We recently completed this new logo for Realize Ink, a small business that specializes in marketing communications, strategy, and fundraising for charities and other nonprofits. After we brainstormed a number of initial approaches, Rabia Shirazi, the company’s president (and the client who brought us in for the CCRC logo highlighted earlier), suggested involving a ribbon like those used by many charities. We simply gave it an extra twist and a tilt to create a dynamic, charitable R. Executing it in a way that looked realistic but still had the stylization necessary for it to work as a logo was our primary challenge.
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We’re currently immersed in the design of the first book to be published by our sister company, Ruka Press. The book is titled Among the Ancients: Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests. We designed a number of different cover choices, and last month put the finalists up for a vote on the Ruka Press website. You can see the choices and the voting here.
There was no clear winner in the voting—options one and two roughly tied—but the comments helped us clarify our thinking and make a choice. The final cover is at right—click on it so see it bigger. Now we’re working on the interior design and layout. The book will be ready for preorder in a month or two; join the mailing list at rukapress.com to stay updated, and to hear about other books in the pipeline.
Filed under: New Projects by Dan
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We’ve recently completed a logo redesign for a nonprofit, the California Civil Rights Coalition. CCRC is a statewide alliance of civil rights organizations, activists, educators, lawyers, and advocates. Their existing logo (top) was a generic map of California matched with a wide, industrial-looking typeface. They wanted something that spoke more directly to their mission as a civil rights organization concerned with equal justice for Californians. At the same time, they wanted to place more emphasis on the acronym CCRC, rather than their long name. We presented several options, and they chose the faces in profile image shown here.
According to Rabia Shirazi of Realize Ink, who managed this project, “Dan did an outstanding job for the client and now I’m working with him directly for my own shop. He’s talent and smarts and creativity rolled in one. Not to mention he’s super great to work with–first designer I’ve ever worked with that delivered ahead of time and went above and beyond for my client!!”
Note: this was updated in October because they rearranged their initials after the logo was done. C’est la vie!
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We’ve recently completed two books for the same client, Red Cell Publishing, for which we recently won an award. The first, Iran’s Dirty Banking, delves into the Iranian government’s attempts to skirt monetary sanctions, and names the foreign and U.S. banks that are helping them do it. It contains approximately 100 pages of complex tables and was designed and laid out in just three weeks. The second, On the Trail of Terror Finance, is a companion to Tainted Money, a primer on money laundering, this time aimed directly at law enforcement. The covers for both of these were designed to pick up typographic elements of the Tainted Money cover, in order to create a consistent house style without sacrificing their individual voices. They’re printing now and will be available on Amazon shortly.
“I am very happy with the end product,” said John Cassara, coauthor of On the Trail of Terror Finance. “Dan listens to his clients. He is professional, innovative, responsive, on-time, and a delight to work with.”
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The new decade is here, and we at Sensical Design & Communication have decided to start it out by launching a new venture. We’ve had a great time running a graphic design business these past six years, and continue to love doing what we do. But for the past few years, we’ve also been harboring a dream. So we’ve decided to start a publishing company.
Without further preamble, then, let us introduce Ruka Press: An Illuminating Publisher. Ruka Press is a new, independent publisher of nonfiction books designed to beautifully and intelligently explain the world. We intend to publish nonfiction books with a strong information-design component for a general audience. (more…)
Filed under: New Projects, Sensical News by Dan
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