We recently had the privilege to work together with our friends at Neenah Paper and Unisource Worldwide to create the print collateral for an event co-created with AIGA Chicago. We created “collector coins” for an amazing panel event featuring some amazing designers in Chicago — including Steve Liska, Katherine Walker, Bart Crosby, Alisa Wolfson, Dawn Hancock, and moderator Rick Valicenti. You can see the project details here.
Our Work Wins An FPO Award
This news has already been announced, but we are sufficiently humbled and honored enough to talk about it in this space too. We’re excited to mention that our work for AIGA Chicago and Unisource on the AIGA Voices piece has been chosen as an FPO Award winner! The FPO Awards are an outgrowth of the design and production blog, FPO, run by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio of UnderConsideration. FPO and the rest of the “blog family” created by UnderConsideration have been favorites of ours for many years. We’re thrilled to be chosen in this year’s FPO Awards, and look forward to seeing all of the other winners in the upcoming printed book.
New Work: Polishing Golden Apple
We’ve been pretty quiet on the blog of late, but it’s only because we’ve been knee-deep in some great projects.
One of the latest pieces to launch continues the work we’re doing with Golden Apple Foundation. Our most recent direct mail collaboration is hitting mailboxes across Illinois and around the country this week. The vertical accordion fold piece highlights the great work Golden Apple is doing in transforming teachers and teaching. Their mission is fantastic, and we’re proud to have them as clients.
Interview at Freelance Unleashed
Hexanine partner Tim spent a little time talking to Chris Green of Freelance Unleashed, about the joys and challenges of building a design firm.
Here’s a snippet:
Be a designer because you love it. This profession is a little crowded with people who thought design was just cool, or who believed that this was a more practical path to an artist’s life. But Design with a capital D needs people who get jazzed about strategy and beauty combined.
Talking Design Strategy With HOW
Hexanine partner Jason Adam is featured in the latest print issue of HOW magazine, one of our favorite design publications. In the March International Design Awards Annual, he talked to our friend Terry Lee Stone about what makes design strategy compelling and crucial for all successful projects. Pick up a copy of the latest issue in print, or download it in the App Store.
Designing the End of the World
Well, the world didn’t come to an end in 2012. But our clients and friends were well-prepared, just in case. We made sure if it, sending out Apocalypse Survival Kits with all the necessary elements to ride out any random cataclysm. Check out more of the details and design, armageddon be damned.
New Work: Kia & Gruppo Cordenons
We love the work we do (and our great clients) so it’s always a happy moment when we share projects with the world. Two new projects come with their own blood, sweat, and tears of accomplishment. They include our first issue of Open Road magazine for Kia Motors, as well as the Stardream digital printing swatchbook for Gruppo Cordenons. Check out our portfolio links above for more details on each. Voilà!
Tim Speaking At RMU
I (Tim) will be speaking next week at Robert Morris University in Chicago, as part of the Call To Action Design Symposium, presented by RMU’s Institute of Art and Design. My talk is titled “Yesterday’s Tomorrow: Preparing For the Future of Design,” and focuses on what designers and other creatives can do to face tomorrow’s challenges — both within design, and for the greater world. Also, it’s always nice to share the bill with another awesome designer and friend, Justin Ahrens. Both Hexanine partners are available for speaking engagements, and you can reach out to us with requests at connect@hexanine.com.
New Work: Golden Apple Holiday Cards
To wrap up 2012 and give a heartfelt thanks to supporters, Golden Apple Foundation asked us to create a holiday card for their donors and friends. To stay within the project’s modest budget, our team opted to use digital printing provided by our excellent partners at Elk Grove Graphics. But despite the small quantities and budget, our team still wanted to utilize premium production techniques of the piece, making it feel even more special for recipients.