Creative Crackdown, Ian Nordeck
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The second individual campaign in our new running series is up for your consideration and commentary. Once again, our friends from Tequila, TBWA\Chiat\Day’s in-house interactive shop, will be joining us to inject flavor into the conversation. Here’s the set-up for the identity system from designer Ian Nordeck.
The FARM at Dancing Star is fifteen minutes from the coast of Oregon outside the town of Yachats. Their principal produce is berries, but they also have a small orchard and a vegetable garden. Their livestock now includes chickens, ducks, geese, pigs and goats, as well as three hives of honey bees.
The goal was to create a modular identity system with a tremendous amount of diversity while printing the fewest components possible. The primary need was business cards and a produce label system to use at the local farmer’s market. The farm mentality is to use what is on hand, even when it means reinventing the original purpose, drove each component to have multiple uses.
We are now working on reinventing the identity again based on using the system for two seasons. The system needs to grow with the farm to accommodate the owner’s ambitions. So, what works what doesn’t? What’s worth keeping the second time around? What’s missing?
If you want to see the images larger, click the shots individually.
Comments
ian t. nordeck September 10, 2007
bring on the punches!
bring on the punches!
No thanks September 11, 2007
It’s a bit hard to critique
It’s a bit hard to critique the design without better photos of the work. The current photos (the contextual ones, specifically) are nice, but they’re a bit distant to really get into nitty gritty design critique.
All-in-all, I’d say this campaign is decent, not great, but decent. It’s basically a hodge-podge of clichés, brought together under a set of common textures and contexts.
The logo looks more like a typeset header than anything. You can almost envision the same font being used for the various products: “Eggs”, “Preserves”, etc. The textures of the printed pieces seem unnecessary since they’re already going to be placed on actual textured papers and products. It’s like covering a brick wall with brick-themed wallpaper.
Ultimately, it gives the impression of having been done quickly, or on the cheap, by someone who really loves this aesthetic but didn’t have the time or the inclination to really flesh out a solid, unique look and feel for the brand.
ian t. nordeck September 12, 2007
no thanks, thanks for taking
no thanks, thanks for taking the time to comment.
i am a little confused by the photo comment. what would you like to see that i didn’t show? there is only three components to the whole system. i showed a detail of the business card so you can see the logo and type, an image illustrating how it works as a stationery package, and three photos of the items in use. the context photos were done to show that this is a small family farm and not a large commercial operation. i thought i depicted the project well. but what is it that you think is missing?
campaign? it’s not a campaign, it is an identity project. logo and business papers which includes a labeling component. that is curious.
“a hodge-podge of cliches, brought together under a set of common textures and contexts” wow, i’m not sure i even know what that means, but it doesn’t sound positive. you had to have gone to art school. i mean, that’s a beauty. it definitely sounds impressive. would the under classmen look at you longingly when you said shit like this?
alright, a jabs a jab… i posted the work because i do want critical feedback so i’m going to attempt to break this down so i can understand (i don’t think i’m in the minority by not understanding this comment). in this “campaign” (aka identity) i have created a mixture of dissimilar although predictable and over-used elements. wait, doesn’t that contradict itself? how can a hodgepodge be cliche? the fact that it is a hodgepodge doen’t allow it to be cliche, right? how can can a bunch of unrelated items thrown together without regard be predictable? i’m not saying i did that and therefore have defeated your bullet-proof critique. i’m just trying to understand what you are saying and the more i think about it the more it doesn’t make sense. by common textures i am assuming you mean the collage of old papers but that could be way to literal for your vagueness. the common set of contexts comment, i’m stumped. that was a true Artist (with a capital A) that you got that statement from. the context is a small family run farm that sells seasonally at the local farmers market and yes, that is rather common. but i do not think my approach and solution to their need was common. a hodgepodge of cliches? i think your just trying to be hurtful. if you can explain this, or care to, then please do.
the comment on the logo i can’t argue with. one of the comments from the client in the next round is they want a logo that is more trademarkable, meaning they want it to look more like a logo. the point was to put emphasis on the farm and not as much on dancing star. they also have a cabin they plan to rent and plans for a retreat. there are actually 3 logos: The FARM, The CABIN, and The RETREAT… all of which fall under the umbrella of Dancing Star LLC. the point is to differentiate the components without loosing recognition of the whole. it needs more work.
i simply do not agree with the texture comment. texture on texture on texture is the farm. there is an overwhelming sense of that when you are on the property. all of the outbuildings were sided by the previous owner with aluminum printing plates off a half size press, no shit. the imaging side of the plate is down and the outside is the shinny back of the aluminum, but the moisture of oregon and time have worn them in a really cool way. it is the coolest and weirdest finish to a building i’ve seen. then off of this burnished aluminum siding is a rough timber frame overhead (whose roof is covered in amost 3” of moss) for the farm truck, which is this great big piece of 1960’s green rusty dodge with a wood-slat flat bed. everything on the farm is like that. smooth and glossy has no place on this farm. it is texture. it is a brick wall that someone painted, then they tried to wallpaper it when they were tired of the paint color, but that totally didn’t work so they decided to stucco it, and when the new owner saw the cracks in the stucco they tried to cover it with a decoative wallpaper border and some wainscotting, and now some 50 years later you can see all of those layers coming through in various places. brick wallpaper on a brick wall, please.
you got me on the quick. it was taken from an initial concept to the printer in under 24 hours because i was leaving the country on vacation and they wanted to have something for the first farmer’s market of the season in less than a week. it was a band-aid to get them through a season, maybe two, but i felt like it was a decent band-aid. now we are taking the time to “flesh it out” and i’m very inclined to create a unique and thoughtful identity, but a brand, no. i’m curious how you define brand… brand, campaign, a hodgepodge of cliches… you did see the photos right?
well, when i get the new stuff done i’ll let you bash it too. i ain’t scared. tired yes, scared no.
cheers | ian
Schizz September 12, 2007
no thanks, that was one gay
no thanks, that was one gay critique, and by gay I mean fucking retarded. It makes me think that you don’t even know what you don’t know.
TQLA/LA September 12, 2007
Admittedly, identity design
Admittedly, identity design is not one of my specialties, so I’ll give my 2 cents through the eyes of a consumer, rather than another ad guy.
If I was at a farmer’s market and came across The Farm at Dancing Star, I would be impressed. I think the labels are appropriate for a farm. I like the weathered look, the texture and that there is actually a labelling system.
I immediately get the impression that these farmers have their act together and take pride in their work. It’s simple, clean and functional. Unlike us city folk.
ian t. nordeck September 13, 2007
TQLA/LA, thanks for checking
TQLA/LA, thanks for checking it out.
that was my goal. make them stand out from the other farmers at the market and look a little more pulled together than the mom and pop operation that they are.
d September 16, 2007
Schizz,
I didn’t know gay
Schizz,
I didn’t know gay and retarded were the same thing. Next time I’m humping your retarded mom, I’ll think of you and wonder if I’m being gay, or just retarded.
Thanks.
ian t. nordeck September 17, 2007
adam, thanks for the comments
adam, thanks for the comments about my work and not shizz’s mom.
one of the client requests in the next round is they would like more color. they really like the backs of the cards and want that to play a larger role in the system this next time around. the back of the cards definitely throws a punch of color into a very nuetral system. i need to pay closer attention to that this time around…
i love the rubber stamp idea and am trying to figure it out. it would look really cool. little illustrations of each product as stamps along with the name would be great. my printer and i were talking about even using the berries as the ink… talk about resourceful. one of the issues is they never know exactly what they are bringing to the market until they pick the day before or morning of the farmers market. the berries are pretty consistent but for other produce it is not as consistent.
They are also not putting the trays into brown bags any more, like the photo. it was too much of a hassel. people want to see what they are buying so they couldn’t put them in the bag until they were purchased. it took too much time. so now the whole label system needs to be re-thought.
that is what i love about this project. is it is constantly evolving and changing and it definitely challenges you to come up with resourceful solutions.
nice point about the textures, they should not be distracting. it should feel as natural as it does on the property.
cheers | ian
Brady July 19, 2010
I think the designs are
I think the designs are fantastic, but I am afraid you might be a little light in the loafers. What kind of name is Ian anyway? Weird.