After dinner our family took a “Cinderella” carriage ride through downtown Memphis. We went by the Cotton Exchange building, which, In my opinion, could be the most beautiful building in downtown Memphis. We passed the newly renovated limestone Post Office building, that’s now the the new U of M Law School. We clopped on through Confederate Park and then on to Court Square.

While in Court Square, we passed by one of the oldest buildings in Downtown Memphis—the completely funky, rough-hewn brick, terra cotta-roofed, Tennessee Club building (pictured)—now home to Burch, Porter & Johnson Law firm.

The Tennessee Club building holds a special place in my heart. The very first day of my first full-time job in Memphis, I was taken by a co-worker, Greg, to that building on a scouting trip for an identity development project for Burch, Porter and Johnson (BPJ). I had just been hired out-of-school as an art director at Archer Malmo, and that was my “intro to Memphis” project.

I learned a lot about Memphis through that project. And have already forgotten a lot that I Iearned. But I do remember about outdoorsman Lucius Burch, founding partner of BPJ, and his incredible contribution to the area’s nature conservation. The Lucius Burch State Natural Area is located in my favorite place in all of Memphis—my “happy place”—Shelby Farms.

I chose Illustrator Ken Jacobsen for that project, because of his character-filled style. And we created this distinct illustration of the Tennessee Club building for Burch Porter Johnson Law. Whenever I see the Tennessee Club building, I’m reminded me of optimistic, wide-eyed days gone by, and that makes me happy.

But most importantly—happy sixth birthday my dearest little girl, Lucy Fox. Being with you makes me happiest of all.

Shea and I went to Banff, Alberta, Cananda on our honeymoon and collected a bunch of those postcards, and they came in very handy for type and illustration style inspiration.

The structure in the back of this illustration is the dam at Pickwick Lake—where the retreat will be held.

By the way, how great are the design and colors of the Canadian Flag? A designer’s dream.

Thanks to Scott Campbell and his Camel ad illustrations for the style and inspiration.

To me, the most interesting aspect of this project was the rich history behind Hutchison School. One tidbit from that story is that Miss Hutchison’s school on Union Avenue had a beautiful arbor, under which, on pretty days, the girls would sit to do their lessons. I was asked to develop an option for presentation, and the image above to the left is what I produced. The lines of the “H”, for “Hutchison”, becoming the arbor, and the hanging vine becoming an “S”, for “school.”

They ended up going with the image above to the right, designed by Richard Williams, Sr. Art Director at the time. I was bummed out then, but in retrospect, I understand why they picked the option they did. I do, however, still believe in the power of the vine logo to tell and preserve a wonderful story about a Memphis educational institution—even though the design may never see the back window of an SUV.

And one final note. Whatever I lost on the Hutchison project, I was able to redeem on this one.

Our Mission:
To create valuable, and sustainable graphic identity systems
that beautifully and simply tell distinct stories.

Some great things have come out of the discipline of methodically working through this project. First, and possibly most important, I have a new “elevator pitch“. This retooled mission statement has been a filter that’s guided me along the path of production. Exactly what a mission statement should do.

Secondly, by taking it slow, I’ve been able to pay better attention to how the user will approach and use the site. I’ve learned from my user experience friends that this is an art in itself.

I’ve also continued to wrestle with the Fox Design Co. brand. I’ve decided to return to the logo I created back in 2001, with a few minor tweaks. I hope to post an evolution of that mark soon.

A new favicon and secondary graphic have also come out of the process. They’ll be around soon too.

As for the site being finished, I’m hoping in the next two weeks or so you’ll see the fruits of my tortoise-like labor.

John would be the first to tell you that every movie we’ve made has been at one point the biggest piece of garbage we’ve ever worked on.”
—Lee Unkrich, Director of Pixar’s “Toy Story 3″

From a fascinating article in Variety about John Lasster’s take on the role of failure in the creative process.