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Giampietro+Smith, a design studio based in New York City, is named for its founders Rob Giampietro and Kevin Smith. Prior to starting their studio in 2003, Rob and Kevin worked together at Winterhouse, an award-winning design studio in Falls Village, CT. Giampietro+Smith's current clients include a range of cultural institutions including Gagosian Gallery, Creative Time, Knoll, Luhring Augustine Gallery, and NYU, as well as internationally-known artists such as Taryn Simon, Ghada Amer, and Gregory Crewdson. In addition to the ADC the studio also collaborates with a number of global non-profit organizations, including the United Nations and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria. They've also consulted regularly on a wide range of projects, most notably for the NYC2012 Olympic Bid and The New England Journal of Medicine. Rob and Kevin have written a regular column for BusinessWeek Online on branding and corporate identity, and have commented on design matters for organizations such as The New York Times and NPR. The studio's work has won numerous awards including design distinctions from I.D. Magazine, Print magazine, the Type Directors Club, and AIGA. Rob and Kevin are board members and co-creative directors of Topic Magazine. This interview touches upon Giampietro+Smith's most recent projects, the experience of designing two ADC Annuals, the spirit of the Olympics, Topic Magazine, a dream book commission that came true, and reveals - in the current ADC Newsletter tradition - the duo's "three favorites". Interviewed by Regan Murphy, regan@adcglobal.org.
ADC: Tell us about the experience of designing the ADC's 85th and 86th Annuals? What was it like to work with so many images?
G+S: Most of the time with annuals, you design them once and then by the time you've figured out how the whole thing works, you're done. We were lucky to design both annuals, and so by the second one we were seasoned pros. The book is so huge and you want to get everything right. Half of the design is the way it looks, the form of the book, but half of the design is just creating the right workflow for the whole process to happen smoothly.
With the 85th Annual, we took a sort of traditional approach by taking the design cues in the book from the Call for Entries. It had kind of a "bling" thing going on, so we tried our own spin on that, flipping the traditional gold for an electro-yellow, and digitizing a kind of funky blackletter typeface called Gotika by Imre Reiner specifically for the project. The rest was simple, clean, readable ol' Helvetica. We tried to put the information in the same place on every page and break up the huge block of credits that we'd seen in other annuals so that people really got their moment in the sun for all their great work. With the 86th Annual, we took a more conceptual approach. Instead of trying to brand the book with our own graphics, we wanted to find a way to let the winners be the graphics and feature them. The type treatment is big and almost a little dumb, just a layer of gold ink overprinted either in the positive or negative. What gives the book interest is the layering of the work underneath that. And after adding credits to the work you almost get this really engaging, visual table of contents. It worked like a charm, but only because we'd learned from doing the 85th Annual so we could try some more involved things with the content this time around. Anyway, we're very proud of both of them.
ADC: Where did you grow up and does that influence your work?
G+S: Kevin grew up in New Fairfield, CT, where Bruce Rogers did some of his greatest typographic work. So it must be something in the water up there. Rob grew up in Minneapolis and was constantly going to the Walker Art Center, which has an amazing design tradition. He also interned at Target and his high school's logo was designed by Joe Duffy. Small world!
ADC: Tell me about the catalogue for Keith Haring.
G+S: Skarstedt Fine Art was one of our first clients, and we've done a few catalogues of work by incredible artists with them: Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Gregory Crewdson, and now Keith Haring. This particular Haring book comes at a time when the artist is really experiencing a lot of renewed excitement in New York because of the 50th anniversary of his birth on May 1st, 2008. Deitch Projects just recreated a famous Haring mural on Houston Street near Nolita and it's got so much energy and charm. Our catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition, which opened on May 1st.
ADC: How did you two become so interested in working for public and non-profit organizations? Has that always been a goal?
G+S: When we started out, our goal was mainly to design great books. Neither of us had a lot of experience working with public and non-profit clients specifically. But once we began working with The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, we realized we'd found a calling. The design was challenging and important, the pace was fast, the clients were smart, and we were beginning to learn about a world neither of us knew much about before we started our practice. When your largest client is saving the world from three global pandemics, it's pretty easy to get excited about what you do for them. In the end, the excitement was mutual, and The Global Fund recommended us to others at the UN and WHO, and working with NGOs has become a significant aspect of our practice.
ADC: What about the awareness campaign you designed for the Department of Environmental Protection?
G+S: The DEP approached us to help them with a campaign, and when they did they had two audiences in mind. First, they wanted to talk to their employees, many of whom have very dangerous jobs, and they wanted to remind them to take safety seriously by celebrating those who already do take safety seriously. Second, they wanted to talk to the public, who was already very aware of ConEd from the "ON IT" campaign, and DEP was trying to make the case that if you're interested in where your gas and electricity come from, you might be interested in where your water comes from and where it's going after it heads down the drain.
Doing the poster campaign meant finding DEP employees to photograph and finding reasons to photograph them and share their hard work and safety wisdom with their DEP colleagues and the public. We spent almost two months touring reservoirs, labs, sludge boats, sewage facilities, and much more, learning how the whole water system in NYC works. After that, we interviewed nearly 50 DEP employees, then transcribed and edited these interviews to create the quotes and additional materials that will form the campaign. It's been by far one of our biggest and most research-driven projects to date, and comes with a refresh of the DEP's classic mid-60's identity to boot.
ADC: How did you come about becoming involved with Topic magazine?
G+S: Topic was founded by a friend of ours, David Haskell. The idea was to take stories of people doing interesting things in the world and let those people tell those stories themselves, without the aid of journalist. Sometimes the contributors were trained writers, sometimes they were interviewed by writers and those interviews were synthesized into an essay. Anyway, when David returned to NYC, he'd done four issues of Topic and they were really impressive writing-wise, but visually it felt much more like a musty academic journal than a vibrant young magazine. Rob had worked at the New York Times Magazine with Stella Bugbee, and together with her we helped to steer David through the redesign process. Soon after that, David brought us on as Creative Directors and Board Members. Our newest issue of Topic, "Escape," just came out last month with a festive launch party at the Rusty Knot. It's definitely a lot of fun to work on it.
ADC: How often do you teach?
G+S: Generally we teach once a week. We both teach at Parsons, Kevin teaches Communication Design 1 & 2 to Sophomores and Rob has taught everything from Typography 1 to Senior Thesis to Experimental Typography. Rob's also taught in the graduate program at RISD, his class there is a reading/writing seminar called Graphic Design & Critical Thinking.
ADC: What would be your ultimate dream book commission?
G+S: We just finished a book about the Freedom Riders called "Breach of Peace" with an amazing journalist and photographer named Eric Etheridge. In a lot of ways, it represents the ultimate book commission in that we had no idea how incredibly interesting the story of the Freedom Riders was before we began the book, and now we've lived it for almost a year and it is still amazing and inspiring every day. So part of what makes a commission good is what we might be able to learn from doing it. And the other part is always the people. Atlas Books, who published "Breach of Peace," and Eric included us from day one in their planning, structuring, design, and marketing of the book. Having done this for a few years now, we realize how rare that is and we're really lucky to have clients that seek out and trust our judgment as an important part of the creative and editorial team.
ADC: What was your reaction when New York lost the bid for the 2012 Olympics?
G+S: Of course we were a little bummed. But, while we were working on it, our feelings on NYC2012 would change on an almost daily basis. It was something everyone - our clients, our vendors, our colleagues and collaborators - all had an opinion about. We'd mention we were working on it, usually to justify a lack of sleep or something, and then someone would give us their feelings on the Olympics in NYC no matter what. Many of them were very persuasive one way or the other, so our feelings would change a lot.
What we did believe in was the spirit of the Olympics was well matched to the spirit of NYC, and the campaign and book we were working on needed to tie those things together emotionally for everyone at the IOC and later in NYC to understand. The language of the Olympic Charter is so hopeful and reverent, almost utopian, constantly talking about bringing about a more peaceful world through sport. After all the city has been through, we were very much behind endorsing a hopeful and peaceful future in 2012, whether we had the games or not. When we started the project, we reviewed the Charter and also the competing bid materials. We were immediately impressed with London's clarity and focus, and when we heard they'd gotten the bid, we definitely weren't surprised. NYC had so much heart and drive, though, it made us think the city can do anything it puts its mind to. (Congestion pricing, anyone? Or bike sharing?) ADC: And finally, please share your three favorites:
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87th Annual Awards Exhibition
Thursday, June 5 - Friday, June 27
ADC's 87th Annual Awards Exhibition features the work of ADC's Gold, Silver, and Distinctive Merit winners in 4 key categories: Design, Advertising, ADC Hybrid and ADC Design Sphere. The exhibition opened on Thursday, June 5 and will be on view at the ADC Gallery until June 27 before it embarks on a global tour. Sponsored by Corbis June 5-June 27 10am-6pm @ADC Gallery 106 West 29th Street, NYC
This year at the ADC 87th Annual Awards Gala the Corbis Creativity for Social Justice Award was given to TAXI Canada Inc. for its work on the 15 Below Project and to Vitruvio Leo Burnett for its work for The Prodis Foundation.
The 15 Below Project and Prodis Foundation will share the $20,000 Grand Prize and you can help them raise more! Every day you search on www.corbis.com/searchforjustice now until July 31, Corbis will donate an additional $1 to the winning non-profits. One search, every day, up to $10,000.
Ed Fella and Post Typography in the ADC Gallery
Thursday, June 12th
The OppositesAttract series, moderated and led by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, brings two opposites - Ed Fella and Post Typography - to the ADC Gallery. This format has proven to be a vibrant and interesting way to see the work of and learn the backstory of creatives with divergently different perspectives.
Post Typography was originally conceived and founded in 2001 as an avant garde anti-design movement by Nolen Strals and Bruce Willen. Their work has received numerous design awards and been featured in Ellen Lupton's Thinking With Type and D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself, The Art of Modern Rock, Metropolis magazine, Taschen's Contemporary Graphic Design, and Phaidon's Area 2. Post Typography have appeared in numerous design and art exhibitions, and their posters are collected by high school punk rockers and prominent designers. Strals and Willen currently teach classes in design and typography at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and have lectured at the Cooper Union, Minneapolis College of Art &Design, and Harvard University. Ed Fella is an artist and graphic designer whose work has had an important influence on contemporary typography here and in Europe. He practiced professionally as a commercial artist for 30 years in Detroit before receiving an MFA in Design from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1987. In 1997 he received the Chrysler Award and in 1999 an honorary doctorate from CCS in Detroit. His work is in the National Design Museum and the MoMA in New York. He was a finalist for the National Design Award in 2001. Thursday, June 12, 2008 6:30-8:30pm @ADC Gallery 106 West 29th Street, NYC This series continues on the following evenings: Thursday, October 16 Thursday, November 13 ADC Members $21 Non-members $30 Students $15 Sponsored by Veer RSVP online by going here. Visit the Opposites Attract blog here. Happy Hour with ADC Young Guns
Wednesday, June 18
Last month's Happy Hour was such a good time; we're doing it again. Whether you've entered the ADC Young Guns 6 competition, want to learn more, or just want to have after-work drinks with like-minded creatives, join us!
Wednesday, June 18 6:30-8:30pm @The Delancey 168 Delancey St. (between Clinton & Attorney) *We'll be on the rooftop. 2008 Illustration Portfolio Review
Thursday, June 19
The Art Directors Club invites you to attend the 2008 Illustration Portfolio Review and Luncheon. The event will have fifty established and emerging illustrators in attendance.
Thursday, June 19 Luncheon: 1-3pm Happy Hour: 5-7pm Refreshments all day @ADC Gallery 106 West 29th Street, NYC To RSVP as a portfolio reviewer only, go here. Free Seminar: Webtastic! Latest Web Technology
Monday, June 23
Join Noble Desktop for this free in-person seminar and see the latest trends in web design technology. Topics will include: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), how and when to properly use Flash, AJAX, The Spry Framework, building dynamic sites with XML, and also the new features of Dreamweaver CS3 and Fireworks CS3.
Monday, June 23, 2008 6 - 8pm Noble Desktop 594 Broadway New York City Visit Noble Desktop to sign up! The Henry Wolf Summer Photography Workshop
Monday, July 14 - Saturday, July 19
25 area high school students have been chosen to learn from top New York City photographers. The teachers for the Henry Wolf Summer Photography workshop will be David Black, Geoff Green, Carlo Van de Roer, and Faith-Ann Young. By the end of the program each student will have created a portfolio of photography pieces which will be displayed in the ADC gallery.
All are invited to view the work of these extraordinary high school students on Saturday, July 19th. Reception and Exhibition Saturday, July 19, 2008 6:30-8:30pm @ADC Gallery 106 West 29th Street, NYC This workshop is invitation only. Want to Volunteer? Email Isabel at isabel@adcglobal.org.
Sahre, Victore, Wilker: A Summer Design Workshop
Sunday, July 20 to Saturday, July 26
Six hands-on days with Paul Sahre, James Victore and Jan Wilker at the ADC. Limited to 40 people, no institutional ties, and an unnamed number of surprise guests. Enough said.
July 20-July 26 @ADC Gallery 106 West 29th Street, NYC Registration is closed but check back here for information about a second workshop next year.
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NEVER SLEEP: Graduating to Graphic Design
By Andre Andreev and Dan Covert
There is a major disconnect between the life of a design student and the
transition to being a design professional. To demystify the transition, NEVER SLEEP: Graduating to Graphic Design shares the failures, successes, and surprises during our years in college and progression into the field: the creative process, monetary problems, internships, interviews, mistakes, and personal relationships. This book can serve as the ultimate companion for design students, educators, and anyone breaking into a creative field.
At the combined age of fifty, Andre Andreev and Dan Covert met while studying graphic design at California College of the Arts and working for MTV's on-air design department in New York. Since then, they have started their own firm called dress code and co-teach at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Andre eats meat, Dan dislikes puppies. Visit www.neversleepbook.com. NEVER SLEEP is published by de.MO. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Saturday Career Workshops Wrap-Up
This Spring the ADC Saturday Career Workshop (SCW) program wrapped up on May 17th. This program, which introduces talented high school juniors to careers in visual communications, is part of the ADC's mission to encourage and inspire young people coming into the field. Once again the workshop was a success and benefited a variety of students from New York City High Schools. We would like to thank the presenters who shared their experiences with the students and the volunteers who diligently attended the workshops and helped guide the students each week.
This SCW included the following workshops: On March 29 Stephen Kroninger led the students in an illustration workshop. The students created an abstract self-portrait, using magazine clippings, based on the style of Stephen Kroninger and his icons. On April 5 Manabu Inada led the students in a workshop on poster design and the students each created a poster for the fictional movie "Escape from New York." On April 12 Kris Delaney discussed Graphic Design and had the students create a Advertising Campaign that would change America's view of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: less shopping, more service and discussion. On April 19 Alex Suh and Boyoung Lee of A + B discussed Graphic Design and Advertising and led the students through their creative brief: Alphabet City. In this project the students take pictures, using Polaroid cameras, of letterforms they see in the outside environment. On May 10 Jason Lancaster presented his work in Typography and had the students use the word "type" to convey the feel and mood of an image. On May 17 Jason Pacheco presented a workshop on Advertising. The students worked in teams to come up with an advertisement for either hot sauce, foot powder, crazy glue or roach spray. Want to volunteer in the fall? Email Isabel Johnson at isabel@adcglobal.org to get involved! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CONNECTIONS Countdown...
LE BOOK, the international reference for fashion, photography and advertising, announces the latest edition of CONNECTIONS: the first and only custom-made tradeshow for Les Creatives worldwide. For its eighth celebrated show on June 10th and 11th, CONNECTIONS welcomes a microcosm of the arbiters of taste: the best in image creation worldwide. Come experience what has been popularly coined as "six months of work in one day."
June 10th-11th @The Puck Building 295 Lafayette Street NYC By invitation only www.lebook.com/connections For more information, contact: CONNECTIONS by LE BOOK Press Alexandra Tallo / a.tallo@lebook.com or 212.334.5252 Michael Kazam / michael@lebook.com Click NY
Click is a one-day digital advertising conference brought to you by Creative Review. Launched in 2005 in London, Click brings leading creatives and their clients from around the world together to analyze and discuss the state of the most innovative and exciting advertising medium around. Click is now coming to New York. The focus is on great work and the people that do it. During the day they will showcase campaigns from the best in the business and bring together industry leaders to discuss the hot topics facing all who work in advertising today.
Wednesday, October 1st @ADC Gallery 106 West 29th Street, NYC Visit http://click-conference.com/ Speaker and schedule details to come. Registration begins June 15. Photos of ADC 87th Annual Awards Gala
This year's ADC Cube winners were revealed and celebrated at the ADC Gallery. Excitement was in the air and cubes were everywhere. View photos of the gala here.
The Illustration Resource: Folioplanet.com
Created by illustrators, Folioplanet is a directory of 2027 illustrator links, 251 illustration portfolios and 36,341 stock illustration images. They are not a stock agency and do not represent artists. Art buyers should contact the artist or their representative directly. Site design by Particle. Visit http://folioplanet.com/
ADC Young Guns 5 Winner on Exhibition
Invisible NYC, a tattoo studio and art gallery located in the Lower East Side, is hosting a two-person exhibit by artists Duane Burton and Leif Parsons. Duane Burton, a graduate of SVA, is the founder of Le Castlevania, an underground gallery and performance space with satellite happenings. Leif Parsons is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and ADC Young Guns 5 recipient. For more info about the exhibit go here.
148 Orchard Street, NYC 212.228.1358 www.invisiblenyc.com For this and other news from past ADC Young Guns, visit www.adcyoungguns.org/news/ Job Searching?
Check in with the ADC Job Board. Search among Advertising, Exhibit Design, Graphic Design, Interaction Design and Web Design positions that are posted daily. The listing includes jobs all over the country and abroad. You may also post a job on the ADC job listing site. Job posting details can be found here.
If you are an ADC member you may post a job for the members' reduced rate. Be sure to take advantage! In partnership with Coroflot. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ADC members - this is your space to share. The newsletter is published monthly. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of each month. Send news to regan@adcglobal.org with the subject line Newsletter.
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About the ADC
The ADC is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind. Founded in New York in 1920, the ADC is a self-funding, not-for-profit membership organization that celebrates and inspires creative excellence, connecting creative visual communications professionals from around the world.
Mission
To promote the highest standards of excellence and integrity in visual communications for the industry and to encourage students and young professionals entering the field. In short, to provide "visual fuel."
Mandate
To provide a forum for creative leaders in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to meet, learn, participate, and explore the direction for these rapidly evolving industries.
Not Yet A Member? Join Now.
The Art Directors Club 106 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 212.643.1440 www.adcglobal.org
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