tag:mig.pentagram.com,2011:/en//5 2011-01-03T16:00:43Z Movable Type 3.35 tag:pentagram.com,2011:/en//5.2289 2011-01-03T15:00:00Z 2011-01-03T16:00:43Z

Abbott Miller designs the book for a major retrospective @philamuseum

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Michelangelo Pistoletto is one of Italy’s most influential contemporary artists, a co-founder of the Arte Povera movement whose works link Pop, Conceptual Art, Minimalism and Post-Minimalism. Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many, 1956-1974 is a major retrospective of the artist's work now on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Pentagram’s Abbott Miller designed the exhibition catalogue, which collects over 100 of Pistoletto's works in painting, sculpture and performance art, and texts by the artist about his work. The exhibition was organized with MAXXI—Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo in Rome, where it opens in March. Pistoletto's art often functions as a collaboration with the spectator, and he is perhaps best known for his Quadri specchianti (Mirror Paintings), Photo Realist images on mirror-finished steel that make the viewer part of the works. For the catalogue, Miller has covered the book in silver foil that catches the reader's reflection. (The paper is Strike! Foil with a matte laminate.) Opening spreads of the book's essays also make use of silver pages. Kievit is the font family used throughout the book. A look inside the book after the jump.]]> Project Team: Abbott Miller, partner-in-charge and designer; Christine Moog, designer.]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2307 2010-12-28T16:47:33Z 2010-12-28T16:59:28Z

Abbott Miller to Speak at AIGA Cleveland

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Abbott Miller to Speak at AIGA Cleveland tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2306 2010-12-21T10:19:53Z 2010-12-22T18:50:48Z

Harry Pearce adds some fun to retailer's holiday offering.

Tiffany Foster Following the success of the inclusion of Conundrums in the 2008 and 2009 Saks holiday catalogs, the team at Saks Fifth Avenue asked Pentagram's Harry Pearce to come up with another idea to add a bit of fun to this year's publication. Given that the iconography of Christmas was defined by the Victorians, Pearce took the Victorian tradition of the rebus as his inspiration and created 76 puzzles to be scattered throughout the catalog. Pearce and his team created an individual image for each puzzle and then provided the images and a style guide to Saks who dropped them into the publication. The cover of the catalog features the "I'm Going to Saks" campaign and store identity designed by Michael Bierut. Have a go and see if you can solve the puzzles. All 76 rebuses follow, along with images of the puzzles in the catalog. Solutions can be found at the end of this piece.]]> Project Team: Harry Pearce, partner-in-charge; John Simmons, copywriter; Sean Chilvers, designer; Daren Howells. SOLUTIONS 1) SAKS fifth avenue 2) Holiday catalogue 3) Holly and the ivy 4) Santa Claus 5) Rudolf the reindeer 6) Festival of lights 7) Letters to Santa 8) Four calling birds 9) Red nose reindeer 10) Silent night 11) Turkey and stuffing 12) Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel 13) Good tidings 14) Cranberry Sauce 15) Eight maids milking 16) Candy cane 17) Receiving gifts 18) Nine ladies dancing 19) Mulled wine 20) Three French hens 21) Jingle bells 22) Advent calendar 23) Seasons greetings 24) Kiss under mistletoe 25) Sleigh ride together 26) Ho Ho Ho 27) 10 lords a leaping 28) Merry Christmas 29) Milk and cookies 30) Hang your stocking 31) Happy holidays 32) Twelve drummers drumming 33) Tis the season 34) Light the Menorah 35) Pumpkin pie 36) Ghost of Christmas 37) Chestnuts roasting 38) Gifts for the season 39) Dashing through the snow 40) Season to be jolly 41) Winter wonderland 42) Peace on earth 43) Seven Swans a swimming 44) Nutcracker 45) Santa’s helpers 46) Down the chimney 47) Deck the halls 48) Fruit cake 49) Gingerbread man 50) Six geese a laying 51) Spin the Dreidel 52) Bar Humbug 53) Sleigh bells ring 54) Let it snow 55) Christmas carol 56) Writing cards 57) Frosty the snowman 58) Holly wreath 59) White Christmas 60) Giving gifts 61) Sugar plums dancing 62) Santa Baby 63) Christmas tree 64) Shining star 65) Scrooge 66) Partridge in a pear tree 67) Eleven pipers piping 68) Home for the holidays 69) The first noel 70) Joy to the world 71) Two turtle doves 72) Tinsel 73) Happy Hannukah 74) Lights and candles 75) Five gold rings 76) One horse open sleigh]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2285 2010-12-20T20:00:00Z 2010-12-20T21:50:32Z

Paula Scher designs environmental graphics for a parking garage in NYC.

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com As holiday shoppers exit stores across the nation, heading out into vast lots and garages, the most important thing on their minds is not what baubles they've bought their loved ones but rather, “Where the @#$%&! did we park the car?” Pentagram’s Paula Scher has designed graphics for a Midtown Manhattan garage that make sure drivers never forget where the car is.]]> Owned by Cohen Bros. Realty and managed by Ampco System Parking, the seven-story garage is located at 13-17 East 54th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues and adjacent to an office building at 3 East 54th Street, also owned by Cohen. The owners planned to upgrade the garage and install a new program of environmental graphics. In Scher's original concept, she wanted to fill the windows of the non-descript structure with the question “Did You Remember Where We Parked the Car?” City zoning, however, required more traditional signage on the façade, which Scher has rendered in elegant neon. The interior signage acts as a kind of backseat driver as one moves through the garage. Set in Verlag, the typographic pileup includes instructions for drivers—“Slow and steady wins the race,” “Don’t stop here, continue,” etc.—and supergraphics identifying parking levels and elevators. Scher’s original question remains unasked, waiting to be installed on another parking lot that empathizes with drivers everywhere. Project Team: Paula Scher, partner-in-charge and designer; Drew Freeman and Nikola Gottschick, designers. ]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2304 2010-12-16T15:24:10Z 2010-12-20T08:54:55Z

Photos of Thursday's event in the London office.

Tiffany Foster A select gathering were invited to Pentagram's London office on Thursday 9 December to meet Naresh. In spite of the concerns expressed in the invitation not a single graphic faux pas occurred. Pictures of some of the guests follow.]]> ]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2305 2010-12-16T14:00:00Z 2010-12-16T15:16:58Z

Michael Bierut's animation for the @nytimesmagazine Year In Ideas issue

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Have you ever sent an email in the heat of the moment that you later regretted? Have you ever received such an email? (We have.) Imagine software that would auto-correct your messages to eliminate harsh words, smooth over rough language, and magically turn stormy to temperate. The 10th Annual Year in Ideas issue of the New York Times Magazine reports on an email plug-in by Canadian startup Lymbix that does just that. To illustrate the concept, the Times commissioned Pentagram to create a short animated film for the magazine's online edition. Michael Bierut and Christina Nizar imagined a personal avatar capable of turning any nasty email into something perfectly (more or less) innocuous. To see the other ideas, including animations by Buck, Grandchildren, and Studio AKA, visit the Year in Ideas site. The print edition will be published on December 17th.]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2303 2010-12-14T16:28:07Z 2010-12-14T14:27:52Z

Daniel Weil revisits the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Tiffany Foster From June 2004, I spent five and a half years designing the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archeological Wing of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. When the wing was opened in July this year, to great acclaim, I felt proud and very privileged to have been part of the renewal and elevation of a great museum to world class status. Returning there in November allowed me to see the wing from the point of view of a visitor - to experience the unique chronological narrative in its galleries. And what I saw most clearly was the story of light. The light of Jerusalem is the major protagonist in the Archeological Wing’s experience, as the journey of this unique history goes from dark to light, triggering the emotions of the visitor. ]]> First I walked into the entrance gallery where there is no natural light: a theatre (in centre stage, the extraordinary sarcophagi from Canaan. Then followed the natural light into Gallery 1 (The Dawn of Civilisation, 1.5million to 6,500 B.C.), arranged from dark colour to light colour: the first human hunter gatherers (120,000 B.C.) to agricultural settlements (10,000 B.C.) and metallurgic revolution (Copper Age, 6,500 B.C.). Then I journeyed through a cave-like space into the Bronze Age, Gallery 2 (The Land of Canaan 3,500 to 1150 B.C.). I was struck how the sun shone through the high perimeter windows onto the gallery’s back wall, highlighting the magnificence of the original 1962 building designed by Alfred Mansfeld now completely restored and inhabited by remarkable archaeological finds such as the two basalt lions from Hazor. From there I walked into the Iron Age Gallery 3 (Israel and the Bible, 1150 to 586 B.C.) where the morning sunlight guided me into the three magnificent spaces from kingdoms to exile into Gallery 4 (Greeks, Romans and Jews, 333 B.C. to 70 A.D.) - a gallery with large windows and outside views. I passed through this gallery of enlightenment and into Gallery 5 (Under Roman Rule, 70 to 330 A.D.), a dark passage with the imposing bronze bust of Hadrian illuminated at its centre, aligned with the marble beauty of Aphrodite which was glowing in natural light. I then faced the most theatrical experience of all, Gallery 6 (The Holy Land, 330 to 750 A.D.). This gallery, celebrating three co-existing monotheistic religions, is four times larger and more dramatic than the other galleries and is crowned and framed by 360 degree skylights to striking effect. Finally I arrived at the last chapter, Gallery 7 (Muslims and Crusaders, 750 to 1517 A.D.) in which European stone carvings and frescoes competed for attention with Ayyubid and Mamluk artifacts and stone carvings. All in all, I spent two full days in the galleries: mornings, afternoons and evenings - three different experiences, each one a celebration of the architecture, the archeological finds and light.]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2302 2010-12-13T17:00:00Z 2010-12-13T18:14:12Z

Michael Gericke and Michael Bierut design the new logo for @bigtenconf #bigten

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com The Big Ten Conference is the U.S.’ oldest and largest Division I college athletic association. Founded in 1896, the conference is comprised of schools located mainly in the Midwest and includes world-class academic institutions such as Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue, Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin–Madison. Big Ten schools compete at the highest level of NCAA competition in basketball and football, and over the past decade the Big Ten has led all conferences with national titles in different sports including volleyball, track and field, cross country, wrestling, hockey, soccer, tennis and golf. Despite its name, the conference has included 11 member schools since Penn State joined in 1990, and it will add University of Nebraska – Lincoln as its 12th member in July 2011. Pentagram’s Michael Gericke (a graduate of the University of Wisconsin) and Michael Bierut (husband of 30 years to an Ohio State alumna) have designed the new logo for the conference, announced today. The conference’s previous logo hid an “11” in the negative space around the “T” in “Ten.” The new logo evolved from this use of negative space and is built on the conference’s iconic name without reference to the number of member institutions. "Seeing two numbers at once is clever, but it means redesigning the logo every time the conference expands," says Bierut. "It was time for something direct and simple." The resulting logo features contemporary collegiate lettering with an embedded numeral “10” in the word “BIG,” which allows fans to see “BIG” and “10” in a single word. “The new logo was developed to symbolize the conference’s future, as well as its heritage and tradition of competition,” says Gericke. "Going forward, fans will know The Big Ten will always be the Big Ten." “The new Big Ten logo provides a contemporary identifying mark unifying twelve outstanding institutions,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “It conveys some elements from the past while simultaneously introducing new features. We think the new logo is fun and has something for everyone.”]]> Project Team: Michael Gericke and Michael Bierut, partners-in-charge and designers; Don Bilodeau, Joe Marianek, Matt McInerney, Michelle Leong, Jed Skillins, designers.]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2300 2010-12-09T19:30:00Z 2010-12-09T19:36:32Z

Daniel Weil's Clock for an Architect Featured in Fast Company

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Daniel Weil's Clock for an Architect Featured in Fast Company tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2299 2010-12-09T19:00:00Z 2010-12-10T16:43:11Z

Eddie Opara designs the book for Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's show @studiomuseum

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Lynette Yiadom-Boakye is a rising British artist of Ghanaian descent whose paintings are centrally focused on the human figure. Her work is influenced by painters like John Singer Sargent, Francisco Goya and Edouard Manet, but her portraits are fictional: she is also a writer, and in her paintings she creates characters with complicated back stories that are only hinted at in the dark tones, monochromatic backgrounds and thick, textured brushwork. The Studio Museum in Harlem is currently presenting Any Number of Preoccupations, Yiadom-Boakye’s first solo museum exhibition in the U.S., on view through March 13, 2011. Pentagram’s Eddie Opara and Brankica Harvey have designed the catalogue for the exhibition. The book includes the 24 portraits featured in the show and a short story by Yiadom-Boakye and essays by curator Naomi Beckwith and critic Okwui Enwezor. The book's simple, elegant design complements the formal atmosphere of Yiadom-Boakye’s paintings. Opara previously designed the Studio Museum magazine and Stealth, a poster installation at the museum. A look inside the book after the jump.]]> Project Team: Eddie Opara, partner-in-charge and designer; Brankica Harvey, designer.]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2301 2010-12-09T16:16:19Z 2010-12-09T17:02:04Z

Domenic Lippa Wins Gold and Silver at Eurobest

Tiffany Foster Domenic Lippa Wins Gold and Silver at Eurobest tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2298 2010-12-06T02:51:39Z 2010-12-06T22:52:46Z

Daniel Weil designs a clock that exposes the workings of time.

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Privately commissioned to create a gift for an architect, Daniel Weil created a one-of-a-kind clock that is both simple and complex. Reducing objects to their component parts has long fascinated Weil. The Radio in a Bag he created for his degree show at the Royal College of Art three decades ago is an icon of 20th century industrial design. This clock is the latest demonstration of his interest in investigating not just how objects look, but how they work. ]]> Constructed in ash and nickel-plated brass and silver, the clock is built of five separate elements. The numbers, both hours and minutes, are inscribed on the face and interior of a 9 3/4-inches diameter ring. The mechanism for setting the time connects with the central mechanism with visible rubber belts. A single AA battery provides power to the clock through visible power strips that are recessed in the assembly's base. (Note the different screws that support the battery stand, keyed to the positive and negative poles of the power source.) And, befitting the object's recipient, the housing for the central mechanism takes the form of, literally, a house. "Objects like clocks are both prosaic and profound," says Weil. "Prosiac because of their ubiquity in everyday life, profound because of the mysterious nature of time itself. Time can be reduced to hours, minutes and seconds, just as a clock can be reduced to its component parts. This doesn't explain time, but in a way simply exposes its mysterious essence." ]]> tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2297 2010-12-03T14:10:00Z 2010-12-03T14:29:22Z

GE Capital CFO Survey Is Fast Company's Infographic of the Day

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com GE Capital CFO Survey Is Fast Company's Infographic of the Day tag:pentagram.com,2010:/en//5.2286 2010-12-03T14:00:00Z 2010-12-03T15:47:42Z

Lisa Strausfeld designs data visualization mapping CFO confidence in the economy.

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, and the economy has been slowly improving over the past year, but what does the recovery look like for the average business? In a survey, GE Capital, the financial services unit of GE, asked 530 CFOs of middle-market companies in seven major industries about their confidence in the recovery. GE Capital is one of the biggest lenders to small and midsize companies and provides financial products and services for over 1 million businesses around the world. In the U.S., midsize companies represent GE’s primary market and are a significant engine of growth for the economy. The CFOs participating in the survey—not necessarily customers of GE Capital—represented companies that had $50 million to $1 billion in annual revenue, with an average of $144 million. The survey provides a comprehensive portrait of the state of the economy and business, and GE Capital Americas commissioned Pentagram’s Lisa Strausfeld and her team to create a data visualization that dynamically illustrates the survey results. The project is the latest in an ongoing collaboration between Pentagram and GE to make information more accessible to consumers. Strausfeld and her team previously designed visualizations for GE about hospital quality and home appliance energy use. “GE continues to believe that data visualization is a powerful way to simplify and advance our shared understanding of the issues shaping our lives—health, energy, and the economy,” says Camille Kubie, leader of GE’s data visualization initiative. ]]> In the CFO survey, questions were organized in various categories including outlook; revenues and profits; hiring and spending; credit and financing; and external dynamics. The visualization plots the corresponding CFO responses on a scale of Optimistic versus Pessimistic. Questions like “Will your company’s revenues decrease, stay the same, or increase in 2010?” and “Will you be hiring throughout the remainder of 2010?” rate responses on the scale between Increases versus Decreases, Strong versus Weak, etc. The seven major industries covered in the survey—food, beverage and agriculture; healthcare; manufacturing; metals and mining; retail; technology and business services; and transportation—are each represented by a different color. An industry average across sectors is also presented, in gray. So are things looking up? The visualization graphically illustrates the mixed feelings about the recovery. The outlook has improved—none of the CFOs anticipate a double-dip recession—and the visualization allows users to examine in detail various points of concern, like industry growth and cost of capital. Selecting different industries turns on color overlays, allowing users to make comparisons between different sectors: hiring is growing in technology and healthcare, for example, but shrinking in manufacturing. Users can see the larger view in the industry average and compare these results to specific industries; they can also compare responses between the first and third quarters of 2010. (GE plans to update the visualization every two quarters.) Some questions go into greater depth, where pop-up bar charts show specific responses by industry. Rollovers in each industry headers describe how GE Capital is helping businesses in those sectors. Project Team: Lisa Strausfeld, partner-in-charge and designer; Hilla Katki, data architect and designer; Adam Suharja, developer and designer.]]> tag:pentagram.com,2009:/en//5.1362 2010-12-03T12:36:00Z 2010-12-28T17:04:09Z

Follow Pentagram on Twitter

Kurt Koepfle pentagram.com Follow Pentagram on Twitter