Fall Arts Guide....as it could have been....

Some ideas live and some die. Whether they are successful as interesting concepts, or presented as "doable" rarely seems to factor into the negotiations of completing a conceptual idea for any creative project. As any designer/artist for hire has endured, I and my team at the CityPaper face frequent disappointments along, and often have to shelve or simply forget concepts that we really enjoy. It just goes to show that a great sickness still ails our world: Mediocrity. Which is why when the boss came in and told me "Im not gonna let them have it, they don't deserve it" I wasn't upset, I knew we dealt with the mediocre. The project I speak of, was our fall Arts Guide.

The fall arts guide, like all "Guides" we run, is a showcase of local arts and music that were basically enjoyed at that specific time. The logos, and for that matter, packages (marketing, styles, etc) are always the same... fairly boring, with some sort of fall logo. I have done many of them myself, and was ready for a little change up. Given the reigns, I moved away a little from "Fall" and focused on the word "guide". I ran with the idea of "guide" not as some sort of pamphlet, but a journey through the new up and coming entertainment that would be offered. This journey would need a "guide" to lead the reader through. That guide came in the form of FRANZ (shown above)


simultaneously, I worked on a new set of logos. From the beginning I imagined the journey as some sort of hike, the "guide" as some sort of hiker, and the logo to fit in with this idea. Thusly, a hiking compass fit just right in. This being the type of company it is, and the people I work for being who they are, a clever type treatment would not be enough, there always has to be whimsy. But to satisfy the need for some truly designed element, I created a few sub-logos that could be used in just-in-case situations, that stem from the main idea.


For the inside of the paper, I wanted to present the photos as environments, showcasing the elements of the photo outside of the boundaries of the frame in a space the viewer could experience them ( guided by FRANZ ) as they journey they were meant to be.


For larger areas, I created a few corner elements that could be used, should the space alloted.

But Alas, they powers-that-be could not grasp the idea, so it was yanked from them. I would have enjoyed exploring and developing it more, but Im sure they will be happy with the same ole..ugh.