everydream

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Logo Development

Opening for the Major League Baseball 2011 Spring Training Season, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick will be the most immersive and forward thinking baseball fan experience in the world. It will be the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, but also be an economic platform for the Salt River Pima – Maricopa Indian Community (SRP-MIC).

From the press release:

“We wanted to reinvent the fan experience of spring training by designing a distinctive destination that focuses on fan connectivity to the players while creating a unique environment that embodies the character, values and culture of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks,” said Byron Chambers, director of sports design, HKS Sports & Entertainment Group.

Opening in February, 2011, Salt River Fields is located on a 140-acre site near the Pima-Loop 101 Freeway and Indian Bend Road. Salt River Fields is the first Major League Baseball Spring Training facility built on Native American land. Owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC), the complex consists of separate training facilities and clubhouses accommodating each team as well as an 11,000-seat central stadium which features a uniquely designed roof structure that offers fans in the cross aisle plenty of shade.

“Our Pima ancestors, the Huhugam, used posts hewn from mesquite trees, with willow and arrowweed branches to build large ramadas that created shade from the hot desert sun,” said SRPMIC President Diane Enos. “These shade structures were important centers for daily life, like cooking, weaving or visiting. Today, we are taking this ramada to new heights at Salt River Fields with the soaring roof structure that will shade our new stadium.”

I have had the opportunity to be lead designer and creative director on the identity, signage, environmental graphics, interpretive graphics, concession branding, and more. It has been a very challenging project. We had to balance the brands of two very distinct teams, The Diamondbacks and the Rockies, and, just as important, tell the story of the SRP-MIC in an engaging way.

As you can see from the diagram above we wanted to establish a “look” throughout the facility with ALL of the graphics. You might regard this as creating a “brand” – that is incorrect – we are creating a ‘visual identity’ that ultimately will be connected to an experience that will create a brand. We wanted this ‘visual identity’ to move through all applications of graphics; advertising, signage, tickets, letterhead and more.

Prior to our involvement the community created an aspiration line for the facility – “Two Tribes, Two Teams, One Home.” The idea behind “Two Tribes, Two Teams, One Home” really hit it on the head for us. We knew we had to find a way to create an icon for this facility that took the identity to another level that has not been seen in Spring Training Facilities. (Spring Training Facilities are fast becoming an economic engine and baseball destination especially in the Phoenix area – where there are will be 10 separate venues next year.)

Above are all three logos of those involved in the facility. The Rockies have not had a logo change since they became part of the league in 1993. The Diamondbacks re-branded themselves in 2007. The third icon was developed by local Pima artist and calendar stick carver Royce Manuel and speaks about the mountains and the rattlesnake in SRP-MIC history. The Calendar Stick symbols are very important to the Community. These symbols help tell the history and stories of the tribe and families. The symbol created by Mr. Manuel symbolized Salt River Fields in the community timeline.

The challenges in creating the icon were:
-Creating an icon that represented the community.
-Creating an icon that represented the Colorado Rockies
-Creating an icon that represented the Arizona Diamondbacks
-Creating an icon that could stand on its own to represent the project

We toiled over the icon for several months. Going back and forth about what would be best for the facility. Then on a late Friday night around 2:30AM the idea popped into my mind after viewing a set of sketches I made earlier in the night. And I began dissecting each individual element.

The solution, though simple, has many layers. It speaks about heritage. It speaks of team. It speaks of partnership. It symbolizes the essence of the project quickly. It delivers the solution to our four main challenges above.

The final rendering above utilizes the prominent colors of the teams and one selected by the SRP-MIC.

Obviously a lot more conversations with the ownership went on before and after the initial grand idea. I can tell you we had 4 prior meetings about the logo with other concepts that were shot down. But, when we rally around the project, explain the design process, and LISTEN to the client, the end product is always better. This project is a testament to that.

In the near future I hope to showcase all of the hard work going into the fan and branded experiences we have developed.

____________________________

For more information about the project please visit: http://www.saltriverfields.com

For information about SRP-MIC please visit: http://www.srpmic-nsn.gov/

For information about The Arizona Diamondbacks: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/

For information about the Colorado Rockies: http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/

For information about HKS Inc. : http://hksinc.com/

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Our Wedding Invitations

I was married to an amazing woman in March of this year. I designed the wedding invitations to show our modern and classic sides. I really wanted to create an invitation that people might want to leave around or pin up. On the back of the formal invite is a graphic I created using some of the Bickham Script flourishes.

We also tried to remove any trends and make this timeless, meaning it had a flavor of the past but it would be contemporary even ten years from now.

Main typeface is Verlag by H&FJ. Great when widely kerned to give a mid-century modern feel.

These are printed on 120lbs cover weight Eames Bright White. 1 Color.

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Dodger Stadium: Field Level Signage and Graphics

Dodger Stadium is the 3rd oldest baseball stadium in the country. While most are being torn down, Dodger Stadium is being modernized. It was essential to create signage that controlled sponsorship and concession branding as to not ruin the architectural purity of the space.

We wanted this to have the polish of Googie’s vision of a future but be more grounded in modern form and also take typical Baseball centered signage and put it on its head. It is my belief that signage in Baseball stadiums needs to modernize and quit relying on cliche’ references of the past. Dodger Stadium, because of its history and team leadership at the front office, was the opportunity to do that – while still nodding to the stadiums architectural past. We also took great inspiration from mid-century modern artists and painters – like the color fields of Ellsworth Kelly – the father of “California Cool”.

We spent great time pinning down the original pale yellow color that was included when the stadium first opened. HKS Inc. out of Dallas, TX, designed the initial box seat renovation and continued the Field Level architecture that definetly set the ton for historical preservation and re-imagining. The whole team’s pursuit and design process really pushed the project to the next level. I am honored to have been a part of it.

Note: These changes took place for the opening of the 2008 season.

All Photos by Blake Marvin
Architecture: HKS Inc.
Fabrication by TubeArt

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Mistakes/Successes #1

I am relatively young in the “design world”. Its hard to believe I have been working in design for about nine years – seven of which have been a full time job. I have been very lucky to work with great designers, companies, and projects. I am very lucky to be leading design on well known projects throughout the country. Luck and hard work sometimes allow you to move quickly up the ladder. But only hard work and good ideas allow you to gain the respect of your collaborators.

I have been reflecting lately on what has happened in the past seven years. What I have done wrong and what I have done right. Mistakes, though dreadful, are never as bad as we first fear, and successes are usually smaller than we expected. But both, mistakes and success, and your actions directly after, define your character to those around you. The following is the first installment of “Mistakes/Successes”.

Mistake – Not Working Hard Enough For My College Professors
I can remember sitting down with my professors. It was portfolio review time. I had joined a social fraternity at my small college. I had not been focusing on my art/design as much as I should of been but I was still performing at a high level compared to the rest of the class – but that was all mostly instinct. I hadn’t been pursuing excellence. I knew it. They knew it. So they confronted me about it. A professor I admired very much asked me why I wasn’t in the Art Department more. I said that I had been “busy with the fraternity.” They knew what that meant. Another professor said “We gave you a scholarship because we thought you would be more involved.” My response… “You gave me a scholarship for what I did – not what I was going to do.” Not smart….

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iPhone4 Announcement Prediction

What I find interesting is that no one is asking the real questions here.

1 – How is it affecting the ability of the phone to work in a majority of real world instances. Half of the problem is AT&Ts network. People with strong signals can still make calls even with the antenna issue with no problem.

Which brings up #2

2 – Do the consumers even care? If they have seen zero change in service or even an uptick (for people like my father who couldn’t get a signal in his house but now can) what the hell does it matter? Even Engadget with its emotional readers and commenters can’t point to a substantial consumer backlash for the device. People are using their phones and not caring.

I believe there is alot of hype around this that shouldn’t be. Given that Consumer Reports can’t give a “Recommended Buy” to the iPhone4 but have it listed as the “Best Smartphone” followed by the 3Gs should be a dead give-away that this is just another sensational story meant to get eyes on webpages. Meanwhile, oil just stopped gushing in the gulf.

Here is my prediction for tomorrow and what Jobs will do.

1 – Introduce himself.
2 – talk about the iPhone 4 and how successful it has been. 3 million + units.
3 – say something about the antenna “has been *chuckle* an issue. I am sure you have heard.”
4 – bring out experts that explain antenna design and the issues.
5 – steve will say “okay if you want to bring back your iphone – please take it to the nearest Apple store we will exchange for a full refund. If you buy one and you don’t like the service bring it back. If you are happy keep it.” *What I don’t know is the whole AT&T side the story*
6 – Steve will throw in a bumper if people want it.
7 – Thank everyone and leave.

Now is the second part. WSJ and every other newspaper/magazine/blog will run a story asking “Did Apple Do Enough” and they will undoubtedly say “no” and quote un-named sources about how the whole ordeal.

People will move on. Apple stock might take a 2% – 3% hit for the day. And the next day no one will care and I will still buy mine regardless of tomorrow in a couple weeks.

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12 Hills Nature Center

The 12 Hills Nature Center in the Oak Cliff suburb of Dallas, TX is an example of what determination can accomplish. Over ten years has past since the first e-mail mentioning the possibility of a independent group of individuals that would use grants and personal donated funds to build an urban nature preserve. The nature center will act as a outdoor classroom and community hub.

My role was to design signage and graphics for the entry and donor recognition. Working closely with the landscape architect Carolyn Perna of TBG (located in Dallas), we fully integrated the graphics into the landscape. This type of integration is unheard of of on this scale. Sandblasted text, donor names, and a 36″ cast bronze recognition plaque that uses names to mimic tree rings were all placed into the space.

All work was Pro Bono.

Landscape Architecture: Carolyn Perna, TBG