AIGA Baltimore was thrilled when local Baltimore design studio idfive agreed to be our Branding Sponsor for Design Week 2018.

Since 2013, we have reached out to a local design agency to partner with us and bring Design Week alive visually. Past partners have included Fastspot, Orange Element, Gilah Press + Design, Eye Byte Solutions, and Exit10.

This year, we want to bring you behind the scenes with our Branding Sponsor, idfive, to learn more about their inspiration for this year’s branding for Design Week, their work outside of AIGA Baltimore, and what their company is all about!

What was the inspiration for idfive’s Design Week Branding?

I wanted to take this creative opportunity to address what I think is the central issue in Baltimore – the “two Baltimores” – by attempting to build a visual system that would unify, represent, and complete the “feel” of Baltimore. I thought about the disparate ways our City has been represented visually – a sort of mishmash of the old (cobblestones and gas lamps), the new (modernist/brutalist architecture), and the forgotten (formstone, Waters-esque camp, The Wire).

I kept getting hung up on was the source of many of our current divisions – the 1937 Federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) “redlining” map. So I suggested to our designer Heather that we re-use, re-purpose, and “break” shapes and forms from that tragically unjust document as a way to acknowledge our City’s past and represent its current divisions, while still looking with hope toward a more unified future.

The tagline was a natural extension of this visual theme, tied back to design.

What were the steps involved in creating the branding?

We divided a volunteer squad of six creative team members in to three teams of two (a copywriter and a designer), hashed out rough concepts separately, and came together under the guidance of Courtney Glancy to critique and tweak.

I can’t speak to the other teams’ processes, but for me and Heather, beers, dinner, and doodles on some cocktail napkins in Hampden were all it really took to come together on concepting. Heather and I have complementary strengths and work together well. I’m very analytically minded and always try to zoom out to process everything on the level of overarching themes and concepts, and she lives in the nitty-gritty of the execution phase where she’s amazing at expanding and exploring concepts within a consistent visual language.

What was the inspiration for being a part of Design Week 2018?

Courtney asked us, “wanna do it?” And we said “hell yes!”

What was the goal of the Design Week branding?

Try to answer the questions:
“What is Baltimore design?”
“What should Baltimore design be?”
“How can we represent Baltimore in a way that feels like Baltimore?”

Could you explain an exciting idfive project completely unrelated to AIGA?

We’re currently redesigning the website for Maryland Food Bank, which distributes 37 million meals every year to people in Maryland. You can’t ask for a more inspiring client than that. As a copywriter, any time you find yourself shedding tears while you’re writing, you know you’re on the right track. Whoever’s reading this should donate.

What are your typical process steps? Do they differ from the work you did for AIGA?

Usually I start with a task list item, then go back and research the brand or the industry until I find an angle of entry, then organize my thoughts into buckets, and execute. I typically think slow and work fast. The process for AIGA was similar, but since the task wasn’t laid out with really any specificity, I also got to jumpstart my usual process with my own questions – “What do I want this task to be?” “What don’t I want this task to be?”

Your firm recently made a big move to the MICA campus. What’s your favorite part about the new location?

Anytime I need a boost or a break, I can walk through a gallery space and see something interesting, or pop into the library and flip through art books.

How do you typically find your clients?

I let the new biz team handle that, and my focus is on doing high-quality work that makes their job easy.

What’s an ideal day at the office like?

A nice varied mix of tasks, some deep workflow where time has no meaning, some lightning round problem solving whack-a-mole, some positive client feedback when you check your email, some solid belly laughs with other team members, and that feeling at the end – when you fill out your timesheet – of “I just knocked this one out of the park.” And also idfive bought us pizza.

What is idfive’s mission? How did it come about?

Our whole thing is helping mission-driven brands do good better. So we do things like no-commission media campaigns, and website redesigns that are built to drive action AND help build more efficient governance structures. The whole setup is pure Andres, who is without a doubt the best boss I’ve ever had.

If you could describe your team and work philosophy in 5 words, what would they be?

How can I help? Oooohdonuts!

What’s your vision for Baltimore? For Maryland?

I’d like to see Baltimore, Maryland, and America transcend its entrenched divisions, build sustainably and fairly, and keep on being weird and wonderful.

AIGA Baltimore was thrilled when Fastspot agreed to be our Branding Sponsor for Design Week 2017. Their commitment to Baltimore was evident from the beginning, and with this Design Week being a resounding success, we couldn’t have of done it without them.

A critical aspect of communicating Design Week to our membership is a strong brand identity. Since 2013, we have reached out to a local design agency to partner with us and bring Design Week alive visually. Past partners have included Orange Element, Gilah Press + Design, Eye Byte Solutions, and Exit10.

Here we go behind the scenes with our Branding Sponsor, Fastspot, to learn more about their inspiration for this year’s branding for Design Week, their work outside of AIGA Baltimore, and what their company is all about!

What was the inspiration for Fastspot’s Design Week Branding?

A branding project like this one is all about using design and aesthetic choices to bring the spirit of an organization to the surface. The Baltimore design community, which we’re honored to be a part of, is full of creative people exploring, innovating, and pushing in new directions. We wanted to reflect that in a way that was exciting and authentic, and would align well with AIGA’s existing materials. Our designers drew inspiration from the city itself, in abstracted shapes of iconic Baltimore buildings and variations on found letterforms. In the end, the Design Week brand captures the quirk and vibrancy that will be very familiar to AIGA’s audiences.

What were the steps involved in creating the branding?

We begin every project with a kick-off meeting that allows us to better understand the mindset and vision for the project. Time is spent together questioning, brainstorming, and setting a vision for the project, both from a creative and a scoping standpoint. From there, it’s a lot of iteration and collaboration. The “big reveal” moment might be dramatic, but it isn’t necessarily productive. We prioritize working closely with clients to discuss, challenge, and refine the work, so that we’re all in consensus around the finished product.

What was the inspiration for being a part of Design Week 2017?

Fastspot is Baltimore through and through—many of our team members are from Baltimore or have proudly adopted the city. So we jumped at the chance to give back to this community. It’s not unusual for us to work with clients to adapt an existing branding or design system for use in a new medium or for a specific initiative. It was a lot of fun doing so for AIGA.

What was the goal of the Design Week branding?

We wanted to create a design system that breaks down barriers (real and perceived).

Could you explain an exciting Fastspot project completely unrelated to AIGA?

The Ford’s Theatre website redesign was an exciting project and a great challenge.

Ford’s Theatre is a place where the past and present collide—they teach Lincoln’s legacy while preserving the historic theatre that shows new, contemporary performances. We loved immersing ourselves in the history and cultural impact of Ford’s Theatre. During the process we learned it was controversial for Lincoln enjoy theater! It was very uncommon at the time, and he was seen as a rebel for his attendance.

One of the interesting logistical goals of the project was to make online ticketing easier. We worked with the software applications TNEW and Tessitura to make them as user-friendly as possible, something we’re continuing to partner with Ford’s Theatre to refine. A website redesign doesn’t end at site launch, and some of our most successful clients are the ones who become partners that we continue to work with for many years.

What are your typical process steps? Do they differ from AIGA work?

Our process always start with research. We ask hard questions and we do a lot of listening as we seek to uncover the real motivations and challenges that each project contains. We want to understand the potential impact on the institution or organization, and the ways in which we can help create meaningful change. From there, we create foundational strategy before we move into design and (where needed) development. Throughout our process, we’re focused on innovation and collaboration. Great ideas can come from anywhere, at any time, and we’re always ready to pursue them. All of this was reflected in our work with AIGA.

How do you typically find your clients?

Fastspot finds most of our new clients through referrals. Great work and happy clients help bring in more happy clients!

What’s an ideal day at the office like?

An ideal day at Fastspot is when our team members feel accomplished, whether it’s because of a design breakthrough, a successful presentation, progress on a hard problem, a well-received deliverable, helping a co-worker, etc. 

What is Fastspot’s mission? How did it come about?

“To build a successful company, with great people, who do awesome, creative work, together.” 

Fastspot’s mission partly comes out of our co-founder, Tracey Halvorsen’s background as a painter. She recognizes how important your physical space and who you surround yourself with is to doing your best work. She wanted to bring that sentiment into into the business world, where collaboration and creativity should also be encouraged and acknowledged.

If you could describe your team and work philosophy in 5 words, what would they be?

Challenging, supportive, smart, honest, and brave.

What’s your vision for Baltimore? For Maryland?

Our vision is to create more of a draw to this area, whether it’s Baltimore or Maryland as a whole. We want Maryland to be a place where creative, innovative people want to live and work. 

We like that Baltimore isn’t New York or Silicon Valley, there’s opportunity to have a really great life in Maryland. The lifestyle here emphasizes a work-life that balance, which makes it a place where people can truly thrive. 

We’d like to see more local initiatives to help kids get into creative and technology fields, and support for businesses that want to grow here. We hope the city and state can have the kind of leaders who look forward to new ways of leading and governing. We’re in a new time, and need progressive leadership.