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TWILL MAGAZINE
MARIMEKKO
1 LAS FALLAS
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DUKE FOR PRESIDENT
UPLIFTING
72 SMALLFRY IMAGINATION SUPPLY
LAS FALLAS Poster Design | Illustration
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OVERVIEW
LAS FALLAS is a annual celebration held in Valencia, Spain in praise of St. Joseph. Many customar y traditions shape the festival, most notably the artistic preparation and subsequent burning of colossal papermache satirical puppets referred to as ninots.
CHALLENGE
Design a commemorative poster series for the 2011 festival that pays tribute to the extravagant ninots of years past.
SOLUTION
The illustrations for the posters were delicately handmade to reflect the artistic process and effort put into the construction of the ninots each year. The layered cut paper in each poster highlights figures while also portraying the wildly dynamic aspects of the festival: fire, explosions, music, crowds, parties and parades.
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TWILL MAGAZINE Print Design
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OVERVIEW
TWILL MAGAZINE features content about the future of sustainable fibers from the perspective of all who play a role in the global textile industry: farmers, conservationists, consumers, large scale producers, distributors, designers, artists, craftspeople, and scientists. The magazine works to advance one of the world’s oldest and largest industries by developing a sustainable standard to enable its endurance for many centuries into the future.
CHALLENGE
Fully design the layout and identity for a proposed magazine focusing on sustainable fibers. Each monthly issue must include four varying articles and four columns while remaining visually consistent. The design must speak to the magazine’s audience : individuals who are part of or interested in the global textile industry.
SOLUTION
The magazine’s title “Twill” was chosen to represent the intertwining connection between humans and the natural world as well as to pose the more literal definition of the word as “the traditional method of twisting and interweaving to form thread, the basic element of most fibers.” The circular masthead speaks to this cyclical interconnection and the magazine’s global initiative. The cover is simple, emphasizing a compelling image that highlights one of the feature articles in each issue. This interchangeable photographic layout serves to best portray textiles in all their glory, immediately drawing in viewers with an engaging image such as a seemingly tactile close-up of lambs wool.
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There is innate beauty in strong roots. Forty five centuries ago, the Ancient Chinese began to harvest fibers from the silk worm. Humans have since been continuously inspired by natural processes and aesthetics to create objects of beauty and function. Twill represents our interconnection as humans with the natural world while also defining the traditional method of twisting and interweaving to form thread, the basic element of most fibers. The magazine features content about the future of sustainable fibers from the perspective of all who play a role in the global textile industry: artists, scientists, mathematicians, craftspeople, farmers, conservationists, designers, consumers, and large-scale producers. Twill will work to advance one of the world’s oldest and largest industries to develop a sustainable standard with the ability to endure many centuries into the future. Enjoy.
Denise Liberi, Editor
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ARTISTS & DESIGNERS
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RIGHT The sheep and wool from “One Sheep Sweater” photo by Roel Van Tour
SRENGISED & STSITRA
Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma heads back to the source as part of her new series of projects inspired by wooly flocks.
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hristien Meinderstma is an artist, designer, and author who understands the importance of material, craft, and process. Her art elegantly illustrates the level of physical and psychological disconnect that consumers have from the production of objects that are used on a daily basis. In her project, One Sheep Sweater, twenty-five sweaters were knitted each from the wool of one merino sheep from a single flock in the Netherlands. The outcome was a “flock” of sweaters that varied in size depending on the size of the sheep. “I liked starting with a sheep rather than a cotton plant, because it has a face and it’s alive, but along the way I started really appreciating the material, wool,” she comments about her material of choice.
Her current follow-up project for the Nature Conservancy is the One Sheep Rug which THGIR employs the same principals as One Sheep morf loow dna peehs ehSweater, T using the wool from one organic ”retaewS peehS enO“ ruoT naV leoR yb otohp
flock of Panama sheep from Lava Lake Ranch, Idaho. With a thick line of wool yarn and two oversized knitting needles, Meinderstma weaves each rug with different stitches so the sheep can still be distinguished after they are combined into a giant “flock” rug. Meinderstma explains the purpose of these flocked knitting experiments, “I think a lot of the value of a product is in knowing where it comes from, how it grows, in what kind of amounts and where, and a lot of this information got lost. Also because things are
The place is important as well as the people, the animals, plants, everything.” made all around the world and not in your backyard the way it used to be- so much more local.” “The place is really important for my work because it’s actually the starting point where my products come from. So I always try to explain something about where the product comes from. It’s the place as well as the people, the animals, plants, everything. It’s the whole system that is important I think.”
DENISE LIBERI
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SRENGISED & STSITRA
While many companies promote their use of organic cotton, it still represents less than one percent of global cotton acreage, and very little organic cotton is produced in the US. Meanwhile, in the Sustainable Cotton Project’s home state of California, cotton is among the top ten crops using the most chemicals. THGIR morf loow dna peehs ehT ” r e t a e w S p e e7 hS enO“ ruoT naV leoR yb otohp
article by Samantha Roswell
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SRENGISED & STSITRA
taking up 89 million acres in 70 countries. It’s also the world’s most heavily pesticide-sprayed field crop. Despite being planted on only three percent of the world’s arable land, cotton accounts for an incredible 25 percent of global pesticide and herbicide use-about 350 million pounds a year. In developing countries, where regulations are less stringent, the negative impacts are more severe.
FRONT A sample of a pesticide-free cotton plant grown in California photo by Lisa Simmons
THGIR morf loow dna peehs ehT ”retaewS peehS enO“ ruoT naV leoR yb otohp
TOP A Pasadena , CA sustainable cotton farm photo by Lisa Simmons
Cotton is such a pesticide-dependent crop that a group of farmers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, who were beset by the American bollworm last year, spent virtually their last money on chemicals to control the insects. When the pesticides failed, at least 110 despondent farmers committed suicide--by drinking the pesticides. The negative consequences of the chemicallyintensive cotton industry is a broad, international issue, but it has important local ramifications, too, extending all the way to the most intimate part of
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SRENGISED & STSITRA
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he Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.
One of the acknowledged wonders of the natural world, the Great Barrier Reef stretches along the coast of Queensland, Australia, in a riotous profusion of color and form unparalleled on our planet. But global warming and pollutants so threaten this fragile monster that scientists now believe the reef will be devastated in coming years. As a homage to the Great One, Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring instigated a project to crochet a woolen reef. The sisters, who grew up in the state of Queensand, began the project in 2005 in their Los Angeles living room, and for the first four years of its life the Reef took over their house, gradually expanding to become the dominant life-form in their home. At the same time the project began to expand into other cities and countries until it has now become a worldwide movement that engages communities across the globe from Chicago, New York and London, to Melbourne, Dublin and Capetown. The Crochet Reef is a unique fusion of art, science, mathematics, handicraft and community practice that may well be the largest community art project in the world. The inspiration for making crochet reef forms begins with the technique of “hyperbolic crochet” discovered in 1997 by Cornell University mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina. The Wertheim sisters adopted Dr Taimina’s techniques and elaborated upon them to develop a whole taxonomy of reef-life forms. Loopy “kelps”, fringed “anemones”, crenelated “sea slugs”, and curlicued “corals” have all been modeled with these methods. The basic process for making these forms is a simple pattern or algorithm, which on its own produces a mathematically pure shape, but by varying or mutating this algorithm, endless variations and permutations of shape and form can be produced. The Crochet Reef project thus becomes an on-going evolutionary experiment in which the worldwide community of Reefers brings into being an ever-evolving crochet “tree of life.”
ABOVE Hyperbolic Crocheted Coral : © The Institute for Figuring 2010 RIGHT Community Coral Reef photo by Demonique Edmunds THGIR morf loow dna peehs ehT ” r e t a e w S p e e7 hS enO“ ruoT naV l13 eoR yb otohp
As a totality, the Crochet Reef has grown far beyond its original While many companies promote their incarnation on the Wertheim’s coffee table so that today it is made up of of organic cotton, it still represents many use different “sub-reefs,” each with its own colors and styling. Major less than one percent of global cotton sub-reefs include the Bleached Reef, the Beaded Reef, the Branched Anemone Garden, the Kelp Garden, and The Ladies’ Silurian Atoll, a acreage, and very little organic cotton ring-shaped installation 1000 individual is produced inwith theclose US. toMeanwhile, in pieces made by dozensthe of our most skilled contributors around the world. In addition Sustainable Cotton Project’s home to these delicate woolen reefs is also a massive Toxic Reef crocheted state of California, cotton is among the from yarn and plastic trash - a part of the project that responds to the top ten crops using trash the most escalating problem of plastic that ischemicals. innundating our oceans and choking marine life. article by Samantha Roswell article by Karie Mulholland 6
SRENGISED & STSITRA
taking up 89 million acres in 70 countries. It’s also the world’s most heavily pesticide-sprayed field crop. Despite being planted on only three percent of the world’s arable land, cotton accounts for an incredible 25 percent of global pesticide and herbicide use-about 350 million pounds a year. In developing countries, where regulations are less stringent, the negative impacts are more severe.
FRONT A sample of a pesticide-free cotton plant grown in California photo by Lisa Simmons
THGIR morf loow dna peehs ehT ”retaewS peehS enO“ ruoT naV leoR yb otohp
TOP A Pasadena , CA sustainable cotton farm photo by Lisa Simmons
Cotton is such a pesticide-dependent crop that a group of farmers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, who were beset by the American bollworm last year, spent virtually their last money on chemicals to control the insects. When the pesticides failed, at least 110 despondent farmers committed suicide--by drinking the pesticides. The negative consequences of the chemicallyintensive cotton industry is a broad, international issue, but it has important local ramifications, too, extending all the way to the most intimate part of
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NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE / RESTORATION HARDWARE Package Design | Illustration
OVERVIEW
THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other historical properties. RESTORATION HARDWARE is an American retail chain specializing in home furnishings, functionally decorative hardware, and other related merchandise. The company defines its products as classic and authentic American
CHALLENGE
Design a summer line of products to be sold at RESTORATION HARDWARE , in retail locations and online, that showcase the wide variety of U.S. National Parks. A quarter of related sales will be donated to THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE.
SOLUTION
The hand-painted logos showcase the wide variety of flora and fauna present in each national park. The picnic basket complements the summer season, perfect for any open-air lunch excursion. Additionally, the intricate logos can be placed on an endless variety of RESTORATION HARDWARE products including ,journals, bedding, lamps, kitchen tiles, and more.
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MARIMEKKO Textile Design | Illustration
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OVERVIEW
MARIMEKKO is a Finnish company based in Helsinki that has made important contributions to fashion, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. They are particularly noted for brightly-colored printed fabrics and simple styles, used both in women’s garments and in home furnishings.
CHALLENGE
Design a line of textiles for the kitchen and bathroom to be sold on the MARIMEKKO website. The textile design must also have the ability to be translated into a variety of related additional product designs.
SOLUTION
The illustrations for the textile patterns are hand drawn renditions of common household items found in the kitchen or bathroom. The bright colors coincide with Marimekko’s well known style of fabrics. Additionally, the illustrations lend themselves to use on a variety of related products.
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DUKE FOR PRESIDENT Print Design | Illustration
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OVERVIEW
The DUKE FOR PRESIDENT campaign arose out of a long conversation between colleagues regarding the frustrations with current presidential candidates. It was suggested that most house pets offer more of the desirable presidential qualities than the candidates themselves, qualities such as the loyalty of a dog, the devotion of a cat, or the vibrant presence of a bird.
SOLUTION
The campaigns for DUKE, FLUFFY, and PAULIE are a satirical social commentary on current presidential incumbents. In keeping with the contemporary visual culture of conventional presidential campaigns, typical slogans and stylings are shouldered by the alwayspatriotic red, white, and blue. This series okes fun at the absurdities prevalent in today’s political spectacle.
DAKOTAH FURNITURE CO. Identity | Web Design
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OVERVIEW
DAKOTAH FURNITURE CO. is a small business located in Minneapolis, Minnesota that builds made-to-order furniture of unparalleled craftsmanship. All pieces are built by a team of carpenters their local woodshop and are shipped across the United States.
CHALLENGE
Design a fully functioning website in which customers around the United States can browse and order from the selection of available furniture as well as request quotes for custom-made orders.
SOLUTION
The DAKOTAH FURNTITURE CO. website provides an easy- to - use visual platform for browsing and ordering furniture online. The wood grain logo reflects the design of the furniture itself – modern and rustic. The DAKOTAH FURNITURE CO. website won a Gold Addy ® in 2011 from the American Advertising Federation in the category of Website Design.
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UPLIFTING Typography | Installation
OVERVIEW
UPLIFTING is a collaborative project that was planned, proposed and installed with Gabriel Corral, Michael Howard, and John Taylor. Typography plays a significant part in our everyday lives while remaining largely unnoticed. From reading the numbers on the clock in the morning to the directions on a microwave dinner, designers strive to convey information through the design of type. Typography has the power to evoke ideas, play with emotion, and call for action. This installation serves the purpose of bringing attention to the art of typographic design itself as well as to exemplify its effective capabilities. The UPLIFTING installation should do just as the name suggests: evoke an uplifting experience within the viewer simply by the design, medium, and placement of a single word within our everyday environment.
SOLUTION
The word UPLIFTING represents typography as it is used to uplift the spirit and evoke an idea within the viewer. The idea of floating or ascending is a common theme that inspires and uplifts. This concept is emulated in the design of the typeface as well as the medium of the pixel, which is a weightless balloon. The typeface selected to represent the concept, Brandon Grotesque, was chosen because of its style, which reflects the character and feel of the balloons with its smooth, floating appearance. Additionally, Brandon Grotesque was influenced by the geometric sans serif typefaces that were designed in the 1920’s and 1930’s, which coincides with the beginning of the mass production of latex balloons. The location between the palm trees on the main road of the Flagler College campus was chosen because of its public nature as well as its commonality to most who pass by. In addition to the installation itself, helium balloons with a description of the project were handed out to those who walked by during the St. Augustine Art Walk. The community was curious, inquisitive, educated, and UPLIFTED.
Typography plays a significant part in our everyday lives while remaining largely unnoticed. From the numbers on the clock to the directions on a microwave dinner, designers strive to convey information through the design of type. Typography has the power to evoke ideas, play with emotion, and call for action. This installation serves the purpose of bringing attention to the art of typographic design itself as well as to exemplify its effective capabilities. The UPLIFTING installation should do just as the name suggests: evoke an uplifting experience within the viewer simply by the design, medium, and placement of a single word within our everyday environment.
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All UPLIFTING photos were taken by Ben Sasso
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SMALLFRY IMAGINATION SUPPLY Identity | Packaging
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OVERVIEW
SMALLFRY IMAGINATION SUPPLY is a children’s retail company specializing in clothing, toys, games, costumes, and educational products.
CHALLENGE
Create an identity for the company that reflects the genuine fun and imaginative nature of childhood. The brand will include several product lines that require additional branding with visual continuity. Design packaging for a pair of rain boots.
SOLUTION
The illustrative SMALLFRY logo portrays child-like exploration with the use of the boat and spaceship. The designed icons and wallpaper have visual continuity while distinctively separating the Space Cadet, Aviator, and Seafarer lines of products. With just a little bit of imagination, the SMALLFRY Moonboots packaging transforms ordinary rain boots into extraordinary fun.
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-Smallfry Imagination Supply
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The Smallfry parent is young in their twenties or thirties, creative, and trendy. They have a high education, perhaps a bachelors or masters degree and are succusful in a job that understands the importance of creativity, for example architecture, graphic design, culture, living in big, rising, or small culture-
charles and max austin, texas
Boulder, or Chicago. They have an interest in learning and want to instil the same in their children. They’re interested in current events, environmnental sustainability, history, art, and pop culture. In their free time they might spend time with their family, read, go camping, attend concerts, and take their kids to the park, aquarium, or science museum.
The Smallfry child is a boy or girl within imagination. They are outgoing, fun, explorative, and sometimes get in trouble for their consistant curiosity. They like to learn, formally or informally, and are generally smart and well behaved. They like to play outside, make forts, explore the outdoors, dress up, make pretend, play with others, read, paint, draw, swim, climb trees, run, dance, play and enjoy the happy bliss of childhood. They are always asking questions, trying to younger siblings, and looking up to their parents as role models. They are interested in spaceships, airplanes, submaries, science experiments, animal life and always bring a smile to everyone’s face.
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anne and isabella chicago, illinois
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BRAND COLOR PALETT P PALETTE E Fresh, original, loved, and imaginative,
just like our Smallfry Smallfrys. r s.
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Pantone 485 C C 0 M 95 Y 100 K 0
Pantone 1375 C C 0 M 40 Y 90 K 0
PantoneYellow 12 C C 0 M 4 Y 100 K 0
Pantone 3975 C C 0 M 0 Y 100 K 29
Pantone 2755 C C 100 M 97 Y 0 K 30
Pantone 3115 C C 63 M 0 Y 18 K 0
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CREDITS PHOTOS: Denise Liberi, Matt Steiger, Ben Sasso, Mike Howard COPY: Denise Liberi, Matt Steiger PRINT: Mimeo, Ocean Air Graphics, PIP Printing SPECIAL THANKS: Luciana Gassett for endless design support Matt Steiger for endless moral support and Mike Howard for endless tech support.
© DENISE LIBERI 2011