Northwestern Pritzker School of Lawneeded to build a strong, unified brand identity for the new Master of Science in Law degree (MSL) degree.

The MSL provides STEM professionals with practical, business-centered legal training that enables them to communicate across disciplines, to recognize obstacles and risks, and to visualize opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. We developed visual and verbal tools to succinctly communicate what the program is and why it matters, and aid in establishing this degree as a new category for law degrees.

The M. Christine Schwartz Collectionunveiled a website to improve access to its collection of Chicago artists from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Studio Blue designed new ways to access the collection and a visual voice reflective of a museum.

OpenlandsCook County Forest Preserves interpretive signage installation begins. Engaged by Wheeler Kearns Architects, we joined a team of architects, naturalists, poet/curators, engineers, and designers to commemorate the Forest Preserves’ centennial and help the region envision alternative possibilities for the future. We designed a collection of serial metal signs, stone benches and tables, metal bridge railings, and stone disks inset into the ground.

The Goodman Theatreopens the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement. Working with Wheeler Kearns Architects, we designed the signage program for the new Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement, the first of its kind theater-based educational center in Chicago.

School of the Art Institute of ChicagoNew signage unveiled to further connect the SAIC campus. Studio Blue extended the look of a signage program into an energetic application of the School of the Art Institute Chicago for Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive locations.

Memphis Brooks Museum of ArtThe Memphis Brooks unveils new logo as part of 100th Anniversary celebrations. As Tennessee’s major art museum, the Memphis Brooks creates space for dialogue, welcoming diverse viewpoints and fostering discussion. The identity appears from both left and right; two points of view combine to create a common narrative, unified by a meandering thick line.

St. Louis UniversityOn earth as it is in heaven: The buildings of St. Louis University is published. On earth as it is in heaven celebrates the outward manifestations of the legacy of Saint Louis University with the first architectural monograph about the university’s campus. Publication recognized by University & College Designers Association (UCDA).

The Harris School of Public Policy at The University of ChicagoSpring/Summer issue of Chicago Harris magazine released this season’s features include the new Pearson Institute for the Study of Resolution of Global Conflicts, the Ballot Ready student-developed app to help voters and research on impatience.

The Art Institute of ChicagoVan Gogh’s Bedrooms exhibition catalogue released to accompany the exhibition, Van Gogh’s Bedrooms at the Art Institute of Chicago, we collaborated with the curatorial team to design the exhibition catalogue.

Peabody Essex MuseumAsia in Amsterdam opens at the Peabody Essex Museum. The Peabody Essex Museum and Rijksmuseum release the Studio Blue designed catalogue for this exhibition on the history and cultural and artistic impact of Dutch trade with Asia in the 17th century. 

Newcityhas developed a reputation for its insightful coverage of Chicago’s architecture and design scene, published both in print and online at Newcity Design. This month the alternative newsweekly interviews Studio Blue partner Cheryl Towler Weese and Felicia Ferrone, founder of Fferrone, on Chicago design and graduate design education.

San Jose Museum of ArtIn time for the Super Bowl, the San Jose Museum of Art hangs new logo banner. When we redesigned the SJMA website, we developed a new logo type which we extended into exterior banners.

The Art Institute of Chicagopublishes “Portraits,” to celebrate the generosity of its donors and inspire philanthropy in others. The publication features a donor’s impact on the museum, from collection bequests to long-term relationships with curators.

Chicago Humanities Festivalkicks-off its 26th festival, with Citizens. Graphics were designed to express multiple perspectives + individual expression; inclusive, belonging—how we choose to make change and contribute to our culture—Festival leadership’s interpretation of what it means to be a citizen.

The Society for Typographic Arts(STA) “promotes high standards and focuses on the art and craft of typography, design, and visual communication.” We are pleased to announce that our work with the Chicago Humanities Festival and University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) were selected for this year’s archive. Additionally, a publication designed by UIC students with studio partner and faculty member Cheryl Towler Weese received best of show.

The University and College Designers Associationgave an award of excellence to UIC’s identity and a silver award (one of only 15) to the Clark Art Institute’s publication Make It New, both designed by Studio Blue (the former in concert with UIC students). The competition, which includes work for universities from the US, UK, and Canada, recognizes exceptional design work for educational institutions.

Studio Blue’s Make It New,designed for the Clark Art Institute, is honored as a best book of 2014 by 50 Books/50 Covers. Organized by Design Observer in partnership with AIGA and Designers and Books, the competition continues a tradition that has lasted more than 90 years. The competition is thought of as best of breed; this year it received submissions from 14 countries, and will produce a catalogue of winners (with an introduction by Dave Eggers) and a traveling exhibition.

Yale University Press,one of the world’s leading publishers of art and architecture books, interviews Cheryl Towler Weese in its Artbooks blog. The blog – featuring posts by authors, curators, editors, designers, and Yale Press staff – provides a range of perspectives on the publications on the Press’s list, and offers a behind-the-scenes take on the business of making art books.

The Morton Arboretumcannot imagine a world without trees. To further their mission, the Arboretum is embarking on a five-year, $63 million campaign to “deepen [their] scientific and conservation work, expand new tree development, build [their] team of tree experts and scientist, and improve core facilities to meet [their] strategic vision.” Studio Blue designed the campaign’s identity and are putting the finishing touches on campaign literature.

Brand New,a leading journal for brand identity discourse, features the redesign of The University of Illinois at Chicago’s identityon February 24. The identity, led by Studio Blue partner and UIC faculty member Cheryl Towler Weese, was designed by students from UIC’s School of Design in their senior capstone course, and developed by Studio Blue designers serving on UIC’s faculty. Based on a semester-long research project involving close to 200 university stakeholders, the new identity is scalable and flexible, reflecting the university’s historical circle campus moniker and its aspirational, urban future.

“City Windows”is installed at O’Hare International Airport and Studio Blue designs the interpretation tool to reflect the work’s medium, paper cutting art. The original work is on view at The Field Museum.

The Harris School of Public Policy at The University of Chicago launches Harris View. Chicago Harris is one of the top public policy schools in the country and this twice-yearly publication contains long-form features on faculty and alumni research as well as community-focused articles. The inaugural issue featured the landmark $20 million gift to the school, as well as a profile of David Axelrod and his work on the 2015 U.K. Elections.

Chicago Humanities Festivalbegins its 25th Anniversary season, “Journeys.” The design effort included the year’s theme and program guide, on-site graphics, donor communications and spring program guides.

Northwestern We Willhonored with three Pride of CASE 5 Awards: Platinum Award Category: Teresa Du Bois Exline Award for Best Practices in Communications and Marketing; Silver Award Best Program in Case Statements/Cultivation Publications; Bronze Award for the University case statement.

Working with the Chicago Humanities Festival on the design of their 25th anniversary brand and materials.

WTTW | WFMTrenames its campus for devoted benefactor, Renée Crown. We aided in the announcement by designing exterior signage and interior recognition of Mrs. Crown on behalf of her family.

Northwestern UniversityStudio Blue developed the brand strategy and communication program for We Will: The Campaign for Northwestern a $3.75 billion effort in support of the University’s strategic plan. The brand design and implementation includes positioning statement, brand attributes, case statement design and writing and a system of tools and templates to be implemented by internal teams.

School of the Art InstituteExternal signage to draw attention to a key building on the School’s campus is installed.

The Art Institute of ChicagoWe kick-off a World Cafe session with a diverse group of AIC staff. An energetic and fruitful session that brought forward a range of innovative ideas for reinventing the collection experience online.

Historic Charlottewebsite launches. New logo, designed by Studio Blue, debuts as well. The design of the Historic Charlotte website was a renewed collaboration with a former client. Historic Charlotte is a small, but mighty non-profit. We worked with the client and our development partners at MathematicArts to provide a “clean, modern and easy-to-manage” website.

Cheryl Towler Weese receives AIGA Fellow award.Following friend and colleague Philip Burton’s thoughtful and humorous introduction, Cheryl reflected on what AIGA has meant to her:

“I’ve been an AIGA member for 25 years. Over that time, the organization has helped me understand that design can be a broadly humanist pursuit, drawing on fields of expertise as diverse as sociology, fine art, statistics, and cultural criticism; it gave me initial confidence, as the studio submitted to competitions and then began winning awards; it’s given me a platform for experimentation and authorship, by allowing me to help generate exhibitions and publications; it’s helped me grow as a leader, through my participation on the national board; and it’s provided a rich community of friendships and relationships.”

Washington University A&S magazine deliversArts and Sciences and Studio Blue continue to evolve the alumni magazine for Washington University’s center for teaching, learning and research in the liberal arts and sciences. Co-creation is leading to a more desirable and readable publication, informing readers and pursuing an editorial design approach akin to newsstand publications with strong imagery, information graphics and contemporary design.

The Art Institute of Chicagowebsite is selected as an honoree in the 17th Annual Webby Awards. This award recognizes the best in class for content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity and overall experience.

Studio Blue publications designed for the Art Institute of Chicago honored as two of the best books of 2011 by AIGA and Design Observer.“Bertrand Goldberg: Architecture of Invention” and “Windows on the War: Soviet TASS Posters at Home and Abroad, 1941—1945” were both recognized for “design of the highest quality and impact.”

Washington University in St. Louis College of Arts & Sciences A&S magazine recognized by CASE Regional V as one of the best specialized or unit-level magazines in 2012.

Central Intelligence AgencyWe are pleased to share a recent web project for a museum not many people will be able to see in person: the Central Intelligence Agency Museum. Because the museum itself is not open for public tours, this virtual museum plays a seminal role in reaching a general audience, including educators and potential recruits.

“Our virtual museum encourages visitors to explore in their own way information and artifacts—some recently declassified, and we designed it with a variety of users in mind,” said CIA Museum Director Toni Hiley. Following trends in contemporary museum web design, the museum site has something for “skimmers” who want to look for basic information and facts quickly. “Swimmers” who want additional information can access more history, artifacts, descriptions, and photographs. Lastly, for “divers” who want even more detail, the site provides links to other articles and material on CIA.gov.

This project reinforced for us why we love what we do. We visited CIA headquarters in Virginia and saw the museum’s collections firsthand. We learned of rescue missions, Cold War intelligence-gathering heroes, and CIA technology that benefited the medical community. Seeing the museum’s artifacts and hearing their stories was an experience we wanted others to have. We set out to build a microsite that would allow visitors to access the collection in a variety of ways — through a timeline, related objects, themes, and further resources. This was a fine collaboration with development partner, Mathematic Arts.

The Art Institute of Chicagolaunches new web and mobile sites. Seven years after Studio Blue designed the Art Institute’s website, we worked to redesign the site and added a mobile site to the mix. As of this writing, 145 likes on Facebook for the new site. We’re told the site’s many administrators across multiple departments like the ease of updates and more robust calendar system.

”Every morning when I open the Art Institute’s new website and mobile site, I continue to be so proud of the project and amazed at the work that Studio Blue and FuseIQ did on behalf of the Art Institute,” said Erin Hogan, director of public affairs at the museum. “Studio Blue’s grasp of the complex needs of our organization and their translation of our identity and activities for the web were nuanced and thorough, reflecting not only a great deal of research and thought but also an intuitive understanding of who we are and what we required. The result is a clean, elegant, and sophisticated site that includes all the functionality we wanted—and some we didn’t even know we needed. It was truly a pleasure to work with Studio Blue, and we are thrilled with our new website and mobile site.”

Studio Blue’s work published in “Women in Graphic Design, 1890–2012,” Jovis Publishers.

Washington University, College of Arts and Sciences,A&S magazine rebrand published.

Cheryl Towler Weese sits on judging panel for and lectures at AIGA St. Louis.

Art Institute of ChicagoExecutive Director of Publications, Robert Sharp awarded the prestigious 2011 George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award for the landmark exhibition catalogue Windows on the War, Soviet TASS Posters at Home and Abroad, 1941-1945 from the Art Libraries Society of North America. This is the fourth time a Studio Blue collaboration has garnered a first place prize.

Newberry Library The Newberry Library reveals their new logo and launches a new website and Studio Blue is pleased to be responsible for their strategy and design. The site’s goals include the presentation of significant scholarly texts and research to serve an audience of scholars and a curious general population. The new mark’s design is influenced by the intersection of technology and illuminated manuscripts.

Easy to use, intuitive design and navigation contribute to the site’s overarching vision to encourage virtual and physical access to the Newberry’s collection, research and programs. Through online exploration tools, site visitors are encouraged to interact with original texts and thought-provoking research unique to the Newberry.

Studio Blue Four Studio Blue projects are selected in Chicago’s Society for Typographic Arts (STA) annual competition, Archive11. The projects selected include the Studio Blue website, the VPA ribbon wall (Award of Distinction), the 2011 Krannert Art Museum print material and The Strange Life of Objects: The Art of Annette Lemieux (Awards of Distinction and Judge’s Choice).

Roosevelt University The Studio Blue-designed logo for Roosevelt University made its way to the top of the university’s new 32-story academic building in Chicago’s loop. This project demonstrates the need for careful execution of identity systems so that from the smallest to the largest of applications, identity remains consistent. Congratulations to our colleagues at Roosevelt.

Spertus Spertus website launches. The new Spertus site offers a fresh opportunity to clearly communication Spertus as institution dedicated to Jewish learning and culture. Everything Spertus does is rooted in the Jewish experience. Its offerings are based on a foundation of high-quality, post-collegiate education. The new site provides clear structure and navigation, making the site easier for users to find what they need, and encounter information they did not know they wanted. An integrated content management system and training of those responsible for content enables Spertus staff to manage the site and keep it current and relevant.

Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Artsand Peabody Essex Museum The Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts website and the exhibition catalogue Golden: Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk Van Otterloo Collection are recognized as Midwest winners in Print magazine’s 2011 Regional Design Annual.

College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University The Webbys recognize the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University as an Official Honoree.

Peabody Essex Museum The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, a publication designed by Studio Blue in collaboration with the Peabody Essex Museum, is reviewed in the New York Review of Books. Studio Blue has worked with the museum on publications since 2005.

Columbia College Hollywood Studio Blue designed and developed a site for Columbia College Hollywood, a film school that offers liberal arts instruction and hands-on training for future filmmakers. To demonstrate the professional aspects of the school, we produced and directed the videos that appear throughout the site.