S G N L // Branding & Design

SGNL + Inspiration Hut

mauricio — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:35:02 +0000

The fine folks at Inspiration Hut did a lovely feature on SGNL. I am honored to be part of such a great resource for designers.

Who is Inspiration Hut? They are Tom and Abbie, a couple from the Southwest of England. Abbie in an ex Straight-A Photography Student, and Tom is currently in his final year of his Graphic Design BA Honors Degree. Both of us studied/study at Plymouth College of Art. Everyday we spend looking at people’s work from around the world, and had an inkling that possibly sharing this work like we have seen other blogs do would be pretty cool. So *pop* Inspiration-Hut was born. We want to be different than just your regular design blog, we want to offer exclusive things to our visitors, also we have a couple more things up our sleeves.

Designers…check this site out! Amazing resource for all things creative from graphic design, architecture, photography, illustration and more. Thanks Tom and Abbie!

The Theory – Address is Approximate

mauricio — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:00:24 +0000

This video blew me away! The UK based film company created this powerful stop-motion short that pulls you in with incredible visuals and a stellar soundtrack. A bit about the project:

Google Street View stop motion animation short made as a personal project by director Tom Jenkins.
Story: A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View.
All screen imagery was animated – there are no screen replacements.

Enjoy!

Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

The Lab Mercantile

mauricio — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:43:57 +0000

Recently, my good friend and fellow creative, Sara Kate Huff, asked me to help brand her new store-in-store. The Lab Mercantile is the result of Sara’s love of history and objects. It combines relics and “man-tiques” with modern menswear provided by Spencer Stone. As an interior designer, Sara has a keen eye for detail and quality which is evident with every piece. This small space brings a “big-city” sensibility that OKC has been ready for. From Guerra Hats to Pendleton blankets to vintage shaving brushes, this store will make you want to straighten your bow-tie, fill your pipe with tobacco and get a straight razor shave. In other words, be a real man.

In addition to the branding, Sara asked me to create some art pieces for the walls. I decided to hand-print vintage Oklahoma maps with our state motto, “Labor Conquers All” (labor omnia vincit) which was adopted in 1893. The two projects were great fun and will result in more collaborations between SKS and SGNL. Great job Sara Kate!

Check out the photos from the opening party, as well as, the maps. Better yet, make your way down to The Lab. Located inside Spencer Stone at Nichols Hills Plaza.

SGNL + Ribbon Specimen Book

mauricio — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:12:21 +0000

Recently, my buddy Riley Cran and Dan Gneiding invited me to be a part of very special project. Riley is co-founder of Lost Type Coop and Dan is a very talented designer and contributor to Lost Type. He created a font called Ribbon. As part of the launch of his new font 8 other contributors and friends were invited to design a spread for a beautiful off-set printed specimen book.

“First appearing as a Numeral Set, Ribbon is now a full display face, including Opentype features for an alternate alphabet. Now shipping with the Ribbon Specimen Book.”

Below are some images of the spread I created for the book. As soon as I have my copy of the book in hand I will post more images. Big thanks to Riley and Dan for the gracious inclusion with such an amazing group of designers. I am honored. Thank you to Ryan Berger of Simple Threads for the lovely images!

Oh Beautiful Beer!

mauricio — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:29:20 +0000

I am excited to announce that my work for Beer Distributors of Oklahoma (BDO) has been included in the ‘Oh Beautiful Beer’ blog. This blog celebrates two of my favorite things; great design and great beer. OBB was started by this guy.

In the past few years breweries, craft or corporate, have begun to understand the power and value of great design. The design has moved so far past creating a label or can design. These days it’s about creating a work of art and approaching projects holistically. One company that stands out to me is Shiner Bock but there are plenty of examples of it Oh Beautiful Beer. If you haven’t seen the blog take a look at some of the amazing work from all over the world. Cheers!

PROJECT BRAVE from WK Interact

mauricio — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:21:58 +0000

“To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, street artist WK collaborates with New York firefighters to create a massive street mural (100 meters long) full of passion and motion. The iconic firefighter, NY’s “bravest”, symbolizes the many heroes that helped New York survive the tragic events of 2001, and turn it into the City that inspired the whole world.”
_________________________
FROM: SEP.11.11 UNTIL: OCT.11.11 AT: 149 Kent Av / N5 St Brooklyn, New York. Go see this!

Via.

Atelier Mecanic, Romania

mauricio — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:58:38 +0000

The Atelier Mecanic (Mechanical Workshop), designed by Corvin Cristian, is a bar made of 1950 to 1970 industrial relics, salvaged leftovers, graphics and original furniture.It is a take on the industrialization of the country during communism. Romanians have an uncomfortable relationship with their past which usually ends up in simply erasing it: factories were perceived as a symbol of communism and keeping some memories of it was by no means a priority after the Revolution. 50 years of industrialization vanished in no time thrown at the scrap yard. Atelier Mecanic ironically brings them back.

I love the salvaged wood beam bar top. The mix of the clean space with the patina of the relics is very well done. If I make my way to Bucharest, Romania you can be sure I will find my way to that rad watering hole.

more here.

BDO

mauricio — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:22:11 +0000

Formed in 1938, the Beer Distributors of Oklahoma (BDO) is the state organization for licensed independent beer distributors in Oklahoma, the majority of which are family-owned and operated small businesses lead by second or third generation distributors.

The mission of BDO is to represent and advocate for beer distributors, to serve as the unified voice for beer distributors on legislation and regulation, to encourage the responsible consumption of beer and to assist distributors in their business and community roles.

I had the opportunity to be lead designer on the re-branding of BDO done by Funnel Design Group. The goal was to give the organization a new look without forgetting the rich heritage they have built since the 1930′s.

Full Disclosure: We / Funnel, did not design or develop their current website. We are hoping to create a new one for them soon.

Published in Logo Lounge Book 7.

Logo Lounge Book 7

mauricio — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:28:43 +0000

I am excited to announce that my work has been selected for inclusion in Logolounge Book 7. With over 170,000 logos uploaded to the site and only 2000 chosen for the book, I am honored to have 6 of my logos grace the pages of the seventh book. If you are a branding designer or just need some inspiration take some time to sign up and dig through the thousands of logos you have access to. Big thanks to Bill Gardner and the Logolounge crew for choosing my work. Below are the logos that will be published.

Beer Distributors of Oklahoma / Secondary Lockup ( This logo done while at Funnel Design Group)

CycleProphet / Mark

Farmhouse Delivery / Primary Lockup

Farmhouse Delivery / Mark

Idea Farm / Primary Lockup

Skylin / Primary Lockup

On a semi-related note, I also noticed that the Jeremy Gardner logo made the home page of the logo lounge site. Check it!

it’s about time.

mauricio — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:02:46 +0000

By now most of you have caught a glimpse of the Nike Air Mag’s official release. Though the shoe is four years early the hype around it could not have been bigger. As this is one of the most anticipated shoe drops of well…all time (excuse the pun) no one has been following this closer than my buddy and client Matt Halfhill of Nice Kicks. In fact, he was the only shoe blogger invited to the event. As the story goes he received a phone call around midnight and was told he would be on the next plane out of Austin to California for the event. From there the clues started to come together as seen here.

Because rumors have been flying around for years about this shoe I decided we needed a shirt to commemorate that. With the help of Peter Sim and as part of our Nice Kicks Fall 2010 apparel release I designed the shirt you see below.

Below are some images of the 2011 shoe.

In my opinion it came out really amazing. The LED lights were an awesome touch and the enthusiasts I know are really happy with the finished product. The only unfortunate thing is that in true Nike Fashion this shoe is totally unattainable to “everyday” collector like myself. I really appreciate and support what they are doing with the Micheal J. Fox Foundation in raising funds for Parkinson’s research by auctioning off 1500 pairs to the highest bidder. Just wish we could all have access to such a rad shoe. Maybe in 2015 with the real power-lace technology. More info here, here and here.