For Thursday 02/06/25, the campus will be closed until 12 noon today due to the severe weather. All classes scheduled after 12 noon will take place as scheduled. Students should check Canvas for details on classes.
Lilian Crum is a Partner and Designer at Unsold Studio (unsoldstudio.com), a branding, graphic design, and design strategy studio that focuses on producing work for creative culture, the public good, and lifestyle brands. The studio has won dozens of awards, and represented Detroit and the United States at Singapore Design Week in 2019.
When Bea’s Squeeze launched as a lemonade stand on the smallest parcel of land for sale in Detroit, the owners Bea & Eli Wolnerman intended it to be only a fun summer pop-up experience. When their lemonade was received with such a positive response, it quickly grew into a beverage business selling across the local Detroit region.
When Bea & Eli were ready to take it to national markets, they knew their original packaging didn’t pack the visual punch to grab someone’s eye walking the busy grocery store aisles even though they liked the look & feel (scroll below to see the before). They were also concerned about printing costs, as their previous package designs including 10+ colors, and at a national scale this would be a budget-breaker.
They brought our team on to rebrand Bea’s Squeeze to make sure that the product could not be ignored in big box retailers, to better connect the brand with a millennial audience, to highlight that the business is women-owned, and to introduce the lemonade to new locations across the United States.
Our concept is that Bea’s Squeeze is “a productive escape.” It emphasizes everyone needs a break, even the Beas (who really is a busy bee—check out her other business Bea’s Detroit we also rebranded) and Oprahs of the world. However, Bea’s Squeeze isn’t offering an escape from reality because you’re a slacker or you hate your job, but rather because it’s good for you. You need quiet to hear your big ideas, a change of scenery to spark inspiration, and slowness to refill your cup. Bea’s Squeeze knows that you can’t always rest for a long time because you’re so busy, but it can give you a quick, productive escape—in a sip.
Michigan Opera Theatre is in the process of evolving, both in terms of the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has created, but also in terms of making the going to the opera inclusive and appealing to a range of audiences. The theme for the 2021-2022 is “In MOTion”, communicating this evolution and innovation. The goals for developing the visual identity system for each performance in the season were to visually communicate a sense of motion; to create something fresh and cool for new audiences without excluding the existing opera-goers; to reflect each distinctive performance while ensuring that the entire system functioned like a cohesive set.
To communicate the theme “in MOTion”, we developed visual tricks and optical illusions to create the illusion of movement. Cavalleria in Concert mimics the perspective of the outdoor venue for the performance. Blue focuses on the idea of duality through the accordion-fold effect to show the thematic oppositions in the show (father/son, Black/white, police/policed). Bliss evokes the cyclical, repetitive nature of the production. Frida translates the familiarity imagery into an unfamiliar form, while embracing the multitudes of Frida. La Boheme references rewinding, since the production will be performed in reverse. X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X reflects the many stories, perspectives, and lenses in which to view Malcolm X using kaleidoscopic imagery.
New Order’s team is comprised of industry experts, ready to change the craft coffee industry and move beyond the “third wave”; no dark woods, no snobby baristas, no waiting fifteen minutes for a pour over. Their team seeks to use their expertise to deliver the best product using the most advanced technologies, while not losing sight of their values: “Founded with a gleeful defiance to the status quo, New Order has a singular, dogmatic aim: to delight and energize your everyday life.”
At the beginning of the project, New Order’s team revealed they previously worked with another brand team, but had been unhappy with the design outcome and wanted to start from scratch. They wanted an identity that “pushed the envelope” and did not look similar to any of their competitors.
The initial plan for the coffee shop was in a historic building in Detroit. Although the location eventually changed, the historic geometric, art deco interiors played a role in visual development. Working closely with a Detroit-based architecture team, Et Al Collaborative, the brand identity needed to be bold to contrast with the planned natural woods, light counter tops, and natural light-filled space for the new location. The brand had to come across as welcoming and inclusive for a variety of demographics in its first brick & mortar located in Detroit’s Brush Park neighborhood, but it also wanted to be unlike any other coffee shop in the city.
Through discussion, it was agreed upon an icon was necessary and a geometric, simplified, abstract coffee mug was introduced to echo the geometric shelving units planned within the interiors. A playful geometric dot pattern, timeless yet playful and reminiscent of confetti, was also developed to create more texture and personality throughout the interior environment and on packaging.
A design system for beans and packaging was also important, especially in regards to sourcing. A color system was applied to represent different regions throughout the globe, and was extremely budget friendly. This would allow New Order to use the same coffee bag design but apply different stickers, which accommodates their small run in-house roasted beans. This color system would also correspond with in-store menus as well.
The visual identity extended everywhere throughout the store, requiring the design for additional items including, but not limited to:
menu design
product and retail design, including packaging
store exterior and interior signage
promotional posters and postcards
holiday window graphics and displays
employee aprons
employee handbook and coffee guides
online webstore
“Citizen Robotics seeks to reduce the cost of housing construction through the adoption of robotic construction techniques.” Through their fab lab, they “bring these technologies to the community so that they can learn to build more effectively – using less labor and less material.” They also “upskill today’s construction workforce for the future with training and opportunities to practice on new housing developments.”
Their team works with a wide array of people—from academic institutions, to corporate partners, to construction workers, to students. Instead of catering to one group, their brand identity and messaging emphasizes the pride associated with being a maker, an innovator, and a member of their movement, no matter how you fit into Citizen Robotics. This includes robots; the messaging and visual imagery humanizes the technology to show how people and robots work together for good.
The use of patches as imagery allows for play, but also as tactile “real world” opportunities—like when a fab lab member “passes” their laser cutting workshop, they can receive a physical patch to attach to their backpack or denim jacket and show-off. The patches also allow for Citizen Robotics employees to customize their uniforms and business cards, retaining personality and play, even when they’re talking about high-level tools.
Use Your Cell Phone as a Document Camera in Zoom
From Computer
Log in and start your Zoom session with participants
From Phone
To use your cell phone as a makeshift document camera