Griffin Theatre Company is a new writing theatre in Sydney, Australia — that is, it focuses on producing newly written, original plays. A risky venture in a world where producers can put the Wizard of Oz on stage Monday and order their yacht on Tuesday. Approaching thirty years in business and looking to refurbish their facilities, the Company decided to rebrand, generate new interest in their brand and loosen the purse strings of donors in these troubled economic times. Turning thirty can be stressful, gone are your twenties, those promise filled days of limitless potential. Being 2009, it means all the 30-year-old brands for the next decade were designed in the 1980s, that terrible decade where good taste hid under a rock, cowering in fear.
This new identity doesn't cower in fear at all. In fact,Interbrand's Sydney office has challenged Griffin to visually strut their stuff, just as their challenging productions do inside the theatre. From Interbrand's case study:
As you wait for the opening lines in the pitch black of the theatre, you always know to expect the unexpected. And as each new story starts, you slip outside of your comfort zone. You stand on the edge of the cliff and hurl yourself into the deep end. Anticipation meets exhilaration, fear gives way to abandonment. Your senses adjust to an unknown world, and you enter an unfamiliar stage… The brand responds to these emotional highs and lows through the metaphor of "the deep end," and with an identity that allows Griffin to express its own creativity and personality through words.
The way design companies write case studies could fill an entire opinion piece of its own, so let's stay focused on the design.
The solution is wordplay, an approach that aligns perfectly with Griffin's focus on new writing. Lines of large, monospaced sans serif typography create a dramatic, dare I say epic, backdrop, much like a set in the theatre. By arranging horizontal type and turning "on" one letter per row, you spell out a word vertically. As we say in Australia, noice (nice).
It's an old trick yet appropriate and noicely executed. However I wonder if at any stage the question was asked, "Why not a cute little Griffin?" Obvious yes, but at times the typographic tricks of the identity system confuse or distract. Will the mark reproduce as well in small scale as a McDonalds' Arches or Nike's Swoosh? Definitely not, but one imagines the amount of material this brand produces to be of a much more manageable scale than a corporate behemoth. Also, from looking at the mark alone, it has an odd touch of the 80s' architectural practice to it, one imagines the venue is a rigorous rectilinear affair, rather than a historic stable at the bottom of the unfortunately named alley, Nimrod Street.
When considered in context of a small arts organization, with an even smaller budget for promoting itself, this concern becomes fairly substantial. Clearly the designers have opted for the "design an identity system, not a mark" philosophy. Overall, it does the job. The result has the necessary level of sophistication this sort of client deserves. Whilst it may not hit the lofty mark of the office's previous work for AWARD it's left this author in "anticipation, exhilaration, fear and abandonment" for Interbrand Sydney's third act.
London, U.K.
Since 2001, the Swiss-based not-for-profit organisation ACT Responsible (Advertising Community Together), has been collecting global advertising that “promotes responsible communication on sustainability, equitable development and social responsibility” in a bid to highlight how the creativity of advertising professionals can be used to address the world’s problems.
Among its 2,500 ads from more than 40 countries and 140 award-winning agencies is a striking collection of adverts that focus on environmental and social issues: from deforestation to recycling and conserving water to climate change.
Ads, from the top: Killing trees is killing people. for Friends of the Earth, France; Travelling fruits cause pollution. (Think global. Eat local.) for Bund/Friends of the Earth, Germany; A single tin of paint can pollute millions of liters of water. for WWF Spain; Forests for Life. for WWF Thailand; Save. for WWF Hungary.
Thanks to Lauren Trimble for the link to a collection of adverts at guardian.co.uk
Madrid, Spain
Touted in the media as “Madrid’s Banksy,” the artist SpY’s work primarily consists of “the playful re-appropriation of urban elements that he replicates or transforms” as street art installations. His underlying attempt is to “break the automaton-like inertia of the urban dweller” by means of surprise, irony, and humour. Lots more here…
Images, from top: Cow; Lazyman’s Rubic Cube (available in six colours); Street Wars; Gardening.
(Thanks to Raquel Rivera [who I recently met at OFFF 2009 Oieras] for the introduction to SpY).
New York City
Today is the opening reception and portfolio signing of friend Luba Lukova’s exhibition Umbrellas, Social Justice & More at La MaMa La Galleria. The exhibition presents a wide range of work including an installation with Luba’s critically acclaimed Social Justice poster portfolio. The Health Coverage poster, which is a part of the collection, was recently in a prestigious exhibit during the Inauguration of President Obama in Washington, DC. The La MaMa show will also feature Lukova’s prints, original drawings and 3-d objects.
“Internationally recognized, New York based Luba Lukova is regarded as one of the most distinctive image-makers working today. Whether by using an economy of line, color, and text to pinpoint essential themes of the human condition or to succinctly illustrate social commentary, her work is undeniably powerful and thought provoking. A recent review in The Boston Globe observes: “Luba Lukova’s posters and illustrations have punch, and they are laced with such feeling that they often merit a second look. Her work doesn’t wrestle with the classic riddles of high art. It is, as graphic art should be, strong and pithy but its messages are not always simple.” (Cate McQuaid, When graphic art becomes high art)
Lukova has won many awards including Grand Prix Savignac at the International Poster Salon, Paris, France; the Golden Pencil Award at the One Club, New York; and Honor Laureate at the International Poster Exhibition in Fort Collins, CO. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at UNESCO, Paris; DDD Gallery, Osaka, Japan; and The Art Institute of Boston. She has received commissions for her work from the The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, Adobe Systems, Sony Music, and Harvard University. Her evocative theatre posters have graced numerous stage productions in the US and Europe. Lukova’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Library of Congress, Washington, DC; and Bibliotheque Nationale de France. In 2009 publisher Clay & Gold will release Speaking with Images, a new book about her art. Later this month she will also receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Lesley University.
Congratulations, Luba!
Images: six of the 12 posters from the Social Justice portfolio.
