Let's Have a Toast

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since Rick, our Head of Production, left us. We threw together frozen margaritas on the Island to make a toast in honor of him.

Rick, you'll always be in our hearts.

Comedic Brandplay

Work is play. While this isn't always the case, the following examples show how branding can be immensely amusing- to designers and non-industry friends alike. Some of them are provocative; others are pretty adorable. However these attempts at comedic brandplay make you feel, it's important to remember that you feel something. The worst response, after all, is not laughter or hatred- it's apathy.

Disclaimer: Wallace Church doesn't have an opinion of which one crosses the line and which one is funny- that's for you to decide. However, we will say that all of these designers should be commended for their imagination and cleverness.

Above: a YouTube video passed around by one of our Design directors.  Courtesy of Adam Ladd and his daughter.

More after the break.

Inspiration in the Parking Lot

Lou sent pictures around the office of a great design inspiration he found on the street: the DeLorean.

"This guy was so ahead of his time. Look at that logo!"

Wine Education- 24 Knots Video

Our wonderful clients at Winebow made a video last August about 24 Knots, its new Pinot Noir. We're proud to have worked with them on the bottle label, the identity and the name.

The informative video explains everything you need to know about the wine. Next time you pick up a bottle, impress friends and family with your newfound knowledge!
 
For more about 24 Knots, click here.

Something's Off

One of our design directors found something strange about this Wal-Mart. Can you guess it?

Answer after the jump.

Welcome Announcement

Food with Faith

By Lauren Wong

Food and geography have always paired well. With restaurants boasting seasonal fare and regional specialties, location has never been so popular. For the last two years, Danish chef Rene Redzepi has garnered the Best Restaurant in the World award for elevating local foraging to haute cuisine; one recipe in his cookbook, for example, is called “Blueberries surrounded by their natural environment.” So, too, have restaurants that focus on a particular period of time. Renowned chef Grant Achatz’s new restaurant, Next, turns dining into theatre with themes like “Paris, 1906” and “Childhood.” This phenomenon of “scenario dining” turns meals into deeply powerful, sensorial experiences.

With concerns for an increasingly synthetic world, it’s no wonder that we’ve embraced food with emotional substance. A new pattern is starting to form: traditional faith-based cuisine.

ABC's of Branding

One of our designers stumbled across this great brand alphabet by Jason Dean, a Floridian designer. Can you match each letter with its brand?

Rethinking Design Webinar

Rob's hosting a webinar for the Path to Purchase Institute Thursday, February 2. Click here if you're interested!

The origins of the PBS logo

Things never change. (via BRAND NEW)

Happy Holidays!

All the Colors of the [Jello]

If you're looking for color inspiration, go no further than the holiday dessert table. I wonder what the rest of this dinner looked like...

Thanks, Bruno, for the jello mold tip!

Twelve Days of Design Christmas

By Carolyn Edgecomb

The holiday season crept up on us, so we'll make the eight days of design Hanukkah for next year. Here's the countdown to Christmas for the designer in all of us. Go to the next page to see our top picks!

12 Moleskin Notebooks
Perfect for your designer friends' scribbles and schemes. If you feel like going the extra mile, there are plenty of Etsy sellers who screen-print colorful designs on the cover.

Quest for Quantification Webinar

Rob's hosting a webinar for the HBA this Tuesday, December 20th. Interested? Register here!

Under the Headset: Holiday Edition

Favorite Songs:
Nat King Cole- The Christmas Song
Home Alone Soundtrack- Somewhere in My Memory
Dolly Parton- Hard Candy Christmas
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong- Baby, It's Cold Outside
José Feliciano- Feliz Navidad
George Winston- Carol of the Bells

Never to Be Heard Again:
Lady Gaga- Christmas Tree
Run DMC- Christmas
All Holiday Music (a general request)
Don Garder- All I Want for Christmas
Elmo- Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Traditional- The 12 Days of Christmas
Z100- The 12 Shopping Days of Christmas
David Seville & the Chipmunks- The Chipmunk Song

Modern Renaissance Man: Ice Cube Visits the Eames House

By Lauren Wong

Famed hip hop artist Ice Cube takes an architectural tour of Los Angeles and wanders through the iconic Eames house in this 2-minute video for Pacific Standard Time, an exhibit collection from the Getty Museum in Southern California. As he praises the vision of the Charles and Ray Eames, Ice Cube shows how closely design, architecture and music are intertwined. It might surprise viewers to find out that he studied architectural drafting, but there are many aspects of Ice Cube's personality that aren't public knowledge. To define a multifaceted man with one word is like describing an apple as a red object; neither are accurate representations. Today's society is not one-dimensional, and neither is Ice Cube.

Mess Branding

by Rich Rickaby

Many brands have become a mess. Without identifying any, let’s assume that some brands have multiple logo variations, extend themselves too fast to remain controlled, use mixed messages and lack clarity of vision. How does a brand reclaim itself? First, have everyone refer to the brand standard manual and get your communications in line. Voila! You’re on your way.

Crafting Nutrition Information as Part of Your Brand Narrative

With health continuing to be a center of attention for the American  public, front of package nutrition labeling has sparked quite a debate  this year. Research institutes (Institute of Medicine), industry leaders (Facts up Front), and open-sourced contests (GOOD Magazine) have all explored different ways to provide a solution, but no uniform system has gained consensus. As a result, brands are testing different ways to communicate information that is easy for consumers to see and  interpret. They are using nutrition information early in a way that  complements their brand narrative, rather wait to follow a standardized  system that might not be best for their brand.

Thanksgiving Wine: Three Sheeps to the Wind!

THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND, IN SAILOR TERMS, IS TO BE DRUNK. THE SAYING COMES FROM WHEN A BOAT'S SAILS LUFF, CAUSING THE BOAT TO HEAVE BACK AND FORTH IN AN ABSURD FASHION. AT THE YEALANDS ESTATE, THEY DON'T HAVE SHEETS; THEY HAVE SHEEP AND A LOT OF WIND. BY EMPLOYING A FLEET OF THESE PINT-SIZED FELLOWS, THE SHEEP FEEL USEFUL AND THE OWNERS FEEL PROACTIVE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT. WITHOUT THEIR SHEEP, THE ESTATE WOULD HAVE TO USE SPRAYS AND TRACTORS TO KEEP THE GRASS AND WEEDS TRIMMED BETWEEN THE ROWS OF GRAPEVINES.

This time of year, Wallace Church's annual Thanksgiving Wine bottles are starting to land in mailboxes and desks around the country.  If you're one of the lucky ones who received a bottle and scanned its QR code, this is the story behind our work.