We were commissioned by Clayton Strange at Harvard GSD to design a book of his research on Monotowns, an urban development concept from the 1920's and 30's. Above is the initial cover design sent to the publisher while the rest of the book is underdevelopment.
We were brought into to rethink the strategy, structure and design of the Choices.edu website. This project was more than a simple redesign of what existed, but included a need to integrate content areas that existed elsewhere, were missing or streamline redundant content while also bringing the website inline with a new communication strategy which we also advised on. Developed by Jake and Co.
We worked with PeaceLove to develop a visual identity and event engagement strategy for their annual Peace of Mind Storytellers event. PeaceLove is an organization dedicated to using expressive arts and storytelling to raise mental health awareness, and to aid people with mental health issues.
PeaceLove needed a visual identity system that evoked their brand, expressive arts, storytelling and additionally capture the spirit of the Storytellers event, which is about sharing personal stories that are powerful, emotional and inspiring.
We worked closely with design Karla Ferrara on this project as well as a class of design students from Boston University. The class was an experience design class that Nick teaches, and worked on developing different engagement experiences which surrounded the main event of the Storytellers on stage.
As part of our collaboration with Epic Decade, we worked with Commerce RI to develop a full foundation brand story and logic alongside a full visual system to support their newly created logo created by Milton Glaser.
As native Rhode Islanders, we were able to fully immerse ourselves in the development of the brand story and landed on a central brand idea, that Rhode Island is local. From there we developed a full brand architecture and visual system driven by the idea of being local and what the means in Rhode Island
We worked with Epic Decade to develop a research and strategy document for executives at Capital One Bank to help inform their strategy of customer experience design surrounding their small business programs.
In this book we research a set of case studies and developed a frame work for planning holistic customer experience programs. The book was designed to additionally get people within Capital One on the same page of what it means to raise the level of importance of design when it comes to customer experience.
Working with Epic Decade we developed a strategy and conceptual approach for a summer ad campaign to promote tourism in the state of Rhode Island.
We developed a model of sourcing images from native Rhode Islanders, using a hashtag #myRIstory—asking them to share images of their favorite places in Rhode Island, on social media. The logic being, when you want to visit a place, you wan to find out where the local favorites are, not just the well trodden tourist destinations.
She Offered The Robber A Glass Of Wine, And That Flipped The Script
July 15, 20167:48 AM ET
eard on Morning Edition
Nick
AUTHOR: CADE METZ.
CADE METZ BUSINESS DATE OF PUBLICATION: 07.21.16.
07.21.16
TIME OF PUBLICATION: 12:00 PM.
12:00 PM
FACEBOOK’S GIANT INTERNET-BEAMING DRONE FINALLY TAKES FLIGHThttp://www.wired.com/2016/07/facebooks-giant-internet-beaming-drone-finally-takes-flight/
‘[Bones] don't tell you about how we lived and loved and dressed and danced,’
There is something so beautiful in leaving behind a story, a lasting beautiful record of life. It’s a labor of love to document stories in such a physical way. It takes thought, time, reflection and effort. It not only requires one to think about their own story, but to be mindful of the generations ahead understanding that our lives are more than just ours, they are a piece in a much larger ecosystem that spans long before we began and far after we have left.
This is something that we are vitally missing in our culture today. This sense that not all value should be judged within the framework of here and now but within the stretch of time before and the time ahead.
‘We might have recorded that -- it's on pictures -- but you cannot take the pride in it. You can only say it used to be here, but it is no longer there.’
How do we live and love and dress and dance? What are we passing along to our children for them to pass along to their children? What have we learned from our parents? Our ancestors? What are we taking pride in and ensuring that it doesn’t become ‘no longer there’?
These questions don’t just apply to environmental sustainability but also to traditions and knowledge and art.
Every thing, every action, takes on a different meaning when it’s being looked at through the lens of centuries rather than hours.
Yes we must live in the moment but that moment doesn’t exist in isolation, it is a part of an expansive universe full of moments that are all connected making us simultaneously small and infinitely vast.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Does Subsidizing Crops We're Told To Eat Less Of Fatten Us Up?
July 18, 20163:14 PM ET
Allison Aubrey
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/18/486051480/we-subsidize-crops-we-should-eat-less-of-does-this-fatten-us-up
Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, DJ Jazzy Jeff to headline DNC concert
By Deena Zaru, CNN
Updated 5:55 PM ET, Tue July 19, 2016
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/lady-gaga-hillary-clinton-democratic-convention/index.html
Despite The Headlines, Steven Pinker Says The World Is Becoming Less Violent
July 16, 20165:02 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
“…we must not assume that society is falling apart. We're pretty safe. Remember that terrorists in particular, really, by design, distort our view of violence. That's almost what terrorism means.”
With all of the news these past few weeks my heart is broken. It certainly doesn’t feel like the world is becoming less violent. It’s gotten to the point where our morning routine includes holding our breaths trying to prepare ourselves for the headlines of pain and suffering.
And while the world overall, may be “becoming less violent” this country doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. What struck me about this interview was the fact that our own media, political candidates and institutions seem to embody the definition of terrorism and the resulting affects from their acts are just as painful when they result in the basic rights that should be granted to us all as humans are questioned.
Today in the news: Racism, political vitriol, citizens shot, police killed and politicians make some speeches.
A year of open uncivil disobedience
divisiveness in the country has reach such a boiling point as a result of the election season that that it is now truly coloring the rationale perspective of americans on incredibly important and lasting issues.
there is no real real discussion or debate right now. No thoughtful thinking. We are speaking at once too specifically and too broadly and mostly too loudly without action. It’s what plays in the media, makes for exciting TV i guess. In fact it has truly become reality TV. Open displays of hatred, tension, racism we appear to be creating lasting scars, or at least opening up old wounds.
Our politicians, our elected officials by and large refuse to take ownership of issues, and lead the public discourse as our elected leaders. This, to me, is civil disobedience become uncivil disobedience in which instead of non-violent resistance to government or law, the government itself is failing to act. Self preservation is leading to in-action.
It is important for people to start their own small movements, to rise above the hate and anger and obstruction. My favorite example from the past few weeks of craziness: Mike Monteiro, a designer from San Francisco has leveraged his following on twitter to rally people to report gun sales on Facebook (an apparent raging problem and violation of Facebooks supposed rules) and have these posts, and groups taken down or removed from Facebook. Its has been incredibly successful.
Internal studio projects at Station are categorized as #filterofperspective. The idea behind the projects is to actively respond to the world around us through the filter of our own perspective. While this is a way for us to keep our eyes open, keep thinking and to share that with everyone, we also encourage anyone who would like to participate to feel free to send us stuff or share things using #filterofperspective.
Amanda + Nick, Station
We each will create a response to something from the days current events before 12pm without talking to each other about. Current events can be anything, but should be public facing. Our responses can be personal, but the event itself should be public facing and could be anything in the "morning news"—from anywhere: CNN, huffpost, Facebook, etc.
The responses can take any form: Written, Photo / Static Visual, Video / Motion
We will share our responses by 12pm each day. By 12am we will then create something new with the 2 pieces of content and post here to the site.
We were brought in to this project by Epic Decade because of our expertise in brand and visual identity work. We helped Now What, a New York based research and strategy firm, reimagine their business model and reposition themselves in a way to help celebrate what made them unique in a very competitive landscape.
We worked with Now What and designer Keith Kitz to develop the visual identity system for the Inteleos family of brands.
We worked closely with Anthony Acciavatti for 3 years to develop the design of this book alongside his intensive research on the Ganges River. The result is a comprehensive collection of research, a 400 page immersive treatise on the history and vision for the future of the Ganges River.
"Sumptuous, stark, encyclopedic and prescient, here find an atlas historical and visionary, grounded in serendipitous fieldwork and bold design." – John R. Stilgoe, Harvard University
Anthony Acciavatti, the principal investigator and author, is a graduate of Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and a principal of Somatic Collaborative, an award winning architecture and urban design practice in New York City. He has taught at Columbia University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Northeastern University. For almost a decade, Acciavatti has traveled by foot, boat, and car documenting the expanse of the river Ganges, from its source in the Himalayas to the historic city of Patna nearly 1,000km down stream. A J. William Fulbright Fellowship as well as grants from the Ford Foundation and Harvard University, amongst others, have supported his work on the Ganges.
We worked with Carlos Garciavelez and Felipe Correa at Harvard GSD to develop this publication, presenting research and project on urbanism for Mexico City. In addition to visual design we worked closely with the research team to develop the layout structure.
Felipe Correa is Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Design and Director of the Urban Design Degree Program at Harvard University. A New York-based architect and urbanist, his most recent research focuses on resource extraction models within the South American continent and the diverse models of urbanization these have enabled.
We worked with Carlos Garciavelez at Harvard GSD to develop this publication of his research on the architecture and planning of university campuses throughout Latin America.
We were commissioned by Epic Decade to collaborate on the development and strategy for the Change by Design Summit for Amex OPEN and additionally produce a kit that was given to each attendee at the summit. The kit was designed to contain a number of design thinking tools to be used throughout the duration of the summit and was part toolkit, part inspiration for the attendees. We helped develop the content and designed each component of the boxed kit, including the custom design of the package itself.
We developed a combination premium invitation and context setting tool kit for the Nexus Summit. The summit was intended to be to staging ground for a set of sustainability initiatives for Wood Buffalo, Alberta Canada
We were commissioned by design thinking studio, Epic Decade to refine and expand the visual identity system for their initiative Next North. Nexus North was a temporary project to help effect the cultural conversation around sustainability in Wood Buffalo, Alberta Canada. Wood Buffalo is a small community at the center of the oil sands debate in Northern Alberta. Through this initiative the hope was to help imagine Wood Buffalo as a model for sustainable living in context to the debate of fossil fuels. In addition to the visual identity we were commissioned to design a new website for the initiative and a tool kit that doubled as invitation for an inaugural summit originally planned to take place at the Banff Arts Center. Unfortunately the political landscape in Wood Buffalo changed, causing the shutting down of this initiative.
We designed a new website for the Nexus North Initiative. The website was meant to be an informational hub, a library of resources and toolkits, and a network for a new fellowship initiate to connect with the general population. As a result of the cancellation of the initiative the website is no longer active.
We were commissioned by design thinking studio, Epic Decade to refine and expand the visual identity system for their initiative Next North. Nexus North was a temporary project to help effect the cultural conversation around sustainability in Wood Buffalo, Alberta Canada. Wood Buffalo is a small community at the center of the oil sands debate in Northern Alberta. Through this initiative the hope was to help imagine Wood Buffalo as a model for sustainable living in context to the debate of fossil fuels. In addition to the visual identity we were commissioned to design a new website for the initiative and a tool kit that doubled as invitation for an inaugural summit originally planned to take place at the Banff Arts Center. Unfortunately the political landscape in Wood Buffalo changed, causing the shutting down of this initiative.
We were commissioned by design thinking studio, Epic Decade to refine and expand the visual identity system for their initiative Next North. Nexus North was a temporary project to help effect the cultural conversation around sustainability in Wood Buffalo, Alberta Canada. Wood Buffalo is a small community at the center of the oil sands debate in Northern Alberta. Through this initiative the hope was to help imagine Wood Buffalo as a model for sustainable living in context to the debate of fossil fuels. In addition to the visual identity we were commissioned to design a new website for the initiative and a tool kit that doubled as invitation for an inaugural summit originally planned to take place at the Banff Arts Center. Unfortunately the political landscape in Wood Buffalo changed, causing the shutting down of this initiative.
The design of the identity was inspired by the location of the town of Wood Buffalo, and the undistorted view of constellations, and aurora borealis. Additionally the constellation effect was meant to feel aspirational, and looking towards a north star vision. The number of "stars" represented in the Nexus North constellation identity represent each of the 9 organizing frameworks established for the initiative.
We were commissioned to design a web platform for storytelling that would allow a community of students and alumni of the Swearer Center to share their stories of public service.
