New at Pentagram
Hallelujah! It's a Pentagram Revival
On the evening of Saturday, 5 April, the Austin office and 250 of its closest friends had a “Revival” party to celebrate Pentagram’s commitment to the city of Austin and to give away our newest publication, the Black Book, affectionately nicknamed “The Bible” because it is printed on bible paper. The festive, eclectic crowd gathered under a big tent set up in the parking lot of the Pentagram building, where they were entertained first by the Durden Family gospel band and then by a driving rock and roll set from The Nouns. Guests included Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, the renowned Texas artist, and Joe Ely of the Flatlanders, fresh off a Houston gig with Bruce Springsteen.
It was an unforgettable night. Pictures after the jump!
Introducing the Black Book
Pentagram is pleased to announce the publication of the Black Book, a new 800-page overview of our recent work. The book is a compilation of over 400 projects from the last several years, arranged in alphabetical order, like a dictionary, and printed on Bible paper, like a Bible, complete with tabbed sections and ribbons for bookmarking. It covers pretty much everything we do, from architecture to graphics, buildings to websites, branding to signage, interiors, packaging, exhibitions, interfaces, furniture, products, brochures, magazines, and houses, all in simple picture-and-caption form.
CONTEST UPDATE: The Black Book giveaway contest is now closed. The 50 lucky winners will be contacted by email to confirm their information. We’ve had an overwhelming response—thanks to everyone for entering and for continuing to follow our work!
A look inside the Black Book after the jump.
New Work: A Texas Designer's Map of the World
To illustrate his theory that a Texan’s favorite pastime is bragging, Austin resident DJ Stout has created a “Texas Designer’s Map of the World” as a part of a promotion for Sappi Fine Paper. Based on the concept of a Texas Brag Map, the poster elucidates the worldview that everything is bigger and better in the Lone Star State. “It’s part of our Texas heritage and our collective sense of humor,” explains Stout. “My apologies to the other smaller, less interesting states on the map.”
The idea for the promotion, conceived of by Dana Arnett of VSA Partners, was to divide a map of the U.S. into six parts and assign each section to a graphic designer who resides within the region. When all six posters are put together, they form a giant map of the United States. “Of course I was given the Southwest,” says Stout “which includes the great state of Texas and a few other insignificant surrounding states.” Other participants include Art Chantry, Rick Valicenti, Paul Sahre, Clive Piercy and Tim Hussey. Sappi is sending the promotion to designers all over the country.
Download the map here. A few points of interest after the jump.
Continue reading "New Work: A Texas Designer's Map of the World"
New Work: ‘Dairy Today’
DJ Stout has redesigned the magazine Dairy Today that is launching this month. In addition to a bold new logotype, the magazine will feature a stylized “portrait” of a dairy cow on the cover of each issue in an effort to differentiate it from its competitors. This is the second dairy magazine and the sixth agricultural trade publication Pentagram’s Austin office has redesigned. Stout and his team previously reworked three magazines for the American Quarter Horse Association, Dairy Herd Management magazine and Drovers magazine (about the beef industry).
How does one art direct a cow? Video after the jump.
New Work: ‘Las Vegas Life’
DJ Stout and Julie Savasky have redesigned Las Vegas Life magazine. Launching this month, Las Vegas Life is a city magazine concerned with the issues of the entire city, the suburbs and the whole surrounding area. “Even though it is more of a traditional city magazine my feeling was that Las Vegas Life is about a very glamorous high-rolling city that is unlike any other place in the world,” says Stout. “I felt that it should be a city magazine on par with cities like Los Angeles or New York, but true to itself. Our objective was to keep the design simple and intelligent and the photography and illustration contemporary, up-scale, sexy and glamorous, regardless of the subject matter.”
New Year, New Associates
Pentagram is pleased to have appointed three new associates over the closing months of 2007: Jane Plüer and Six Wu in London and Julie Savasky in the Austin office.
Jane Plüer has spent the last nine years at Pentagram working with both Justus Oehler and John Rushworth for clients that include Boots, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Egon Zehnder International, Faber & Faber, Hewlett-Packard, the Israel Museum, JP Morgan, Michelin and the Savoy Group. She will continue to work with Rushworth after her promotion.
Six Wu makes a welcome return to Pentagram where he spent seven years after graduating from the Royal College of Art working with Daniel Weil for clients such as Lego, Pantone, Swatch, Boots and United Airlines.
Julie Savasky has spent the last twelve years at Pentagram and has worked for both Lowell Williams and DJ Stout. Projects she has worked on during that time include Pentagram Book Five, packaging for SkinCeuticals, an identity and catalog redesign for Lands’ End, the book Longhorn Football: An Illustrated History and the redesign of Las Vegas Life magazine. She will continue to work with Stout after her promotion.
New Work: ‘Reflection of a Man’
DJ Stout has designed a new book of photographs by Stanley Marcus, the Neiman Marcus heir and the creative force behind the retailer’s success. Stanley, who passed away in 2002, was well-known as a man of refined taste and culture, but nobody really knew that he was also a photographer. What he photographed over the years, during his many trips around the world, were the things that a successful merchant and a man interested in fashion, style, architecture and design would document. “The challenge in designing the book,” says Stout, “was taking fairly ordinary snap-shots and presenting them in a design that was interesting and dynamic, but that also showed the world through the eyes of Stanley Marcus.”
Part of Neiman Marcus’s 100th anniversary celebration, the book is being sold exclusively at Neiman Marcus stores and through their online and holiday catalogs until January, when it will be available in bookstores nationwide. Reflection of a Man: The Photographs of Stanley Marcus is being distributed by the University of Texas Press.
Several spreads from the book after the jump.
Hillman Curtis Films Pentagram
Designer and filmmaker Hillman Curtis has directed a short documentary about Pentagram. Shot at each of Pentagram’s five offices, the film features a graphic presentation of the history of the partnership by Paula Scher, alongside interviews with a number of partners.
Click here to view the film at hillmancurtis.com
The film was originally shown at the 2007 D&AD President’s Lecture in London and is Curtis’ second on Pentagram, following one he made in 2005.
DJ Stout Looks Ahead for ‘New York’
Back to the future: DJ Stout contributes the High Priority illustration in this week’s issue of New York magazine.
New Work: Ruby Tuesday
DJ Stout and his Austin design team have collaborated with Ruby Tuesday to create an entirely new visual identity for the international chain of over 900 bar and grill restaurants. The new logotype and identity system is part of the chain’s effort to upgrade its brand by creating a healthier and higher quality casual dining experience and has been applied across the board to menus, take-out bags, cups, napkins, uniforms, signage, architecture, advertising, website and even a race car.
New Work: ‘Naked Ambition’
DJ Stout and his team in the Austin office have designed Naked Ambition: An R-rated Look at an X-rated Industry, just published by Rock Out Books. The book, intended as a social documentary exploration into the American porn industry, is composed of photographs culled from photographer Michael Grecco’s portraits and still lifes taken at the Adult Video News Awards and features introductions by David Navarro and Larry Flint along with titillating interviews with porn industry professionals.
When asked about designing a book about porn, DJ responded: “I’ve designed books on Mexican prostitutes, the Klu Klux Klan, women in prison, skin heads, violent gangs and now the world of pornography. I’ve also designed books and magazine features on pigs, dairy cows, computers, guitar players, lawyers, realtors and the entire history of Saudi Arabia…I preferred the porn book.”
Naked Ambition is being launched in conjunction with an exhibition at the Stephen Cohen Gallery that opens in Los Angeles on 25 October and at Photo Miami/Art Basel on 5 December.
Spreads after the jump. (SFW!)
Last of the White Hot Mamas
DJ Stout eulogizes former Texas governor Ann Richards and her signature cover for Texas Monthly on Design Observer.
“Wrong” STEP
DJ Stout is among the group of designers who participated in the cover solution exercise that dominates the current “Think Wrong” issue of STEP magazine. Alissa Walker provides play-by-play coverage: “A reigning king of editorial design, DJ Stout was closing in on two major magazine redesigns at the same time he completed his STEP covers. Stout and his astute team, Erin Mayes and Julie Savasky, savored the quick schedule and tight deadlines as a refreshing break from these long-term projects, and they were eager to break free of the editorial guidelines they’d been mired in for months…‘Every magazine wants to make the conceptual process of coming up with great covers into some kind of science,’ says Stout. ‘It’s not a science, it’s an art. Art scares people—especially magazine executives and circulation directors.’”
Awards Update: Society of Publication Designers
MFAH Today designed by DJ Stout
Selected for SPD41, in addition to winners previously announced:
MFAH Today (Silver Medal for Design, Entire Issue)
Austin Arts (Merit Award, Design, Entire Issue)
Lecture: DJ Stout at Success by Design Conference
DJ Stout will be giving a keynote presentation about strategies for brand success at this year’s Success by Design Conference, presented by the Center for Design and Business, a joint venture of Bryant University and the Rhode Island School of Design. Thursday, 27 April at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence. Registration information here.
Awards Update: Type Directors Club
In addition to the winners previously announced, the book First Down, Houston has been selected for TDC52.
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