Typographic Sound

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typographic sound

APRIL 24 · There is resonance in the sounds of secrets, in the names of those we love, in the things we long for. At the RISD Museum’s recent Design the Night event, we offered museum-goers a chance to give voice these prompts…by transforming typography into sound! The typeface they used was Staccato (an Emily Rye original), which is designed to adhere a 15-line musical staff—corresponding to the pins, or notes, inside a hand-cranked music box. During the workshop, we gave each participant a staff, a type specimen, and a punch in order to spell out the names of friends or family; to give voice to their hopes or secrets. Intermittently, the click of paper punches would quiet and a “score” would sound out from one of the music boxes in the space. Each was as variable, and personal, as is was beautiful. As for us, we couldn’t think of a better way to learn about typography, than to make some music together. (Many thanks to Erik Gould at the museum for the photos…check out his new book!).

“What a truly spectacular evening. Design Agency created something that was at once simple, beautiful and utterly delightful. It was a pleasure to see all ages engaged, strangers feel comfortable talking, and to watch people leave with looks of sheer pleasure on their faces.”  —Hollis Mickey, RISD museum educator

Introducing Staccato

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introducing Staccato

APRIL 17 · Staccato is a typeface designed to be both seen and heard. More specifically, we’ve designed it to be part of our upcoming Artist’s Lab workshop at the RISD Museum—Typographic Sound. The workshop will be offered as part of the Museum’s Design the Night series and in celebration of the exhibit Graphic Design: Now in Production. Drop by on Thursday April 17th, between 7-8:30, to hear Staccato for yourself! The event is free and open to the public, and includes lots of other friends and worthwhile happenings.

Here's to 40!

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here’s to 40!

JANUARY 31 · To celebrate the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities 40th Anniversary, we designed this limited edition chapbook of poems by State Poet Laureate Rick Benjamin. Each of three poems—In a Small State of Humanity, The Art of Being Human, and One Trimester in the Humanities—commemorate the milestone and were written in celebration of Arts & Humanities month in Rhode Island. 25 copies, pamphlet-stitched, with slipcover.

Wintertime Market Wayfinding

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wintertime market wayfinding

JANUARY 20 · Farm Fresh Rhode Island just may be our favorite neighbor in Hope Artiste Village (shhh…don’t tell New Harvest). So when they decided to expand the wintertime farmer’s market to both sides of our rambling mill building, we pitched in with some down-home wayfinding. Hand-stitched flags adorn each entrance, pennants thread through the hallways, and hand-panted signs are propped near doorways—all of them featuring Farm Fresh’s famous tomato on a backdrop of either green or yellow (depending on which hallway you’re in). Where we could, we used materials we had close at hand (the signs are made of reclaimed palettes from their warehouse) and braved some tall ladders, too. Good fun was had by all.

Moving into a New Year!

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moving into a new year!

DECEMBER 24 · When it comes to projects like overhauling our studio (part of which is inside this very box), or updating our blog (this post is merely a sign of good things to come), we believe two are better than one—that’s Emily on the right, of course, you can tell by the hair. 2013 has brought us some amazing new projects, opportunities to think together with new clients and collaborators, and ways to continue working towards the issues we care about. We’re excited to share that work with you in 2014. So stop by our studio, or here on our blog, this January to find out more.

Happy Holidays from Jane & Emily!

Read all about it!

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extra, extra—read all about it!

OCTOBER 15 · Communicating effectively with funders is an ongoing (and sometimes perplexing) question for non-profits. Occasionally, we work with a client who’s willing to try something completely different to get their point across. We designed this newspaper for The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities as a way to share outcomes of a proposed grant to the vanBeuren Charitable Foundation. The newspaper spoke directly, providing prompts for conversation and questions during their meeting and also as an engaging take-away for grant officers after the meeting was over. One month later, RICH announced it had secured the funding—a three-year, $500,000 grant for its Catalyzing Culture initiative which leverages Newport’s history to build an innovative cultural and economic sector for the city and state. While we’re not taking credit for the grant itself, we believe strongly that non-profits benefit from the ways in which design helps to tell their story, gives form to their intentions, and brings them closer to achieving their goals.

Updating a Classic

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updating a classic

The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities keeps close track of our state’s culture and history—but, at first, no one could pin down exactly where, or when, its own logo first surfaced. Like a fixture in your childhood home, it had always just been there. A little sleuthing into their archives revealed that the mark was nearly as old as the organization itself—designed in the late 1970’s by a student studying with Malcolm Grear. It would surprise any undergraduate student that one of their designs was still going strong 30+ years later…I think they’d also agree, that a little polishing was in order. So we set about redrawing the mark—transforming line into plane and surfacing its internal geometry—to allow for more dynamic use across the materials we were designing for their 40th Celebration. (& check out the logo in quilt form!)

Wedding Bells

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wedding bells

SEPTEMBER 28 · Alongside our client-based work this fall, we were busy designing a full suite of materials for Emily and Jesse’s big day. Like any designer, who also happens to be the bride, Emily went to town on the concept for the wedding—hand-made and vintage aesthetics; a palette of greens to balance out the fall foliage in Vermont; puzzle-like fun for the invitations. Like any good urban farmer, who also happens to be the groom, Jesse got busy canning and pickling gifts for their guests. The rest of us were happy to play our own parts—Jane hand-painting the signs, Sara Raffo scavenging seasonal foliage for the flowers, Emily Steffian designing the rings (like any good friends would be!). A wedding, when you think about, is just one big visual system played out across print materials, event spaces and virtual ones too. It’s no different from what we do every other day of the year at Design Agency—though we can’t help but hold this particular project close to our hearts. Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Rye!

Locally Made, RISD Museum

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Locally Made at the RISD Museum

SEPTEMBER 25 · At the center of the RISD Museum’s Locally Made exhibition was “One Room,” an experimental space which drew over 250 local artists, designers, performers, and community innovators to share their ideas in daily presentations. On the invitation of Patti Philips, RISD’s Dean of Graduate Studies, we developed an interactive workshop about our relationship to branding and our local visual landscape. Workshop attendees were given a pop quiz, asking them to identify brands they recognized in the alphabet we presented—and in turn to identify leaves from 26 of the most commonly planted trees in and around the museum. It sparked a conversation about what we notice in our environment and how a sense of curiosity (agency!) can help us become more deeply engaged with our community.

“What a fabulous and provocative experience you crafted for us today. You used a simple, polished, and thoughtful framework to make us reconsider what we’ve incorporated into our visual lexicon. Thank you for creating such a comfortable environment and accessible way of considering complex ideas.” —Hollis Mickey, RISD museum educator