Creative Urban Redevelopment Alliance

Colorola is helping to organize a coalition of creatives with the intention of improving the urban setting.  There is an enormous amount of highly talented people residing next to each other in Downtown Los Angeles, but many have no idea that their neighbor is a remarkable industrial designer, or that the person with the cute Pomeranians is a hugely innovative architectural student.  These people would like to have an influence on their rapidly evolving neighborhood, but there are seemingly so few opportunities for getting involved.  Everyone’s got their own agenda, so things like aesthetics, public-art, sustainability, architectural preservation or transportation get moved aside, or worse, administered by people who may have good intentions, but lack vision.

Heading for Spain

Like an international symbol, the highly representational, ‘Hat Icon’ for Hatquarters has created instant recognition for the Barcelona hat retailers.  Name-recogintion, however, is merely part of the story.  In today’s media-driven marketplace, the ability of a brand’s image to applicably traverse varying platforms and applications is also vital.  From online banner ads to point-of -sale,  mobile phone icons to printed collateral– how does the brand resonate and effectively ‘speak’ to its audience?

By diligently maintaining the primary brand identity, a strong market presence for Hatquarters has been established, creating a solid foundation upon which the brand narrative can then be more efficiently and swiftly constructed.  While the cogent and managed primary logo (Corporate Brand ID) for Hatquarters creates an incontrovertible brand presence, the experience of the brand is revealed when a bit of nuance is applied.

Heading for Spain

Like an international symbol, the highly representational, ‘Hat Icon’ for Hatquarters has created instant recognition for the Barcelona hat retailers. Name-recognition, however, is merely part of the story. In today’s media-driven marketplace, the ability of a brand’s image to applicably traverse varying platforms and applications is also vital.  From online banner ads to point-of -sale, mobile phone icons to printed collateral– how does the brand resonate and effectively ‘speak’ to its audience?

By diligently maintaining the primary brand identity, a strong market presence for Hatquarters has been established, creating a solid foundation upon which the brand narrative can then be more efficiently and swiftly constructed. While the cogent and managed primary logo (Corporate Brand ID) for Hatquarters creates an incontrovertible brand presence, the experience of the brand is revealed when a bit of nuance is applied.

Wine Country Values

With the international success of Maians, the Spanish designer Alfonso De La Fuente Rey is now expanding the casual footwear line north to Rioja.

For centuries, the Spanish region La Rioja, situated 830 kilometers northwest of Barcelona, has provided some of the world’s most superb wines.  Artisan traditions abound in the region where the elegance of the vintage is matched only by the rugged industry of the land.  In fact, from agricultural equipment to corks, the accoutrements of wine production is a burgeoning side industry, one with high standards of quality and endurance befitting such noble tradition.  It’s the wine worker’s specialized boots that have inspired Maians’ new line, Rural, launching Fall / Winter 2012.

The Maians’ penchant for style and originality have been exported to the ‘campo’.  Rurál combines the tough resilience of the vineyard with the urbane sensibility for which Maians is famous world-wide.

Colorola integrated classic tractor chic with vintage label design to produce a durable brand ID with an urban/agrarian blend, creating a most dapper yet rustic finish.

A Natural Fit: Making Maians

The Maians brand story starts at the ‘fabrica’.  With a unique approach to manufacturing that eschews automation and synthetics, instead combining natural raw material and artisan knowhow to create a superior product.  Each pair of Maians is hand-made in Spain, and the fine quality achieved by an elaborate, detailed fabrication is why we’ve adopted as our chief slogan : 100% Hecho a Mano en España.

We updated the Maians script logo, slightly finessing the line-weight and the slant of the lettering.  We maintained the positive script as the Primary Signature, then added the ‘etiqueta’ which means ‘label’ in Spanish.  This solidified version allowed for greater flexibility with the logotype.  The Primary Signature should always conform to black or white reproduction, while the ‘Etiquetta’ may change season to season.

What’s Yours Is Maians

Then we extensively altered the brand story, designing all collateral, the web site,  some brand off-shoots and creating a tag line that proved as functional as it was droll.  ‘What’s Yours is Maians’ not only creates a possessive association with the product, but helps non-Catalan people pronounce the name, (it’s pronounced like mine). The current look and feel of the Maians brand could feasibly be described as ‘muted’ (florescent boxes, notwithstanding).  Keeping the tones within the color pallet to the right can insure consistency and recognition across all media platforms.  The company is also working on a new ‘Rural’ line, featuring durable but equally dashing boots, handmade in the Rioja region of Spain.

Colorola created the Brand ID for an innovative new radio ap designed specifically for Latin America and the US Latin American audience (and those that love them).

Known for their deftly designed interiors, unique locations, and capable management, the venues that comprise the collective portfolio of William Shamlian and Michael Leko are a testament to their hard work and thorough knowledge of the restaurant and bar industry.  With over 40 years of combined experience, Shamlian and Leko, ACME Bar Group and Amalgamated Pubs Inc. respectively, place an emphasis on the details.  Their latest venture, Urbano Pizza Bar, is no exception.

CoffeeBar Downtown Los Angeles

Sometimes the simplest solutions are indeed the best.  The owners of CoffeeBar wanted a minimal Brand ID that was nevertheless distinctive and functional.  With plans to expand the franchise to other urban locations, we created a color-code that will change for each local.

Colorola’s Auxiliary Office

Since it opened a little over a year ago, Spring St Bar in downtown Los Angeles has been the preferred, uh, conference room for the Colorola team.  Research and development have been the mainstays of our Spring St business meetings, with many a deal struck in the warm, amber glow of an Arrogant Bastard.

To produce this fine establishment’s online brand presence was an edifying experience for us – and as we’re still hanging out there quite nearly every day, our only regret is that we didn’t offer to do the job in trade…

This week the skies above Las Vegas will be buzzing with more than the usual amount of executive jets as the 2011 NBAA takes flight for its 64th convention.  The National Business Aviation Association, including HondaJet, for whom Colorola designed the introductory catalog, and one of the industry’s most innovative interior technology developers, DPI Labs.  We’ll be hanging out with the DPI team at their booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Number N1729.  We’ll also be at the Las Vegas Hilton’s Napa Suite for DPI’s Business Class ‘Sky Lounge’ Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 21H00 – 00H00 (that’s 9pm to midnight for land-types).

Eats Coming Together

Post & Beam is a new restaurant in the Baldwin Hills district of Los Angeles.  Colorola has created the brand ID, and all visual aspects of Govind Armstrong’s foodie haven Read More >>

The Chef of Baldwin Hills

A new home for famed chef Govind Armstrong in Baldwin Hills takes its name very architecturally. Post & Beam framing, though an ancient method of building, was revived most ardently during the mid-twentieth century in order to provide the openness and transparency that largely defined Modern architecture. The method allowed architects to eliminate the need for thick supporting walls and to allow for greater space between structural systems.

Modern architects embraced simplicity and straightforwardness, with the consistent goal of incorporating natural light into each interior. The Modern space avoids superfluous ornamentation or period styling and focuses on intelligent use of materials.

Colorola believes that Post & Beam, as a concept, can provide an excellent metaphor for a modern culinary style that is based on a similar ethos of simplicity and an intelligent use of ingredients.
It is important to emphasize: simplicity does not mean plain. The elaborate structures and furnishings of Modern virtuosos like Le Corbusier or the Eames’, Saarinen or Bertoia, were ‘simple’ in their relationship to nature. Fervent attention to material and construction, to form and function: these are the tenets of Modernism.

Likewise, a Modern cuisine is in fact the sum of its parts. We propose a brand program for Post & Beam that is inspired and informed by the axioms of Modernism. By creating a comprehensive visual system that is both accessible and elegant, we can move beyond the mere pastiche of trendy mid-century revival, and create a functional yet sexy brand story that compliments and equally enlightened menu.

“Pizza is a lot like sex. When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” – Mel Brooks

The people that created LA’s Library Bar, Spring Street Bar, Los Feliz and Spitzer’s Corner in NYC are now putting their impeccable tastes in the pizza oven (wood-fired, of course). Acme Bar Group and Amalgamated Pubs Inc, William Shamlian and Michael Leko respectively, are known on both coasts for their deftly designed interiors, unique locations, and the superb quality of their menus.

Urbano is located on one of downtown LA’s most visible corners. Directly across from the illustrious Standard hotel, the venue reveals a perfect combination of rustic charm and urban sensibility. It’s like a bit of Williamsburg in the heart of LA’s resurgent city center. The branding is subtle, with the exception of the abstract-inspired pizza boxes, lending an understated tone to the otherwise zesty pizza fare.

The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium – that is, of any extension of ourselves – result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.
– Marshall McLuhan

Fortunately, clean graphics and intuitive design can be sexy (see Apple, BMW, Virgin Airlines), and with style and finesse, this initial branding program can complement all facets of the Senzari experience – from promotion and advertising to the application itself. We propose a seamless design strategy that is sufficiently bold to attract attention in a teaming media landscape, yet flexible enough to persuasively promote a diverse roster of music– from Los Panchos to Shakira, rumba to reggaetón.

How Senzari conveys the information of its diverse entertainment selection will have a significant impact on the user experience.  An efficient, adaptable design schematic is an integral feature of any successful media tool and should inform all aspects of the Senzari brand story.

The Senzari brand logo evokes sensation, or more aptly, senzación.
The seemingly random, spiral of 18 floating points not only form the letter ‘S’, but provide an active metaphor – one of movement, sound, and sensuality.  The elements are suspended in space, suggesting the ephemeral quality of music, particles of sound, the dazzling spherules
of dream time.

I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.
– Le Corbusier

One of the chief arguments against modernism, whether it be in art, design, architecture or literature, has been that it was elitist– and that regardless of the virtuous aspirations of its practitioners, the Modern failed to mollify the masses.  But what of the resurgence of Modern style?  Since the end of the last century, and well into this one, designers have appropriated the tone, texture, type and tenets of the mid-20th century- deliberately or not- to varying degree of success.  But is it retro?  Or is it just a trend, albeit a protracted one, emblematic of a post-modern dearth of innovation?

The details are not the details. They make the design.
– Charles Eames

An instantly discernible title like ‘Coffee Bar’, or more precisely, ‘CoffeeBar’, can be a persuasive means to attract a local audience to a well-designed and otherwise completely original cafe venue.  The name, CoffeeBar, is not necessarily unusual, but it is intuitive and no-nonsense– and visually, we believe that the branding should be the same.  A superbly crafted, pragmatic, yet sensual identity is the key.  A precise yet approachable brand should look simple; the success of such a brand system depends not on ‘clever’ embellishments, but on an attention to detail, and an intricate negotiation of typography, material, color, and space.

Like the Library Bar, CoffeeBar says what it is.  But it differs in that what it is is not so much a theme but rather the product itself.  ‘Library’ refers, literally, to the theme of the lounge (it’s not a place to check out books), and suggests a comfortably sultry setting where one can enjoy an inspired beverage.  As a concept, it’s quite unique – one doesn’t find libations librarius on every corner of every major city.

Metaphorically, however, ‘coffee’ is indeed ubiquitous, as coffee shops are a quintessential urban phenomenon – Downtown Los Angeles being no exception.  Whether it’s graphic interpretations of beans, cups, or steam, the ‘Coffee’ image-repertoire is heavily laden.  We therefore recommend eschewing the product symbols and instead, creating a meticulous interpretation of the principals of taste, quality, detail, elegance, purity, style and competence: these are essential values that are served with every cup of CoffeeBar coffee.

Colorola recommended an up-front corporate ID composed of carefully designed type, with minimal ornamentation– a refined logo that seamlessly complements the interior design of CoffeeBar, and enhances the cosmopolitan vibe.

Urbano Pizza Bar, the creation of Acme Pubs, who’ve also brought us the Library Bar, CoffeeBar, and the Spring Street Bar, is opening up next month at 6th and Hope in LA, and they’ve let us create not one but 4 pizza boxes… we wanna make a fort out of them.

When I was asked to provide the poster artwork for Duran Duran’s Coachella performance, I saw it as an opportunity to finally pay homage to Patrick Nagel, an illustrator whose method and style influenced me more than any other.  I had always found the Nagel illustrations in my dad’s Playboys to be far more interesting than the photos, and when Duran Duran’s ‘Rio’ lp was released, I immediately recognized the cover art as the work of the maestro.

Thanks to my good friend, ace photographer Paige Craig, for modeling, and bearing her pendulous protuberances.

I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of Coachella, the music festival.  I prefer my acts to perform on one stage rather than several at the same time.  I’m also more comfortable in the rolling greens of Glastonbury, for example,  than the scorching stretch of desert just east of Palm Springs.  Actually, I’m more comfortable in Palm Springs, lounging by the pool of, say, an A. Quincy Jones retreat– replete with with all the mid-century details to which a beau monde like myself is accustomed.  I just don’t do well with wristbands and porta-potties– especially if I’m, shall we say, mood-enhanced.  So every Coachella I’ve been to seems to be all about, firstly, getting back-stage.  But once we’ve arrived, we realize that what we really want is to achieve the un-Coachella– which means heading back to the rock-granite, succulently landscaped villa.

Such was the inspiration for the artwork I created for Kanye West’s dressing-room.  I’ll let it go in my place.  And perhaps I’ll see you later on at Mr. Parkers.

Music by Mirus Loewe Indigo Raw / Blakkat Shaboom Records / Blackliquid HSOLA

Visual Decor by MC This

Special Event : Fundraiser for Homegirl Industries
Invite only  RSVP : mark@shaboomrecords.com or info@peaceyogagallery.com

Peace Yoga Gallery, 903 South Main Street, LA

Heading to Spain

HatQuarters, the Barcelona-based hat retailer and distributor gets a head with new branding by Colorola.

Audio Animal, a new Los Angeles recording project created by local dj/producers Oodee and Malio, is attempting to secure quick online presence for their wide selection of dance tracks.  They want to elicit a style that’s unique and unpredictable, as well as a brand image that’s ample enough to encompass a wide array of musical genres from dance to indie to experimental soundtracks and ambient.

With the preponderance of digital downloading, and an international nightclub crowd that is constantly expanding, the electronic music scene is now more saturated, diverse, and competitive than ever.  To succeed, a new label must have sufficient talent and ingenuity, as well as a grasp of the nuances of the marketplace and its shifting trends.  A good-looking Brand ID can help, especially if the core values of the brand are effectively typified by the design, and just as importantly, the application and usage of the logotype.

Audio Animal, as a name, ostensibly stands out – and it might be tempting to create a figurative interpretation of the phrase, combining the image of an ‘animal’ with some representation of ‘audio’, likely a speaker (in fact, we’ve included at least one direction that is comprised of those two depictions) – but simple literal deduction does not necessarily arouse interest beyond the merely visible.  There are numerous solutions for a logotype that can evoke the descriptive components of a title like Audio Animal – most of them quite obvious.  It’s the conspicuousness that presents the challenge: how can we create a unique and impressionable brand ID, if the look of it is predictable, and therefore manifestly unremarkable?  Which is not to say that an obvious solution will fail; in fact it might just be the harbinger of commercial success, and it’s why we’ve included at least one direction that is outwardly unsurprising.  However, if the label is to present itself as a product that’s original and captivating, a bit of exploration, abstraction and innovation might also pay off.

Here’s the main image for LATC’s Face of the World, aka, their Fall season.  I feel like the Historic Core, as it’s been designated by downtown LA booster types, saw it’s heyday just around the Wall Street Crash of 29.  With the exception of a few New Deal building constructed for civic aims, the late 20’s was when all construction pretty much halted.  So the neighborhood around Spring, Main and Broadway between 2nd and 9th is like a time capsule of the era.  Stunning facades abound (and regrettably several completely dilapidated, and others facing a worse fate from callous developers), and the uninterrupted collection of 20’s buildings along 7th Street is a favorite for film shoots looking for a plausible Manhattan street scene.

As the LATC is pretty much in the thick of it all, we’ve attempted to encapsulate the historic charm of the neighborhood, add bit of postmodern irony, an lure people into the high drama that is downtown Los Angeles.

The LATC’s fall season, Face of the World starts in September, which means we’ve got to go to print with the collateral last week.  Keeping the posters very title-centric, which might prove to be a more attractive solution than the time consuming illustrations that I had planned to do.  I’m going to try out that ‘less is more’ thing.  These are the first two production posters, 6 more to go.

Published in 1984, Aradi Nora So-Ky Kepzomuveszeti Kiado Aradi Nora, is a collection of 34 posters created by the Hungarian design duo, So-Ky. I picked it up in Budapest when was traveling in the Eastern Bloc as a student in the late 80’s, and since then it’s been one of my most influential and inspirational possessions. I’m going to try and get a translation of the text, all of which is in Hungarian, and I suspect reveals quite a bit about the political and aesthetic motivations of this most prodigious team.  I’ve managed to find one copy selling for €50 at the Parisian rare-book store, Librairie la Poussière du Temps, located in Saint-Germain at 16 Rue de Tournon, and it’s also available online through the same link.  I highly recommend that you get your hands on this collection, it’s peerless as both as a memento of late European Communism, as well as a stunning exemplar of the graphics that accompanied this tumultuous age.  In addition to the poster collection, a 30 page black and white catalog of earlier poster work, as well as a selection of late-communist era logotypes, is included.

The Accidental Illustrator

In 1996, in the east village of Manhattan, there was a fab restaurant called Global 33. The theme was ‘airline chic’, and the decor evoked a business class lounge at, say, the Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, but when the airport was called simply Galeão, say in the 60’s (if, of course, there had been business class in the 60’s). Colorola’s Stuart Patterson, being something of an airline fetishist, naturally fell in love with the place, and proposed creating some illustrations for the 33 back-lit display mountings that lined one wall of the restaurant. He had been playing around with some very rudimentary vector illustrations of airline interiors, and when he showed the owners of the place, they were convinced, and an installation was produced in the fall of 1996.

Enter Tyler Brûlé, at the time a former BBC journalist scrambling to put together a new magazine in London called Wallpaper*. He happened to dine at Global 33 while Stuart’s show was up and determined to commission the illustrator for his upcoming publication. The problem was that Stuart really wasn’t an illustrator, he was a graphic designer that played around a bit with Freehand.  Furthermore, he’d split New York, and was couch-surfing back home in San Francisco. This is just before the advent of the ‘portable mobile phone device’, and internet service was still a bit slapdash, so Stuart was difficult to track down (he’d actually gone to Mexico City for a couple of months, to make matters worse). Then Tyler picked up a copy of the, at-the-time-pretty-much-local magazine, Surface*, no doubt concerned about their protruding asterisk.

This was when Stuart was doing the graphics for the Sound Factories of New York and San Francisco, and in this capacity, had created a Sound Factory ad for the back cover of Surface*. Tyler, ever the vigilant, recognized the work as Stuart’s, and promptly contacted Sound Factory.

Stuart practically learned the illustration trade traytabling his PowerBook 5300 on the way to Toronto to work on the inaugural issue of Wallpaper*. The naive line and color of his earlier work contributed to the approachable, human quality of the early Wallpaper* editorial, and was an integral part of the Wallpaper*’look’ that has influenced the publishing industry and popular aesthetics to this day.

Dramatic Changes

The Latino Theater Company’s impressive home is located in downtown Los Angeles at the center of a burgeoning new art scene.  This company, under the creative direction of Jose Luis Valenzuela, operates the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and is one of 3 preeminent theater companies residing there. Together with the Robey Theatre Co and the Playwrights Arena, the LTC create 2 dramatic seasons annually: Face of the World in the fall, and a spring festival, East of Broadway.  Many of the productions are original, fostered by in house programs and resources like the Playwrights Initiative.  Colorola was enlisted to manage the branding of the LATC in 2009.  We completely overhauled all visual communications, and established a branding guide and extensive set of brand assets which permit the LATC to continue on their own, in house.

Though we’ll happily take credit for the over-all rebranding of the LATC, one of our greatest accomplishments was the resuscitation the long-ignored and woefully abandoned original logotype, created in 1985, and in our opinion, one of the coolest design artifacts of LA’s 80’s zeitgeist.  Nearly every vestige of this logo had been removed from the LATC brand; however, the rigorously amalgamated iron lettering on building’s facade and portico remained, and when we saw, we had to have it.

With 4 state-of-the-art auditoriums, this elaborate facility is one of the top performance spaces in the country. It’s an architectural  The unique edifice is actually a hybrid of two distinct structures, a 1920’s Beaux-Artes bank building designed by John Parkinson, and a strikingly modern addition, designed by LA’s John Sergion Fischer & Associates.

Drawing a Crowd

Like many forms of art and entertainment, theater in Los Angeles, though often eclipsed by the movie industry, is a competitive enterprise. With so many diversions, from the beaches to the mountains (and so many freeways in between), attracting crowds to live performances that don’t typically feature Hollywood megastars or the Lakers is a challenge.  We decided to apply some of the same strategies that have proven so successful in attracting thousands of Southern Californians to electronic music events and festivals. Creating unique, eye-catching illustrations, we were able to initiate a narrative, and additionally, integrate the theme into the overall seasonal collateral. In two seasons, we’ve managed to contribute to a dramatic increase in overall attendance by supplementing the extraordinary stage performances with original illustrated posters, giving each production a definitive look, and a thorough marketing strategy. The rest, as they say, is showbiz.

A Renaissance in Tenseltown

Thanks to a jaw-dropping interior restoration and redesign, spearheaded by artist/designer, Roy Nachum, the Music Box has recaptured its original grandeur.  It has also been re-equipped with state-of-the-art light and sound, and is now irrefutably one of the most extraordinary live venues in the world.

Originally constructed in 1926 by vaudeville impresario, Carter DeHaven, the Music Box has a remarkable past.  We explored a wealth of historical references which accordingly inspired our rebranding of the legendary Hollywood landmark.  Our objective was to revive some of the building’s historic charm and mystique, without overplaying the elements or settling for mere pastiche.

Hollywood Regal Matters

The owners were adamant about retaining a crest, some form of which had been utilized at the theater since the 1920’s.  We were reluctant to go this route because of the ubiquitous use of heraldic imagery for the last 10 years, from local nightclubs to the epitome of all things overused, Ed Hardy.  So it was important to avoid anything that looked like vector clip-art, or tattoo filigree.  The only way to ensure uniqueness was to draw it ourselves.  There were other considerations as well: the logo had to be simplified to enable embroidery applications to the backs of several 100 theater seats; it had to work in a digital format, as well as print; and ultimately it had to function in different markets, from live rock concerts, to club nights, to private events.  Through several incarnations, we managed to create an icon that reflected some of the ornate Victorian features of the venue’s architecture, with a customized font that evoked classic movie titles.  We also devised a variety of treatments that could be applied across numerous production and promotional platforms.  In addition to the ‘Classic Crest’, we created an auxiliary volume of historic style logotypes that can be used as an alternative, adding diversification to the overall brand, but keeping the core values of the Music Box at the forefront.

Sensis Working Overtime

Focus Multimedia, founded in 1998, was a fast-growing online advertising agency, whose 20th century moniker had become superannuated. They first approached Colorola to create a new logo design, using only the initials, FM, thus disposing of the rather dated ‘multimedia’ component. After presenting the first round of logotype directions, it became evident that the streamlined  ‘FM’ icon begged the question: ‘what does it stand for?’ Colorola suggested a complete overhaul of the brand.  We worked closely with FM’s creative group to refine the agency’s core values, positioning, and new name. After extensive market research, we presented 7 distinct directions, each a unique expression of the brand’s attributes.

(re)Name Brand. Phase 2

After extensive deliberation (and a serious flirtation with ‘Tactico’), a consensus was reached (ish): Sensis. Of course, there was some legitimate concern about the ‘bureau’ element. Was it potentially confusing, implying some sort of research service?  Was it potentially taboo for libertarian-type clients? And most consequentially, was it a pun that would become tiresome after awhile (as most puns do)? So the decision was made to go with ‘Sensis’, with the peripheral title being, ‘Sensis Agency’. (‘Sensis’ as a url had been taken by a defense radar contractor.) So the project sifted from naming, to designing the new Sensis logo.  Back to the drawing board, where we compiled just over a dozen different schematics.

(re)Name Brand. Phase 3

The challenge of this phase proved formidable, even more so than the naming process.  Nearly all the creatives at Sensis (calling it what it is now) preferred a different direction– too much of a good thing?  We were finally able to narrow the selection to a final 3.  At this stage, Colorola positioned the 3 finalists in a variety of contexts, or typical conditions, to see how the identities would function in the real world, and how they would measure up to each other.

A decision finally had to be made, and the direction entitled, ‘Olympic’, was chosen because of it’s clean intelligibility, and it’s visually tangible depiction of ‘connectivity’.

Indigo-Go

Home to the Sónar festival and seemingly 1000’s of kilometers of dance floor, Barcelona is practically the Nashville of dance music. Along with other European disco-meccas like London, Berlin, Paris and Ibiza, Barcelona is a city teeming with innovative djs and performers, all vying for lucrative club engagements and top positioning on Beatport. Mirus Loewe’s Indigo Raw imprint is a key player with several club events around the city (as well as a growing international schedule), the label has become a staple of the Mediterranean nightlife. Colorola has designed the brand ID for Indigo Raw (currently working on an overhaul) and we’ve created all of the packaging for vinyl and download releases.

Pop Wars

As technology and games continue to proliferate the virtual firmament, greater threats to video game security and competitive frameworks are an inexorable result. The multi-billion dollar industry, one of the fastest growing in the world, is still quite volatile, and the need for tightened security in all sectors, at all development stages is vital.  Galactic Mantis, a games security company in Viet Nam, is at the forefront of gaming security technology.  Inspired by the mid-century graphics of Swiss chemical company, Geigy, Colorola combined classic pharmaceutical package design with a nefarious nod to astro-infestation to create a unique brand system that is one part Halliburton, one part Warhol.

Ain’t Nut’in But a Logo

Colorola was honored to have designed the official 25th Anniversary logo for Priority Records, the groundbreaking LA label, headed by Snoop Dogg.  The logo emblazons all special releases and commemorative editions, including a sampler, compiled by Snoop Dogg which accompanies his new release, ‘Malice in Wonderland’.  Selections from Priority artists, like  N.W.A, Eazy-E, Mack 10, Westside Connection, Ice Cube, and of course Snoop Dogg himself figure into this collectors’ collector’s edition.

We also explored the idea of using an illustration for the cover art, but they dropped it like it’s hot.

Blue on Blue

The monochromatic scenes of a young, hip, shop-happy ingenue and her equally consuming friends created an effective and easily recognizable brand image for this successful e-commerce website. Founded in 1998, Bluefly.com is one of the few surviving fashion websites from the dot com boom. It’s a success story with many vital components, including its initial illustrated branding program, styled and illustrated by Colorola’s Stuart Patterson

The (Un)Covers

They now seem like relics from a different time (and not just because of their slightly 70’s bent).  The 90’s literally were the end of an era, though at the time we simply thought of them as the un-80’s, when sensuality, color, sex, good vibes and good highs all seemed to convene on the dance floor.  House music reached its peak then (though some argue that the proverbial beat goes on), and from San Francisco to London, Ibiza to Tokyo, the soundtrack invariably included the voluptuous, soul drenched sounds of Naked Music.  From its very first release, Stuart Patterson created the starkly nude yet innocuous covers that seduced a million listeners into the ‘Nude Dimension.’

Commercial Real Estate in San Francisco is all High Profile.

Colorola designed an elaborate collateral and brand system for the San Francisco offices of LA commercial real estate company, Travers.  The objective was partly to emphasize the advantages of an established firm like Travers – one with a consummate track record, and a unique, proven way of doing business.  Additionally we aimed to demonstrate a penchant for style and proficiency– important features for San Francisco’s discriminating commercial client.

In addition to providing the name-change and concept, Colorola created the brand ID and logotype for this fast-growing Los Angeles digital-centric advertising agency, Sensis.  Working closely with the agency’s creatives and management, we explored many themes, colors, fonts, and styles.  The ability to apply effects and animation was important, but the icon also had to function as a static symbol across numerous media platforms.  The notion of a synthesis of services was important to the sales team, so the interlock segments of the ‘S’ icon were seen as a positive, though subtle, reference to the agency’s core brand values.

Going.com Brand ID

Social networks can fast become anti-social, as users tend to migrate en mass, like so many digital geese. The technology might be new, but the fickle audience is a classic complication in the provence of promotion and commerce. In a field already dominated by tweets, places and faces, the challenge for Going.com, an online events diary and yes, social network, was to enter a crowded marketplace, set up shop, attract a clientele and, most importantly, keep them.

So the object was to avoid looking like Friendster. We tried the obvious: arrows, directionals, moving stuff. But the more obvious the interpretation of ‘Going’, the more generic the word appeared. When I tried some standard type, both serif and non-serif, ‘Going’ started to stick – or rather, go. We settled on an amalgamated assortment of friendly block serif letters, creating a unique typeface, part Rockwell, part Georgia.

But there was still some concern. Though resonant, and (ever so) subtly unique, there was still a lack of nuance. We went back to the drawing board, attempting to once again integrate some kind of arrow between the letters, al FedEx. Once again, the arrow made every instance seem contrived. How else to affect motion, forward thrust, adelante, without resorting to cliched gesture?

Though it now seems an obvious solution, the drop shadow that finally gave ‘Going’ some needed volition was derived not from focus groups or administrative consensus. The illusive drop shadow, like so many ‘inspired’ ideas, occurred by an energetic game of trial and error.

Going continues to monthly trump its user numbers, and has spread to over thirty major markets nationwide. It keeps going, and going, and going.

Los Angeles is Wired

WiredLA is an online events listing page for Los Angeles and Orange County. While it promotes a wide variety of cultural and entertainment activities around southern California, its primary focus is on electronic dance music.

We created a bold logotype which contained the actual word (rather than an icon and type combo for instance) so that the icon would constantly represent, whether as a tiny monogram on a club flyer, or as a huge banner hoisted above a sweaty crowd at Coachella.

Game Changer

Ho Chi Minh City has become one of the world’s top hubs for digital animation and video game production. Colorola was privileged to work one of Vietnam’s top game developers creating the brand ID for their award winning production company.

Naked Music Brand ID

Two ID’s really. The label’s manager, Bruno Ybarra thought we should have a back-up in case the ‘naked chick’ didn’t work out. And though the Naked Music illustrated logo created a huge sensation with the global club crowds, the ‘Muni NM’ logo was a vital visual asset for the brand. Having two functioning logos helped to distinguish certain types of releases, and gave us double the merchandising. There was never any confusion, as each played off the other across numerous marketing platforms and media.

La Vida Cosmopolatina

It was at Magic in Vegas, 1997 that Stuart Patterson (principal of Colorola) met los hermanos Custo. They were familiar with the work he had done for Wallpaper* as well as his nightclub graphics for Twilo and Sound Factory in New York. Custo was known at the time as Custo Line, an awkward English phrasing that the Catalans hoped would provide a bit of US market leverage for their brand of high end t-shirts.

Stuart recommended that if they wanted to get some American love, they promote the sexy Mediterranean aspect of the brand. And thus, Custo Barcelona was born. They brought Stuart to Barcelona where he worked closely with the brothers for several seasons. 3 years later, and still in Barcelona, Stuart launched Colorola on Rambla Catalunya, and the rest is graphics history.

They Might be Giant

Since January 1st, 2000, Giant has been producing some of the largest  New Year’s Eve parties in the world. They also produce a weekly Saturday night dance club in Hollywood (currently installed at the gigantic venue, Avalon) and various other large-scale events in Las Vegas, San Diego, Newport Beach, and Miami. They are the West Coast exemplar of mainstream electronic dance music (for the 21-35 year-old crowd), and Colorola has defined their look from the beginning.  Featuring some of the highest grossing entertainers in the world like Tiesto, David Guetta, or Armin Van Burin, the Giant brand is highly market-driven. And while the dj names are important (and costly, earning $40,000 to $100,000 for a few hours of music mixing), Giant also relies on high-visibility campaigns to fortify the brand.  Much of our effort has been to maintain a balance between brand continuity and the need to revamp the brand for an audience that is as fickle as it is fun.  Though Giant’s entertainment offering is ostensibly mainstream, the dance crowd is subject to shift its preferences with little notice.  In order to keep Giant relevant for early adopters, our attempt has been to push the envelope with the visual marketing, remaining highly visible, but without the patina of a hard sell.

The competition for this demographic is fierce.  Another festival, rave or nightclub with equally attractive programming can potentially steal the numbers with one crowd-pleasing booking.  So we’ve worked hard to build a residual audience that is as loyal to the Giant brand as they are to the personalities that take to the decks.   We’re also competing against other diversions:  agressive campaigns from video games, to sports, to cinema dot the vast entertainment landscape that is Southern California, and we’ve managed, through innovation and wit, to keep Giant front and center. The Giant crowd is a perfect microcosm of today’s young American, and we’ve certainly benefited from our privileged access to this dynamic, ever-changing market.

The Los Angeles Theatre Center Rebranding

Any design for a cultural institution like LATC must be determined by its content. Outstanding branding cannot take the place of purposeful stagecraft or visionary productions. It can however enhance each production and edify the overall experience. An inspiring, attractive, coherent communications system, deftly applied to all media platforms, can help to inspire all participants, from the actors to the critics, ushers to audience.

Starting with the Fall/Winter Face of the World Festival, Colorola has given this venerable downtown landmark an extreme makeover. With a consistent and methodological approach to the branding of the LATC, we have helpe to convey its artistic vitality, vision and spirit to a broadened audience with an appetite for more art, less hype.

Commie Get It

While the Walt Disney Concert Hall has a most adept in house art department that creates perfectly proficient collateral for the LA Phil and friends, the marketing team decided to think out of the box when promoting an experimental concert, Pravda, that featured a diverse roster of contemporary musicians and djs interpreting the music of Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, and with Dvotchka, Russian folk music from the Stalinist era, demonstrating the profound depth of the musical invention and expression that prevailed in spite of (some might argue because of) the sweeping oppression that has defined the Stalinist regime.

The program featured several well-known figures from the indie/dance/hip-hop scenes like Penut Butter Wolf, Amon Tobin, Cut Chemist, DJ Spooky and Dublab Soundsystem. So the object was to introduce such esoteric programming to an audience attuned more to raves than Ravel. With our experience attracting huge crowds to the largest dance music events in Southern California, we were commissioned to help attract the same crowd to LA’s most consecrated classical venue. Taking cues from Soviet propaganda posters of the 20’s and 30’s, we created original illustrations and State-style graphics to produce a marketing campaign for print. With a bit of irony and contemporary references we avoided the pastiche of a mere caricature, and devised a look that was as fresh as it was Bolshevik.

We created a campaign inspired by Soviet propaganda posters that featured a fiery red illustration of the acclaimed Frank Gehry designed music hall. This experience helped us to realize that we have a particular knack for designing for public arts institutions, and ultimately led to our creative collaboration with the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Hollywood Sequel

Evoking the decadent history of this 1926 Hollywood theater, Colorola created a custom crest, and refashioned it with an asymmetrical placement of the name in a bold san-serif font, Berthold Akzidenz Gothic.  Additionally, we provided the venue with a deco themed logotype, also consistent with it’s history.  This auxiliary ID is used in tandem with the Classic crest, or as a stand-alone when the Victorian motif is overly decorative.

Perhaps it’s Colorola’s dual citizenship (Principal, Stuart Patterson is from SF) that helped us determine a unique identity for the new northern outpost of the LA realty powerhouse, Travers. The objective was to assure the discriminating SF commercial crowd that Travers is cool while extoling the experience and vast knowledge of an internationally renowned commercial magnate. This is a perfect example of how our creative experience bridges the non-conventional with the corporate, creating a unique and modern identity that distinguishes Travers from all the predictable, generic, spreadsheet-style design that pervades the professional landscape.

After a multi-million dollar renovation of the infamous Palace Theater at Hollywood and Vine, Colorola designed the sexy and versatile brand system for its new moniker: Avalon.  We took elements of the main venue’s logo to create a separate yet consistent ID for its Saturday night dance party, Avaland.

A Hollywood Vamp, Revamped

Once owned by Charlie Chaplin, the Hillview has a star-studded, storied past.  Built by Samuel Goldwyn in 1917, the building was intended as studio housing for the Famous Players-Lasky Company, the silent studio that eventually became Paramount. Valentino ran a speakeasy in the ornate hideaway just below street level, Viola Dana was a notorious resident, as well as May West.  We wanted to create an identity that is evocative of the Hollywood landmark’s dazzling history, while conveying the charm and comfort of this particular property.

After a multi-million dollar refurbishment, the owners were looking for something that could awaken the colorful history, and yet come across as modern and luxurious – and still feel like home. Derived from the decorative iron work of the 20’s (and a subtle reference to the Hillview’s three arched porticoes), the Hillview ‘H’ logo also suggests a classic emblem or crest, with the subtle ‘H’ motif evocative of both the Hillview, and the hills that rise from its many vistas. The gate – like grid may also allude to a sense of security and refinement, yet in a manner that is approachable and friendly. The icon can be deployed by itself, or accompanied by the text; centered, flush left or distributed horizontally. The colors, PMS 484 and PMS 529 refer to the original painted colors on the Hillview’s exterior.

Barcelona Gets Its Circuit On

Colorola designed the branding and promotion for one of Europe’s largest gay dance festivals.

Brand New Dance

After a multi-million dollar transformation of the former Limelight in Manhattan, the Bostonian owners of Avalon set their sites on the west coast, and a complete renovation of the popular Palace Theater near Hollywood and Vine. The Palace, according to the many at the time, had become synonymous with the area’s ‘decline’, and a brand change was just as vital to the venue’s renewal as the remodeling of the building itself. All iniquities aside, we found the building to be absolutely stunning, as did the new owners, and great care was taken during renovation to preserve and mend its unique architectural features.

The structure’s Spanish Revival motifs consists of several features which inspired our brand design.  Moorish tile patterns combined with a rather kitsch collection of baroque appointments throughout the theater all played a part in the creation of Avalon’s logo, and more importantly how the logo was integrated into all visual aspects of the promotion and production.  The ID for the venue’s Saturday night electronic music event, Avaland, is a derivation of the parent brand, and easily  permits further application of the overall brand concept.

Nude Kid in Town

Naked Music NYC was the nom de plume for producer Jay Denes’ 1998 release on San Francisco’s Om Records. Om’s label manager at the time, Bruno Ybarra had asked Stuart Patterson (principal, Colorola) to submit an idea for the cover. The image, a graphic illustration of a ’sexy, racially-vague, young nubile, in a seductive pose’ was deemed too literal, and instead, OM’s in-house devised a more ‘cerebral’ interpretation of ‘Naked’, with a stark image of a femur.

Meanwhile, Patterson, living la vida loca in Barcelona was contacted by Jay himself, who’d arranged with Francois Kevorkian to release a new single, Sweeter Love, on Francois’ label, Wave. Jay had liked Stuart’s work for the Naked project, and thought it might be appropriate for his new single.

The single was a big hit for Wave– and the cover, featuring another illustration, this time an unequivocally nude black woman, created a sensation in its own right. Inadvertently, the Naked Music brand was born, and in 1999 Bruno and Jay teamed up with NY musician, Dave Boonshoft to create their own dance label, Naked Music. Stuart was brought on board as art director, and his first fiat was to resurrect the original illustration, that which had been previously rejected at Om, and designate it as the brand ID for the label.

The fact of the matter is, Stuart was secretly dubious about the image, as the old ‘too literal’ indictment from Om still stung.  An avid devotee of semiotics, and a huge fan of things abstract, Stuart was loath to jump head-first into naked truth (though it certainly sounded fun). So, with the encouragement of the Naked partners, he created an auxiliary logo, which was designated as the label’s Corporate ID, and was used both as a complement to the ‘Nude’ logo, and as a backup, in case the original proved inappropriate (alas, it never did).

Le Gay Presse

Dedicated to beauty, art, and freedom of expression, OhlalaMag is an internationally acclaimed online gay fashion magazine and photograph journal, conceived in Paris, but based in Hollywood.

Colorola created a new look for a classic Southern California bespoke clothier.

If Hollywood is the world’s entertainment capital, then Avalon is the Royal Palace. Formally the sound stage for Jerry Lewis’ live television broadcasts, the extraordinarily well-preserved landmark near Hollywood and Vine faces the Capital Records building, and is the location of choice for many of the world’s top performers.  The imposing Spanish Empire structure functions as a live venue for sellout performances, and during late night weekends, transforms into one of the most popular night clubs on the West Coast.

Avaland, the venue’s flagship production, has been a Saturday night staple in Hollywood for over 5 years, and Colorola has created the brand ID as well as a large portion of its printed collateral.  The owners are aware of the historical significance of the theater, and have entrusted Colorola to produce original art and marketing material that demonstrates its uniqueness and quality.  Taking our cues from mid-century cinema and Hollywood’s heritage of the 60’s and 70’s hedonism, we have created a brand narrative for the club that could visably constitute the key art and packaging for a major motion picture release.

Carolina by Carolina Herrera

Colorola created the packaging and an individual gift package for the introduction of Carolina, a woman’s fragrance by Carolina Herrera.  Consistent with the delicate bouquet of the fragrance, we produced a series of subtle, pastel product renderings for the collateral, as well as a custom title script for use in the opulent print brochure, reproduced for the international buyers’ market in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

One of Ibiza’s most notorious polysexual dance parties, Ken turned it out twice a month at Pacha for 4 consecutive years, a rare LTR on an island known for fast turnovers.

Four Wheels

Stuart Patterson created a series of vintage style illustrations evocative of mid-century Jamaica to be used in catalogs, point of sale, and promotion.

Solar’s 30th Anniversary Series

Stuart Patterson was commissioned to design and illustrate special commemorative CDs for the 30th anniversary of the legendary LA Soul label, Solar.  For the ‘Ultimate Collection,’ Stuart created illustrated packaging for classic recording artists, Shalimar, Midnight Star, and Lakeside.

Bottle Service

Working with British Esquire, Stuart Patterson illustrated several lifestyle images for the Moet et Chandon UK Bar Guide.

Antonio Miro is a Barcelona clothing designer with a reputation for clean lines and an austere color palate.  We truncated our normally elaborate, illustrative style to deliver a refined and decidedly austere logotype.