Archive

March 2009

The website for the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts launches. The site combines innovative technology, created with development partner Palantir, with an integrated visual voice that consolidates two major schools and a museum in one flexible format.

The New York Times features a story on the Museum of Modern Art's website "ramp up." The article cites the Indianapolis Museum of Art website as leading the way in "an era in which ways of creating art-loving online communities have become a much more important part of museum Web sites."

The brand tools for the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University are released. The school establishes a blog for people to comment on the work.

February

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum launches its new brand tools.

January 2009

The artist's monograph, "Look at Me: Photographs of Mexico City by Jed Fielding", is released. The book is the culmination of a decade of Fielding's work photographing blind students at a school in Mexico.

Cheryl Towler Weese judges and addresses AIGA Detroit's biannual Design Re:View.

Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces form the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales, is released.

December

The Krannert Art Museum collection guide is released. The book presents the museum's permanent collection in a contemporary frame that reflects the museum's vision and values.

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago completes its rebranding.

November

Studio Blue is chosen to design The Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, for the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The book will include groundbreaking interpretations of Mayan glyphs.

October

Regional Dialect: American Scene Paintings from the John and Susan Horseman Collection, a book celebrating the works of American artists from the turn of the century to the 1940s is published. An accompanying exhibition will travel to 7 venues through 2010 including the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, and the Springfield Museum of Art.

The Cedarhurst Center for the Arts marks the opening of the new permanent collection gallery in Mitchell Museum with the printing of Cedarhurst: The Museum and Its Collection.

Studio Blue begins to develop and design a website for the Driehaus Museum in Chicago, IL.

Partner Cheryl Towler Weese serves on the nominating committee for the National Board of AIGA.

September

Blown Away, a catalogue created in collaboration with the Krannert Art Museum, wins an Award of Excellence in the print category; the Herron School of Art and Design website is one of eight Silver Award winners in the interactive category at the University and College Designers Association Design Competition.

Sam Fox School publishes the first issue of its newsletter.

August

Maggie Lewis provides mission, vision, and values strategy to the College of Design at NC State University and the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) as the museum prepares to move into a new building and expand its programs and exhibits.

July

The Adler Planetarium chooses Studio Blue to design a catalogue on the history of telescopes. The Adler houses one of the most significant collections on the history of astronomy in the world, including several of the oldest known telescopes.

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province launch their new website.

June

Studio Blue is a sponsor and exhibitor at the 13th National Museum Publishing Seminar in Chicago, IL.

Claire Williams joins the Board of Directors of AIGA Chicago as the Programming Chair.

Studio Blue is recognized by Print magazine in its 2008 Regional Design Annual for The Fisher Collection.

May

Cheryl Towler Weese is a judge at the Advertising & Design Club of Canada's Directions competition.

Studio Blue begins to develop mission, vision, and values for the Driehaus Museum in Chicago, IL. These verbal tools are the first stage in the process of branding and positioning the new museum. Implementation will include print, interactive and environmental applications.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University chooses Studio Blue to develop their mission, vision, and values statements; and create brand tools, including a website assessment.

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, TN chooses Studio Blue to design the exhibition catalogue, Regional Dialect: American Scene Paintings from the John and Susan Horseman Collection.

January 2008

Recognized for typographic excellence by the Type Directors' Club, Blown Away is one of 225 international winners in the 2008 TDC54 Typography Competition.

Studio Blue begins to work on branding the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, an applied research institution focused on building knowledge that improves policy and programs for children, youth, their families, and communities.

November

The Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, Illinois hires Studio Blue to design a catalogue for selections from its permanent collection.

Studio Blue completes the redesign of a visual identity system for CJE SeniorLife (formerly Council for Jewish Elderly.) The organization provides a network of housing, health care, community services, and applied research.

October

The Richard Gray Gallery, a leading dealer in modern and contemporary American and European art, hires Studio Blue to design the catalogue for Agora, a sculpture installation by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz.

September

The Passionists, a centuries-old worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, hires Studio Blue to develop a comprehensive brand standards system and website that unites its provincial headquarters, development office, and retreat centers into a single site.

Claire Williams joins Studio Blue as a senior designer. With ten years of design experience, including time spent at Vintage Books in New York designing award-winning book covers, Claire brings a wealth of resources to the studio.

August

Architecture firm Krueck + Sexton teams with Studio Blue to design a book featuring the new Spertus Institute building on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.

Studio Blue begins work on a book featuring the watercolors and sketches of Winslow Homer for the Art Institute of Chicago. This book accompanies the Watercolors of Winslow Homer: The Colors of Light exhibit, opening in Winter 2008.

Rob Mach joins the Studio Blue team as a junior designer. Recipient of the 2007 AIGA Chicago student enrichment scholarship, Rob is responsible for implementing designs as well as contributing conceptually on projects at the studio.

July

Studio Blue begins work on Blown Away, a catalogue for the University of Illinois’ Krannert Art Museum. Exploring contemporary art and culture surrounding explosions, the catalogue will accompany an exhibit opening in January 2008.

The Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis hires Studio Blue to develop visual communication and brand strategy for the newly formed school.

June

Branded and on Display catalogue, In the Studios of Paris: William Bouguereau and His American Students, and Biedermeier: The Invention of Simplicity, are selected to appear in the 2007 Print Regional Design Annual September/November issue.

The Harris Theater website is selected for outstanding design in the Brand and identity systems design category for the “AIGA 365 Annual Design Competition 28.” The Studio’s work on Harris will be part of a public exhibition at the AIGA National Design Center in New York, December 2007 and will travel throughout the country during 2008.

One of Studio Blue’s client’s decides to manufacture two of the three product designs that the Studio created as tools to assist individuals with work-life balance issues.

May

The Biedermeier catalogue is the recipient of the 2007 Vienna Art Book Award. German publishing director, Annette Kulenkampff says, “The treatment of art in a decidedly modern – but not modernistic – way lends a creative framework to a topic like Biedermeier which enables us to take a fresh look at old art.”

The competition jury comments, “Six contributions on fundamental aspects of the period as well as an excellently designed plate section are brilliant guides. The atypical, puristic division of image and text give the work a very special character. The lavish, large illustrations and numerous details make for an opulent reading experiences and cast new light on the subject matter.”

At the request of Joe Rosa, curator of the department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago, a selection of Studio Blue’s work becomes part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Studio Blue collaborates with the Adler Planetarium to create a book to accompany the exhibit, Mapping the Universe, scheduled to open in Winter 2007.

April

The Passionists, an international community of vowed and lay members within the Catholic Church, select Studio Blue to explore visual brand tools that appropriately convey the organization’s mission.

March

The Council for the Jewish Elderly selects Studio Blue to lead them in a collaborative effort to create a brand identity.

February

Studio Blue begins work on Herron School of Art + Design’s website. Their role includes design and content development for the Indianapolis-based art school on the campus of Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis.

Metropolis magazine asks Studio Blue to design a cover for their March 2007 issue.

January 2007

Two Studio Blue projects, the Ford Calumet Environmental Center Design Competition poster and Beyond/In Western New York 2005 have been slated to appear in the new book entitled, “Design Evolution.” Author Tim Samara says, “This book is a handbook of fundamentals, form, color, type, image, composition, and will refer to these visual attributes as each project is detailed from beginning to end: rough concepts, first presentation, rejected concepts, refinements and revisions, working process, timetable, client and designer insights, and final solution.”

Day-Timers, Inc selects Studio Blue to work on the design and development of a new product that will help people manage work/life balance issues.

November 2006

Studio Blue is discussed in “Art Attack,” an article written by Tony Adler for i4design magazine, highlighting the Young Chicago exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Adler writes, “[Joe] Rosa appreciates … Studio Blue for their creative versatility in answering the needs of a range of clients.”

Step magazine’s Design 100 competition jury chooses two projects, Jaume Plensa catalogue and Biedermeier: The Invention of Simplicity (honorable mention), designed by Studio Blue to appear in their March/April 2007 edition.

Studio Blue is included in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Young Chicago exhibition, which showcases 16 young design firms from the Chicago area. Curator Joe Rosa intends the exhibit to bolster and broaden the museum’s permanent collection. “The studios selected represent a small sampling of the ideologies — from digital literacy and conceptual methodologies to contextualism, brand legacy, and cultural identity — that are global in scope and emblematic of a twenty-first-century Chicago.” The show opens November 16 and runs through April 27, 2007. An illustrated catalogue accompanies the show.

Siobhan Drummond joins the Studio Blue team as production manager. She comes with more than 15 years of experience making books and will manage projects on every level, providing quality assurance every step of the way.

October

Novum magazine selects Studio Blue to appear in its Spring 2007 edition. The venerable German magazine (formerly Gebrauchsgrafik) is the oldest European graphic design publication in Europe, founded in 1924.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago launches its new website with warm receptions from the SAIC community. Director of Electronic Communications Rae Ulrich tells us, “Department heads are contacting me, asking me how they can further develop their portion of the site; and students and alums are contacting me, asking me how they can put their work up on the site. It’s addressing all the things we talked about in the discovery process. It’s a complete success.”

A case study on Studio Blue’s research and work behind the Art Institute of Chicago’s website redesign appears in A Designer’s Research Manual: Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need (pp. 163-166). The book is written by Jenn and Ken Visocky O’Grady and can be found internationally in bookstores and online.

September

Studio Blue completes the 400 + page catalogue, Biedermeier: The Invention of Simplicity, for the Milwaukee Art Museum in collaboration with Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, the Albertina, Vienna, and Hatje Cantz publishers. Milwaukee Art Museum director David Gordon tells us, “The book is simply gorgeous: big, bold, and tasteful . . . Thank you for all your professionalism and dedication.”

July

Studio Blue is delighted to begin collaboration with the University of Chicago’s Division of the Humanities on a website to present the diversity of the Division to the myriad constituents served.

Joanne Berens, Director of Communications, said: “After researching nearly 90 firms, gathering recommendations, and interviewing the top four candidates, the web group arrived at our decision. Our choice of Studio Blue was unanimous and enthusiastic.”

Two of Studio Blue’s projects are selected for Print Magazine’s Regional Design Annual 2006: Beyond/In Western New York and a Chicago Architecture Foundation exhibit. The winners will be featured in the November 2006 issue.

June

Cheryl Towler Weese is honored with AIGA Chicago’s Above and Beyond Award at the Annual Members Meeting. The award recognizes long-standing service and commitment to AIGA and its membership.

May

Maggie Lewis joins Studio Blue as Project and Strategy Director. Maggie brings more than fifteen years experience in design, project management, and strategy. Her expertise will help Studio Blue to support our clients’ need to most powerfully communicate with their audiences through design. We’re thrilled she’s here.

Iron at Winterthur and Subjective Realities are selected for the AIGA’s 50 Books/50 Covers competition.

Studio Blue launches its new website.

Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay...Eterniday goes into a fourth printing to accommodate volume of sales.

April

Studio Blue designs a book to mark the opening of Chicago’s McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum located in the Historic Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue.

January

Studio Blue is selected to design a website for the Harris Theater for Music and Dance Millennium Park. The site will launch in early summer.

November 2005

Three of Studio Blue’s projects are selected for the STEP 100 competition: Iron at Winterthur, Beyond/In Western New York 2005 and a Chicago Architecture Foundation exhibit. The winners will be featured in the April/May 2006 issue of STEP magazine.

September

Cheryl Towler Weese and Kathy Fredrickson address students at the design education symposium of the 2005 AIGA National Design Conference in Boston.

August

Cheryl Towler Weese presents her favorite projects from the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers winners to a group of Chicago designers. Towler Weese chaired the competition for the second year running, and handpicked the international jury from among the world’s best book designers.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago selects Studio Blue to redesign its web site. The site will launch in Summer 2006.

The Art Institute of Chicago launches its new website, designed by Studio Blue.

July

Otis viewbook and website featured in 365: AIGA Year in Design 26.

Cheryl Towler Weese judges the electronic media category for the University & College Designer’s Association.

Kathy Fredrickson represents the jury at the Adobe Design Achievements Awards ceremony, held at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. The best work of an international pool of design students is exhibited.

May

Iron at Winterthur featured in I.D. magazine.

April

Studio Blue is selected to redesign the museum website for the Art Institute of Chicago.

January

Iron at Winterthur selected as juror’s choice by the Type Directors Club.

December 2004

Studio Blue is hired by the San Diego Padres to collaborate with Predock_Frane Architects on the conceptualization and design of environmental signage for Petco Park.

July

Otis viewbook featured in 365: AIGA Year in Design 25.

May

The Otis College of Art and Design web site www.otis.edu launches.

Spring 2004

Rineke Dijkstra: Beach Portraits featured in 365: AIGA Year in Design 24.

March

Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay...Eterniday goes into third printing to accommodate volume of sales.

January

The Otis College of Art and Design viewbook recognized for typographic excellence by the Type Directors Club, published in their Annual Typography 25, and included in the 50th awards exhibition touring the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. The competition drew 2400 entries from 31 countries.

Studio Blue partners, Kathy Fredrickson and Cheryl Towler Weese, included as “People To Watch” in Graphic Design USA magazine.

November 2003

Architecture for Education and 365: AIGA Year in Design 22 featured in Print magazine.

Fall 2003

Adobe Systems invites Studio Blue to create sample page templates that will be included with InDesign software packages so users can “design a book like a pro.”

With Studio Blue as design resource, Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church launches multimillion-dollar capital campaign. The studio designs over 40 pieces aimed to educate and inform the congregation.

Type design: Radical Innovations and Experimentation by Teal Triggs, published by Thames and Hudson. It includes examples of Studio Blue projects.

The book Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility, published by the Allworth Press. It includes an interview by Cheryl Towler Weese with architect Stanley Tigerman.

September

First printing of Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay...Eterniday released. An Amazon.com reviewer states, “This book will set a new standard for the idea of what qualifies as an “artist monograph”, and the authors and designers should be congratulated for their amazing, careful, and truly generous achievement.”