Studio 23

10/08/2022

We only get to Zofnass Family Preserve a few times each year and each is special. Today was no exception and the wet rocks and leaves added to the charm. We'll be at Michigan Road Lot tomorrow. Hope to see you there.

01/31/2020

Studio 23 helped relaunch Ridgefield VNA as RVNAhealth, creating an easily-navigated new website with increased capabilities and functionality. So far, we're proud to report everything is perfectly healthy.

05/23/2019

02/01/2019

Studio 23 has taken a turn inward and created a set of watch faces for ourselves to test our design skills at a minimalist format. We chose the Amazfit Bip as a platform which is an inexpensive watch that allows for a fair amount of customization and has features for tracking pulse, weather, steps, mileage, and day, date, and of course, time. While the watch can display a lot of data, it became clear early on that as more information is displayed, it became more difficult to read. Unimportant numbers competed with more critical information and, ultimately, we found ourselves gravitating toward simpler, more visual faces. Above are our favorites from the design exercise and if you’d like to download and install any of these faces on your Amazfit Bip, contact us. If you want to see more of our designs, you’ll just have to watch out.

10/30/2018

Connecticuti Eesti Kool, the Connecticut Estonian School, a learning institution primarily devoted to passing on Estonian cultural traditions to school-aged children throughout Connecticut, wanted to build a brand that was professional but not stuffy, traditional but playful. We developed a number of concepts using iconography appropriate to both Estonia and Connecticute and, ultimately, arrived at a solution that combined a series of leaves of various sizes to represent the growth of the students in the program. Colors were chosen to mirror the Estonian flag and a shield icon was used as a way to communicate tradition and education. While the school is just implementing the system now, they’ve been pleased with the reaction they’ve received from their audience. We think that’s very Kool.

02/14/2018

Judging a Book by its Cover: The 2019 U.S. Budget

The fiscal year 2019 budget proposal was recently released by the Trump administration and the cover reveals much about the contents and its focus. The overall design of the cover could be anything, really, so any critique will certainly seem like nit-picking to some—after all the layout doesn’t affect the numbers inside so why does the design even matter? But it is precisely because the design lacks constraints that makes this the perfect opportunity to ensure that it is well done.

WHAT THAT TITLE SAYS

An American Budget. I’ve tried to find as many past budgets as I could and have yet to see one that refers to the budget as an “American” budget. More typically, they’ve been called “Budget of the U.S. Government.” By labeling this an American budget, the administration is trying to use nationalism to woo acceptance of this document. It is easy to disagree with the U.S. Government, less so with America which implies a far greater scope.

For example, you may love your country but disagree with your government, that is an American tradition, but if you criticize “An American Budget,” you are criticizing America. Would that mean you are in jeopardy of being called treasonous? At a time when legislators who don’t clap for the president are called that, then perhaps.

Above the headline sits the qualifier, “Efficient, Effective, Accountable,” which aims to reassure the reader that the budget inside reflects these ideals. Unfortunately, it does not contain other qualifiers such as “Balanced,” “Non-Partisan,” “Equitable,” “Impartial,” “Civil,” “Forward-thinking,” or even “Fair.” Perhaps the inclusion of any of those words is for the best since they would have been seen by many only as ironic.

A FITTING DESIGN

As for the formal design of the cover, what does that communicate? First, the typeface for the title is Merriweather bold, designed by Sorkin Type Co. in 2010 and available free via Google fonts. The sans serif fonts appear to be Open Sans, another free font available from Google. The administration’s theme of making America great again proposes that we should buy American as a way to invest in our country’s future but by using free fonts instead of purchasing American-made ones, they’re choosing to not lead by example. While not an exorbitant expense by any stretch of the imagination, type design is a laborious process and type designers should be paid for their time and efforts.

The centered layout is a safe, if boring, choice. It looks like the cover of a hundred other books that will never be read. But the contemporary fonts used in this traditional layout are insincere and communicate a faux traditionalism—a look that wants to have the gravitas of a historical document without the sensitivity and understanding to achieve it. The use of the presidential seal screened in the background reinforces the theme that equates being an American with nationalism and the loyalty to its iconography—symbols, flags, and seals. Contrast that to the covers of the 2016 and 2017 budgets with their images of a bridge and a mountain. The bridge reminds us that part of the budget funds infrastructure and the mountain reminds us that part of the budget protects and defends our national resources. There is no such message with the 2019 cover.

The covers from 2012 and 2013 are without imagery but are designed to communicate efficiency and economy (instead of having to state that as additional text). The sans serif font feels modern and the hierarchy of messaging emphasizes “budget” over all else. The presidential seal here feels like a stamp of approval, as a personal validation of the budget and not as a larger-than-the-cover symbol of what it means to be American. These are quiet, thoughtful, and well-designed utilitarian covers.

PRODUCTION COSTS

Hopefully, all of these are printed on 100% recycled paper using soy inks on environmentally-friendly presses but I can’t tell. The 2016 and 2107 covers appear to have been printed in one color to minimize cost. The 2012 and 2013 may have also been printed in one color as well, certainly that is the most economical means of reproduction. Contrast that to the 2019 cover with at least two colors (both blues, one bright, one dull). That extra color adds an extra printing plate, more time to register the press, some added waste as a result, and increases the cost to the job some.

But I’m sure those extra costs are (ahem) in the budget.

The design could be far worse, of course, and if the goal is to produce something that is inoffensive rather than good, then, well, mission accomplished.

02/09/2018

If there were any question, this shows the importance of sweating the details.

And state lawmakers have dispensed with commas altogether in the relevant provision of the law.

02/07/2018

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, aside from being trusted news sources, share a common design element—the mastheads use a similar type style. Why?

A little typographic history

Johannes Gutenburg is credited with the creation of the movable type printing press in Europe around 1438. While wood block printing was common in the 1300s, the innovations that Gutenburg made—oil-based inks, movable and reusable type, a matrix to enable the moulding of new type blocks—allowed for the mass production of books and would lead to the proliferation and democratization of information on a scale never seen before.

His printing types were based on the handwritten texts of Western Europe and particularly of his native Germany at the time so that his books would be indistinguishable from the more labor-intensive, hand-copied manuscripts. At the time, Europe was in the middle of the Gothic architectural style with its pointed arches and flying buttress colonnades and these designs influenced the handwriting style. Text became more condensed, more stylized, and the result was Blackletter, also known as Textura (and the reason we call written passages of words “text” today).

The earliest newspapers date to 1605 in Germany and used that same traditional texture font, though, as the printing technology spread and Gothic styles gave way to the Renaissance, other regions developed fonts that bore resemblance to their local handwriting. In Italy and France, for example, their early typefaces were based on humanistic scripts, and to our eyes, look very familiar.

But why would a German publication from 1605 affect the mastheads of today’s newspapers?

In a word—tradition. By the time the first printing presses were running in the colonies, the style of Gothic revival had spread in architecture. Initial caps in publications and manuscripts drew on that style as inspiration. The Declaration of Independence begins with Gothic-inspired calligraphy before transitioning to a humanistic script. The famous “We the People” from the constitution is also a form of Gothic-inspired calligraphy.

When modern newspapers began publication (the New York Times was first published in 1851), they adopted mastheads that conveyed a sense of historical significance, tradition, importance, and trust to their readers. Though Gothic Blackletter writing hadn’t been popular on a large scale in 300 years, they adopted the forms in their mastheads as a means of conveying these qualities. We still associate the Blackletter style with ideas of tradition, trust, and importance today and, after all, isn’t that what we want from our news sources?

One dark note to the Gothic letter forms—because of their German heritage, they were a favorite of the N***s and, today, are often seen in neo-Nazi and white supremacist literature, symbology, and tattoos. Clearly, these Gothic forms convey a lot of meaning with regard to their historical context and, viewed through the lens of history, may signify very different things to different groups. A sense of history and tradition, yes, but who’s history and which traditions the reader will have to decide.

02/02/2018

This week, the president of the United States invited visitors to his State of the Uniom address. That’s not my typo, that’s his. How can this happen? What does it take to make sure an official communication from the president of the United States is spelled correctly? It’s revealing that such a high-profile invitation can have such a high-profile, mistake. Sure, some would argue that it doesn’t matter, that the message is clear and it’s just a silly typo.

But it does matter. Words matter. Spelling matters. Details matter. Accidents will always happen, mistakes will always be made, but that doesn’t mean we should accept them as inconsequential. Judging by the quality of the ticket I’ve seen, it was produced in Microsoft Word and may have been printed in-house by someone who has no particular skills in typography, design, proofreading, or any number of other useful skills that could have prevented this error. And therein lies the problem. Aside from the misspelling, the last line of text, the time, is touching the border, it is also set in all caps (P.M.) when the rest of that block is upper- and lowercase. There is an awkward mix of fonts from that scroll text that says House of Representatives to the small caps (and not true small caps at that) for the Admit Bearer block, the Gothic 115th Congress block and the upper- and lowercase text elsewhere. In fact, if we want to go deeper, the 115 is too widely spaced, the “th” sits too high, and non-lining numbers would have made a better choice for the date and time compared to the lowercase context.

There was a time that to produce a ticket like this would have meant a professional typographer would either compose a block of cold metal or hand-engrave the artwork into metal. Both processes were time consuming and required skill to execute well.

But today, computers allow us to create things like this invitation without having to learn the craft of doing so. The computer makes straight lines and can set text in different fonts, at different sizes, but it lacks the judgement, the skill, of guaranteeing the finished piece is done well. And so that duty falls to the operator who is not a typographer, editor, designer, printer, or proofreader. Paradoxically, the computer allows for the creation of things of great precision, but of little craft.

It is sad that the president of the United States is leading the charge into a world where craft is lost, where “meh” suffices. We all deserve better.

01/30/2018

The Cleveland Indians announced that they were retiring their mascot, Chief Wahoo, after the 2018 season. The mascot had come under increasing criticism for being a racist depiction of native Americans and the club decided that it was time for him to go. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a furor erupted from loyal fans who were angry at the move. To those, Chief Wahoo isn’t racist, but an icon of their culture, part of their core identity.

At a time when our society has largely replaced religion with political affiliation and culture with brand, sports teams often occupy a special hallowed place in the hearts and minds of fans. If athletes are deities, stadiums are churches, and teams are our new religions, is it any wonder that fans say prayers at the bottom of the 9th hoping for a home run? The fervent nature of our attachments to these brands, though, means we can often be blinded to their cultural insensitivity. To admit that a beloved icon is racially charged is to admit our own racism and, so, many will simply deny such racism exists, defending what they find familiar.

But defending racism is never appropriate. Cleveland Indian fans deserve, and should demand, better. Chief Wahoo should be laid to rest along with other racially-charged symbols like the Confederate Flag, blackface, and others. Instead of trying to defend Chief Wahoo, fans should demand the club develop a brand that portrays Cleveland in a positive light, as a forward-thinking, culturally aware and dynamic city. Maybe in his departure, that’s one lesson we can all learn from the Chief.

Full disclosure—I grew up rooting for the Cleveland Indians and have fond memories being taken to games at Cleveland Stadium with my father. As an eight-year-old baseball fan, I never saw Chief Wahoo as a racist symbol, only as a symbol of my favorite team. But I’m not eight anymore. He’s a racist depiction of a native American and needs to go. Well done Cleveland Indians for understanding this.

01/17/2018

In education, how do you turn prospects into applicants?

Since many educational institutions are tuition-driven, attracting prospects is typically the goal of most communication strategies. But how? And what should your message be? There are a few key attributes that every school has in varying degrees that prospects use to decide where they’d like to apply. To find out what these are, often a simple, informal focus group of incoming students can help the institution understand what attracted them, and help focus future messaging. Brand attributes that a school should review are:

Campus
Is your school a sprawling parkland or part of the urban jungle? Do you have acres of open space or are you a cluster of buildings in an urban setting? Are there natural or historical features that distinguish your campus from others?

Alumni
Who are your alumni? Are some well-known? Successful? Have they gone on to do interesting things? What do they earn on graduation? What rate do they graduate? And how strong and wide of a network do they form?

Faculty
Who are your faculty today? In the past? Are any well-known? Are they mostly seasoned professionals that teach part-time, a course a week? Are they mostly full-time faculty committed to teaching and research?

Resources
What special resources do you offer students? Are you a tech center endowed with the latest technology? Do you have athletic facilities that can train Olympic athletes? Do you have a world-class museum down the street? Do you have industry professionals working cooperatively with your programs?

Location
What is unique about your location? Do you have snow-covered mountains? A sunny climate? A sandy beach? Access to cultural institutions? Are you able to attract prospects internationally or are you a regional draw because of convenience?

Academics
What programs do you offer? Do you have a broad scope or an educational speciality? Is your strength in academic rigor? Vocational training? Are there programs you want to fill or grow?

Social
What do you offer students socially? Do you have a well-respected football team with games every weekend? Is your school’s sports programs important to attracting students? Is the Greek system a large part of campus life? Is your campus in a rural setting where students make their own fun? Are you in an urban center where there’s a party every night? Are there special events that your school is known for?

Reputation/Mission
Are you Ivy League? A local choice? Big Ten school with strong athletic programs? A party school with a laid-back attitude? A liberal arts powerhouse full of free-thinkers? A college that was historically a choice for minorities or women? Are you religiously affiliated?

Cost
Are you a top-tier college worth every penny? Are you a good value for local students? Are you the best mix of tuition and income—the best value for your prospects?

Every school is evaluated by prospects based on these criteria and the criteria vary in importance by student. For some, a park-like campus of a liberal arts school in Southern California that offers a variety of interesting courses is the way to go. For others, the big city excitement of a New York school with its access to professionals in a creative field is a better choice. Or for some, a grassy campus outside of an urban center at a school that’s less expensive but well-respected fills the need. No school can be everything to every student and knowing your strengths is crucial to establishing your message. Understanding how to adapt your promotional materials for the greatest impact is what Studio 23 does best.

We create communication strategies and implement designs that attract prospects but we don’t stop there. We create designs—whether online or off—that make it easy for prospects to connect to clients. Our single-minded goal is always to focus the prospects on becoming applicants, and applicants becoming students.

01/09/2018

It’s no surprise that many of our clients are schools, colleges, and educational institutions. As a former director of publications and teacher at two different schools, I’ve seen first-hand the special needs that schools have and know the challenges involved.

Schools and colleges have to address the needs of very different audiences, for example. They need to appeal to 16-year-old high school students applying to colleges, to alumni that may not have stepped foot on campus in 50 years, to professionals and businesses that may hire graduates, to potential educators and staff, and to funding sources for projects, research grants, and scholarships. Then there are the internal brand conflicts that can arise between different divisions with wildly different needs—athletics, academics, financial, to name a few. How can you address the needs of these different audiences while maintaining a consistent brand? How can you speak with a consistent voice while maintaining uniqueness within subdivisions?

Too much variation from a core brand and an institution appears disconnected, losing brand identity. Too little variation compromises the messaging for target groups. An email targeting high school students should share the core DNA with a planned giving brochure for alumni, but the two have very different parameters. Promotional material for the athletics department should share the same DNA as a brochure attracting potential graduate students, but, again, the two target very different audiences.

One of the first goals in designing for education is understanding what the core brand is and what core elements form the identity with the goal of understanding how these elements can be used, manipulated, flexed, so that the resulting designs can be instantly recognizable as connected to the school, but remain fresh and appropriate for the target audience.

Design is a Melody, The Brand is the Symphony

An analogy to this approach can be found is music. Listen to the score of a symphony or even a movie soundtrack. Within this, you’ll often hear a core melody which changes, becomes clearer, more obscured, which is passed between instruments, changed again, returning to its original form over and over. This playfulness is key to keeping the listener entertained and engaged. Periodically, the composer will introduce unexpected elements, quiet passages, loud crashes, syncopated rhythms, minor keys, while keeping within an overall melodic structure. In the end, the work tells a story, completes a picture. In much the same way, designing for an educational institution is like writing that symphony. Individual elements are created that address specific communication needs within an overall structure that is the brand.

Knowing how flexible or how inflexible to be is our expertise. The look and language of a Shapchat filter that targets high school students is different than a dinner invitation that targets your board of trustees. But whether that’s a 1080-by-1920 pixel .PNG file uploaded to a remote server or a 130 # uncoated vellum, ivory white, 100% cotton sheet that’s been letterpressed using soy inks, we’ve done it all. We look forward to working with our education clients in the future. As they grow, so will we.