kymabrams: blog

gesundheit

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-08-23T16:54:00-05:00

KAD has designed magazines for a wide range of audiences, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to revamp Adler School's alumni magazine: Gemeinschaftsgefuhl. The name means "community engagement", and it relates the innovative work being done by Adler psychologists to improve the health and well-being of societies across the globe. Check out the premier issue.

instant message

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-08-20T14:06:00-05:00

Chicago Public School's Technology Magnet Cluster Program aims to prepare students for the 21st century workforce by providing access to new media. KAD's report describes their progress towards increasing technological literacy, student engagement and academic achievement in five underserved Chicago neighborhoods. Click here to see more of our work for CPS.

the main event

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-08-19T10:08:00-05:00

HFMA, the leading membership organization for healthcare finance professionals, launched the MAP initiative at their recent annual conference to give members the tools to Measure performance, Apply strategies, and Perform to the highest standards. KAD branded the initiative and created a suite of print and environmental promotions to spread the word throughout the conference.

in good company

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-08-18T15:32:00-05:00

KAD hobnobbed with other notable firms in AIGA's Snapshot, a regional yearbook of design. Our campaign brochure, Meet Emma, for The Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition was featured, along with annual reports for The Joyce Foundation, and The Adler School of Psychology.

go for the gold

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-08-17T08:38:00-05:00

We're proud to announce that our 2008 Annual Report for the Joyce Foundation, Taking Root, has been honored with "gold" status in the Graphis Design Annual 2011. A website works in conjunction with a print piece to convey the story of Joyce's cross-program success. See the full report here.

grammar lesson

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-08-16T08:23:00-05:00

Chicago Grammar School needed an admissions viewbook describing their unique elementary-level programming. We couldn't help but get involved: Kym's sons Ben and Ari are CGS students. See more of our work for educators.

as bean on tv

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-07-22T17:52:00-05:00

Our client BeanSprouts Café recently promoted their recipes on ABC News in Chicago and New York. Check out the identity and branding we created for this kid-friendly restaurant. Located in Middleton Wisconsin, the café is expanding to the Madison Children's Museum.

now we're cooking

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-07-13T09:32:00-05:00

Our work for Women Employed and Chicago Public Schools had just the right ingredients for inclusion in The Designer's Graphic Stew. This Rockport publication serves up a compendium of key components to great design.

america works

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-07-12T08:44:00-05:00

Nearly 300,000 men and women come home from service each year. What's next for them? Our report, Coming Home, for America Works describes the organization's efforts to reduce poverty and homelessness among veterans, by helping them find and keep jobs. The piece acts as a companion to our report, Reducing Crime, which detailed AW's progress on employment for ex-offenders.

form and function

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-07-07T20:15:00-05:00

KAD's work hit the world stage in a recent issue of Form. The German design magazine featured Vitula's Pickles and Beeline in an article on food packaging trends. Check out more identities we've created for memorable brands.

more to celebrate

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-04-23T09:26:00-05:00

To create excitement around the grand opening of Northwest Community Hospital's South Pavilion, KAD implemented a cross-media campaign, including print, web, outdoor, environmental graphics, direct mail, and segway street teams. The South Pavilion is part of a larger commitment by NCH to raise expectations of what a community hospital can be. Technologically advanced, environmentally friendly, and above all, patient-centered, the state-of-the-art pavilion creates a true healing environment.

firearms research

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-04-05T16:57:00-05:00

A new firearms research database, designed by KAD and launched by the Harvard School of Public Health, makes scholarly articles more accessible to reporters, law enforcement, public health officials, policymakers, and the general public. The Firearms Research Digest provides summaries of articles gathered from social science, criminology, medical and public health journals and is written in clear, accessible language for use by those outside academia.

stop the presses

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-02-24T09:35:00-05:00

More and more we are seeing online annual reports emerging as a popular alternative to the traditional 80pp, 5/5 print run. Companies are looking for more ways to reduce cost and waste in producing these books and moving to an interactive space does just that. For their 2009 annual report Facing History and Ourselves made this very leap and we could not be more excited about the outcome. Click here to view the Facing History 2009 interactive annual report.

and check out the mustache

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-02-18T22:00:00-05:00

One of our clients, Peter Cove of America Works, showed up on the Colbert Report a couple of weeks ago. Cove, who boasts that his organization has helped more than 175,000 hard-to-place people get jobs, fielded audience questions about finding a job in hard times (including a hard question from host Stephen Colbert about how many workers it takes to groom Cove’s mustache). We helped Cove tell the America Works story back in 2002. He’s come back for our help on another project, due out this spring. Stay tuned.

white space

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-02-11T13:08:00-05:00

Things are heating up at KAD. Working on projects for Erikson, Harris Theater, Music of the Baroque, Delta Institute and Northwest Community Hospital. And Adler School brochure hot off the press!!

getting a little buzz

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-02-01T08:58:00-05:00

Sometimes it may seem that great design is born in moments of divine intervention. But behind every effective design is an effective process. Our identity work for Beeline, as recently published in Design Evolution, Theory Into Practice, demonstrates our analytical approach.

best of class

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-01-15T17:08:00-05:00

Our work for Renaissance Schools Fund has been selected for inclusion in Graphis 100BestAnnualReports2010. This publication, which presents a review of the 100 best annual reports from the past year, places us in the company of high-achieving designers from across globe. Click here to view the full report.

20x20 in 2010

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-01-09T10:42:00-05:00

We are thrilled to announce that Melissa, one of our senior designers, will be speaking at the AIGA Charlotte’s member’s meeting in March. In a PechaKucha 20x20 presentation format the event will be a celebration of Charlotte’s vibrant design community and an arena to showcase the superb creativity of AIGA Charlotte’s members. PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Read more about PechaKucha here.

Image pulled from PechaKucha, Brussels

the dieline

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2010-01-04T15:01:00-05:00

Our packaging for Beeline and Vitulah's Pickles have been featured on the dieline. The Dieline is dedicated to the progress of the package design industry and its practitioners, students and enthusiasts. Its purpose is to define and promote the world’s best examples of packaging, and provide a place where the package design community can review, critique and stay informed of the latest industry trends and design projects being created in the field.

share the joy

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-18T15:23:00-05:00

The Harris Theater partners with 17 health and human services organizations including those serving underserved children, families coping with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses, and families of those in the U.S. Armed Forces to provide complimentary tickets to family enrichment programs and performances. Since its inception, the program has provided over 500 tickets to our partnering organizations. Our goal this season is to extend our reach and serve over 1,000 children and their families.

america works

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-18T15:12:00-05:00

We are please to report that Graphic Design Referenced (a visual guide to the language applications and history of graphic design) is featuring America Works in their “New Classics” section under the Scala typeface. American Works asked us to communicate a piece that puts the issue of employment for returning offenders on the public policy agenda. Click here to download the America Works brochure.

Image supplied from UnderConsideration

the joyce awards

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-18T15:03:00-05:00

It seems like it was just yesterday that we designed the first Joyce Awards call for entry poster in 2004 and here we are now designing the poster for 2011. Funded by the Joyce Foundation, the Joyce Awards support projects that advance the creation and production of new works by artist of color in dance, music, theater, and visual arts. As it is second nature to us we are strong supporters of the arts and look forward to this project every year. Click here to check out more of our work that supports the arts.

happy new year

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-13T21:53:00-05:00

It has been a busy year here at KAD but we always make time to thank our clients in the best way we know how–with design. For our holiday promotion this year, we sent out a box set of greeting cards good for a year’s worth of celebrations. If for some reason you did not receive your box, contact us and we will send one to you–just to make you happy.

new work: adler annual report

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-13T21:50:00-05:00

Adler School of Professional Psychology is the oldest independent graduate school of psychology in North America with a focus on social responsibility in all its curricula and initiatives. Our team collaborated on the editorial approach and design of their annual to spotlight their unique commitment. Click here to view the full report.

boxed and labelled

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-13T21:40:00-05:00

We were delighted when asked to submit a few of our latest packing designs to Die Gestalten Verlag (an international publisher of books and other media on art, design and visual culture based in Berlin, Germany). A few months later when receiving the book in the mail we were even more delighted to find that two of our entries made the cut–Beeline Honey and Vitula’s Pickles.

Vitula's Pickles
This secret recipe was handed down through generations from great Auntie Vitula. Vitula's special touch was to add grape leaves from her very own backyard to each hand assembled jar of pickles. Today the pickles are hand picked each season, along the lakeside of Michigan. Each jar is still carefully hand packed, and shipped to a select group of family, friends, and customers."

Beeline Honey
North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) is a nonprofit organization that creates innovative employment initiatives in a distressed Chicago neighborhood. It was developing a line of honey products to provide training and jobs for ex-offenders, and asked Kym Abrams Design to help with naming and branding. The new line was intended to launch in upscale farmers’ markets, and, once established, move into grocery stores."

Boxed and Labelled is a comprehensive overview of the most intelligent, innovative, playful and attractive examples of current packaging design. Thank you Die Gestalten Verlag for thinking of us in your search

new work: new communities

Kym Abrams — 2009-12-10T13:18:00-05:00

In 2008, the Zilber Family Foundation announced a $50 million dollar commitment to revitalize Milwaukee neighborhoods (creating the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative). Residents, educators, business owners and non profit leaders came together to envision the future of their communities. Our team was given the job of branding the initiative with design of an identity, website and quality of life plans. We coordinated the effort, managing to deliver final print and video in a compressed timeframe for the media launch in fall 09. (pictured here) Click here to read the full quality of life plans.

it works

Kym Abrams — 2009-12-10T09:55:00-05:00

Recently we had the opportunity to collaborate with Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for the design of their ten year report. An amazing process of illustrating their story to highlight projects that will improve energy efficiency, develop renewable energy resources and preserve and enhance natural areas. In collaborating with Mary O’Connell (writer) and Charlie Simokaitis (photographer) this report really showcases ILCE’s accomplishments and a leaves you with a true understanding of how it works. Click here to view the full report.

new work: sector 3 identity

Kym Abrams — 2009-12-08T13:49:00-05:00

Sector 3 consults with foundations and non-profits in developing strategies to improve the environment. More of our identity work can be viewed here.

the emma report

http://www.kymabrams.06.thirdwavellc.com/ — 2009-12-08T13:24:00-05:00

More than 1,300 infant deaths occur every year in Illinois--many before their first birthday. The Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition gave us the challenge of communicating their recommendations to lawmakers to prevent even more loss. Click here to view the full report.