The eclectic signs, architecture and illustrations around Harlem are a cacophony of color, type and imagery. OCD designers used this visual reference as inspiration for the Harlem EatUp! logo.
Harlem EatUp! is a four-day festival in Harlem, New York, celebrating the culinary, fine and performing arts in the community. The festival is the brainchild of Marcus Samuelsson, a well-known chef who owns several restaurants, among them Red Rooster Harlem. Samuelsson partnered with Karlitz & Company to develop the festival, and they hired OCD to create the identity. Bobby C. Martin Jr., founding partner at OCD says, “It was important for the Harlem EatUp! identity to reflect the vibrancy of the community in a bold, beautiful and contemporary way, but to stay away from the typical, cliché elements of Harlem.”
Samuelsson and Herb Karlitz had specific ideas about what should and should not be included as part of the design. “When they describe Harlem, they talk about the nature of the mosaic of so many diverse cultures coming together, so the identity should have this color and pop and vibrancy to it,” Martin says. “We wanted to make sure the identity embodies a soulful mix of cultures, but it’s also a sensitive topic. It has to push past stereotypes and, instead, focus on the vibrancy, energy and spirit of the community. The festival needs to be inclusive so those born and raised in Harlem are proud to be a part of it.”
The designers walked the streets of Harlem snapping pictures of signage and tile work, storefronts and church facades, to document the evolving cultural landscape. In particular, the designers were inspired by colorful mosaic illustrations found at the 125th Street subway station and the typography used in many storefront signs throughout the neighborhood. “The result was a collage of incredible lettering, which served as the starting point for our design exploration,” Martin recalls.
The chunky, hand-drawn, sans serif letterforms were inspired by the reference material they collected. The designers arranged the type with extra-tight letter spacing to form a mosaic pattern. Harlem’s architecture informed the stacked logo which also pays an homage to the iconic subway system tiles. A certain visual excitement was achieved with the combination of the stacked letters and vibrant colors. But when OCD presented the typographic set to Samuelsson and Karlitz, they wanted more overt visual references to food and music.
Back at the drawing board, the OCD designers drew musical notes and a fork, knife and spoon to counter the type without being too obvious. The weight and scale of the icons played well with the letterforms, creating fluidity and excitement, while the tag, “A celebration of food, culture and spirit,” anchors it together.
Choosing the right colors was just as important as the typography. “Marcus specifically said he wanted this to feel high-end, like the Oscars of food and art festivals,” Martin says. “We showed him the logo in gold and he loved it, but we felt one color wasn’t enough. We wanted to use colors that are less expected for a food festival, so we chose purple and teal as secondary colors to complement the gold.”
The vertical format was designed with modularity in mind. The stacked logo expands and contracts according to the type of content needing to be displayed. OCD also designed a horizontal format in order for the logo to have multiple uses. “Knowing we’d need to hand it off to other agencies, we wanted to be sure we gave them different ways to use the logo,” Martin notes.
“The final arrangement of forms came out of a broad exploration. We started with the obvious then pushed ourselves to make it uniquely Harlem by adding height and pushing legibility.”
—Bobby C. Martin Jr.
The eclectic signs, architecture and illustrations around Harlem are a cacophony of color, type and imagery. OCD designers used this visual reference as inspiration for the Harlem EatUp! logo.
The initial type-only logo.
The final vertical logo incorporating the musical and food icons representative of the festival in all three colors.
OCD created this horizontal logo format to give other agencies who’ll use the logo more than one option.
The WNBA is the top professional women’s sports league in the world. In 2012, U.S. Women’s Basketball won their fifth straight gold and forty-first straight Olympic game. The players are breaking every record in the books and have compelling individual stories to boot. That was the brief. OCD worked with the WNBA to create an identity system that puts an amplifier to the league’s players and their remarkable game.
“Logo woman” is an evolution of the original WNBA shield. The silhouette was redrawn to better symbolize the athleticism and diversity of today’s players. The orange and oatmeal were brought in from the league’s most recognizable feature: the WNBA game ball. Referee uniforms and in-house communications had been leveraging the unique palette for some time, but it was never brought to the fans. And, of course, great pride, power and opportunity come from being part of the larger NBA family. To reinforce that relationship, the pointed shield was replaced with the rounded rectangular lozenge that has become synonymous with professional basketball worldwide.
Fans, partners, players and coaches all talk about a new swagger in the league. Going on twenty years, it’s maturing into something that’s increasingly tough and confident. That swagger needed a typographic voice. We recommended Cyclone because it incorporates a seam inspired by the seams of the basketball itself. It has great height and it was flexible enough to work on an angle, so it could come alive like the players.
The vitality of the WNBA logo is represented in various forms, from the silhouette of a player to the logotype to representation in different colors when displayed with team logos.
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