Thrive Skin Institute, a Chicago school that provides skin care technicians with advanced training, needed updates to their existing brochure. As well as updating the course information, we gave the piece a facelift by making it larger, using a more contemporary typeface throughout, and adding brighter colors that coordinate with the Institute’s website. Clinical photos featuring technicians, rather than dermatology patients, better reflect the intended audience of prospective students.

An eight-foot trade show display was created for use at industry events.

The University of Washington’s new Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute required a visual identity. Part of the research for this project meant a survey of imagery associated with molecular engineering. Since many molecular models contain hexagonal shapes, a hexagon was appropriate for the logo mark. The institute is a growing community of interdisciplinary researchers, so we opted for a multi-colored logo with facets reflecting the diversity of these collaborations. And because the institute is focused on the areas of CleanTech and biotech with a new LEED-certified, energy efficient building, green is the dominant color.

The interior of the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building will feature a mural with a subtle pattern of triangles, so we referenced the pattern on the website’s background and at the bottom of two-sided information sheets.

The institute has administrative staff capable of working in Adobe InDesign, so I created editable templates for all of the marketing collateral. As a result, the department is able to produce its own postcards and information sheets. They can add text, choose colors from the brand palette, insert new photos, and create one- or two-sided information sheets as needed. The sheets don’t have bleeds, so they can be printed easily on a desktop printer or emailed as PDF files.

The client can mix and match postcard fronts and backs, depending on whether the piece requires a mailing panel or not. The colors in solid areas can be changed easily to create a series of designs that relate, yet vary.

Several different page templates were developed for the website so that various kinds of content could be accommodated flexibly. Because the identity is based on simple geometric shapes—hexagons, triangles, and diagonal lines—it’s easily adaptable for creating fresh, branded materials for years to come.

Accenture: From “Accent on the future.“ Formerly Anderson Consulting, the name was proposed by an employee during an internal naming process.

Adobe Systems: From Adobe Creek located behind the house of co-founder John Warnock.

Arby’s: The enunciation of the initials of its founders, the Raffel Brothers.

CVS: Originally Consumer Value Stores, CEO Tom Ryan has said he now considers “CVS” to stand for “Customer, Value, and Service.”

Kinko’s: From the college nickname of founder Paul Orfalea, called “Kinko” because of his curly red hair. The company was purchased by FedEx in 2004.

Nabisco: Formerly The National Biscuit Company, changed in 1971 to Nabisco.

Pepsi: Named from the digestive enzyme pepsin.

Skype: The original concept for the name was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which morphed into Skyper, then Skype.

Sprint: From its parent company, Southern Pacific Railroad INTernal Communications.

Verizon: A portmanteau of veritas (Latin for ”truth”) and horizon.

Volvo: From the Latin word volvo, which means “I roll.”

Yahoo!: A word first appearing in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, a “yahoo” is a member of a race of brutes who have the form and all the vices of humans. Yahoo! founders David Filo and Jerry Yang jokingly considered themselves yahoos.

Source: Wikipedia

Here’s to a merry Christmas and a happy new year! Please help yourself to a set of printable bottle tags, fun for dressing up wine or champagne for new year’s parties. Download the PDF right here, print at 100%, and cut out the gift tags.

May your 2012 be happy and blessed!

Today Pantone, the provider of color standards for the design industry, announced that Tangerine Tango is the color of the year for 2012. Orange is my favorite hue, so I’m delighted to learn that all the homemade cookies I mailed to the Pantone Color Institute paid off. Better luck next time, khaki! We can expect to see manufacturers of consumer products producing plenty of tangerine goodies in the next year. To add more of this red-orange hue around the office, check out these fun products, clockwise:

Three-ring binder from Russell and Hazel, Exacompta refillable journal, Orla Kiely leather satchel, Uni-ball gel pen, and Pantone’s official Tangerine Tango mug.

My portfolio website has undergone a makeover. While I love minimal designs and lots of white space, it seemed helpful to offer more information about what I do, show larger work samples, and add more ways of navigating through projects. A huge thank you goes to Jenn de la Fuente of Rosebud Designs who turned my Photoshop layout into this new-and-improved site!