93 HARTFORD DESIGN
The Society of Typographic Arts, an internationally renowned design organization, celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2002. The 800-plus images stored in its Chicago Design Archive represent the best in the history of Chicago design.

In 2006, the Chicago-based firm of Hartford Design was invited to create a poster announcing the call for entries for STA’s annual competition, through which its archive is collected. “The goal of the poster was to excite and energize designers about the possibility of having their work included among that of the great designers of Chicago,” says director Tim Hartford, “great designers that include Frederic Goudy, John Massey and Robert Hunter Middleton.” Featured on the poster are design artifacts—a protractor, pencils, a CD and a computer mouse, among others— chosen to depict how designers’ tools of the trade have changed (and will change) over time. Vacuum-packing these objects became a way of immortalizing them, as if they were sealed in a time capsule. “The back of the poster served as a call for entries where you could read about the rules and access the entry forms,” explains Hartford. “The front was a visual reminder of the rich history of the profession.” by Tiffany Nicole Slade