Grid: Safety Booklet Process

Signage: Classroom Type Treatment

These are the door signage tags. We would like these to be cut in vinyl and applied directly on the wall. Our system allows for each room to have a different color application. The italic type is inspired by the diagonal in our system. The portions of the spacing and scale was derived by the same portions of the icon system.

Signage: Explorations

Signage: Door Sketches

Door signage ideas: We would like to have large vinyl signage on the doors to represent their function. The door identification would be functional and practical. Playful applications of our icons, such as pattern, would appear inside the places. 

Grid: Structure

The grid structure that will be used to organize text and images was inspired by a poster designed by Hans Allemann, a graphic design professor at KCAI during the 1960's. The vertical lines on the grid are slanted 5 degrees to remain consistent with our diagonal element. 

A conversation with Carl Kurtz

Above: Proposals for the Kansas City Seal by Carl Kurtz

We met with Carl Kurtz, a former student of Roy Roy Kelly and a former teacher of ours. He is a brilliant story teller, craftsman, educator, artist, designer and the list goes on..and on..and on. As always, we found his words educational and inspiring. Talking with him was one of the highlights of our summer.  If you have ever had the privilege of talking with Carl, you would know that not only does he inspire you on the particular project you are seeking his advice for, but, his words can be applied to other aspects of your life. We came to seek advice for our idea, but we received so much more. 

Here are some of Carl's suggested reading + viewing 

to help inspire our project:

79 Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut

The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd

The Learners by Chip Kidd

Mutiny on the Bounty (preferably the Marlon Brando version)

more to come...

Discovery

Look what we found!

Icons: Final

Icons: Development

Graphic Element: Swiss Diagonal

Above: Poster Design by Joseph Muller Brockman and Herbert Matter

Graphic Element: Diagonal

We wanted to have an element that would brand all design pieces together. We decided to use a template that would incorporate our existing school identity in this project along with the commonly used diagonal in Swiss design. In the two line signature, the angle of the A in art, is off by 5 degrees from the baseline. All the design publications will make use of the 5 degree angle, shown above.

Typeface: Frutiger Next

credit: linotype.com

When choosing our typeface, we wanted it to be designed by a Swiss typographer because of the strong ties the KCAI department has with Swiss design. The typeface Frutiger was commissioned in 1968, and designed by Swiss typographer Adrian Frutiger. In 2000, the typeface was re-updated to Frutiger Next. We thought this typeface would be appropriate to use because of it's Swiss origin and it relates to our concept of revisiting the past.

Color: Poster Images

Color: Final

We derived our color palette from Swiss poster design. The colors used were primary green, yellow, red, blue and black. These colors were then updated by us to fit contemporary design.

Color: Possibilities

Icons: Guidelines Expanded

Inconsistencies were noticed throughout our system. To make the system stronger, we decided to set three different widths throughout our series. These measurements are 1/16th of an inch(pink), 1/8th of an inch(green) and 3/8th of an inch(orange).

Icons: Guidelines

We set a 2x2 inch size restriction on all of the icons, as well as a radius of .1667 inch for the rounded edges.

Icons: Digital Translation

Rendering our initial sketches digitally allowed us to  to further examine the positive and negative space, the line weight and details shown. In this step, we realized the importance of consistency with each designer's style. As shown, the computer sketches were created by Jessica and the trash can/printer sketches were created by Monina. These icons were represented differently in terms of style, as well as perspective. We then set strict guidelines of how each icon would be represented so that there would be a visual consistency within the system.

Icons: Manual Sketches

       

 

When first sketching out the icons, we explored different ways that one item can be represented. Things we had to consider 

were the amount of details, the perspectives of the objects and if the icons should be contained.

Icons: Medium Transition

Above: Work by Johannes Handschin, Herbert Matter, and Xavier Encinas

As technology changed, so did the medium used. In the last piece, vector art was utilized and reflects our decision for using vector icons.   

Initial Ideas

Statement

Above: Cover and spread of an article written by Katherine McCoy, distinguished professor of design at the Kansas City Art Institute, about the department's history.

It was 1964 when Rob Roy Kelly arrived in Missouri to form what is currently the graphic design department at the Kansas City Art Institute. This legendary program was the first in the nation to separate graphic design from the fine arts and a curriculum was developed by Kelly that introduced students to core principles of graphic design. It is this strong past that inspired this present project.

Every year, a pair of students receive the opportunity to create a new identity system for the School of Design's upcoming school year. These students are in charge of decorative door and wall treatments and school of design informational materials. With this project, we wanted to represent how this department has evolved from its historical foundation to its present structure. We took the basic elements of swiss design, the fundamentals of what this program was founded on, and reinterpreted them to fit within today's design culture.