“Your Best Work”—Graphic Design Award Winners 2011

FÖDA Studio, Austin, TX; www.fodastudio.com

FÖDA Studio is a brand consultancy and graphic design studio in Austin, TX.
Unique amongst their competitors, FÖDA is led by multi-disciplinary designer and creative director Jett Butler who has 16 years experience producing award-winning work in architecture, brand development, graphic design, and other related mediums. FÖDA’s work over the last 9 years is an assortment of successful collaborations with numerous architects and urban planners on projects ranging from the renovation of I-35 with Cotera+Reed, the opening of Violet Crown Cinema, the creation of 1890 Ranch with BWM Group, and the first Dell Lounge and concurrent product launch in NYV with Workpod9, to conceptual programs for large scale development competitions in Dublin (Ireland), Ica (Peru), Talin (Estonia), Tokyo (Japan), Austin (Texas) and Southwest England.

ENTRY TITLE: Violet Crown Cinema

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The design team was asked to reference the “golden age of film” deco motifs. However, as a contemporary art film cinema, we suggested deconstructing a hybrid of Bauhaus, De Stijl, Dadaist and Constructivist precedents versus the well-worn deco path. Sometimes the best choices are right in front of you; the reductive wordmark—noting the crown present within the W—set the stage for a series of graphic decisions that range from pragmatism to abstract expressionism.

CREATIVE TEAM:
Creative Director – Jett Butler
Design Team – Jett Butler, Emily Sawtelle, Melissa Martin
Sign Maker – Evan Voyles
Interior Designer – Kasey McCarty

CLIENT: Violet Crown Cinema

ENTRY TITLE: South Texas JazzPROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Handing the client the keys, this brand is a dynamic system that allows for variation, improvisation and expansion. We designed the system, the client creates the parts they need. There are 7 notes in the western key signature, the 8th or octave repeats the first. A heptagon represents this 7 note scale. Taken apart, each triangle is an individual note. The triangles can be configured into nearly infinite forms, signifying modal sequences in music. Three of these modes resemble the letters “S”, “T” and “J” and are used as the root of each set of configurations. Any given mode can be overlapped with another, creating harmony and color modulation within the system. Each piece can be color coded at will, players can be introduced, and the system can be expanded or collapsed based on the need of the promotional item being designed.

CREATIVE TEAM
Creative Director – Jett Butler
Design Team – Jett Butler, Emily Sawtelle, with assistance from Melissa Martin

CLIENT South Texas Jazz

ENTRY TITLE: Hamilton & Associates

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
H&A’s rebrand was coincident with the emergence of their architectural division in 2010. An intriguing series of issues made their rebrand one of the more strategically complex we’ve been asked to perform. We positioned the entire brand on one single premise: they’ve been studying the failures of others for almost 30 years therefore they can ensure that their work will succeed. Nothing makes for a better promissory than an irrefutable and honest claim—and few competitors can take this one away from them.

CREATIVE TEAM:
Creative Director – Jett Butler
Principal Designer – Jett Butler
Front End Code Development – John Hoysa for unSustainable
Design Production and Design Assistance – Emily Sawtelle, Kevin Taylor

CLIENT Hamilton & Associates

ENTRY TITLE: Michael Hsu Office of ArchitecturePROJECT DESCRIPTION:
A reductive identity indulging texture to express the name, mark and family
history of one of the preeminent, modernist architects in Austin. Clean-lined and carefully tooled, the work of Michael Hsu’s office appears [to us] to rely heavily on pitch-perfect texture and material decisions rather than grand geometric gestures. This identity echoes his style and principles.

CREATIVE TEAM:
Creative Director – Jett Butler
Design Team – Jett Butler, Sissy Emmons and Emily Sawtelle
Letterpress – Sarah Wymer at Studio SloMo

CLIENT: Michael Hsu Office of Architecture

ENTRY TITLE: FÖDA Studio Annual Report

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The FÖDA Studio AR09 is an act of optimism and it’s the keeping of promises: solidarity, collaboration, authenticity. The AR09 is the result of a great deal of internal research and data collection—the sort of thing we offer clients, but here we turned the magnifying glass on ourselves. The 2009 production load of the studio was placed in a 12 segment rotation, clock-like, yet representative of the 12 months of the year. Each set of diagrams reflects different data: color trending throughout the year, color by project, environmental status by press run, total research, market sectors, etc.

CREATIVE TEAM:
Creative Director – Jett Butler
Design Team – Jett Butler, Melissa Martin and Sissy Emmons

CLIENT: FÖDA Studio