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Design is a small planet, often self-referential, with well-worn paths for
exposition, criticism and analysis. When we contemplated devoting an
issue to self-promotion, we were acutely aware of certain tropes. The
usual way of portraying self-promotion by designers would be to focus
on the projects they use to market themselves and their firms—the
postcards, the tchotchkes, the e-newsletters, etc. But we decided right
away this issue would not be about that stuff.
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STEP Design 100 Annual 2006: Identity (cont'd) |
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30. JUDSON DESIGN ASSOCIATES
“This project was born out of opportunity,” Jeff Davis of Judson Design
Associates confides. Opportunity here can mean so many things. What
began as a whimsical, innocent, and curious internet browse, turned into
a brilliant identity project. Davis wanted to adopt a puppy, inspired by a
friend who had just adopted one from K9 Academy, a dog training facility
in Texas. From browsing, he noticed how poor the visual identity program
of the enterprise was and proposed barter. They complied happily.
Another opportunity was contained in the process of developing
the logo. “The challenge was having a unique client with a not-so-unique name,” Davis explains.
The designer explored the idea of number-to-letter substitution,
altering the word but not so much as to change the meaning.
Davis cleverly substituted the K9 into the arrangement of the
word Academy thus altering the spelling, making it more playful,
inviting, and distinctively communicative. The accentuated red
K9 subliminally leads the name reading. The only trick was to get
the client to be comfortable with the sequence. After trying it out
on customers and receiving unanimous positive testimonials, they
conceded.
Ismiaji Cahyono
Judson Design Associates
ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR: Jeffrey Davis
CLIENT: K9 Academy
CONTACT: www.judsondesign.com
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