irenses design and communications

New Design Work – Siegel Monogram

Paddy — Sat, 29 May 2010 11:41:39 +0000

We were delighted to be commissioned to design a monogram for Jonathan Siegel, founder of ELC Technologies and serial entrepreneur.

To explain a monogram, it is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters to form one symbol. The monogram we were asked to design was to be based on Jonathan’s surname Siegel which has 6 letters, which obviously increases the difficultly and complexity of the monogram.

To vacillate all the letters in Siegel we decided to use the two ‘E’s’ in Siegel to lock together to make up the shape of the ‘S’. The two ‘E’s’ symmetry make up a shape of a ‘S’ quite successfully, which flows nicely in unison and creates an unique shape that is readable upside down as well as a normal view. For the ‘G’ the ‘S’ & ‘E’ create a suggestive shape of a lowercase ‘G’ and to highlight its presence even further we’ve added an old style tail top right which can be found on Serif lowercase ‘G’s’. For the ‘I’ & ’L’ we have repeated the symmetry by mirroring their position within the monogram in between the interlocking ‘S’ & ‘E’s’. By placing the ‘L’ on the top half of the monogram it created a more complete looking ‘G’.

In an effort to maintain a distinct look to the monogram we repeated swirling shapes, evident in the ‘E’s’, ‘S’ and ‘G’ outside the shape of the monogram which successfully frames the surrounding area of this monogram into a circle. These thin abstract swirling lines add an aesthetic quality and maintain the strong symmetry.

We were very pleased with the result of this monogram and if you like to commission us for similar projects like it, email us at studio@irenses.ie

We are delighted to showcase a new project we have designed for Jonathan Siegel, founder of ELC Technologies and serial entrepreneur. Jonathan gave us an exciting brief to design a monogram that was based on his name. It was a challenging brief but a highly rewarding project especially as designing this monogram was a unique and valuable opportunity for us to do a bespoke design for such a high profile client.

To explain a monogram, it is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters to form one symbol. The monogram we were asked to design was to be based on Jonathan’s surname Siegel, which has 6 letters, which obviously increases the difficultly and complexity of the monogram.

To vacillate all the letters in Siegel we decided to use the two ‘E’s’ in Siegel to lock together to make up the shape of the ‘S’. The two ‘E’s’ symmetry make up a shape of a ‘S’ quite successfully, which flows nicely in unison and creates an unique shape that is readable upside down as well as a normal view. For the ‘G’ the ‘S’ & ‘E’ create a suggestive shape of a lowercase ‘G’ and to highlight its presence even further – we added an old style tail top right which can be found on Serif lowercase ‘G’s’. For the ‘I’ & ’L’ we have repeated the symmetry by mirroring their position within the monogram in between the interlocking ‘S’ & ‘E’s’. By placing the ‘L’ on the top half of the monogram it created a more complete looking ‘G’.

See our design process for the monogram unfold below;

We were very pleased with the result of this monogram and the creative scope it gave us. If you like to commission us for similar projects like it, please don’t hesitate to email us at studio@irenses.ie

London 2012 Olympics Mascots Wenlock & Mandeville Unveiled

Paddy — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:24:48 +0000

The London 2012 Olympics Mascots have been unveiled. The mascots are neither animal, vegetable nor mineral and resemble something dreamed up by a Pixar alien movie. It was claimed on the mascots webpage that Wenlock and Mandeville the mascots were brought to life by a rainbow, or so said the caption beneath the image below found here.

London 2012’s Wenlock and Mandeville have a lot to live up to. Last year Berlino the mascot from the 12th IAAF World Championsips Berlin 2009 was a brilliant success. The self proclaimed, “happy and fun-loving bear who isn’t shy to get pictures taken” brought fun back into top class athletics as he celebrated with the athletes in style. Berlino celebrations with the athletes were spectacularly random and funny which really got the crowd in the stadium behind the athletes. I’d like to see Wenlock & Mandeville try and beat Berlino dance moves!

‘Play Pretend’ Director’s New Video

Paddy — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:06:44 +0000

We always like to keep an eye on what our clients are up to and detail their progress. So its great to see the guys from Director have launched their excellent new video for the Europe wide release ‘Play Pretend’. Here is what the guys had to say about the video on their website;

“Director have teamed up with the man on the up and up, video director Eoghan Kidney to produce this slice of death-filled gore. The promo for ‘Play Pretend’ released Europe-wide is a nasty take on the sci-fi /B-movie genre. As Director take to the murky stage and an eerie crowd gathers the natural elements combine to transform the nocturnal gathering into an all out blood bath.”

We enjoyed working closely with Director to design their website and in return we got the added bonus of free tickets and beers for their last gig in Cork when they played in Cyrus Avenue. They are an excellent live band and really got the crowd going that night. It looks like they are playing in Cork again soon in the Crane Lane Theatre as part of the Hot Press Jagermeister Shows on June 3rd and the Ballinhassig Pitch Party w/Frank and Walters, on July 16. If you are in Cork on any of those dates they are definitely worth checking out.

Warning – video contains strobing effects

Branding for Sports and Health Company

Paddy — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:17:45 +0000

Peter Maher of Mahers Sports Therapy asked us to transform his sports therapy company from a family named business into an international sports brand that offers expert services in sport therapy, nutrition, orthotics and coaching. Peter already had a name in mind, Areté. Peter even had Areté tattooed to his shoulder under his Olympic rings he earned by competing in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Areté is a Greek word which means goodness, excellence, or virtue of any kind, to achieve fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential. Areté also means courage and strength in the face of adversity in ancient Greek culture.

It was a word that resonated with Peter, as the Areté philosophy of courage and strength in the face of adversity is what he strove for as an Olympic Athlete and one of Canada’s most successful marathon athletes of all time.

We took Peter’s vision on board and got to work. After much research and design development we decided to design a hand drawn font for the name Areté and incorporate Mount Olympus (right) in the logo to show where the origins of the Areté philosophy came from. For the colour we chose an aqua/sky blue hue that is a uniquely Greek colour once more to highlight the Greek origins of the name.

We are currently working on the Areté website and hope to launch it very soon. Below is an image of Peter and a taste of the style of graphics we are putting into the website. Stay tuned for the launch!

Papabubble Sweet Shop

Paddy — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:09:30 +0000

Ever wondered how sweets are made? Visit a Papabubble Sweet Shop and you’ll be shown exactly how its done! Papabubble have stores in Barcelona, New York City, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Seoul, Taipei and Lisbon shown below… Papabubble can do any sort of sweet you may request from personalised sweets to different mixture of flavours right before your own eyes. Its an excellent franchise that is very well branded and their sweets taste great!

Pepsico Exhibition Stands for Prague Expo

Paddy — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:56:05 +0000

We recently designed exhibition stands for Pepsico’s recent appearance at an International Expo in Prague the Czech Republic earlier this year. We worked closely with the Pepsico team to refresh their 3D Quality brand and maintain a brand consistency with our graphic design team to produce a clean and professional look for the entire project. We are pleased to announce the exhibition was a great success and the Pepsico stand design was very well received.

TA Bag Design – Re-made from Urban Wastes

Paddy — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:48:37 +0000

TA Bags is an excellent design range of wallets, bags and belts from urban waste made in Portugal. Wallets, bags, and belts are made from old milk/juice cartons and coffee packaging. TA Bags bring new life to urban wastes, taking advantage of their shapes, design and quality to make very solid wallets, bags and accessories. All products are hand-made or sewn in Portugal in a small production and wastes are collected locally. Check out the TA Bags store on Etsy here.

Le Cool Travel Guides

Paddy — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:15:43 +0000

Recently came across the Le Cool travel guides. They are a refreshing take on the travel guide book format and cover Barcelona, London, Madrid, Lisbon, and Amsterdam. Definitely worth a look. See examples of the Barcelona travel guide below.

Spanish Pavilion for Expo Shanghai 2010

Paddy — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:25:15 +0000

The Spanish Pavilion for Expo Shanghai 2010 really is a work of art. The concept of the building is based on the handicraft of making wicker baskets, a handicraft evidnet in both China the expo hosts and Spain. See the an extract about the concept from the architects Miralles Tagliabue EMBT below.

miralles tagliabue EM

“The project proposed by EMBT consists on developing the handicraft technique of the wicker into a practice of construction. With this goal in mind, the universal language of the material works to build a bridge between East and West, and among Spain and China. With the volumetric, material, and structural inspirations of a wicker basket array, the void of the stands will mold a pavilion in which tubular metallic supports will sustain a wicker grid that will filter the light and function as a climatic membrane that wraps the pavilion.”

It really is a spectacular pavilion and worth checking out in greater detail on the EMBT website.

image courtesy miralles tagliabue EMBT

Silvercup Studios NYC

Paddy — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:53:48 +0000

Took a photo of the signage for Silvercup Studios, home of TV productions like 30 Rock, The Sopranos, and movies like Date Night and other numerous New York based shows and movies. Had to photograph the sign on top of building – wish there were signs like that in Ireland.