Highlighting Art of Yesterday’s Tomorrow

Art Radebaugh article by Tim Lapetino for Geek Magazine

Sometimes the tomorrow of yesterday is even more intriguing than the present. It’s fun to look back at past predictions of what “the future” would look like — flying cars, spaceports, food pills. But buried beneath some of those fanciful ideas are nuggets of insight and amazing visions.

Futurist and artist Art Radebaugh was one of those visionaries. Radebaugh was known for his beautiful airbrushed illustration and syndicated newspaper strips “Closer Than We Think” and “Can You Imagine?” in the late 50s and early 1960s. Each of the hundreds of entries he created was a jaunt into possibility, as his artistry was inspired by snippets of scientific breakthroughs or upcoming technologies.

Hexanine partner Tim Lapetino is working on efforts to preserve the work and name of Radebaugh, and wrote an article this month for our friends at Geek Magazine on the artist. It’s featured in the August 2013 issue of the magazine.

Read on…

Our Work Wins An FPO Award

FPO Award for Hexanine

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

Golden Apple Foundation 2013 Direct Mail design

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.

Jason Moderates AIGA LA Blueprint Event

Hexanine Co-Founder Jason Adam Moderates AIGA Los Angeles Blueprint Event

Last week I had the privilege of moderating the panel discussion at the premiere event in our AIGA Los Angeles Blueprint series. We brought four of LA’s finest independent designers to NextSpace in Culver City, CA for a two-hour discussion on the business of freelancing.

While freelance designers love to talk about their creative work, they’re often less fond of talking about their businesses. Such “boring” topics as accounting, taxes, legal issues, business strategy and client relations are often considered necessary evils, reflected by their time spent in the conversational spotlight.

And that’s no good.

Read on…

Interview at Freelance Unleashed

Hexanine: Tim Lapetino 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

Hexanine: Apocalypse Survival Kit

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

Hexanine: Kia Motors Open Road Magazine and Gruppo Cordenons Stardream swatchbook

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

Hexanine: Tim Lapetino speaking at Robert Morris University

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

Hexanine: Golden Apple Holiday Card

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.

Read on…