners, leading initiatives that inspire change through the power of design. We use creativity as a catalyst for change, moving our community to action.

A comprehensive record of Call to Action is now available as a Blurb book!
More images after the jump.

Design director:
Bud Rodecker/3st

Designer:
Colin White/3st Fall 2010 Intern

Editor:
Lyndon Valicenti
Department of Environment
City of Chicago

Moving Designers:
Nick Adam
Claire Cahan
Todd Childers
Julie Heyduk
Dawn Hancock
Matthew Hoffman
Rich Klevgard
Lisa Korpan
Bill Linehan
Stacy Peterson
Bud Rodecker
Scott Reinhard
Killian Tobin
Matt Wizinsky

Moving Presentors:
Activists
Daniel Eatock
Andrew Fenchel
Lincoln Schatz
Christopher Baker

Curators
Clare Lyster
Ed Marszewski
Iker Gil

Educators
Robyn Waxman
Elliott Earls

Idea Catalysts
Donna V. Robertson
Jeanne Gang
Alan Bell

Subversives
Leslie Thomas
Bruce Mau
Mike Essl
Robb Irrgang
Maria Scileppi

Thought Leaders
Sarah Herda
Phil Enquist
Martin Felsen

Donna Robertson, Dean of IIT’s College of Architecture and her husband, Robert McAnulty, architect, educator, and writer have joined their professional expertise under one architecture consultancy – MACRO.

At the MACRO-level this logotype is simply a legible and modern identity. For those who prefer to take a closer look, the continuum of mid-20th and early 21st century modern design in is on full display.

1 Helvetica Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann, 1957
2 Gotham Tobias Frere-Jones, 2000
3 Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk Super H. Berthold, 1896
4 Univers 75 Adrian Frutiger, 1957
5 Arial Black Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, 1982

Note: only Robert M(a)cAnulty Donna Robertson could stake a legitimate claim on this moniker!

Letterpress by AccuColor Plus

Thirst recently finished an editorial illustration for this week’s The New York Times Week in Review feature on Wikileaks, written by Scott Shane. Text from four released documents posted on the Wikileaks’ website is blasted from the keyhole of American Government, and is frozen in a violent ricochet. Conceived, designed, and digitally generated by Rick Valicenti and John Pobojewski.

Beginning with RV’s sketch shown here in the lower right, the text itself was typeset in Courier (as it is online) and rendered in Processing using a simple particle engine. Several studies led us to chose the study where the violent aftermath seems just about to break…

Thanks to NYT’s Art Director Kelly Doe.

While Rick Valicenti did not attend the 2010 AGI Congress in Porto, Portugal earlier this month, we though you might like to see his response to their special exhibiition and book project: ‘Mapping the Process’. The AGI members were invited to illustrate and/or design their process. Rick’s is titled ‘F RISK Y and Sometimes Tongue Tied’ crafted entirely from purchased and heavily modified stock illustrations.

Photo in situ in the old palace next to the art galleries in Porto by Marian Bantjes.

On March 17, 2010 Matthew Jacobson wrote this letter to Rick Valicenti:

2010 marks the seventeenth anniversary of Number 17 and in honor of that I am putting together a book as a surprise gift for Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler, the two founders (so if you run into them, don’t breath a word!).

I’ve already emailed their friends, family, current and former employees, clients, etc. And I received a good deal of submissions, including from luminaries Paul Sahre, Stefan Sagmeister, Maira Kalman, Marian Bantjes, and Kurt Andersen. That said, I want to include “SEVENTEEN STRANGERS” (or at least people who are strangers to them, but whose work I really admire and know they do/or would as well).

Here’s the assignment, if you’re up for it …

You are invited to participate by providing your unique perspective on the actual number 17 (not the company). Do something unexpected, beautiful, smart, cool, quick, fun, serious, or any combination thereof!

Rick’s Response:
While his entry purposely has nothing to do with the number 17 it has everything to do with 17 years ago and another iconic partnership.

All memories of days gone by somehow seem to fade from clarity.

ps: here’s a glimpse at Marian Bantjes’ contribution

The Fulcrum Point New Music Project invited Thirst’s John Pobojewski to create a visual accompaniment for Yan Maresz‘ Metallics [1995] — for trumpet and surround-sound electronics.

Trumpeter/Conductor Stephen Burns performed the world premiere of the video art and the musical performance at the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultual Center.

Linear notes annotate the score [French translation by Burns]:

Written in Paris at IRCAM during the 1994 course for composition and computer music, Metallics received its premiere during “Portes Ouvertes” in 1995. The original version called for the use of the Max computer program, which served as a base for processing of all the electronic events in real time: filtering, synthesis, sampling, spatial distribution, triggering, delay, and transpositions. Maresz has always been fascinated with the character changes created by various mutes on brass instruments, expanding their expressive capacity. After choosing the trumpet, he studied the acoustic properties of the primary mutes used by this instrument: Straight, cup, Harmon, wa-wa, and whisper. After analysis, he attempted to recreate these sonorities through the use of filters. The trumpet is particularly suited to this type of transformation, and so the composer was able to simulate the muted sounds found elsewhere in the work, thus creating an interplay between real sound and an electronically synthesized ‘shadow.’ From these electronic analyses of mutes the composer was then able to derive a formula based on the overtone spectrum inherent and compare it spectrally to the ordinary sound of the trumpet. He then created an episodic form that alternates from open to muted trumpet, evolving systematically from warmer hues to more strident. The character of each episode is owed to incorporation of trumpet archetypes and musical references—jazzy flutters, trills, cascading licks, and forceful declamations.

The visuals were built in Processing (all 3D, cube mapping, sound reactivity and particle behavior) and edited/animated in After Effects (for fx and transitions). Special Thanks for Karen Mozer for sharing the call for artists with us.

Each fall Lyric Opera of Chicago commemorates its 2010-2011 series with a new poster. We are delighted to share this year’s typographic design by Rick Valicenti. The poster features an illustration by Macbeth’s costume designer, Virgil C. Johnson, of one of the witches who prophesies Macbeth’s bloody rise to power. “Is this a dagger I see before me?”

Printed by co-sponsor, Classic Color.

Snapping to the Grid

Rick Valicenti has been bringing type for identity back to basics. These two recent examples for design-driven consulting firms show how the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The Smith Partners identity has just been accepted into the 2010 STA Archive. The complete Infinite Sum program launches before 2011.

Engraved by Artistry Engraving, Chicago.

Senator Richard J. Durbin presents

Samuel Skinner and Mayor Daley on stage for an animated panel discussion

Thirst has been working for the past nine months to help CMAP re-focus its brand presence and to design the publication and website for the plan in a manner that would make the 30-year future envisioned in the plan feel both attainable and new.

an identity refresh and branding guideline system
the look and feel of the future imagery
a 128+ page short version document
a 3000+ page website
an interactive/video kiosk

CMAP Project Co-Lead Erin Aleman

We are proud and grateful to be part of such an incredible team
that made this campaign come to life.

CMAP
Executive Director: Randy Blankenhorn
Project Co-Lead: Erin Aleman
Project Co-Lead: Tom Garritano
Chief of Staff: Jill Leary

Public Relations + Project Lead: ASGK
Branding + Design: Thirst
Website + Kiosk Development: Thirdwave
Illustration: Ginkgo Planning & Design, Inc.
Video: Mode Project
Photography: Wm Valicenti Photography

“[The Short Plan] looks flat-out amazing. You guys are such a pleasure to work with… even apart from your design genius, you helped to keep a high-pressure process on an even keel throughout.” Tom Garritano, Communications Director, CMAP

CMAP Executive Director Randy Blankenhorn and John Pobojewski

The 2010-2011 LOEB Fellowship poster, Urban Futures, is in the mail. John Pobojewski and Rick Valicenti have collaborated on the LOEB Fellowship poster since 2007. They have been recognized by the AIGA Design Annual, the STA’s Chicago Design Archive and Graphis Posters.

This year’s process consciously created an un-spoken dialog with AGI member, Philippe Apeloig’s seminal poster of 1999. It’s a reflection on the urban landscape in transition—a perfect expression for this year’s Loeb Fellows at work transforming the urban landscape.

Printed by the expert craftsmen at the Graphic Arts Studio, in Barrington IL.

We just completed a looping video, Gather Give Grow, that highlights the program of Archeworks’ Mobile Food Collective (MFC) in an abstract and joyful way. Our video of the MFC premieres today in the U.S. Pavilion at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2010 Venice Biennale!

The Thirst Short, directed by Rick Valicenti and designed by Rick, John Pobojewski, and Bud Rodecker, will be in the U.S. Pavilion from August 29 through November 21, 2010 as one of only seven American projects in “Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice” curated by the High Museum of Art, 306090, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Archeworks—a post-graduate design school in Chicago dedicated to advancing the public mission of design—is representing the U.S. in the 12th International Architecture Exhibition, which showcases American designers as civic catalysts. Archeworks is redefining the role of the architectural discipline, initiating collaborative projects that stake out new territory addressing urban design and social issues.

Outside the exhibit hall, Archeworks will do what we do best – workshopping. Highlighting the themes of the Mobile Food Collective, we will engage local residents in exploring our respective food cultures and heritage. Beginning on August 26 in Venice, our small team of design students will lead a three-day design workshop in partnership with architecture students from the University of Camerino in Ascoli Piceno. Archeworks initiated this unofficial programming to engage more directly with young Italian designers who want to respond to social issues through design.

MOBILE FOOD COLLECTIVE
by Archeworks

Executive Director
Susanne Schnell

Director
Martin Felsen AIA

Research Director
Sarah Dunn

Program Manager
Katie Vail

Project Directors
Mason Pritchett
Jesse Vogler

Fellow
Catherine Muller

Archeworkers
Rachel Belanger
Maria Kulesa
Derek Layes
Adam Panza
Geoff Salvatore

VIDEO DESIGN
by Thirst

Directed by
Rick Valicenti

Design + Animation
John Pobojewski
Bud Rodecker

Music + Sound
John Pobojewski

ARCHITECTURAL MODELING
by Visualizedconcepts inc.
Thorsten Bösch
Nick Glazebrook

TIMELAPSE SEQUENCES
by Hedrich-Blessing
Dave Burk

MOTION CAPTURE
by Red Eye Studio
Damion Davis
Dustin Carroll

From the Observation Deck
Michelle Litvin

Our presence in Print Magazine highlights Rick Valicenti’s tote bag — designed for the Print Carry Hope initiative. Proceeds of this tote go to CASA, a not-for profit organization to which John Pobojewski and Rick contributed their design time while working with EPIC in 2009.

For nearly 25 years, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County has been helping abused and neglected children who have become lost in an overwhelmed and under-resourced foster care system find a place to call home.

Graphis Posters awarded their distinguished Platinum Award to Thirst’s IIT Fall 2009 Lecture Series Poster. Rick and Bud Rodecker collaborated on this typographically-tight design.

LESS is (a lot of things and) MORE, an 8-page typographic entry to the Fourth Annual Suite Sixteen issue of i4Design Magazine features eight graphic design students at Harrington College of Design. i4Design Publisher, Mitch Obstfeld, a Harrington Board of Trustee member made his pages available for Brad Kisner’s students. Rick Valicenti, also a Harrington Board member, served as design director, writer, and mentor. Richard Wright of Wright Auctions was this project’s patron and closes it with his virtual applause.

The Harrington Eight (in order of sequence):
Katelyn Smith, Allan Nacapuy, Tre’ Henry, Jonathan Girton, Vanessa Eggers,
Nina Castillo-D’angier, Christina Elizabeth, Brian Steiling

Special thanks to Harrington photographers:
Danyel Duncan, Joe Byrnes

Last week our friend Arik Levy opened Luminesence at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. It’s a simple staging of three sculptural pieces and a collection of drawings from his Absent Nature collection which premiered in Chicago’s Wright 21 Gallery.

To coincide with the SMMoA opening, Rick Valicenti and Bud Rodecker designed the 128-page catalog of Arik’s Absent Nature collection. John Pobojewski collaborated by creating the perfect way to automagically enhance and add another layer of voice to the conversation surrounding three of Arik’s pieces.

Here are a few of our favorite page spreads

Since 1998 we have enjoyed a lovely relationship with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. While a handful of designers bring Lyric’s marketing voice to their audiences, our designs set the annual brand personality. Our presence shows up at street level, on program covers, and the recent annual commemorative poster. Bravo!

20 N Wacker

Subscription Brochure typographic collage

The 2009-2010 Program Cover

Full page Chicago Tribune Advertisement

We’re excited to announce that our very own John Pobojewski and Bud Rodecker are participating in the upcoming Printervention exhibition. Their modern WPA poster will be displayed alongside posters from over 70 of the best designers, print-makers, and artists from across the country.

We have asked artists from around the country to create works that raise awareness of social and political issues of our day. Printervention underscores the necessity for the support of artists and the idea of civic responsibility to the greater society…

A true collaboration — this poster results from John’s custom programming,
handwork from Bud, and impassioned direction from Rick Valicenti.
Printed at The Post Family with help from Ina Weise.

Give a shit and do some good means stand up, care about others, and do something;
hold the elevator for a stranger, volunteer, donate to a charity, or even fill out your census.

Other contributors to include:
Alex Valentine / Angee Lennard Spudnik Press / Bryan Baker / Chad Kouri The Post Family /
Chris Roberson / Christi Jo Mace / Christina Vantzou / Cody Haltom Public School / Colin Matthes Justseeds / Cynthia Juarez The Printstitute / Damon Locks / Dan S. Wang / Danimal / Delicious Design League Billy Baumann and Jason Teegarden-Downs / Derek Dietrich-Muller / Dominic Fortunato /
Ed Marszewski / Eric Nyffeler Doe Eyed Design / Gregory Calvert / Ina Weise / Jennifer Farrell Starshaped Press / Jenny Beorkrem Ork Posters / Jessica Owings / Jessica Taylor / Julia V. Hendrickson / Justin Cox Public School / JW and Melissa Buckanan The Little Friends of Printmaking / Kathleen Judge Judgeworks / Katie McCauley Strangelight / Katy Keefe / Keith G. Herzik Alamo Igloo / Kenton Quatman / Laura Klein / Letterform, Inc Julie Morelli & Andy Schwegler / Lise Haller Baggsen / Luke Williams / Marvin Chan The Printstitute / Mary Tremonte Justseeds / Michelle Mashon Spudnik Press / Nick Adam / Nick Bahr / Nick Du Pey Young Monster / Nicolas Lampert / Rand Renfrow / Rebecca Ann Rakstad Rar Rar Press / Richard Repasky The Printstitute / Ryan Duggan / Sanya Glisic Spudnik Press / Seripop / Shaun Lind Public School / Sonnenzimmer Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi / Steve Walters Screwball Press / Superkonductor David R. Head, Jr. and Jen Hazen / Thirst John Pobojewski & Bud Rodecker / Tyler Galloway / Veronica Corzo-Duchardt Winterbureau / Will Bryant Public School

The spring 2010 IIT lecture poster features the latest incarnation of Rick Valicenti’s custom typography. At first glance these letterforms may seem chaotic and illegible, however chaos and illegibility do not live in Thirst’s lexicon without a  foundation of hidden complexities and connections. During the refinement phase Rick and Bud Rodecker collaborated to find just the right balance between the lines of type and background image. On the reverse side our John Pobojewski applied a virtual magnetic field and metal fillings around the typography.

Inspired by Rick Valicenti’s Notes to Self paintings, Bud Rodecker has set a personal goal to create something everyday in 2010. Restricted by a self-imposed discipline, Bud is posting the artifacts of his making process on the close of each day at richardaily.com.  Reasonable prices are assigned and in the first two months of this year he has yet to miss a day… only 301 more to go!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that. RicharDaily is my playground to create, and leave it at that. If there ever was anything that could motivate me, it is a deadline, and in a way RicharDaily is my daily deadline to force me to make something new everyday. –Bud Rodecker

In conjunction with Curiosities, We have produced a 214 page book of all the alphabets from The Playground.

“Our friends accepted the invitation to create an alphabet of 26 illuminated characters designed not to start a sentence, but to begin a thought.”

Contributors include: Ed Fella, Paula Scher, Marian Bantjes, Matt Daly, Nikola Djurek, Mike Essl, Geoff Kaplan, Kiyoka Katahira, Satoru Nihei, John Pobojewski, and more.

Ed Fella

Paula Scher

Marian Bantjes

Matt Daly

Nokola Djurek

Mike Essl

Geoff Kaplan

Kiyoka Katahira

Satoru Nihei

John Pobojewski

Heartbreaking; great. -Marian Bantjes
Rick Valicenti, one of the world’s most thoughtful designers -Michael Bierut

We’ve just completed a 410 page volume that catalogs Rick Valicenti’s 500+ Notes To Self / 12.31.2007 – 08.31.2008. In Rick’s intro to this work he describes his experience.

…while visiting the The Shanghai Art Museum, I found myself enamored with its calligraphy collection… I knew then that I wanted to make something for myself that would capture my presence and reward me with that moment. I created over 575 Notes to Self with a plastic syringe and a foam brush to apply Sumi ink to 22″ x 30″ Rives BFK.

The book is an exercise in presenting a large and complex group of images in a stream of consciousness re-enactment manner. Rick Valicenti, Bud Rodecker, and John Pobojewski developed a system that would place all 570 paintings in their correct groupings; singles, diptychs, triptychs. Unique background patterns provide the viewer with information about image typology.

To request 1 of 10 limited edition signed copies, email editions@3st.com.
Price available on request.

View all the works on rickvalicenti.com

Built into the background of the pages is a dot pattern that provides image typology data. These paintings are organized into three categories: Notations, Archetypes, and Chance and grouped as paintings: Singles, Diptychs, and Triptychs. Just as you read from left to right, you read the dots from left to right.

To request 1 of 10 limited edition signed copies, email editions@3st.com.
Price available on request.

We are proud to announce our recently completed signage system for Columbia’s new Media Production Center (MPC). The MPC is Columbia’s first new construction building, and is a historic moment in the university’s long history.

We worked closely with Jeanne Gang and the architects at Studio Gang to develop a system of signage that would blend seamlessly with the MPC’s unique architecture and Columbia’s brand, yet stand on it’s own.

We reinterpreted, fractured and presented Columbia’s mark in the SMPTE colors.

When entering the MPC you are immediately greeted by our interpretation of classic TV test patterns cut out of steel and back lit.

We created a custom stencil version of Franklin Gothic, Columbia’s secondary font, which we used throughout the building.

Classrooms are identified with understated plaques that proportionally reference television media.

Self-explanatory functionality.

Black mill-cut letters on concrete identify the south end.

IEEE Spectrum Magazine commissioned Thirst for this realization for their January issue reviewing the best and worst technology of 2009. Rick Valicenti created a typographic flavor while channeling Paul Rand as John Pobojewski animated the ‘winners’ into fireworks and the ‘losers’ into ashes.

Inspired by sparks and timelapse photography…

the winners rise to the top of the heap…

…while the losers fall to the earth. The animation was built out of a simple particle system using Processing and Toxiclibs.

We were disappointed that the illustration wasn’t selected for the cover, but ultimately it was a fantastic process.

From: Mark Montgomery
Date: January 19, 2010 2:05:01 PM CST
To: Rick Valicenti
Subject: Re: losers

Rick: Your design was the most innovative and provocative. I wanted to go w/ your cover but was over-ruled by Exec. editor and E-I-C.
Thanks again and hope to work w/ you again.
–
Mark Montgomery
Senior Art Director, IEEE Spectrum magazine
IEEE: Fostering technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.
Celebrating 125 Years of Engineering the Future

The full graphic is below, but if you want to learn what these numbers really add up to, run to your closest newsstand and pickup a copy. Who knows, maybe you’ll even catch a few red-hot sex secrets!

Rick Valicenti and Bud Rodecker created a dialog between the typography in the image and the poster’s information. The design process was layered with an awareness of Chicago vernacular signage where everywhere you look sans serif type is stacked on top of more of the same.

Jeff thought it would look good set it in trade gothic,
Rick had a new alphabet.
Jeff reset the type.
Rick re-adjusted the type in anticipation of folds.

Jeff placed the logos and Rick’s secondary type.
Rick re-arranged these elements and tweaked what he considered
the key to unlock the visual’s reason for being:
uniforce
unihorse
unicorn
They both thought it did all and more.
Rick took a phone call and returned to say the poster still wasn’t cool enough.
They looked to the bag o’ photoshop tricks and tried applying the always magical liquify filter.
They then tried the watercolor filters one of which worked, but only after it was sharpened.

Rick still wasn’t completely satisfied.
Jeff took a phone call and Rick took the mouse applying the lens flares in various sizes and locations.
By the time the call was done so was the poster.
They both thought it felt just right, as was working side by side.

a collaboration between Jeff D Stark, graduate of SVA May 2009, and Rick Valicenti.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill were recently named the winner of an international design competition to expand the Beijing Central Business District (CBD). Seven teams of the world’s leading urban planners, urban designers and architects were invited to participate, including Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects and Foster + Partners.

Thirst created an eight-minute video, narrated in Mandarin, to outline the SOM Vision to a captivated competition committee. Results came quick — SOM was declared the unianimous winner after only 48 hours.

Screenshots are below. View more of the project on 3st.com.

Rick Valicenti, John Pobojewski, Bud Rodecker, and film editor Charlie Smith worked together to bring this video to life.

Philip Enquist, FAIA, Partner-in-Charge of Urban Design and Planning for SOM, led the effort. His comments:

From: Philip Enquist
Date: September 26, 2009 11:53:01 AM CDT
Subject: Re: The SOM Vision 092609

Rick

Your contribution is wonderful and quite “healing”.
You make it seem so effortless.

Thanks. Phil

View more of the project on 3st.com.

Works 1: Infrastructures for Change is Archeworks‘s first publication documenting the result of their students’ research. Martin Felsen came to Rick Valicenti with an idea for an Archeworks Publication, together they developed a template and format. Rick and Bud Rodecker worked together to bring this inaugural issue to life. Which included the development of AW, a riff on Mathew Carter‘s Bell Centennial, with ink traps that replace function with style.

Martin describes works like this:

This first issue of Works documents the ongoing physical and social infrastructural design projects undertaken at Archeworks including: design speculations on Chicago’s network of parks and public zones of activity, the implementation of new community-owned Pocket Parks in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, an examination of an alternative, safe, convenient personal mobility infrastructure, and an investigation into the politics behind vital natural resources, which evolved into a global public education campaign to increase awareness of water scarcity.

Here are a few images of Works. To subscribe and get a copy of your own, support Archeworks here.

Curtiss, Rick, Bud:

Just wanted to thank you all for letting me join on press yesterday.
I really enjoyed my GAS immersion, and now have a much better understanding of the printing process.

And of course it’s just cool to see this thing become real.

katie

–
Katie Vail
Organization Manager
ARCHEWORKS

We just finished a new ambient video installation at the DMK Burger Bar in Lakeview. Renown restauranteur David Morton and renown chef Michael Kornick are opening this new hip atmospheric eatery in Chicago’s Lakeview — stop by if you’re in the neighborhood as it opens tonight.

Early reviews say to “expect chef-driven burgers and artisanal beer.” We can vouch for two things: the video is hypnotizing and the burgers are delicious.

Thanks for Jason Pickleman (who also crafted the language and created the identity for DMK) for commissioning us to create the video.

View more of the project on 3st.com.

Hot off the presses! Take a moment to enjoy some devilish type over an epic image. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen so much ink on a piece of paper, you really have to see the printed piece to get the full effect.

Faust and Méphistophélès gallop to hell on two demon horses — beaten by the wings of giant screaming birds as they thunder through rainstorms of blood! Made in collaboration with Real Eyes.

Guitar and DJ Heroes you can’t see anywhere but here! If Thirst’s Rick Valicenti were to make the final selection on behalf of our friends at Pentagram, these are his selections:

btw
Rick’s long-time collaborators, Bill Cornman at Real Eyes and Thirst’s John Pobojewski and Bud Rodecker, were all instrumental in turning up the volume on these variations.

Read the about the rest of the project on Pentagram’s site.

Marshall Field built the Merchandise Mart as the epicenter for commerce in Chicago. When the building passed ownership to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the father of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1945, Merchandise Mart Properties extended beyond Chicago and the physicality of the Mart.

Today, under the leadership of Chris Kennedy and the ownership of Vornado Realty Trust, the organization is now referred to as MMPI complete with a new identity representing its mission statement: MMPI is the world’s leading owner and operator of showroom buildings and trade show facilities, bringing buyers and sellers together in more than 300 markets events, trade and consumer shows and conferences each year.

One Drop is a simple learning initiative for use within Chicago Public Schools created by Moving Design in collaboration with Archeworks, a not for profit educational and research institution in Chicago dedicated to designing 21st century urban infrastructure.

One Drop is a three-week, after school curriculum designed to engage this next generation in basic water issues and inspire them to make a difference.

Learn more here.

Week One will focus on the students tracking their water usage via an interactive website.

Week Two will feature daily 15-minute classroom lessons and group activities to explore how water is important to all and how our actions affect the Lake Michigan watershed. A 32-page workbook outlines the activities for both teachers and students.

In Week Three, students then track their water use again online, using what they’ve learned to reduce their usage and then reveal the difference that they made.

Together with experts at Archeworks, Chicago Public Schools, Friends of the Chicago River, and the State of Illinois, Moving Design hopes to develop this program into a scalable curriculum for elementary students.

In order to fund the pilot program, Moving Design has applied for the Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant and looks forward to bringing this idea into life.

Moving Design encourages innovation through creative research, done in collaboration with students from different disciplines and forward-thinking organizations. All research programs encourage creative experimentation, keen observation, and intense curiosity, and present relevant new ideas that shape the public’s point of view.

Rick Valicenti & John Pobojewski Founders, Ideation, and Art Direction
Melanie Gibb & Bud Rodecker Design and Content Development
Barb Valicenti Project Management