Steven Heller, co-chair, MFA Design Department: Last campaign’s logo. Need something to show a new beginning—just a tweak of some kind. But it may be too early for the Obama logo. Perhaps a new one will be unveiled at the Convention.

Debbie Millman, chair, MPS Branding Department: After four years, the identity still holds up. But I am disappointed that his campaign isn’t using the branding more creatively. There is no question it is recognized worldwide. Why not have another riff on the logo or the man à la Shepard Fairey?

Alice Twemlow, chair, MFA Design Criticism Department: Sol Sender’s design for the 2008 Obama campaign reset the standards for campaign logo design. His iteration for the 2012 re-election is less revolutionary but no less sophisticated. The sun rising over the American fields emblem, which the campaign presumes is now so recognizable that this is all is needed to signify the president, has taken up residence in the 0 of 2012. The choice to reverse the text in white out of cornflower blue feels fresh and bright, and still hopeful. The typographers Hoefler & Frere-Jones created a custom slab version of Gothic with serifs for the 2012 campaign and so the numerals are made of blockier bolder stuff than they were in 2008. Let’s just hope the man is too.

Heller: Clean and predictable. Yet almost a parody. Still can’t take the name “Newt” seriously.

Millman: His branding and website looks like a banking identity. Intentional?

Twemlow: With its dull dark blue, serif typeface, and a double-lined border, the Gingrich campaign signals conservative classicism as emphatically as it can. It would be almost too boring to contemplate if it weren’t for the delightful synchronicity of the word “Newt” being underlined by a swoosh that resembles a slimy salamander.

Heller: His name is the most bland of all. Fitting [that] the logos are equal to the name.

Millman: Old and trite; branding has a corporate hollowness to it. Web site feels like an infomercial. What identity?

Twemlow: Ron Paul’s campaign, if you could honor it with the name, is a veritable grab bag of different styles, resulting in a visual chaos that prefigures his deregulatory politics. He has co-opted every iconic visual device from the “I heart NY emblem” to the Facebook “like” symbol. The audaciousness and lack of systematic thinking in this ploy is funny until you remember that this guy is running to be presidents of the U.S., not prom king.

Heller: Did you know his real name is Willard (like the rat)? Actually the R representing the PEOPLE is not a terrible idea. I can see this growing on people. I’m not sure I believe the tagline.

Millman: Simple and self-confident, but very much about the man (not so much about our country or our future).

Twemlow: This is the scariest logo of all, because it’s subtly clever in its attempt to steal the middle ground from Obama. Romney is three men—red, white, and blue—according to the layers of the initial “R,” and thus he hedges his bets politically.  He has co-opted Obama’s cheery shade of blue, attempted to replicate his clean graphics and the mix of serif and sans serif, and he’s even picked the word “Believe” to stand behind, since “Hope” was otherwise engaged. This logo is like a fake Louis Vuitton handbag.

Heller: What’s right with this logo, other than his political stance?

Millman: For a corporation, it would feel established and a bit stuffy. Seems as if there should be an image of the Bible on this page… If you’re going to make a site that looks like Tumblr, why not just create a Tumblr account?

Twemlow: The further right you get, the less care seems to have been taken with the visual presentation of a candidate’s image. Like a graphic equivalent of his lamely monogrammed sweater vest, this logo looks as if it were created from an interchangeable selection of hackneyed devices that signal American values (eagle, red and blue, stars) in a DIY business card machine.

From the MFA Design Department, the 2011 winners are alumnus Matt Luckhurst (MFA 2010 Design) and current students Elisa Bates, Michael Croxton, Sebastian Ebarb, Tim Hucklesby, Derek Munn, Cristina Vasquez, Elliott Walker and Jesse Senje Yuan. Faculty members that provided guidance on these projects are Gail Anderson, Stephen Doyle, Milton Glaser, Erik Guzman, Steven Heller, Stefan Sagmeister and Paula Scher.

From the BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department, the winners are alumni Rocco Cambareri (BFA 2010 Graphic Design), Elizabeth Chan (BFA 2010 Graphic Design), Hiu Chui (BFA 1010 Graphic Design) , Grant Gold (BFA 2010 Graphic Design), Jihwan Kim (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Jiwon Kim (BFA 2010 Graphic Design), Seung Hee Lee (BFA 2010 Graphic Design), Yoonbin Lee (BFA 2010 Graphic Design) and Rukiye Sahin (BFA 2010 Graphic Design). The faculty members that advised on these projects are Kevin Brainard, Andrew Castrucci, Darren Cox, Kristina DiMatteo, Carin Goldberg, Julia Hoffman, Ori Kleiner, Olga Mezhibovskaya, Paul Sahre, Paula Scher and Genevieve Williams.

Stranded from elisa bates on Vimeo.

Image: Screenshot from Elisa Bates’ Stranded video, an assignment for Gail Anderson’s Just Type class.

The reference to MFA Design Department faculty member Maira Kalman was fitting, as Neborsky refers to her as “my mentor.” In fact, Kalman was her adviser at SVA and helped her get her senior thesis, Illustrated Three-Line Novels, published in 2010.

Neborsky also discussed the children’s book she illustrated last year, Tumbling Old Women, by the 20th-century Russian author Daniil Kharms, as well as her upcoming project with Joe Berkowitz, who writes for The Awl. As for her influences: “I love Antonio Frasconi, a great Italian dude. Jean Cocteau. The best children’s book I have ever read is The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine by Donald Barthelme. It’s the most ridiculous story. I love Sister Corita Kent. I can’t make anything even close to what she made because she was a genius,” Neborsky said.

For the full interview and a slideshow of Neborsky’s work, visit The New York Times Style Magazine.

Heller started the evening with a slideshow and enthusiastically praised the work featured in the book—“It transcends what’s on the screen.” He applauded both the refined and the very rough starts of the field of typography and demonstrated that “(typefaces) can represent things in the street that have nothing to do with typefaces.” Koen talked about his early distaste for sketches during his student years (one of his teachers required seven additional sketches in addition to final assignments), but said he soon began to appreciate sketching as an important part of the design process. Cain, currently the Art Director for Kiehl’s, said that because he focuses on easily readable type for Kiehl’s health and beauty products, in his spare time, he gravitates to “typography that doesn’t concern itself (with) whether the viewer can read it.”

Wearing a t-shirt displaying his students’ proofs, BFA Fine Arts Department faculty member and “Letterpress” instructor Faust presented with his professional and personal partner Smith. While showing the audience some of the process behind the duo’s Purgatory Pie Press, Smith emphatically stated that Faust hated Helvetica. The evening’s last presentation was from Luckhurst, who got into design via graffiti work. “Sketches don’t need to have an intent, other than to be sketches. Not to say they can’t, but it is novel to have a place to let the mind and hand wander,” he says in Typography Sketchbooks.

“Not only is the M15 line the second busiest in the nation, it is also a big part of our own daily commute,” Showman said. “Witnessing the long hours and sometimes hectic atmosphere the M15 bus drivers experience is part of the reason we connected with the bus line and decided to do something to show our appreciation.”

Ali Eng

On Friday, December 9 from 6 – 9pm at Brooklyn Collective, 212 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, Citizens for Optimism returns with a new exhibit of positive prints. Included in the show are works by Michelle Alvarez (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Jason Arias (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Julia Coelho (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Phil DiBello (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Colin Kinsley (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Alex Kirhzner (BFA 2002 Graphic Design), Devin Washburn (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), and Leen Sadder (current student, MFA Design), as well current BFA Advertising and Graphic Design students Santiago Carrasquilla, Min Choi, Pedro Delkan, Joe Hollier, Aimee Hunt, Pedro Messias, and Rachel Willey.

To view or purchase posters, visit the Citizens for Optimism Etsy shop.

Image: Poster by Virgilio Tzaj.

In addition, Paola Antonelli, faculty member of the MFA Design Criticism and MFA Products of Design Departments, as well as senior curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, received the ADC Manship Medallion, which recognizes curatorial excellence. The 2011 ADC Hall of Fame Selection Committee was co-chaired by ADC board members Janet Froelich, creative director, Real Simple and an ADC Hall of Fame laureate, and SVA Executive Vice President Anthony P. Rhodes.

Some project highlights include WeDo by Wes Gott, a Web-based calendar application that connects users online and encourages them to participate in cultural activities offline; Fuzz Bucket by Jennie Glaser, a traveling yarn shop and community knitting project; Seize Your Power Days by Lydia Reynolds, a campaign and Web site created to empower young adult women through basic knowledge about their bodies; Milestones by Andy Sir, a desktop accessory that manages, organizes and stores digital assets including images, videos and music; Arlequin by Jules Tardy, an online channel that promotes alternative European culture; and ROWAN by Lauren Wolff, a clothing line for young adults with tactile sensitivity, a common symptom for people on the autism spectrum.

MFA Design Department Co-chair Lita Talarico kicks off the exhibition with a talk at GGG on November 4 (watch video below, lecture begins at the 8:04 mark). For more information about all of the projects featured in the show, visit the Ideopolis Web site.

Streaming by Ustream

Paula Scher MAPS: Paintings, Installations, Drawings, and Prints

Keith Haring Exhibition and Pop Shop at Pace Prints, 521 West 26 Street, through December 3: This exhibition of prints and small-scale multiples by Keith Haring (1979 Fine Arts) features works created by the artist between 1983 and 1990. For the occasion, Pace Prints has also set up a Pop Shop, which, in addition to prints, offers Haring-inspired footwear by British shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood, as well as Haring-inspired apparel and accessories by New York stylist Patricia Field.

Forged (Revere Pictures, LLC 2010) directed by William Wedig (BFA 2006 Film and Video): After a jam packed summer full of screenings and a major city tour with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami, William Wedig’s film Forged is now available on DVD. Set in the cold and rusty town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Forged follows ex-con Chuco (Manny Perez) on his quest to redeem himself after committing a horrific sin against his son, Machito (David Castro). Watch the trailer for Forged below.