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 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.

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

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.

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

Pentagram’s Rebrand of Guitar Hero get reviewed by Armin Vit on Brand New.

As a black-and-white work, this is strong enough, but where the solid and smart structure of the logos really shines is in their proficiency to take on a multitude of hard rockin’ effects and Pentagram worked with some of the best in the business — Rick Valicenti, Adam Larson and Steve Wilson — to bring the identity to life and show how it can be implemented in a variety of ways while using the same backbone.

See more of the variations Thirst contributed and Read the full post on Brand New.

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.

The Sears Tower gets a brand refresh announcing a landmark renovation effort to reduce 80% of the building’s energy use. 2 video presentations and accompaning supporting graphics were created to announce the project to the international press.

View more of the project here.

For those who flock on Wednesday and Saturday mornings to Chicago’s now legendary Green City Market, founded by the late, Abby Mandel, pick up a tote bag.