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Volume Inc. Marcus Smith Code and Theory Tyler Jacobson Exhibit
November/December 2014 Twenty-Four Dollars commarts.com
BY JESSICA CAREW KRAFT
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f you want to understand what makes Volume Inc. tick, you won’t get a pat answer or a clichéd response. Founding partners and creative directors Adam Brodsley and Eric Heiman seem to float above convention, defying categories and transcending the traditional boxes that designers are taught to think in. The work of their San Francisco–based firm spans such a spectrum of media—websites, print collateral, product demos, video, typography, exhibition design, books, bicyclepowered light bulbs—that it is hard to label it as graphic design without attaching several asterisks. Brodsley and Heiman seem more comfortable talking about what Volume is not. The firm’s website declares: “It’s not branding, strategy, user experience, social media or even design” and describes the aesthetic of one of its award-winning projects as “not hipster hip.” A retrospective exhibition of the company was titled Masters of Design: Our Work Shouldn’t Be Here. That 2013 show, mounted at Western Gallery in Bellingham, Washington, featured more than a decade of the firm’s work. It also challenged the audience to consider whether graphic design should even be displayed in gallery spaces. Unlike artwork intended for exhibition, design’s original purpose is lost when it’s displayed behind lucite as an objet. Brodsley and Heiman maintain that such design without context and engagement is the proverbial falling tree that no one hears. Does it exist? Is it really design?
These kinds of paradoxes abound in their work for a roster of nonprofits and cultural organizations, and also in their personalities—whereas Brodsley is reticent, yet quick to laugh, Heiman probes effusively into serious terrain with earnest pronouncements. The two admit that they “don’t agree about a lot of stuff” and don’t socialize too much apart from work, which they believe is important to their success. Yet it’s apparent that they create an ambiance of playfulness just from their choice of the name “Volume,” which offers
a clue to both founders’ creative origins in three-dimensional design. Brodsley worked on exhibitions and environments at Mauk Design for many years, and Heiman has a degree in architecture. They prefer to say that Volume specializes in a design process, one that penetrates past the surface level. “It’s as much about the how as it is the what,” says Brodsley. “We are always looking beyond ink, paper, screens and pixels. We don’t think of our work only as artifacts, but as systems at work that other people use and plug into.” Their brand of systems thinking means that although most of their projects are technically ephemeral, they aim to inspire sustainability and create enduring relationships. Their design for the donor recognition wall at the York School is embedded with a time capsule that won’t be opened for 100 years. The green innovations exhibit they created for the Boy Scouts of America’s solar-powered model tree house is intended to train kids in lifelong conservation habits. And their recent book design for the DIY magazine ReadyMade, which features innovative instruction manuals, will remain useful to readers even after the projects inside are completed— the book’s chipboard spine also functions as a ruler. But even with all of the grand ideas, Volume’s work can also be purely mesmerizing. IDEO editorial director Shoshana Berger co-founded ReadyMade magazine and has worked with Volume on a number of projects. “What they always bring to the table is this spectacular fussiness,” she says. “They come up with these meta design languages. Sometimes they allude to another time or refer back to the iconography of a lost childhood, sort of like a Wes Anderson movie or Portlandia. And they do it in a way that is so pleasing and not overly twee,” she says. With a modern twist on nostalgia, Volume sends out invitations and mails their annual holiday cards imbued with agency and animation. Berger describes how she received a vintage album cover in the mail, and the record itself had
Captions were supplied by Volume Inc. Firm partners Eric Heiman and Adam Brodsley served as creative directors on all projects shown. Right: “Yerba Buena Center for the Arts asked us to rethink its public image through the launch of the YBCA:You program, which provides participants with intimate and social vehicles to engage with art, such as personal docent tours and exclusive VIP events with artists. We thought that since the program is about ‘You,’ the campaign should be, too: privilege the people that come to see the art, celebrate the disparate reactions that art provokes and highlight the communal activity that art facilitates. A simple concept, but it was quite an undertaking to find the right combination of heads and images. We went through thousands of images and hundreds of possible combinations before landing on the select few that were used.” Ed O’Brien, designer; Gabriel Branbury, photographer; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), client. 42
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CONSUMER MAGAZINE ADS 1 (series) Silvina Guerreiro, art director Hoyt Dwyer, writer Mark Ronquillo, creative director David Corr, executive creative director Rob Feakins, chief creative officer Publicis Kaplan Thaler (New York, NY), ad agency Procter & Gamble, Scope, client
2 Scott Schneider, art director Jason Perdue/Rob Tarry, writers Ian Grais/Chris Staples/Rob Tarry, creative directors Hans Sipma, photographer Tom Pettapiece, typographer Kerry Bhangu, producer Rethink (Toronto, Canada), ad agency BCAA Insurance, client
3 Jose Llompart, art director Anibal Quiùones, writer Ricky Soler, creative director Kenneth Rexach, photographer Oneighty° (Guaynabo, PR), ad agency Ambar Rodriguez, Honda, client
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TELEVISION COMMERCIALS 1 “The Big Leap” :60 “This film is an epic story of a first kiss and a man overcoming his fears to show a woman he loves her. It is a metaphorical plunge into the unknown. It debuted Lacoste’s tagline ‘Life is a beautiful sport,’ a challenge that demands courage in an incredible playground.” Gabrielle Attia/Damien Bellon, art directors Gabrielle Attia, writer Remi Babinet/Antoine Choque, creative directors Schmooze, sound production Seb Edwards, director Michele Bertona, production coordinator Clement Boisseau, planner Patrick Barbier/Romain Cavagnac/David Green, producers Wanda Productions, production company MPC, visual effects company BETC (Paris, France), ad agency Lacoste, client
2 “They Lived” :30 “Inspired by letters from real Subaru owners, a Subaru gives its life to save its occupants.” Michael Rogers, art director Conn Newton, writer Conn Newton/Michael Rogers, associate creative directors Randy Hughes, executive creative director Dave Damman, chief creative officer Lance Acord, Park Pictures, director of photography/ director Stephen Jess, Whitehouse Post, editor Tim Quackenbush, Whitehouse Post, assistant editor Miles Hankins, music composer Carl White, BWN, sound design/audio mixer Steve Medin, Volt, visual effects artist Sean Coleman, Company 3, Telecine colorist Aristides McGarry, Park Pictures, line producer Joe Grundhoefer, integrated production director Brynn Hausmann, executive integrated producer Mary Ann Marino, Park Pictures, executive producer Carmichael Lynch (Minneapolis, MN), ad agency Subaru of America, client
3 “Gracie” :30 “No other cereal brand can talk about love better than Cheerios. Since Cheerios is committed to every kind of family, we created ‘Gracie.’ After the interracial family in the ‘Just Checking’ spot sparked a national debate, Cheerios brought them back for a sequel—this time during the Super Bowl.” Taylor Lucas, art director Nick Marchese, writer Justin Ebert/Peter Moore Smith, executive creative directors Rodes Ponzer, managing director, creative Tami Reiker, Community Films, director of photography Jim Ulbrich, Beast, editor Matt Smukler, Community Films, director Carr Donald, Community Films, line producer Tanya LeSieur, integrated production director Eric Korte, music producer Mark Sherwood, integrated producer John Doris/Dani Stoller, executive broadcast producers Carl Swan, Community Films, executive producer Beast/Community Films, production companies Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency General Mills, client 188
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SPOTLIGHT: DESIGN TOYS Tale of the tape Color me excited The new Pantone Essentials kit bundles solid, solid-to-process and process-only color specification kits in a convenient carrying case. They’ve been busy at Pantone, adding 84 new colors this year alone and 644 new ones since 2010. The bundle includes formula guides for selecting, specifying and matching solid Pantone colors, Color Bridge for converting solid Pantone colors to CMYK, RGB or HTML/hex colors for web design, and CMYK guides (coated and uncoated) with 2,868 process colors chromatically arranged to make it easier to spec colors for four-color process printing. Seeing is believing at pantone.com.
The real macaw Intuitive website design without coding has been a fever dream of designers for as long as… well, as long as there has been web design. Now that dream might become a reality, thanks to Macaw, a real-time, design-to-code program that converts visual design to HTML and CSS. Features include the ability to create responsive designs optimized for all devices, pull in web fonts, build dynamic layouts and send designs to any device on the same network for remote previews. Like what you see? Simply click “Publish.” Download a free trial at macaw.co.
Code for clarity Input is a typeface coders will love. Designed specifically to be used by computer programmers and web developers who have long relied on monospaced, fixed-width fonts, Input is built for today’s sophisticated coding environments. Combining syntax highlighting, proportionally spaced text and multiple font styles, Input aims to make code easier to write and read. And for designers who need to emulate the look of a Fortran command line, Input is ideal. Input is available for download at input.fontbureau.com/download. 208
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All these years, masking tape has been just plain old masking tape. Sticky, but boring. Vanilla—well, maybe manila. Until now. Enter House Industries. These guys, who must have their fingers on the pulse of the cultural zeitgeist, have figured out what masking tape was missing. Capital letters! Carnival style! From A to Z. Start taping typography everywhere at houseind .com/objects/objects/ carnivalalphabet maskingtape.
Let the arguments begin! Love to nerd out about all things design? DESIGNerd is the perfect app for trivia-loving designers. Topics include typography, publishing, advertising, branding, contemporary design studios and packaging, with contributions from such design luminaries as Kevin Finn, Stefan Sagmeister, Lita Talarico and Steven Heller. A limited edition set of cards housed in a protective tin is also available. Geek out at designerd.info.
Lorem ipsum does good Gibberish has never been this impactful. Hyperakt created Social Good Ipsum, a lorem ipsum generator that enables designers to fill their comps with buzz phrases from the world of activism. For example, “Amplify combat poverty Millennium Development Goals.…” If you want to change the world, first change your dummy copy at socialgoodipsum.com. —Sam McMillan