Well, I'm sad to say that my time here at Alphabet Arm is coming to a close. Within these past few months I have learned more than I ever could have imagined, and I am extremely grateful to Aaron, Ryan, Matt & Nathan for their willingness to help me along the way. I'm so proud that I had an opportunity to be part of this amazing team, and can't even begin to explain how valuable this experience has been for me. There are so many things about working at Alphabet Arm that I'm going to miss; the projects, the gallons of coffee, and the pleasure of working with such fun & talented people, just to name a few. Thanks for everything guys, I truly appreciate it. I'll definitely be back sometime for another game of four square soon! // Tarah Hursh
Greetings to all those out there on the blogocube. I come to you today with a sad bit of news. After an incredible summer internship and an even more incredible 9 months of freelancing, my time at Alphabet Arm has come to a close. It has been an amazing experience working here over the past year. Aaron, Ryan, Robin, Matt, and Tarah have all helped me grow as a designer, and moreover, have become some really great friends! For the foreseeable future, I'll still be pushing pixels in Boston, which means I'll definitely be stopping back at the office for some lunch-time wall-ball. Feel free to check up on me atÂ
nathanhass.com or send me an email atÂ
nathanhass@me.com. Thanks for everything guys, it's been great. - Nathan
Our clients at
LaunchWare contacted us recently to refresh the Launch Academy logo. Launch Academy offers a 10 week intensive program, transforming 30 eager learners into rising stars within the Boston web development community.
Oddly enough, another designer had repurposed the original LaunchWare rocket to connect the two entities, which made good sense to us. Unfortunately, the execution featured a number of tricks-of-the-design-trade that – as a studio – we don't typically embrace. We will always advocate for the timeless, 2- D, restrained approach – versus slick beveling, super gradient, solar glare and webtastical sheen – but that's just us. Within our logo design work, we avoid getting too caught up in current trends, which can eventually make a logo feel dated and require costly re-brands.
After the form and type treatment of the updated logo was approved, we presented a color study for the final logo system, only to have the Launch Academy team embrace the idea of sticking with a simple, one color mark. Classic Black and White.
Previous Logo:
Updated and approved for take-off!
Today marks the third time I say goodbye to Alphabet Arm, and each time it's harder to do. But it also marks two years on and off of doing what I love with a group of people that have truly become my family. I came to Boston for school, clueless as to just how many great colleagues I would meet and how many great opportunities would come my way. I consider myself extremely lucky to have picked up a position at this studio, especially one that had such an important role in shaping who I am. Who knew that being a designer could be as much talking about music and throwing a pinky ball as it is making a logo? This experience has opened up to me the idea that designing isn't a job, it's a way of seeing and interacting with the world around us. Every small chat we had, every joke, every game, it was all inadvertently teaching me who I was and what being a designer could mean.
Now I'm graduating, moving out of the city, and taking my career in new directions that would never have been possible without first following my path through Alphabet Arm. I am grateful for all that Aaron, Ryan, and the rest of those who came and went have given me, and it's an appreciation that will remain with me throughout my life. I couldn't have asked for a better job, and I wish everyone the best! - Matthew Kaiser
Alphabet Arm recently had the pleasure of working with Sage Tonic, an innovative, natural treatment system focused on adolescents. The practice features alternative and complementary treatments for some of the most common day-to-day medical conditions. Sage Tonic identifies each condition and provides remedies based on each of the five senses. They have designed an easy-to-use sensory platform that includes integrative medicine therapies supported by research and clinical data. We were asked to develop a logo that reflected their company's modern methods, while still alluding to the ancient techniques from which their healing practices are inspired.
After proposing a variety of directions, the logo that Sage Tonic decided most resonated with their vision was an "ST" monogram inspired by ancient East-Asian name seals. The winding form is meant to feel ethereal and calming. It locks cleanly into the symmetrical geometry of a diamond. To contrast this rigidity, we introduced a slightly textured quality. The final color palette makes use of earthy (and sage-y) tones to speak to its antique influences. Stay tuned for business cards, packaging and a set of info cards!
We were recently tasked with developing a logo for ElasticTask, a digital application built for technology professionals. To encompass all that the software has to offer, we built a mark that combines a variety of visual concepts into one sleek, modern, and flexible (wink) form. Within the lock-up, we included a three-dimensional box to represent cloud storage, a check mark to emphasize task completion, a hexagonal container to suggest seamless integration, and of course, an "e" initial. Paired with a powerful sans serif, this logo is ready to take on even the most rigid of tasks. Oh – you are interested in seeing some of the other proposed directions – by all means. Do you think ElasticTask chose wisely?
Like many Bostonians, New Englanders, Americans and Humans, we are struggling to make sense of the recent attacks on our hometown and our neighbors. We have been living in, working in, playing in, and loving our city for years. While we await for authorities to apprehend the responsible parties of this unthinkable act, we can't help but feel a little helpless. So, we do what we are built to do, and use our creativity to cope with the situation. For decades, we have been documenting our city. Be it images of typographical samples, iconic landmarks, worn-out logos, abandoned warehouses, rusty signage, industrial architecture, we appreciate it all. We can only hope this image gives you a moment of peace, as it has us. One Boston.
If you are interested in helping the families most affected by the tragic events of April 15, 2013, Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Tom Menino have established The One Fund Boston, Inc. >
onefundboston.org
Troupe Waste Services, Inc. came to us with a new vision for the future of their brand: Troupe Waste & Recycling. It was important to emphasize their new outlook on sustainability and the environment while maintaining the existing typography that trusting clients have come to recognize for nearly a decade. In order to both modernize and reinvigorate the logo, we tracked out the name and meticulously kerned the letters, elevating the presence of the word mark, and then introduced a single leaf, which along with the complimentary "fresh" green makes it unmistakable that Troupe is looking toward the future. Keep your eyes peeled for beautifully branded barrels, dumpsters and trucks coming to a neighborhood near you!
Prior to our re-brand:
As a design studio, it is always liberating when a client comes to us who would like to ignore current design trends. Embracing the idea of being original and irreverent while still addressing their target audience is truly music to our ears.
RightPet has cultivated a loyal community of like-minded pet owners who "Share the good, bad and smelly on the animals who've owned them. From dogs and cats to insects and livestock, RightPet has owner reviews of them all."
We entertained a number of design directions for this logo; a rotating cast of pets, typographic options, a magnifying glass wielding canine, fur-covered-fonts, a check box system of appropriate pets... Part of the challenge of rebranding the site was to address all potential pet categories without making one more important than another (the last thing you want is a slighted Coral Snake owner!).
The final solution embraces the ridiculous and unexpected notion of a girl walking her pet elephant – possibly the right pet for her, possibly not for all. Especially if you've recently moved into that 7th floor walk up apartment.
Before our re-brand:
As a design studio, we have had the dubious honor of branding / re-branding a number of talented photographers. Such is the case withÂ
Brian Hodges, an award winning photographer who's work has been featured in magazines such as GEO and Conde Nast Traveler. After an initial discussion regarding his desired logo aesthetic, he left us to our work and trusted in our creative process. The end result is a restrained composition driven by a contemporary, minimal monogram that is paired with a simple, stylized type treatment. The mark is intended to compliment the photography without demanding the spotlight.
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