Phinney Bischoff Design House recently recently developed the brand identity for Marylhurst University, located 10 minutes south of Portland in Marylhurst, Oregon. My role was design and brand development — logo design and a 50+ page brand guide that included colors, fonts, collateral samples and more! Hats off to our team… especially Audrey Na (PBDH designer) who I worked closely with…. we shared many of the same responsibilities in getting this launched! I’m looking forward to creating more collateral including a new web site for MU!

Here is more info from the PBDH press release:

For more than 100 years, Marylhurst University has been providing accessible and innovative education to meet the needs of a multigenerational student body both on campus and online. However, there has been a lack of clarity around the Marylhurst brand and the university did not posses a formal logo. In addition to messaging and overall brand development, PBDH created a compelling visual identity for Marylhurst. The new typographic logo is bold, memorable and differentiating within the competitive landscape. Logo-inspired geometry is used on marketing collateral in the form of strong, colorful elements and overlays suggesting movement and transformation. And the brand color palette now conveys credibility and energy. PBDH additionally created the tagline, “You. Unlimited.” that communicates Marylhurt’s core message: transform your life here through rigorous, relevant learning. PBDH is partnering with Marylhurst to roll out the new brand identity this spring, both in print and online.

Below is the display version of the logo and a sample Poster layout.

After careful planning, designing, and partnering with the new owners of ARRAY SALON (Ashley and Brian Raybould) in Salt Lake City, I am excited to present their new Salon logo. More collateral (service brochures and advertising) are in the hopper. Check back for updates!

Thanks Heidi… these are great approaches to success!

Nine Things Successful People Do Differently – Heidi Grant Halvorson – The Conversation – Harvard Business Review.

Well, is it a midlife crisis? A project? A headache? A wise decision? I’m not exactly sure, but according to my friends who own these things… they say things like, “You’ve crossed the vortex…welcome to the other side my friend” and “Tell Jack we said hi…” (local VW mechanic). Or, “HA! A magic bus was my dream car in high school. Even better than the Dr. Pepper wagon. Just watch out for the lawn mowers that will pass you on the hills!” These comments make me smile.

It’s never been a dream to own one, or even a desire. In fact, I always thought it was unnecessary to want a van to sleep in. But, for some reason I got the itch and it just seems right. Although I may regret the trickle of time and money, I foresee many fun family times ahead. Traveling with no place to stay, no reservations, no worries about rain and soggy gear. Gone are the days of cramming gear into our sedan, or my jeep!

I took a leap of faith and searched the country (via eBay and Craigslist). I found this 1984 VW Westy eBay and won the bidding! It sounded like the one… and it was for sale by the “original” owner. Lot’s of miles but, supposedly garaged for most of it’s life. We’ll see It’ll be a couple weeks before I get the car to Seattle (shipping from California). The whole eBay process was kind of stressful, but hindsight not that bad. Arranging bank transfers is easy and finding a shipping company is easy. eBay makes it simple to buy or sell a car. I’ll most likely list my Jeep Wrangler on eBay too. Here are the photos from the listing:

I’ve enjoyed seeing through the lens of the Sartorialist for a couple years now. Now with this short documentary, it’s great to see his simple approach in how he connects with people on the streets of the world and how he ultimately records fashion history with a simple photo blog. What a inspiration!

As designers, we are continually striving for the most strategic or creative solutions. If you find yourself stuck on a problem or are thinking everything has been done before. Or, maybe you just need a little boost of creative inspiration? Watch and listen to children. Kids love to play, learn and create! Their purity and innocent approach is the foundation of creativity and discovery. When I watch my daughter paint, draw, do crafts, or play… it’s always refreshing and a powerful reminder that creativity and discovery is infinite.

Artist: Sophia (age 4)
Title: “I love you Disneyland”

I rode the bike (with the motor) for the first time today… I think it’s going to be pretty fun and a decent commuter. Maybe a little loud, but not bad. When it’s opened up it’s about as loud as a chainsaw or lawnmower… no surprise. Here’s what I ran into when building the bike.

The bike and motor arrived no more than 5 days from the day I ordered. Bikesdirect has delivered 2 bikes to me now and they arrive as described. I would recommend them to anyone who’s interested in ordering a decent bike for less. The only downside is that you don’t get to test ride them beforehand, but if you do your research you can pick up a good bike online. The motor arrived in a small 26lb box and seemed to be in good shape.

Building the bike was straight forward. Most of the bike is already assembled in the box. The only things left to do are install the handle bars, front brake, seat and seat post, wheels, pedals, and fenders. It took about an hour. I didn’t realize this bike has a large oval type tube for the front part of the triangle on the frame. And the top tube went down farther than I thought it would. I got a little nervous about how the motor might fit.

I unpacked the motor from ZoomBicycles and everything was in the box. I set out all the parts to familiarize myself with the kit. I put the bike up on a workbench and began to fit the motor. It was obvious that it was going to be real tight. It had to be low enough to fit the carburetor. The large frame adapter that came in the kit raised the motor up an inch and would not work. It seemed that none of the mounting hardware that came with the motor was going to work for this bike. I had to take a trip to the hardware store…. and ended up getting 3 feet of threaded 6mm Rod. The same size as the threaded bolts already in the motor. There might be a better solution in the future (I might build wood mounts that work and potentially cast them or maybe even just try the wood.) For now this should do it… long bolts bent around my oval shaped frame. I used an old tube for all the parts sitting against the frame… one, to keep it from scratching and two, for vibration control.

Custom Front Motor Mount

After a couple of hours of messing around with it I finally got it in and ended up using the smaller metal brackets from the kit on the tube under the seat.

From this point, I followed the instructions that came in the box and proceeded to install the chain ring to the rear wheel. It wasn’t too hard. Aligning it so that it didn’t wobble took a little tweaking.

Chain Ring Detail

I ran into a problem when trying to fit the throttle handle onto the handle bar. The bike came with a SRAM twist shift that would not fit with the throttle/grip. I took a trip to Recycled Cycles in Seattle and found a used 7 speed shifter for $10. It slid over the handlebar and left enough space for the grip.

Used 7 Speed Shifter (right)

The clutch install was straight forward…. I chose to leave one of the springs off of the cable… it just made it harder to pull and I didn’t see a real benefit. The carburetor install was easy too… just slip it on to the intake manifold tighten the screw and hook up the fuel line/filter. The tank mounted easily with a little layer of rubber under to hold it off the frame and one cable.

Ok… now on to the electronics. I mounted and hooked up CDI unit. I made another trip to a auto parts store and picked up a better spark plug (NKG B6HS) and a plug wire/cap. I unscrewed the original plug wire out of the CDI unit and screwed the new one in. A simple upgrade that I read about… and cost less than $10. I then plugged in the kill switch as described in the manual. All set! Well, not so fast. I mixed up my fuel at 24:1 (the manual to break in the motor with 16:1 for 2 gallons…. many blogs I visited and read said 24:1 is sufficient). I hopped on the bike and nothing… popped the clutch… rode downhill with the compression of the engine pumping and couldn’t get the bike to turnover. I tested the plug outside of the motor and could not see a spark. Checked the wiring. Then did a little research online. I found the what the OHMs should be for the Magneto and for the CDI unit. I couldn’t get a conclusive reading with my OHM meter, so I decided to email Zoom Bicycles customer service department.

To my surprise (I read many blogs that many motor companies don’t respond) they replied with in 24 hours and told me to do a couple tests to figure out which part was bad. Checking the spark in the same by pulling it, grounding it, and turning the rear wheel. The second test was to hold the black and blue wire coming from the motor (magneto) and turn the wheel. If I felt a current then the magneto would have been good… I didn’t feel anything. I still didn’t know which part was faulty. I emailed ZoomBicycles again and told them the tests that I did and asked them to send both parts if they would. Again to my surprise, I got a email that day that said, the parts were shipping that same day.
ZoomBicycles has been great responding to my problems.

I got the two parts 3 days later, put them on, turned the fuel on, pumped the primer button, put the choke up, pedaled down the road and let the clutch out… the motor started right up! After a couple miles, I adjusted the idle screw a bit… but for the most part the thing ran great. I’ll post again with an update.

If you have install questions… let me know.

Handle Bar Setup

I’m using SlideshowPro Director for parts of my website… This is a test to see how easy it is to publish embed code for desktop and mobile devices. First embed code should work for most mobile users. I’m testing now!

I just came across this new logo for Pricewaterhouse Coopers (now PwC). The logo is an abstract shape that meaning can be built into… a beginning, transformation and endless possibilities. Whatever it represents, it is clearly the foundation for the rest of the brand to come to life. It’s a small part of a bigger picture. From refined messaging to collateral and signage design, to the website and animations, London office of Wolff Olins has created a nice brand system. The concept — that logos alone cannot carry all of the weight of a successful brand — is one that design firms have to convey to clients all to often. A logo is a logo… a brand is everything else. They did a nice job delivering a complete brand system.

BTW, the meaning of the new PwC logo is summed up here:

“We think our new brand expression visually distinguishes PwC in the same way that the quality and expertise of our people differentiates the experience of working with PwC,” said Dennis Nally, chairman, PwC International. “Underlying the visual elements is what the PwC brand really stands for — how we are viewed by our clients, our people and our stakeholders. Beyond our capabilities and experience, we want PwC to be known for building great relationships with clients that help them create the value they’re looking for.” (Ahhh… now I get it.)

This is not atypical for a logo explanation. Abstract is usually more interesting and memorable than being literal. However, is a logo a failure if it needs to be explained in a video or press release? I’m fine with an icon that gains depth with an explanation, but the truly great ones require no explanation. And, on a tangent… it kind of baffles me that the logo is all lowercase, but in text acronym they use cap “P”, lowercase “w” and cap “C”. I don’t get it!

I have mixed feelings about the website design. Specifically, two things I note right away are the placement of logo and the navigation. A leading professional services firm who boast gross revenues of 26.2 billion USD (fiscal year 2009). One of the “Big Four” — the three others are Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, and KPMG — has placed their logo towards the middle/bottom of the home page and has incorporated a very refined navigation. I’m not sure what to make of this logo placement. It works nicely with the animations… but, there’s is a big white space at the top left that is just waiting for it to return. You’ll see that as you navigate the site, it mysteriously reappears there and actually looks pretty good. And by refined navigation, I mean small (borderline tiny) serif fonts spaced out with loads of white space. I love smaller type, but is this a little extreme for a website? I really do want to like it, but for whatever reason, I am missing some visual Q or design element(s) that helps me find my way. Am I alone here?

With the negatives aside, it is an encouraging sign that in 2010s economy, interesting work still can be done with corporate clients. Will this logo/brand endure time? Probably not. I give it 3-5 years.

My 2 cents.