[ fellows get the lead ]

Eureka.

Joe and I held our first team meeting yesterday with members of Behind the Mask. This first meeting was to convince all of them our new and modern design standards was needed for their current communication vehicles to not only remain visible but to be 10x more effective. We knew as two strangers to barge into an organization that functions more than just a workplace but as a family would be a challenge. We knew we had won the heart of our coordinator. Now, the team. To communicate our goals and desires with clarity and confidence, we created a formal presentation on-top of everything else we have been assigned - to show we are sharp, organized, and professional. And we did.


Joe is currently tackling the content management system and likely transitioning it to drupal. An external party involved is the host company called PCB. I've been tasked with producing the organization's long-overdue 2007 annual report in a matter of 1.5 weeks - including cover+binding, page layouts, statistic visualizations, et cetera. External parties involved in this process is speaking with their sponsors and receiving their approval on the final look and feel. The content has been compiled by the BTM coordinator.



Past printed publications give no justice to BTM - low resolution photos, poor legibility due to inappropriate color and type treatment, and old-school and predictable layout are some of the obvious problems. The list continues.


Detail of sample publication. The whole magazine was printed as a compilation of A4 spreads with 8pt type and 9-10pt leading.


No one really understands the logo. It's an abstract of a painting that touched the founder of BTM. No high-resolution photograph exists of the painting and I believe it's housed in the Netherlands. Out of respect to the founder, Mauriello and I cannot change it and can only do so much with it.



However, it has been recreated by first sketch and illustrator with a new type treatment. BTM was quite amazed by this "restoration" and will be published an advertisement for a festival booklet this week.