Identity Systems for Your Design Business

Identity System for Your Design
Business
Your identity speaks volumes about your services before
you ever share your portfolio with a prospective client.
b y M e g a n L a n e P a tr i c k
13 Designer Letterhead Systems
A design firm’s identity system is a chance to declare
their mission to the world. The best business cards,
letterheads and other collateral let clients and prospects know what they should expect from a firm at a
glance. We identified 23 firms with identities that do
just that. Check out 10 on page 74 of HOW’s November 2011 issue and scroll down to see 13 more right
here:
obvious at the onset that the card had a complex
nature,” explains creative director Nick Sambrato.
Result: “Intrigue,” Sambrato explains. “To designers
and printophiles the allure existing in everything from
CREATIVE SAUCE
the simplistic content to the complex construction
will prompt the question, ‘how was it done and who
did this?’ Just the same, to the layman, the minimal
content meeting the high production value will draw
out only those curious enough to seek out who put this
together. Either way, the people who respond to the
card’s nature are the people that ultimately we want to
be working with.”
Designers/Firms: Mama’s Sauce, Itchy Illustration
Websites: http://mamas-sauce.com + itchyillustra-
tion.com
Creative Team: Nick
Sambrato, creative direction/
card concept; Austin Petito, brand manager/logo
design; Brian Boesch, designer
Printer: Mama’s Sauce
Paper/Process: Printed with a 1-color Full Wash
Letterpress, pressed on Crane’s 110# Florescent
White Cotton duplexed to French Paper Co.’s
140# Black Muscletone Cover, which naturally
created a 3-toned edge, as well as a faux emboss
of the knocked out areas.
Concept: “I wanted to execute an aesthetically
simple card that was complex in execution—
something that unfolded its nature progressively
as it’s held and examined, all without it being
SIMPLE AND GOOD
Concept: “Simple approach for Departement stationery,
Designer/Firm: Bureau Rabensteiner
Website: http://bureaurabensteiner.at/
Creative Team: Mike Rabensteiner, art director/photog-
rapher/designer; Isabella Meischberger, designer
Printer: Buchbinderei Auer
Paper/Process: Römerturm Columbo and GFSmith
Colorplan/ hot foil embossing
studio located in Montreal, Canada. Each piece has
its own fluoro color. The logo is embossed and clear
foil stamp is used for the envelopes,” explains designer
Philippe Archontakis.
Result: “Business cards are the first impression you give
to prospects,” Archontakis says. “Doing quality cards
with small envelopes made people react and because
Concept: “We tried to keep it simple and sleek,” says art
director Mike Rabensteiner. “For a little touch of ‘old
school’ we use these traditional wood handle rubber
stamps.”
of that they won’t be thrown away in the garbage right
away. Your stationery has to be the same quality as the
results delivered to clients.”
BLACK ON BLACK
Result: People feel that we put more effort than needed
in a project. We especially tried to add goodies like
notebooks from brandbook.de, wood handle rubber
stamps from Turner Falls Oklahoma, an old school ink
pad from Trodat and a CD package from Muji to our
stationary.
COLOR POPS
Designer/Firm: Departement
Website: http://www.departement.ca
Creative Team: Philippe Archontakis
Printer: Prisma Copie / Benoit
Paper/Process: Mohawk papers, emboss,
stamping
Designer/Firm: Maas Design Co.
Website: http://maasdesign.com/
Creative Team: Matthew Van Der Maas, designer
Printer: Behrmann, Southfield, MI
Paper/Process: Uncoated Stock with metallic whet
clear foil hot
black foil
and
“Like many successful identities, the Maas
logo mark is very minimal,” says designer Matthew Van
Der Maas. “I wanted to show potential clients what’s
possible starting with something simple.”
Concept:
Agency name: Propeller Creative – Vfx & Animation
Agency Website: propellercreative.com.au
Creative Team: David Parkinson, designer
Printer: The Ink Room
Paper/Process: The cards are 84mm x 52mm, letter
pressed onto 600 GSM Crane Lettra 100% cotton. Die
cut to achieve a pillowed soft edge.
“This project was a lot of fun to work on,”
says designer David Parkinson. “The idea was to keep
the design simple, classy and versatile whilst adding
a tiny element of fun (an easter egg if you like). The
dotted line is actually morse code for ‘propeller’ and is
a throwback to the very simple yet effective technology of the past. A propeller itself is a very simple and
elegant design that allows a man to fly. Something
about that beautiful simplicity really appeals to me.”
Concept:
Result: “Given the current economic situation, it’s
often difficult to get clients to utilize interesting/
expensive printing techniques,” Van Der Maas says.
“I wanted to practice what I preach and use my own
identity as example to show how memorable a simple
business card can be.”
“I am very happy with the results,” Parkinson
says. “The cards have become quite popular. In a world
where quality seems to be gradually disappearing I
think people (and clients) appreciate the smaller more
exclusive ‘collectible’ things.”
Result:
SECRET MESSAGE
INSPIRED PATTERNS
Designer/Firm:
Saint Bernadine Mission Communica-
tions
Website: www.stbernadine.com
Creative Designer: Helen Eady, designer, Amanda
Murray, logo; Andrew Samuel, David Walker, creative
directors
Printer: Colourtime Printing and Digital Imaging
Paper/Process: Neenah – Eames Weave Natural White,
printed offset in three spot colours.
“Saint Bernadine is the Patron Saint of advertising, graphic design, compulsive gambling and lung
disease, as well as the name of a leading branding,
advertising and design firm based in Vancouver, Canada,” explains creative director Andrew Samuel. “This
redesign of our stationery incorporates a system of patterns inspired by endpaper designs, confessional booth
screens, and that quintessential advertising icon, the
starburst.”
Concept:
“This redesign has been most successful in its
extensibility—graphic elements extend well throughout our entire identity, like our site www.stbernadine.
com for example, while still maintaining consistency,
legibility and graphic interest,” says creative director
David Walker. “With a strategic use of 3 spot colours
we were able to efficiently create a wide variation in
patterns, while still revealing the great paper stock that
has a very high ‘touchability.’”
“For our own stationery, we aimed to show
the communicative quality of each one of its materials, so the media becomes the message and the central
character of this assignment,” explains designer Marta
Fragata. “The tone of the selected sentences reflects
the close relationship that we daily nourish towards
our customers.”
Concept:
Result:
“It’s a simple idea made visible through little
means and no tricks, it strikes the viewer in a very
positive and personal way,” she says. Designer Miguel
Batista adds, “Another important feature is that we’ve
chosen several different sentences or words for each
piece; these can be matched to form a big array of different messages.”
Result:
IN THE DETAILS
BIG WORDS
Designer/Firm: FEB Design
Creative Team: Marta Fragata,
Miguel Batista, design-
ers
Website: www.feb-design.com
Printer: FEB Factory
Paper/Process: Screenprinting,
1 color
Business card – Plike Black 330g
Note card, CD Folder, A4 Folder, Hand Bag – Bindakote silver 250g
Envelopes – Curious Metallics Ionised 120g
Designer/Firm: Red Square Agency
Website: http://www.redsquareagency.com
Creative Team: Richard Sullivan Sr.,
founder/
subject/”Pop;” Ryan Lundy, designer; Ken Ziegler,
copywriter; Wally Hitchcock, associate creative director; Diana Nichols, creative director; Julie Palmer,
print producer
Printer: Gwin’s Commercial Printing
Paper/Process: Offset printing on Classic Crest Solar
White
ONE-OF-A-KIND
Designer/Firm: Fabien Barral
Website: http://www.fabienbarral.com
Creative Team: Fabien Barral, designer
Printer: http://www.letteramagica.pl/
Paper/Process: 600g cotton paper, printed by letterpress
with split fountain
“The whole is greater than the sum of its
parts. The culture of Red Square Agency is captured
in a single photo of founder Richard Sullivan Sr. and
is used to inject personality in the agency’s new stationery,” explains designer Ryan Lundy. “A halftone pattern of squares is applied to the image and printed in
two PMS colors. The larger image is divided over four
pieces of letterhead, 60 business cards and envelope
liners, appearing abstract on an individual piece of
stationery. Put them all together, and it’s our beloved
founder in all his glory.
Concept:
“Every piece of communication is an opportunity to convey our culture and brand strategy.” says
creative director Diana Nichols. “Designing our business papers in a way that is unexpected and surprising
brings delight to people and ultimately affinity for our
brand.”
Result:
Concept: “Since 2009, I change my ID and print cards
every year,” says designer Fabien Barral. “This time I
do a split fountain print, which means 2 or 3 inks are
applied and mixed together while it prints so most of
the cards are different from one another.”
Result: “The business card is the most important tool
you could use,” he says. “It has to create an emotion
in the person you give it to; this emotion will link you
to the card. This small piece of cardboard should
express yourself. From my own experience, nothing is
more appropriate than letterpress printing to give this
emotion. When I give my own business card, people
touch it, try to understand how it is printed and after,
they give me their card with some apologies. My business cards express more about me than a complete
portfolio.”
A STITCH IN TIME
Designer/Firm: Nina Gregier
Website: http://ninagregier.com
Creative Team: Nina Gregier, designer
Paper/Process: 250 gsm black paper Fabriano
and sev-
eral colors of cotton thread
Concept: “The brief was to represent Monogram Design
“I have designed my personal promo cards in
reference to my latest project—thread embroidered
typography,” explains designer Nina Gregier. “During
the process of building simple letters and shapes I
wanted to find another unexpected graphic form. At
this stage I started to experiment with thread embroidering letters on paper.”
Concept:
through a stationery suite,” explains creative director
Amy Jessica Nadaskay. “Monogram is a strategic and
creative brand consultancy in Sydney, Australia, who
create bespoke, tailor-made solutions for a variety of
premium lifestyle clients.
“The design and execution needed to showcase
the care and attention to detail/ craftsmanship with
which Monogram executes their work. The messaging
needed to champion the attitude with which Monogram carries out business; that is with a playful sense
of humour.
In a world where designers are everywhere, and
tactile craftsmanship has taken a back seat, Monogram
needed to stand out and wow the public. While most
designers send email blasts of their own case studies, we wanted to promote ourselves genuinely and
thoughtfully through hand-written personalised notes
sent along with an invitation to share a beverage and
a chat.”
” The cards are handmade in limited edition,
which makes them very unique,” she says. “Also the
graphic form is original and the cards work on the
sense of touch.”
Result:
PERSONAL TOUCH
Designer/Firm: Monogram Design
Website: http://www.monogramdesign.com
Creative Team: Amy Jessica Nadaskay, creative director/
designer/typographer; Segolene Hutter, designer; Eran
Thomson, copywriter; Cindy Rodriquez, sewer
Printers: Dickson’s Printing, Solis Labels
Paper/Process: Neenah Classic (business cards are
Duplexed), engraving, sewing
Result: “So far so good,” Nadaskay says. “There are two
common reactions to this business card. One is, ‘I’ve
never seen anything like this’ and the other is, ‘This
is my favourite card of all time!’ We’ve even heard of
people re-designing their cards to raise the ante! And
with a 68% response rate to the invitations, we must
be doing something right.”
DELICATE TYPE
“In looking at the recent state of WANY we
decided it best to rebrand, taking a fresh perspective
to communicate our recent growth and direction,”
says designer Jarred Eberhardt. “We wanted to scrap
our previous mark and start fresh. We wanted a logo
that communicated the very bold statement, We Are
Not You. The new logo needed to be simple and bold;
an eye catcher with an authoritative personality. For all
copy we were drawn to DIN. For our main mark we
wanted something that could accent DIN and stand
on its own. We immediately began designing a stencil
font that could hold up both visually and informatively,
this of course until we met Vacant Regular. Vacant said
everything we wanted to say, and said it with a certain
playful energy. Next, was on to our core color scheme.
When set next to one another, our yellow and black
would visually stand from anything we set them on.
Add the font, flip the colors and the final result said
exactly what we wanted to say. We Are Not You.”
Concept:
Designer/Firm: Moglea Paperie
Website: www.moglea.tumblr.com
Creative Team: Meg Gleason, designer
Printer: Moglea Paperie
Paper/Process: Letterpress Printing on
Crane’s Lettra
Fluorescent White 600 and 300 gsm
“Moglea’s brand is bright, cheerful and intricate, and the stationery system reflects our unique
design aesthetic,” says designer Meg Gleason.
Concept:
“Like brothers and sisters, each component is
distinct from the others, but they fit nicely together as
a system,” she explains. “Letterpress printing accentuates the details, adding depth to the typography and
delicate illustrations.”
Result:
BLACK AND YELLOW
“I am very happy in the way that the branding came out,” Eberhardt says. “With the upcoming
relaunch of our main site, our blog www.youarenotus.
com and our future market place www.1onehundred.
com, every mark is easily read that it is under one
brand and all of the same entity. That is exactly what
we were after. I am especially happy with the way the
business cards work with the mirroring of the logo
showcasing more or less only the opposite color.”
Result:
Designer/Firm: We Are Not You
Websites: http://wearenotyou.com,
http://youarenotus.
com, http://www.1onehundred.com
Creative Team: Jarred Eberhardt, designer
Printer: Aardvark letterpress; http://aardvarkletterpress.
com
Paper/Process: French Paper Poptone Lemon Drop
& Poptone Black Licorice, Letterpress, Duplexing,
PMS, Foil