Alphabet Arm Design News

Alphabet Arm recently collaborated with our good friends at Brandon Bird Design to design the branding elements for the latest TEDx Cambridge event: Thrive. The one-day event went over fantastically and we are proud to have been a part of this gathering of regional intellectuals and innovators. The talks, demonstrations and performances focused on an exploration of our brains and bodies, questioned the relationship between nature and nurture, and examined the different understandings of the good life — in essence, how do we thrive?

Brandon Bird Design, a multi-disciplinary design firm specializing in exhibit design, approached Alphabet Arm to contribute by designing the Thrive logo, printed collateral and consult on the signage and multimedia displays. Together, we created a logo that would literally represent the idea of a thriving organism. A logo that could show growth, progress, and vigorously flourish. The final logo solution was a mark that had several stages of growth and expansion that would reveal itself over the event.

Special thanks to Justin Ide for the stellar photography : http://www.justinide.com/

After designing the identity system for the surf-inspired apparel company, Invisible Sun, Alphabet Arm was hired to develop a number of merchandise designs for the company’s launch. The entire studio team jumped into the deep end to generate a cross section of styles, phrases and illustrations. Big props to Silvi Naci + Matt Kaiser for their great work. Surf around and let us know if you like what you sea.

*Completely wacked out surfer who never touches the water.

We worked closely with recent intern, Matt Kaiser, to develop the new logo for Amalgamated Balladry, an independent, musician-owned record label. The founder of the label, Richard Shindell, asked us to draw our inspiration from the iconography of Industry. We particularly liked the idea of contrasting the imagery associated with WPA posters of the 1930′s with an overt musical reference. Hence, the our friendly factory worker with a guitar — his tool of choice — slung over his shoulder.

We can’t think of a project much more awesome than branding a new go kart track for the summer. The Salisbury Speedway is soon to be opening in (you guessed it) Salisbury, Massachusetts in the very near future. You could say we are super excited to be in the driver’s seat for this type of project. Both the design team here at Alphabet Arm and the owners of the track agreed we would draw on old filling stations of the 1950′s as inspiration for the new logo and branding. For this particular project, we want to hand-draw a classic looking script to contrast the blocky “speedway” typeface. We’ve dabbled in creating custom scripts in the past, but this was a chance to really immerse ourselves in the tedious process of drawing the thick and thin strokes, as well as the hours of pulling points and finessing the bezier curves. Here are some process images.

Initially, we were very pleased with how the the “Si” ligature worked out. But, unfortunately we had to lose it and the swoopy “y” which just didn’t fit into this particular lock-up. We added some speed lines onto the “S” and “l’s” in order to give the type an extra bit of flare. Here is a larger image of the final script:

We’re currently working on a signage system, stickers, t-shirts and a custom paint job for the ticket booth and shop on site. We’ll post more images once it all comes together. Buckle up!

Ecologically responsible gardening and landscaping is the focus of our new client, Mow Rake Sow. The company’s mission includes using all electric equipment for landscape services — something we can certainly support. The aim of designing a new logo was to emphasize the eco-friendly aspect of the business as well as create a unique aesthetic which would set them apart from other landscapers. We found the company name, Mow Rake Sow, particularly inspiring. Our approach was to design a logo that literally illustrated each of the three services in the name. We agreed the mark should have a clean, modern look while avoiding the visual clichés that seem to grow like weeds in this industry.

*The headline is a reference to an amazing song by The Jam. If you don’t know it, you should.

Singer-songwriter, Ollie Childs, asked us to design a new logo for his fourthcoming album (coming soon) and other related materials. We opted to create a original type treatment crafted from the ground up. The mark itself draws influence from the pop sensibilities inherent in the music as well as Ollie’s British background — both of which comes through in this “Mod” inspired logo. Our goal was to create a treatment that was unique and memorable enough to be used on it’s own, but subtle enough it could take a back seat when used with photography. We also designed a new logo for Ollie’s independent record label. Non-Drip Gloss Records is a reference to Ollie’s blue collar roots.

Another superlative day, another superlative logo…

Pan the Man (PtM) is a Boston based wholesale, retail and lifestyle brand of apparel built around a social network for those who Live Superlative™. PtM has planted its flag in the ground, claiming as its constituents all who are entrepreneurial, driven, open-minded, creative and young at heart.

During our initial meeting with the PtM team, there was some discussion of the word Pan (within the logo) taking on some human characteristics. Once we better understood the philosophy behind the brand, the idea of buttoning up the logo with a classic fedora and an all-knowing smirk, made perfect sense. This logo, in particular, was developed to be atomized down to a simple, one color Fedora + Smirk that can be used to brand the apparel line.

While the formal site is being built, you can find PtM elsewhere on the interwebs, friend them on the Facebooks.

Alphabet Arm just wrapped up a logo project for a new retail shop in Turners Falls, MA. The owners came to us with a cool concept and a great name. Loot, the shop, will feature found, archival goodies ranging from large scale industrial pieces to smalls. During our initial meeting with the owners the idea of a mascot was proposed and one of them shared the idea of a raccoon. We argued (respectfully – mind you) as to which of us would tackle the mascot illustration. Although this final solution was proposed along four different logo treatments, the owners felt he spoke to them. He, whom we have affectionately named Leo, was initially sketched in a tiny Moleskin and redrawn in Illustrator.

The type treatment was born from simple geometric shapes which seemed to compliment the playful character of Leo without being redundant.

We are currently designing die-cut business cards, overarching branding, signage and consulting on the exterior of the shop front. Stay tuned to www.loottheshop.com for it’s anticipated opening. Stop by and see Leo if you find yourselves in Turners Falls.

Our client, RSmeP, has created a web-based application/tool used to add online interaction to event planning. Essentially, the tool allows users to create interactive seating charts specific to their event. When the partners asked us to create a new identity for the company, we knew it would be a challenge. The name, RSmeP plays on the well known acronym R.S.V.P.  — with the “V”  replaced by “me” to emphasize the fact that the application empowers the user or attendee. So… if the logo itself doesn’t hint at the missing “V”  then essentially, we’ve missed the clever wordplay that is the title of the company. You follow?

Along with the logo, we also designed a set of nine icons that will be used as navigation on the app. Obviously, the icons had to be quite small, yet communicate clearly and be visually compliment the logo. Check, check, and check.

Invisible Sun is a soon-to-be a surf-inspired apparel company on a mission to spread positivity. You see, the ethos of the brand is inspired by surfing, but the concept encompasses more than that — it’s about people doing what they love. Call it beach culture with a optimistic twist, which includes music, spirituality and living in the moment. We wanted to take a strong, decorative typeface and give it a slightly organic feel that could suggest the motion of the sea. The process involved printing out an existing typeface and then heading to the light table. We sketched dozens of  flourishes and used drawing as a means of finding smooth, organic ways of implementing the ornamentation into the type treatment. After a quick scan, we translated the sketch into vector art by lots of pushing and pulling of bezier curves in illustrator. The resulting mark is a unique logo that will hopefully resonate to their audience of soul searchers near the sea.