studio sc

A New Product for Urban Envrionmental Graphics

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:45:15 -0800

Signage in urban environments definitely takes a beating—its affected by everything from weather damage to pedestrian interaction—and upkeep can be costly. That’s why we were intrigued when we learned about Système Huntingdon, Inc’s Alto product line.

This system of sub-surface graphics offers an interesting solution to the exterior signage problem. Système Huntingdon’s unique digital transfer method embeds graphics into architectural materials through a heat-and-vacuum process—essentially making the graphics part of the material. This can be done on flat, textured, or three-dimensional surfaces, embedding graphics into materials such as aluminum, steel, glass, or ceramics.

A product like this would be great for urban environmental graphics and other signage installations in areas with high pedestrian traffic because the signs will be graffiti-resistant and offer both weather- and UV-protection. The process is also environmentally friendly—it doesn’t emit VOCs, and it uses water-based inks and recyclable base materials.

We’re considering this for our Pacific Avenue wayfinding project because the city of Tacoma is concerned about long-term maintenance. Have you had any experience with these or similar products? We’d be interested to hear about it in the comments section!

Image: An example of Système Huntingdon’s products used in urban environmental graphics.

Pacific Avenue Wayfinding

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:13:21 -0800

We’re currently working with AHBL, a design and engineering firm, to create a wayfinding program for the City of Tacoma’s Pacific Avenue. This streetscape improvement plan will create a pedestrian-friendly environment for people to engage with the city and its unique history.

The new signage we’re designing is modern, clean, and structural, referencing the industrial character of the city. Image panels embedded in the faces of the L-shaped posts will feature historical photographs that are relevant to each sign’s location. This integrated artwork will create visual interest for pedestrians, encouraging them to linger and learn a bit about the city’s rich history.

As part of the design phase, we’ve also been working with an advisory committee of Tacoma business leaders, determining locations for signs along Pacific Avenue and a hierarchy of destination messages for the wayfinding program. The current program focuses on the downtown district, but can easily be expanded to other areas of the city.

In addition to the new signage, Pacific Avenue will also see increased green space, bike facilities, lighting, and public art. Once complete, the updated streetscape will give pedestrians and businesses a welcoming place to connect with the history of their city and participate in building its future.

Image: rendering of future Pacific Avenue signage.

Seattle Design Event TONIGHT

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:35:32 -0800

What are YOU doing tonight? If you’re in downtown Seattle, stop by ZGF Architects for a visually stunning presentation from Voices of the Earth. Led by photographer Robin Acker Bush, this company uses nature photographs—mostly underwater settings and stone formations—in environmental graphic design. According to Bush, these images, which show small organisms in large scale, seek to “connect us spatially and experientially to the natural world.”

Hope to see you there!

EVENT DETAILS:

Thursday, February 2, 2012
5:30-7:30
ZGF Architects
925 Fourth Ave., Suite 2400
Seattle, WA 98104

FREE for everyone (whether you’re an SEGD member or not!)
Light snacks provided

Image via Voices of the Earth

Studio SC’s New Space Welcome to our Studio! We’ve...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:22:32 -0800

Studio SC’s New Space

Welcome to our Studio! We’ve recently expanded and want to take you on a tour.

Our office is in the US Rubber Building in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square. Over the years, the building has retained its industrial nature and Pacific Northwest vintage character. A three-story spiral chute, a remnant of the rubber manufacturing process, still stands in our entrance hall. Inside our space, natural light floods through the oversized windows on to the original brick walls and enormous exposed wooden beams.

After spending years in tight quarters, we recently increased our floor plan by nearly one-third. We took out an adjoining wall, exposing the spine of the building and the amazing timber structure of the old factory. We also designed custom partitions to give everyone a bit of their own space. These updates give us room to grow and provide us more opportunities to infuse our design principles—and our personalities—into our own environment.

Happy New Year! Last week, the entire Studio pitched in on a...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:15:00 -0800

Happy New Year!

Last week, the entire Studio pitched in on a holiday art project: hand-painting our 2^nd floor office windows with a New Year’s message for our Pioneer Square neighbors.

We chose Bodoni Poster as the font, because it is stylish, simple, and readable. We printed each windowpane section to create transfers, outlined the letterforms with grease pens, and squeegeed the transfers onto the windows. Once the outline was applied, we used Tempera paint to fill in the letters.

It was a fun way to spend a day and gave us a chance to get away from our computers and recall the industry’s hand-crafted past while looking forward to the future.

Happy Holidays from Studio SC We’ve recently had our own Santa’s...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:36:03 -0800

Happy Holidays from Studio SC

We’ve recently had our own Santa’s workshop in our office building, where we’ve been creating a set of Studio SC Cornhole boards.

If you’re not from the Midwest, you may be wondering what in the world we’re talking about. Allow us to enlighten you:

Cornhole or Corn Toss is similar to horseshoes except you use wooden boxes called cornhole platforms and corn bags instead of horseshoes and metal stakes. Contestants take turns pitching their corn bags at the cornhole platform until a contestant reaches the score of 21 points. A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point.

(via the American Cornhole Association, which counts our own Cory Binau as one of its 34,000 members.)

Cory and Faith, native Ohioans, introduced the rest of us to the game this summer, and we were hooked. We decided a set of homemade boards would be a fun addition to the office and a great Christmas present for Mark and Billy.

We wanted the design to be simple, highlight the natural wood of the boards, and jive with Studio SC’s brand colors of white, black, and grey. We decided to stain the boards to let the natural wood take center stage. To bring in the brand, we’d paint a white border around the edges and the hole, include Studio SC’s logo, and create a set of bags in both black and white.

Cory started building the boards in October and then brought them in to the office, where we set up a makeshift art studio in the basement. Armed with wood stain, white paint, painter’s tape, brushes, Exacto knives, and vinyl stencils, we logged several cold and clandestine hours, sharing stories and jamming to KEXP.

After a few months of work, we surprised Mark and Billy with the boards yesterday morning. So if you’re ever up for a game of Cornhole—whether to show off your skills or just learn the game—stop on by!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Studio SC, we hope you’re having a fun and festive season!

Sign Prototyping at Seattle Children’s After working on...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:23:00 -0800

Elevator Directory

Overhead Directional

Wall Directional

Elevator ID

Sign Prototyping at Seattle Children’s

After working on the Seattle Children’s Hospital project for over a year, we’ve finally had a chance to see some of our signs in the environment.

We worked with Image Mill, a local fabricator, to produce temporary signs to test for legibility, color, consistency, size, cap height, and clarity. The signs were placed in a low-traffic area of the hospital for a single test day. This allowed the design team to see how the signs looked at full size in the environment and provided doctors and patient-families an opportunity to experience the wayfinding paths and offer feedback.

This process of testing, feedback, and streamlining is part of Continuous Performance Improvement, an efficiency strategy that Children’s employs. CPI is a theory of customer-focused and efficiency-minded principals—inspired by the Toyota Way—geared toward eliminating waste and increasing value to customers through continuous small improvements.

“Children’s CPI culture means that the they are fully engaged in the design process,” says Mark Sanders, project director. “Hospital leaders see a strong wayfinding program as a significant benefit to families, hospital staff, and the bottom line.”

The overall response within the hospital was extremely positive, says Project Manager Cynthia Hall. “The signs were really well received,” she says. “We learned a lot about how the signs function in the environment and how the users interact with them, all of which will be helpful as we further develop designs and move into fabrication.”

As we work to refine the signage package for both the Building Hope expansion and the campus master plan, we’re also partnering with a team of illustrators, Oakland, CA-based Lab Partners, to create artwork that will help identify each zone of the hospital and reinforce the wayfinding program. The artwork they’ve created thus far is a wonderful combination of nature and nurturing elements that reflect Children’s Pacific Northwest identity.

Husky Pride at UW’s Alumni Commons We’ve already...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:54:26 -0800

Entryway, with the Rainier Vista

"We Believe" gold wall in common area

People Wall in the Conference Room

Rainier Vista -- see all the Ws?

Husky Pride at UW’s Alumni Commons

We’ve already introduced you to the graphics program in the UW’s new Alumni Commons building. Now that it has been open for a little more than a month, we want to give you a more in-depth tour of the new space.

The goal of the Commons is to celebrate “Husky Pride”—the pride felt by all those who have been involved with the University since it was founded in 1861. “Each aspect of the program speaks to something the University values, from the members of its community to the philosophies that drive its progress to the environment in which it exists,” says designer Faith Berry.

A backlit glowing gold wall in the common area features routed typographic statements of values and philosophies that the University has built upon. A People Wall, filled with photographs and quotes of the UW community, is the focal point of the conference room. This wall highlights the personal connections people have with the University, and the impact the school has had on their lives.

To bring a piece of the surrounding environment inside, a large graphic of Mount Rainier fills a wall at the end of a long corridor, mimicking the iconic view of the mountain that’s visible from the UW quad. From afar, the graphic simply looks like a purple half-tone image of the iconic mountain. But up close, it’s clear that the image is actually composed of a series of textural W’s in UW’s brand mark.

The graphics program also includes a timeline wall, which is still in development. This wall serves as a record of specific successes in UW’s history. Its non-linear nature allows it to be easily updated to highlight future achievements.

As the University of Washington celebrates its sesquicentennial this year, the new Alumni Commons building serves as an elegant and energetic tribute to the accomplishments of the UW’s past 150 years and looks proudly toward its future.

Images taken by Ben Benschenider (click an image to view larger).

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:06:47 -0800

Typographic buildings, inverted skyscrapers, and a few other fascinating finds for you this week.

——————————————————————————

Scared of heights? An apartment in the Earthscraper may be just for you. (Unless you’re afraid of dark, underground spaces, that is…)

Great buildings with typographic exteriors.

Charting the evolution of Western dance music.

The Comedy Carpet is a large (really large!) typographic installation in Blackpool, UK. Can you imagine hand-setting something with more than 160,000 letters?

A new interactive exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan teaches kids about creating healthy lifestyles.

Image: The Domino House via Letterology

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:01:00 -0700

As we move into November, we’re being inspired by illustrated food rules, urban environments, and more.

————————————————————

In his latest film, Gary Hustwit documents how ordinary citizens can impact their urban environment.

These vintage-inspired designs for classic board games create a great sense of nostalgia…and really make us want to start a Studio Monopoly tournament.

Noma Bar uses negative space to create some fantastic images.

All good movements need a brand identity. Occupy Wall Street is no exception.

When was the last time you heard a dry cleaners sound so musical?

Maira Kalman’s charming illustrations highlight Michael Pollan’s Food Rules.

Image: Noma Bar illustration. (via Design Collector)

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:39:21 -0700

Happy Halloween weekend! Designing haunted houses, creating your own monsters (yep, there’s an app for that), and the perfect motorcycle to complete your Tron costume.

—————————————————————-

You only have a few more days before Halloween to create your own Daily Monster (or just marvel as Stefan G. Bucher creates his).

The Museum of Obsolete Objects ensures you won’t forget about things like cassette tapes and the abacus.

This architect’s specialty is spooky environmental design.

Tron-esque Light-Cycles. We’ll take a fleet for the Studio, please.

These aren’t your average pumpkin carvings—they’re veritable sculptures.

Now that’s some Halloween spirit. We would definitely trick-or-treat here.

Image via Multy Shades.

South Puget Sound Community College

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:39:11 -0700

When South Puget Sound Community College decided to consolidate its student services into a newly remodeled building called 22 College Center, it wanted an interior environmental graphics program that would clearly identify departments, reflecting the school’s identity and the special qualities of its location.

SPSCC sits on 101 wooded acres in Olympia, Washington. The College Center is located at the heart of campus, and will house several departments, including student services, advising, and the library. We created a graphic program centered on an image of Evergreen trees, to reflect the college’s unique surroundings. This graphic appears throughout the building, calling out departments with a highly visible, tone-on-tone blue graphic band—a visually interesting way to integrate the school’s colors into the program.

One department that receives special graphic treatment is Student Services. The two-level building has an open central atrium, so the Student Services department on the second floor is visible from the lower level. The large-scale, eye-catching panel identifies the department and includes a typographic treatment listing the services offered.

By reinforcing the school’s identity through a clear department identification system, this program will help enhance the new building, creating a graphically interesting space that inspires school spirit.

Renovations will begin in December and the building, which is being designed by SRG Partnership, is slated for completion by July 2013.

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:19:49 -0700

A cool panoramic camera, amazing beatboxing videos, and the other great things that’ve kept us busy this week.

———————————————————————

The CBS eye turns 60.

A great way to get total panoramic photos — just toss your camera in the air.

Eve Ashcroft, Paint Whisperer.

Turn your bicycle into a turntable.

It’s been a banner week for beatboxers: Actor Michael Winslow as a one-man Led Zeppelin and improvisational logo-inspired beats.

Surely we can find a way to incorporate some Quantum Levitation into our future signage programs.

Image: Panoramic camera, by Jonas Pfeil (via Core77).

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:41:13 -0700

Typography games, Ai Weiwei’s latest gig, and other finds keeping us occupied this week.

———————————————————-

Ai Weiwei served as art director for the cover story of the latest issue of W…via Skype.

File under: Awesome (Also under: Way Harder than You Expect): Cheese or Font?

And while we’re talking about typography games, how’s your kerning?

An interactive Parisian garden that ignite children’s imaginations.

Clever neon posters, from Superman to the Beatles.

These little Lego guys are excellent printers.

Image: Neon posters by Mr. Whaite.

UW Baseball Team Building: Go Purple. Be Gold. The new Husky...

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:12:00 -0700

UW Baseball Team Building: Go Purple. Be Gold.

The new Husky Ballpark Team Building at the University of Washington will be the home off the field for UW Baseball. A design-build project with SRG Partnership and Bayley Construction, the building will feature a simple, but impactful, graphics program that focuses on the fundamentals of baseball.

The motto of the UW Athletics Program is “Go Purple. Be Gold.” Drawing from this, we created what designer Faith Berry calls a “back-to-basics” graphics program. “The idea is to take a classic approach to iconize the baseball program and focus on the fundamental things that make the club great,” she says.

When people enter the lobby of the Team Building, they’re surrounded by golden, towering graphics that span two floors, immortalizing the program’s success. At eye level, life-sized images characterize the mechanics of the game, like the delivery of a pitch or a power swing.

In a nod to the program’s history, the meeting room, where alumni and potential donors will view games, features a large image of an early 1900s pitching staff warming up before a game. A Legacy Panel overlays the image, highlighting memorable games, records set, and players who’ve made it to the big leagues. This interchangeable panel system can be easily updated to include future successes.

In the locker room, inspirational quotes (provided by Head Coach Lindsay Meggs) line the purple drop soffit in the ceiling, and a series of motivational statements look toward the goal at the end of the season: a trip to the College World Series. Lockers are also personalized for each player and include a portrait image and a shot of them in action on the field.

These locker room graphics serve as a useful recruiting tool for the school. By highlighting the players, the team makes it clear that they treat them like professionals and they value each player’s contributions. The aspirational statements, which are integrated into the environment, reiterate to recruits that UW believes in the strength of its program and that it takes seriously the goal of getting to the College World Series.

The new Husky Ballpark Team Building is just one aspect of the university’s plan to energize Husky Baseball. The graphics in the space will connect players, coaches, and recruits with the history of the program and help inspire them on their path to a championship future.

Images: Renderings of the exterior, stairway, meeting room, and locker room graphics. Click on the images to view larger versions.

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:47:00 -0700

This week we’re celebrating Steve Jobs’ impact on design, turning eyesores into artwork, and savoring some tasty typography.

———————————————————————

Typography and cookies. Could there be a better combination?

Uniting people around the world through laughter and balloon hats.

The ABCs of Bacon.

A Nebraska non-profit turns abandoned grain silos into artwork.

Haven’t you always wanted a beautiful, handmade wooden bicycle? Well, you’re in luck.

Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech at Stanford: how a calligraphy class shaped the future of Apple, connecting the dots in your life, and creating great work.

Image by Jonathan Mak, via My Modern Met.

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:08:01 -0700

Crowdsourcing public art, building ginormous Lego structures, digitally reconstructing dreams, and our other fascinating finds this week.

——————————————————————

Learn the ropes of working at Disney in 1943.

Got an extra 400,000 Legos lying around? Try building a life-size Ford Explorer.

The origin of Ferrari’s recognizable logo.

Measuring movies’ visual fingerprints.

Crowdsourced public art in the spirit of JR.

The fact that we’re one step closer to digitally reconstructing our dreams is pretty crazy.

Image: Public art in Tunisia. (via GOOD)

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:38:00 -0700

Today we’re learning about Banksy-style marketing, honoring baseball greats, and how just about anything can have a QR code.

—————————————————————————-

Take a break and go on a quick interactive adventure. (via Quipsologies)

Immortalizing baseball’s greats.

The New Zealand Police Department’s unique Banksy-style marketing efforts.

Track the evolution of famous logos (future incarnations included!).

The inspiration behind Fast Company’s four United States of Design covers.

Exchanging phone numbers too complicated? Just scan your new friend’s QR Code.

The artist behind the Starbucks logo.

Image: Scanz bracelets. A smartphone user can scan a person’s QR code to learn select personal information about them. Image from The New York Times.

Share your Story

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:10:40 -0700

If you’ve been in downtown Seattle over the past few days, you’ve probably noticed some large, colorful pylons around town. These 25 markers—a trail from Pioneer Square to the Seattle Center—are part of the Seattle Design Festival’s Design Marks event.

The event’s goal is to tell the stories of the city’s landmarks. Studio SC’s marker, located on Jackson Street and 3^rd Avenue South, celebrates the King Street Station and its influence on Seattle’s culture and history.

Historically, King Street served as Seattle’s social hub, playing a role in the life stories of thousands of people—each of whom left their mark on the train station. We wanted our marker to be a physical manifestation of that idea, a place where people could share the basic details of their life journeys. Inspired by the design of classic baggage tags, we created a mosaic of blank tags for passers-by to leave behind a piece of their story—from their destination to the reason they travel to the items they can’t live without.

To complement the marker we created a short video about traveling and the many reasons people do it. Baggage tags appear throughout the video, creating a narrative connection among the participants, and also referencing the design of the physical marker.

The markers will be on display until September 25, so you only have a few more days to come down to King Street Station and share your story. We can’t wait to hear about your journey!

You can find more information about Design Marks here, and be sure to check out the markers and the videos made by other participating firms.

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:46:38 -0700

This week, we’re checking out Park(ing) Day, a grassroots plan to bring light to a small village, and a logotype lesson from Doyald Young.

———————————————————————-

What a fascinating and simple way to let some light in.

Charles Schulz reminds us that there’s a little bit of Charlie Brown in everyone.

A glimpse into the creation of Coca-Cola’s first neon sign at Piccadilly Circus.

Doyald Young talks about his life and the art of logotype design.

He’s a deep-sea diver/race car driver/pianist/Judo master. Oh, and also, the former president of Russia.

We just checked out some of the Seattle “parks” for 2011 PARK(ing) Day. What’s going on in your city?

Image: Coca-Cola’s sign at Piccadilly Circus (via Creative Review).