LP/w Design Studios

Oldie But A Goodie

2011-03-30T19:52:00.001-07:00

I ran into this one while converting my CD storage to more reliable storage. This was a weeding invitation for a very dear friend. And YES! They're still together.

2010 Eno Wines

2011-03-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

The 2010 labels for Eno Wines marks our eleventh year creating and recreating the brand. The artwork for the labels are always cropped to focus on the story being told. But we've always loved the design moments that happen outside the label frame. So the images attached is full-frame artwork. This year we're showing Sasha and Kiara's (the owners) life journey through maps. As one moves from the lightest wine (the Viognier) to the darkest (the Syrah), the dots representing the couple move closer and closer.

Misc Art Catalogues

2010-12-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

Seems like we've been working on a few art and photography catalogues lately. Here's a few.

Fruition Restaurant Packaging

2010-10-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Fruition Restaurant, recognized by Food and Wine Magazine and voted best restaurant in Colorado by Zagat's, has opened a farm to create their own produce and dairy products to sell and serve at the restaurant.

LP/w was asked to develop the brand for both the restaurant and the farm starting with the packaging for their cheese.

Marquette University Law School History Exhibit

2010-07-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Law School at Marquette University has moved into a brand new building. To mark this new chapter, LP/w was asked to create a historical exhibit worthy of this prominent program. Lawyers love words. Exhibits are typically light on words. The challenge was to an experience that elegantly balance those two extremes.

Kevin Weinstein Photography Continued

2010-07-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Kevin Weinstein Photography

2010-06-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

As a wedding photographer, Kevin Weinstein has become known in the
Chicago area for his photojournalistic style. When he moved out of his home
office space, he asked LP/w to help with his storefront and office. Honest
materials embodied his down-to-earth nature and style, while modern classics
reflected his flare for the dramatic.

We think he likes it. Here's what he had to say:

"Hey you both. Things are kickin' (expletive) down here and the space is looking better than imagined.

I am in awe.

That wall you designed. God, I love you. You are a genius! It's up and it rocks.

More later. But thank you both. Kevin"

Laumeier Sculpture Park Wayfinding

2010-05-24T03:23:00.000-07:00

LP/w Design Studios is participating in an on-going revitalization of the Laumeier Sculpture Park's wayfinding signage system. After a decade of false starts, the current system creates a less than stellar brand image. The Cube is the first salvo in our long-term commitment to rebuilding Laumeier's wayfinding and brand.

Five Hearts Milwaukee

2010-05-24T03:13:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, LP/w Design Studios was awarded a new retail design project for a women's boutique in Milwaukee's Third Ward District. Five Hearts will sell fashionable, moderately priced women's clothes. The design continues to evolve but the following images are where we stand today. The store will open Fall of 2010.

2008 Eno Wines

2010-03-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

The 2008 labels for Eno Wines was dedicated to the times when a glass of wine just makes the moment better - relaxing with friends, celebrating a great moment or enjoying a good book. The photos for this season were gathered from my dad's collection of photos... tip of the hat to my old man.

Valentine's Day Invitation

2010-02-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

Departure Wines Alternate Concept

2010-02-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

If a conceptual design is right on, it's chosen. If it's lucky, there's always a chance at a second life with a new project or a new client. But most of the time, because designers are a fidgety bunch, the concepts are left to the purgatory of the Archive Hard Drive.

The Dull Fly

2010-01-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

Another find from the archives. Long-time friend and client, Sasha Verhage, had this idea for a local DIY magazine that promoted multi-disciplinary design collaboration. The Dull Fly was great experiment.

The Good Life Presentation

2010-01-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

I gave my friends at Celery Design Collaborative a hand with this presentation. The client needs to remain nameless for a bit, but I was really happy with the way the artwork came out.

2001 Wedding Invitation

2009-12-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's a bit of a cliche for a graphic designer to love and always show off their wedding invitation. But I do love the one that my wife and I created. We wanted to create something that really represented what was important to us. We came up with the idea immediately but it was such a time intensive direction, we tried to avoid it. We debated and debated. This idea was, in fact, the only idea.

So we took the list of folks we wanted to invite and mapped them in a big Venn diagram to show how all of our friends and family are connected.

School Days Live On...

2009-12-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

This goes way back to my college days in New Orleans. They asked my class to design a logo for the Magazine Street Merchants Association. Magazine Street is (arguably) the beautiful New Orleans, like Bourbon Street is the party New Orleans. It's a small honor. If the members selected your logo you received some money in the form of a gift certificate to the local art supply store. So when I visited recently, I was pleasantly surprised to see my logo live on.

Long Live Color!

2009-12-18T23:55:00.000-08:00

The Ecological Guide to Color

The Ecological Guide to Paper - Year Two

The Ecological Guide to Paper - Year One

Many moons ago, Rod DeWeese, Brian Dougherty and I started Celery Design Collaborative. Often times our 10 minute Monday morning project updates would evolve into two hour brainstorm sessions. The Ecological Guide to Paper was one of the best results. As a follow up we designed The Ecological Guide to Color. Similar to the paper guide, this color guide was a tool to the Pantone colors with the least amount of nasty chemicals. Although the color guide was not produced, I ran into the files the other day and thought it should somehow live on...

Lunera Lighting Identity

2009-12-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

Lunera designs and manufactures low-profile LED lighting solutions for commercial spaces. As a play on moon reference we decided to carve out an “L” letterform using an eclipsing circle.

Happy Holidays 2009

2009-12-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

Another year, another homemade holiday tree. As much as we love the holiday season, we're reluctant to cut down perfectly good trees and the whole artificial tree thing is just not...us.

So when we were planning our wedding almost ten years ago, we agonized over whether or not we would buy 300 dollars worth of Chinese lanterns. Years later we've discovered that it was buy far the best investment we've made. Three weddings (other than our own) and numerous parties later we've found a new use... instant holiday tree!

No Small Idea

2009-11-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

This was created a few years ago for a fantastic local event called "Feed Your Soul". Here's the Artist Statement that went along with the piece:

This piece was created not to illustrate this event’s purpose but to honor the idea responsible for the event.

The idea was to spread good.

The idea was to help.

It was nothing revolutionary, nothing earth-shattering.

It was just helping.

This was the beginning.

Such a small idea, like all small ideas, vulnerable to being lost in the shuffle. Tossed aside to counter-balance life. Swept under a rug to be picked up later. This small idea, like all ideas we have, when given just five more minutes
of time has the potential grow to become something so great and so wonderful.

What impresses me most and what inspires me most, is not so much the fruition of the idea for Feed Your Soul
(as impressive as it may be) but that despite the myriad of ways that this fragile, paper-like idea could have been thwarted, it won.

Departure Wine Company

2009-11-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

Departure Wine had labels they considered serviceable. The label was created last minute with the pressure of a bottling deadline looming. And though it served them well, Departure called on LP/w to help the create a label that was more on-brand.

Newest Project

2009-10-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to add the newest project to the studio - our 9 month old daughter. We thought we were having fun with our first daughter but it's getting better every day.

Eno Wines Packaging 2009

2009-04-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Another year, another set of wine labels for Eno Wines. This year's theme highlights times when wine should be enjoyed -commemorating a great event, over a deep conversation, with a good book, sitting in the sun, or laughing with friends.

Tone Images for New Project

2009-03-08T05:01:00.000-07:00

Started working on a new project that is yet unnamed. I'm helping the architecture firm, cosestudi, with defining the vision for a new building. These images are part of a tone book deliverable. It was part of an initial presentation to gain consensus on the overall direction.

Birthday Invitation Illustration

2009-02-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

This was an illustration created for my Dad's 75th Birthday. An avid gun collector, it seemed appropriate to incorporate (somehow) his favorite hobby. There's 75 hearts, by the way.

Ninoy Silkscreen Posters

2009-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

These are two in a series of experimental posters. Used same handful of family photos, documents and family tree drawings and attempted to create different visual narratives. Big Robert Rauschenberg, if it's not too obvious.

Quad/Graphics SAFE Initiative

2009-02-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

This was developed while I was with Quad/Creative. In an effort to maintain their great safety record and continually keep safety on everyone's mind, we were asked to develop the STAY SAFE program. The program included posters, handouts, incentive cards, banners and wall displays. The consistent graphic through the program were the bold orange diagonal lines that is associated with safety.

2004 Eno Wine Posters

2009-02-11T13:47:00.001-08:00

2004 Eno Wine Labels

2009-02-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

Each year, in addition to the wine labels that I make for Eno Wines we make give away posters with that year's theme.The theme for 2004 was a charmingly dysfunctional family - something everyone can relate to. These are the wine labels and posters.

AIGA Talk 2000 Lecture Announcements

2009-02-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

This is from way back. The AIGA in San Francisco asked me to help out with this lecture series. Talk 2000 was a series of talks developed to inspire designers and for those attending to spread what they've learned with the greater design community. The most obvious analogies proved to be the best ones. Bees to the hive. Blood cells to the heart.

2004 Interplan Furniture Drawing

2009-01-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

Ecological Guide to Paper - Year One

2009-01-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

The Ecological Guide to Paper was created back when I was at Celery Design Collaborative. It started as a simple Arbor Day promotional. But as we developed the idea we wanted to make it more useful...more ecological. Therefore, in addition to the artwork on the front, we added information on papers that are most environmentally-friendly on the back.

Second Harvest Public Art Project

2009-01-27T17:58:00.001-08:00

Second Harvest of Wisconsin sent out a call for entries for a public art project to celebrate their 25 years of providing food for Milwaukee families. Public art's objective is to communicate a message to the community. The message can be poetic or political. Harmonious or dissonant. Or all of the above. Second Harvest is an action-oriented organization. It provides. It feeds. Therefore, it seemed logical that a public art project from Second Harvest have a functional value and an aesthetic one. As a beacon of celebration, a symbol of growth, an oasis, and a gathering table, we felt it necessary that this project communicate the message that the organization has been broadcasting all these years.

APPROVED: Asian Paper Pulp Sustainability Report

2009-01-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

So the last post on this project involved the rejected concept. I wanted to follow up with the design direction that they approved. Again, this was with my friends at Celery Design Collaborative.

Sea Monster Exhibit (More Images)

2009-01-21T18:51:00.001-08:00

I posted some information on the Sea Monster Exhibit for the Oceanario de Lisboa. But I realized after looking over the artwork there were more images that I wanted to post. So here they are.

Quad/Direct Process Flow Diagram

2009-01-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

This was a fun diagram to illustrate. Quad/Graphics expanded their service offering that became known as Quad/Direct. As a new service offering Quad/Direct needed a high-level illustration that quickly and clearly communicated the services they offered and the steps in the process. The diagram proved to be so successful that these types of narrative diagrams became a standard tool for Quad/Graphics' marketing and communications.

REJECTED: Asian Paper Pulp Cover

2009-01-15T12:43:00.001-08:00

The goal for this APP Sustainability Report was to communicate their connection to the environment, their business goals and the local communities. Making Connections was a theme they wanted to explore. The idea for this concept was to die cut a series of holes that "connects the dots" to make the title. The die cut title would give a peek to the artwork on the inside. The collage, of course, uses three images that represent environment, business and community.

One Ocean Exhibit for The Oceanario de Lisboa

2009-01-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

A quick little exhibit in collaboration with cosestudi in Massachusetts. The idea of the exhibit is the oceans are actually one large body of water. The oceans and seas are all human constructions. The large mural of people from different countries standing by the ocean supports this concept.

2006 Feed Your Soul Poster

2009-01-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

This was completed a little while ago but I completely forgot to post it until now. These are posters for a local Milwaukee art auction. A fun little project. I created the woman illustration first but thought it had such a feminine tone that I should balance the scales.

Eno Wines Packaging (Continued)

2008-11-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to the first posting about the 2007 Eno Wine labels, here's a few other labels that have made it through the progress gates. There's still some refinement needed but I thought they were in a good position to show. We have two more labels to add to the series as well. I like that they're still true to the initial proof of concept label posted earlier.

REJECTED: Invitation Illustration

2008-10-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sniff, sniff. This one stung a bit. I thought this was a slam dunk. When the client gave me the photo, this was the very first thing that popped in my head as far as visuals. Just the way the veil was blowing, the expression on the bride's face, it seemed pretty clear, right?

REJECTED!!

Oh well.

Green Graphic Design Typography

2008-10-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

This was created for a book cover comp for Celery Design Collaborative's new book Green Graphic Design. This was something that I've been wanting to do but didn't have the opportunity until now. The request for help on this project came Friday morning with a Saturday morning delivery. This lead me on a mad rush to the local gardening supply store for the last roll (mostly brown) of sod. I cut the pieces into basic components – curves, straight lines, etc. Shot them. Then photoshopped the whole thing together. Great to work on it for real. However, now that I've done this once, next time I'll make a point of allowing the sod time to straighten out and grow into longer blades of grass before cutting them up.

YP Summit Program

2008-09-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

YP Summit Materials

2008-09-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Next Generation Consulting is a market research firm committed to engaging young people for companies, governments and organizations. Organizing conferences are a key component to their service offering. The YP Summit is a venue for young professional organizations to come together and share ideas of how to attract and retain young people. This year the event takes place in Cocoa Beach, Florida. As the headquarters for our national space program, utilizing space exploration photos seemed pretty clear.

REJECTED: Green Printing Poster

2008-09-11T06:56:00.001-07:00

This Green Printing Poster Concept was created for Quad/Graphics in an effort to (a) rally the industry to the environmental cause and (b) to a much lesser degree promote Quad's long history of corporate responsibility . Ultimately, this was rejected when the specs of the project evolved and required a great deal of copy on the front.

A good friend with a great photography blog, Kevin Miyazaki mentioned how great this forum is for posting work that would otherwise languish on some hard drive. So, why not. Welcome to Island of Misfit Designs.

Ocean Explorium at New Bedford Seaport Identity

2008-09-04T14:49:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year, LP/w helped the Ocean Explorium at New Bedford Seaport develop their brand. The identity created emphasizes the Explorium's mission to be more than a destination for marine life observation but a bonafide scientific research and education center. Along with the logomark, LP/w created style guides, membership, marketing and events material. Signage and exhibit designs to come.

LP/w Hearts Celery

2008-09-04T11:20:00.001-07:00

Celery Design Collaborative called LP/w up to help on this Corporate Social Responsibility Report for Cone. The design for the brochure supported their (and LP/w's) philosophy that business and social responsibility are inextricable.

Sea Monster Exhibit at the Oceanario de Lisboa

2008-09-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

cosestudi, a Boston-based architectural and exhibit design firm, asked LP/w to help out with the Monstros Marinhos (Sea Monster) exhibit for the Oceanario de Lisboa. As cosestudi explains, "As opposed to most typical exhibits of prehistoric creatures, cosestudi elected to develop the 'Sea Monster' theme in Lisbon primarily from an anthropocentric perspective. The intent of this exhibit was to reinforce the notion that humankind's knowledge of the natural world is always evolving and that major advances in scientific theory can be instigated by a few curious and creative individuals."

Novation Architectural Products Brand Update

2008-09-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Novation Architectural Products, a Minneapolis-based company, representing innovative, ecological manufactures of architectural and interior products has launched a new identity with the help of LP/w Design Studios. The challenge was to communicated that Novations had solutions for an entire interior space rather than only flooring or only surface products.

Eno Wines Packaging

2008-09-02T21:57:00.001-07:00

Another year marks another set of wine labels for the Berkeley-based winery - Eno Wines. We wanted the first posting to be about the client that's been with us from the ver beginning. LP/w Design Studios has collaborated with Eno for the past 8 years developing a brand identity that reflects the wineries careful attention to producing the best product. This image is a proof of concept for this year's family theme. Each wine is a character. Every family has one.

Stay tuned to see how the family grows.