Alphabet Arm Design News

Surfer Blood – Astro Coast

Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

Broken Bells – S.T.

David Bazan – Curse Your Branches

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – S.T.

We just got our hands on a new business card book published in China and wanted to share it with you. They included quite a bit of our work which was quite flattering. Here are some examples:

You’ve all played that game: “If you were stuck on a desert island, what’s the one _______ that you would take?” As designers, we’ve occasionally been asked which is our favorite typeface. It’s not easy for us to pick just one, especially since one font never works for all scenarios, but in this case we limited ourselves to one font that we enjoy using more than others. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Gill Sans

Ira

Sure, it’s a quirky face, but it’s kind of like your eccentric older uncle: he’s been around for a while, done some interesting stuff, has tons of great stories and is just a bit off. It doesn’t matter, though, because everyone likes him anyways. Gills Sans is just like that, with its humanist shapes and the occasional character that just seems, well, different. But taken as a whole, it immediately lends its own subtle traits to your copy. It’s a modern face that’s not cold or off-putting in the least. In fact, I’d say that it’s a very personable typeface indeed.

Knockout

Ryan

Inspired by the tradition of classic letterpress printing of posters, broadsides, signage and advertising, Knockout is deeply rooted in Americana. It’s blocky and extended, thin and condensed, its full of character and each of the 32 weights has its own unique voice. It’s barbecue, it’s Johnny Cash; it’s a bit peculiar and imperfect and I like it that way.

Thesis

Chris

We are family—I got all my sisters with me! We are family—Get up ev’rybody and sing! Oh… sorry. Thesis just makes me want to sing sometimes. Thesis is what you call a “Super Family.” It features a stellar serif typeface, sans-serif typeface and a mixed typeface. Overall this family has a warm, humanist feel with a corporate leaning. When working with a lot of copy it’s incredibly useful to have the broad diversity Thesis offers. What’s better than a sans and serif font that are made to work together?

Trade Gothic

Aaron

“T.G.” and I have been friends for about a dozen years now. Even if we don’t see one another for a stretch of time, he’s always welcoming and it seems we can pick up right where we left off. He comes from a great, hardworking family (I think his Dad makes suitcases or something). Of all my friends, I wouldn’t say he’s the most adventurous. He’s not really into excessive heights or extreme sports and generally plays it safe. There was one time on a field trip, he did get in trouble talking trash about Frutiger, it was kind of hilarious. T.G. just one of those dependable types that will always be there when you need them and typically handles himself with an understated grace.

Those are our favorite typefaces. What are yours?

Our friends at Zero Age Media hired us to develop an identity for Wiggle Nation — a social network dedicated to the discovery and promotion of new and emerging kids’ music. This project was a bit tricky because it needed to portray kids’ music while appealing to parents. We settled on a playful, hand-rendered type treatment anchored by a bold sans-serif typeface.

Whenever we start working with a new client, there’s always a period of learning—for both parties. As the design studio, we need to learn about the client, their business, and their audience. The client also tends to have a lot of questions for us, specifically about the design process and how we do what we do, as well as general design and branding questions. In the interests of helping to figure out the often confusing world of design, we thought that we’d pull back the curtain a bit and let you into our world.

That’s where you, our loyal Bloggery readers, friends, and compatriots come into the mix: what have you always wanted to know about branding or design in general? Some questions might be: Where should you start the branding process? How do you work with an established identity? How does a logo become a brand? Can a logo have a glow and a drop shadow? Anything in that ballpark is fair game, and we plan on making this a reoccurring series, so if you have a question, don’t be shy. Feel free to leave a comment below, and let us know what’s on your mind.

Of course, you can always e-mail us with your questions: info@alphabetarm.com.

And we’ll also field questions via Twitter here: @alphabetarm

As far as the answers to all of your non-design related questions:

A) Celery
B) We’ll never tell
C) Blue, no yellow

The Best of Business Card Design 9 (Rockport) was complied by Rule29 and they state the following: “The book features an innovative collection of the most current and best work by top designers worldwide. The “go-to” sourcebook for business card design inspiration, this volume contains pages packed with business cards, showing front, back, and special elements and materials. This unrivaled resource is sought by professional designers, corporate executives, and in-house marketing departments as an essential identity and branding tool.” Wow, and the fact they selected a number of our client’s designs as well as our studio business cards is quite an honor. Grab your copy here.

We know that regular readers of The Bloggery are exceptionally intelligent people who are always up to date on the most current news. However, should somebody stumble across this blog while looking for design goodness, we feel it is our duty to let them know that we have updated our portfolio site with new projects. Fresh for winter oh-ten.

In addition to the usual new Featured projects, you may notice other new work and more projects throughout the site. Check it out here.

Masters Degree, Master Robin, Grand Master Flash, Masters of the Universe…finally we feel worthy to add our studio name to that impressive list. The Logolounge – Master Library Vol.1 book was just released and we’re proud to announce they’ve included seven of our client’s logo designs! We are always stoked to have our work included in any volume of Logolounge, but the Master Library series feels extra special! Get your own copy here.

Well, it’s a new month—so you know what that means! It’s time for our newest addition to the Alphabet Arm / Flagship Press 2010 calendar. February features a blind-emboss matched with opaque white ink on the stunning Curious metallic silver stock.

The name February comes from the Latin word “februum,” which translates to purification. After the densely-layered imagery we created for January we wanted to make something stark and elegant to purify our “design” palettes—if you will. As a studio we obsess over typography and we certainly enjoyed creating this strictly-typographic composition. Did you know that February doesn’t always have a full moon? This year it ends with one!

Interested in ordering one? We have both subscriptions and single month pieces available on our BigCartel store.

Events on a Mission is a New York based event planning service. What makes them so unique is that they incorporate charitable giving within an event. From intimate, private parties, to formal, ballroom galas, Events on a Mission allows their clients to relax and leave all the planning to them, while giving to a cause that is near and dear to their client’s hearts.
The logo itself was inspired by the owner’s innovative approach to business. In a market that is inundated with competition, she thought (and we always agree) that the logo should stand apart from what’s commonly used within the industry. We split the different between a formal affair and an assertive mission stamp. It’s buttoned up enough to appeal to her female demographic, while not alienating the dudes. Party on people—and feel good about it!