Pangaea Logistics Solutions and it's 3 subsidiaries needed to be "re-branded" after going public. The group of global companies needed to look cohesive and uniform.
I wanted to incorporate elements of the historical "Plimsol" mark (above left) into the new group company corporate identity. After a series of sketches and several rounds of refinement, the companies were all in agreement on the simple, modern, clean and memorable mark and logotype that you see above right.
Ideally I had hoped to encompass all 5 subsidiaries under the new "monolithic" brand. They all would have translated well, but the Nordic subsidiary had established strong brand identity over the last 7 years so I did not want to risk undoing that. The Greek subsidiary did not have a strong presence but management asked that it be kept as is.
Just a small sampling of the logo exercises I conducted during the early phase of creating the new identity.
Collateral pieces were designed to carry through the modern, clean look of the new mark and logotype. Futura regular and bold are the fonts that embody this aesthetic. Navy with orange as an accent color show strength, cleanliness and a nautical vibe.
These 5 colors represent a more modern look. The old colors were red, white and blue. The navy is corporate and represents the vast oceans that the vessels traverse. The khaki speaks to the colors of the commodities the company carries. The 2 shades of orange are compliments of the blue and indicative of the color the bottom of the vessels are painted.
I chose a circular geometric allover pattern to mimic the new "mark" and modern feel. To carry through the new
corporate color scheme the Spree task chairs were upholstered with "Storm-Plait" fabric by Maharam. The chair-backs
were coordinated with "Sand" mesh. The guest "Diplomat" chairs were covered with "Sangria-Plait" fabric representing
the rusty color of the corporate color scheme.
To warm up the bright white walls of the office, I sprinkled: a chocolate brown walnut clock on one wall, a bronze plaque on another wall, abstract artwork in the kitchen, and many other accent pieces throughout the entire office space.
The finance department needed to move downstairs into an unfurnished office space. I ordered the fabric and materials for the work stations, carpeting, wall decor and accent pieces; creating a perfect balance of old world and contemporary vibes.
There is SO much you can do with a 'nautical" theme, but I didn't want to be too predictable. So, I tried to combine classic shapes and silhouettes with more modern textures and visual appeal
I designed a modern aquarium peninsula cabinet for our entry area into the accounting department. To warm the area up and encourage folks to sit and enjoy the fish I added a wool area rug, 2 neutral colored velour accent chairs, a small table and a rustic lamp.
The main entrance exterior sign needed to be updated with the new logotype. I wanted to incorporate the "old world/industrial" look of a bronze sign with the new more modern logotype. The large metal nuts mimic the same nuts found on Phoenix's vessels. I hand painted the sign to resemble bronze/metal that had some patina due to weathering, like the vessels. The synthetic material is designed to withstand the elements and it costs much less than a real bronze sign.
Frosted vinyl logos adorn each glass door in the office. To the right of the 2nd floor entry there is a frosted glass sign that stands 2" off the wall.
Nordic Bulk Carriers operated the very first bulk carrier to traverse the Northern Sea Route in 2010. The article was laid out into poster form to be displayed in the first floor lobby of the office in Newport, Rhode Island.
Nordic Bulk Carriers was featured in a 13 page article about their trip from Murmansk, Russia to Pori, Finland. All posters are framed with UV safe anti-glare glass and industrial style frames.
A poster showcasing the time and fuel saved by traversing the "Northwest Passage" route across the Arctic.
Phoenix Bulk has a perpetual route with 3-4 vessels carrying cargo from Jamaica to New Orleans at any given time. Photos by the amazing John Guider.
When you take delivery of a new multi-million dollar vessel, the shipyard hosts an "over-the-top" week of celebratory events rooted in Japanese culture. (where the vessel was built). There are more photos on the website when you click the "NEWS" button.
What better way to advertise your business to the rest of the world? A wide variety of people see this logo as the vessel carries cargo all over the world. Therefore the application and execution must be impeccable. I began with white paint on all 4 sides around the middle of the stack, but due to the smoke emitting from the aft vent, that side was painted navy blue so the discoloration over time wouldn't be as noticeable.
Here are a few photos of actual vessels that have the new identity wrapped around the stack. Typically in the shipping industry, a company's logos are displayed on the port and starboard sides only of the funnel.
The size of this logotype measures 2.7 meters, which was applied by specially trained crew via a cut stencil and carefully executed scaffolding.
I used the Elementor CMS to craft this highly detailed corporate website. As I intertwined the corporate color scheme throughout, I introduced an additional light aqua color to mimic the color of the tropical waters that the vessels sail through everyday. I blocked out the pages and content areas without a grid and pulled in beautiful photos, textures and copy that I wrote to tell this incredible shipping story. This site was reviewed and critiqued by upper management, including all C-level officers. Obviously, some changes have been made since my departure several years ago. pangaeals.com
This brochure is in a horizontal format to appear solid and strong. Striking the right balance between imagery and white space yields a clean yet industrial layout. Each entity has a solid presence along with clean imagery and information about the types of cargoes the companies carry. This piece will be distributed to existing and prospective clients. bit.ly/4c5oyD5
The “new business” director needed a marketing piece to summarize the growing range of capabilities of the company.
We wrote the copy together due to its technical nature. The photography was a mixture of in house and a few stock images. Futura and the corporate colors were naturally used. The layout packed in a lot of information while still looking clean and organized.
The Seamen’s Church Institute holds a traditional style ball every year. This was a small ad campaign for Phoenix Bulk Carriers before it went public as Pangaea Logistics Solutions; placed in the program booklet as well as online.
McKenzie Engineering needed a new logo. I focused on something much more modern and sturdier than what they had. I also wanted it to read as 3 letters and not the name Meg.
3 partner hospitals; Charlton, Tobey, and St. Luke’s merged and needed a new identity. Today the group has over 8,000 employees across the entire system. The 3 white waves represent each hospital coming together on the right to create a whole. The pretty greenish turquoise color was intended to be uplifting and indicative of the coast line that each hospital is near.
A new stevedoring company was in need of a new logo and identity. The goal was to offer a simple graphic that could embody the essence of what stevedoring means; which is loading and discharging any type of cargo in port. Red, white and blue was requested by the client; the rope or “line” is how the vessels are tied up while in port. The anchor speaks for itself.
Guy needed a new logo to represent the strength of his commitment to his customers and the weight of the heavy equipment he uses. The bright, sunny colors were meant to offset the cold, windy climate he lives and works in.
This hand rolled polymer clay bead and jewelry collection was sold in over 250 retail stores worldwide. As the founder and Creative Director, I did it all: design of the beads and finished jewelry, production management (staff of 5 assembly workers), marketing of print and digital material, catalog design, product photography, identity and branding of all touch points.
See “Handmade Beads & Jewelry” page for more branding.
This client was building a rural retreat space in the south Austin town of Lockhart, Texas. The idea was to embody a warm, comforting feeling with indigenous elements.
Portsmouth High School had a delapatated rubber asphalt track, a worn out football field, and 6 broken down tennis courts. After a local family donated $500K toward the project, I spearheaded the marketing and design arm of the campaign. Along with other stakeholders in the community, we were able to raise over $3 million through various fundraisers and charity events over 18 months time. This was an extremely exciting and rewarding project for me and our community. See “Print & Web” page for more branding information.
This logo was designed for the group of supporters and donors that helped raise over $3 million dollars over 18 months to renovate the main sports field, running track and tennis courts at Portsmouth High School. The musical elements represent the band members who practice and perform many hours and events on the main field. The red track and green field with yardage marks speaks for themselves. For more about the project, go to the “Print & Web” page.
This grassroots 501 (c)(3) began when Target wanted to build a big box store within a residential neighborhood in Portsmouth, RI. My neighbor and I spearheaded the effort to educate the town on the negative impacts that development would have on the neighborhood and overall community. I ran the marketing and social media arm of the campaign. After several town meetings and quite a few organized community meetings, Target agreed to find another location. This inspired Preserve Portsmouth to take on other similar types of zoning issues in the area, primarily regarding “Smart Growth” and “Buying Local”. The green and blue in the logo represent the land and sea surrounding Aquidneck Island. The chocolate rule speaks to the trees and forests that still stand and the hot lime green represents “HOPE” for a bright future.
This prolific photographer has spent thousands of man hours waiting for the perfect shot. He not only shoots a huge variety of birds, but also captures mammals, insects, herptiles and ocean offal (trash). His logo embodies a clean, masculine font and an earth toned color scheme. off is also a year round quahog fisherman. Clearly he loves the outdoors! geoffdennisphotos.com
Stevedores work on docks at ports where cargo is either loaded or discharged. Ropes or “lines” are used extensively to tie up the vessel as well as anchors being lowered once in port. The red, white and blue were requested by the client.
Pangaea needed products to hand out at trade shows and also for its employees to wear and use in and out of the workplace. It was fun designing mugs with various applications of the logo.
Clean, crisp tradeshow giveaways and staff necessities were included in the branded touch points. It was fun designing a custom USB drive, and the international adapter with the sister company’s logo, Nordic Bulk Carriers.
Another important touchpoint.
Branded Carhartt watch caps were given to the crew members during the cold months of the year. They were always very appreciative to receive these warm hats.
A must have for the folks in the office and guests to take home when they visit.
Pangaea desperately needed a website facelift; one of the many touchpoints that were included in the identity. The site was a 3 month project with feedback along the way from upper management at Pangaea including several C-level officers. The site includes an historic timeline, investors relations page, global news page, copy written by myself with input from management and many exciting photos from many different sources. I am not a coder, so I used Wordpress and Elementor, a drag and drop widget.
At the start of this project I made sure the community could see how unsafe the conditions had become on the track and main athletic field at Portsmouth High School. Toward the end of the project enough money was raised to also completely renovate the existing tennis courts which had also deteriorated. At that time the project became known as "T3".
Please click the link for more information on how monies were raised. https://bit.ly/4sthapW
This campaign ran over 24 months time and was super cool and challenging. See https://facebook.com/fphsaac for more information and the various ways that the funds were raised. This was truly a community effort and I was honored to manage all of the creative and marketing.
The completed project included many additional amenities like this formal entry into the main entrance to the athletic complex.
The second photo shows the turf field being utilized by a local boy’s lacrosse team, renting the field from the Portsmouth High School.
The bottom photo shows the completed 8 tennis courts after being resurfaced, with new nets and bleachers for spectators.
I spearheaded a fundraising project where I took photos of the Portsmouth High School football teams and cheer leading squads. Combined with ad space for local businesses and candid photos of fans and students, $10,000 was raised over the 2 year program which supported the T-3 project. The programs were a great way to kick-off the new school year during the fall semester. https://bit.ly/4srtEi1
A grass roots nonprofit supporting the sustainability of "Smart Growth" in Portsmouth and surrounding area towns. I designed the identity and all of the marketing materials as well as spearheaded this group along with Conni Harding. We were successful in reducing the "store size cap" to 45K sq. ft. after Target tried to build a 147K sq. ft store in a residential neighborhood in Portsmouth. http://www.preserveportsmouth.org
Geoff came to me after years and years of photographing birds. He had accrued thousands and thousands of beautiful shots. After editing many, we came up with a large assortment for his site. He is still one of the few photographers who uses "blinds" to take the perfect shot.
I designed a clean, modern site for Stacey Mac Donald who is the owner of Power Supplies and Services. She is a sales rep for companies that manufacture equipment for power plants across the globe. She loves what she does and is very good at it as a result. It was important for her to showcase her business as "female owned", therefore I placed the tagline directly under her company logo.
http://www.powersuppliesandservices.com
Sue and Claire discovered me at The Jacob Javit's Center selling polymer clay jewelry and beads. They needed accent beads for their collection of wholesale knitting products. I also designed and built their wholesale website. A few months ago they decided to pursue other avenues and close Serendipity.
After exhibiting at Surtex years ago I collaborated with the mill Joan Fabrics Inc. located in Fall River, Massachusetts on contract furniture designs for Herman Miller. We came up with an Aspect Ratio Formula for a Single Repeat based on Joan's Loom Specs:
LOOMS- 54" (repeats: 3.375", 6.75", 9", 13.5", 27")
WARP Constructions: 4800 (88.889 ends or pixels per inch) or DPI
2400 (44.444 ends or pixels per inch) or 44.444DPI
Aspect Ratio Formula for a single repeat:
Ends divided by Picks = Ratio
Width in inches divided by Ratio = Height in inches
Final dimensions in inches translates to a file with a dpi of 88.889/inch
The design above was conceived in Adobe Illustrator and executed in Photoshop, eliminating the need for scanning and cleaning up the artwork. You can see 6 of 17 different colorways above the computer generated file printout. This allover design file was provided as a 3.375"W X 3.375"L repeat.
The top 2 swatches are a woven design I made for Herman Miller. The high contrast artwork below the swatches is the clean, indexed artwork I created in Adobe Photoshop. The mill and client chose the final color scheme. The repeat measures 6.75".
4 colorways of the "Dots" pattern I designed for Herman Miller. The original artwork file at the bottom was purposely designed using high contrast colors for indexing. The client and the mill chose the different colorways. The design was executed in Photoshop with a repeat of 3.38".
Another design for Herman Miller. The top left swatch is a close up of a portion of the top right swatch. Original artwork designed in Photoshop, with a printout of the file at the bottom using strong colors, easily distinguished from each other. Repeat measures 6.75".
3 of 12 colorways across the top with the Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop file below. Repeat size 3.38".
The top swatch is 1 of 12 colorways for another woven for Herman Miller, produced at Joan in Fall River, Massachusetts. The high contrast artwork at the bottom was created in Photoshop with a 3.5"W X 3.5"L repeat provided.
For this design I wanted to emulate the look and feel of a Paul Klee painting. The repeat is 6.75" wide.
This iridescent woven pattern was also designed for Herman Miller's contract furniture design department. The macro swatch shows the fabric from a different angle looking much flatter.
Another design made at Joan in Fall River, Mass., more abstract than geometric. The repeat is 6.5"W, not sure on the length as my cut piece is not long enough to see a full repeat.
Experimenting with textures and color. Produced at Joan.
4 color floral design for print- apparel market
Scattered floral 6 color design for print- apparel market
Allover 5 color floral design for print- apparel market
Love the detail in this textile design- created in Adobe Capture
This was initially meant for the apparel industry, but I think it would make some killer pillows too. It would also look great as a large canvas print hung on a wall.
To me this has such great movement and the colors work so well together. Another great pillow or print design for the interiors market.
Pattern created in Adobe Capture
Pattern created in Adobe Capture
Pattern created in Adobe Capture
Patterns created in Adobe Capture
Patterns created in Adobe Capture
Pattern created in Capture
Polymer clay is a wonderful medium to create beads for fashion jewelry. It can be manipulated into endless colors, textures and shapes. It is very forgiving and spontaneous. Self-taught in the art of "caning", I developed over 400SKUs, wholesaling to over 250 retailers worldwide. Frajeelai was a collection of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pins, watches and more. The customer ranged from 5-95 years old. The line wholesaled via major trade shows and nationwide reps. As founder, I was responsible for each design and all creative aspects of the production process. The company was in business for 7 years.
These beads were made into earrings, bracelets and pendants. Specific instructions and Pantone colors were needed to get exactly what I wanted from the factory we worked with.
This butterfly bead was mass produced in 4 different sizes: small stud earrings, slightly larger dangle earrings, a bit larger size for a pendant and the largest size was a pin. The clay is easy to drill into and glue onto.
This one-of-a-kind necklace is a combination of hand-rolled and mass produced beads. Various glass, shell and Swarovski beads also accent the overall look of the piece.
Once I designed this color combination, I was pleasantly surprised at how popular it was!! They flew off the shelf...
This piece was the very first of my many designs. I wanted to do something fun and sophisticated, so I I designed a custom stainless steel stretch bracelet with hooks on just one side. This allowed the other side to look prettier and more polished that the existing blank bracelets on the market. The beads are a mixture of hand rolled clay, Swarovski crystal, glass, and shell beads. This bracelet became one of my best sellers and was also offered in the same colors as the matching Sea Urchin necklace.
Named after the town where Tom Brady grew up.
This necklace was designed to be worn with a wide range of colors and looks. Tiny pearl seed beads in between each clay bead and a toggle closure give it a sophisticated look.
Wire strung glass beads are wrapped around this square, graphic pin. Lightweight and fun.
Colored turtle pins and pendants in a variety of colors.
Clay slices are carefully pressed onto textured metal and then baked for permanent placement.
The word comes from the movie "A Christmas Story" when the dad reads the side of the leg lamp crate. Fun and whimsical like the majority of the line.
This catalog embodies a bright, colorful design with crisp images that pop off the page. I art directed the photography, designed the layout and managed the file and printing process. These catalogs were mass mailed to retailers; being sold to more than 250 retailers worldwide. https://bit.ly/4t9Qn3l
I always thought of myself as more of a 2D artist, but once I began working with Chris Rover at CGA I fell in love with architectural scale model making.
I worked with several designers on the Ellis Island Museum project. In addition to the scale model of the venue I also laid out some of the exhibit graphics as you can see in the third photo.
I had the pleasure of working with Tom Geismar, partner at CGA on a potential wall mural and a hanging fish sculpture.
These models represent new designs to the Citicorp Plaza Center at 53rd Street between Lex and Third in Manhattan. At the time I was not aware of all of the controversy surrounding architect LeMessurier and the viability of the tall office tower. Both the Citicorp logos and the tall, skinny flags were designed to continually rotate slowly.
This open design worked out well for Frajeelai's jewelry collection to be viewed by numerous buyers at the same time. Halogen lights enhanced the Swarovski crystals and glass beads in many of the designs.
I am a producer. I quite often lean toward the Swiss design principles. My job is to communicate a message or feeling, to make the unappealing more beautiful. Having a passion for both handwork and digital, I like pushing the boundaries of what a market or industry thinks it's customer can wrap their head around.
Some of my mentors and favorite graphic designers are: Massimo Vignelli, Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, Paula Scher, Barbara Kuhr, Jessica Walsh, and Stefan Sagmeister, Jessica Hische, and Alex Proba.
This building showcases the long span of work created by Massimo Vignelli and his wife Lella. It is located in the heart of the academic side of Rochester Institute of Technology's campus. I had the pleasure of meeting Massimo and his wife while attending school there.
Now known as CGH, working with these design icons was an amazing experience. Barbara Kuhr seen at the top worked on The Louvre Visitor Info System, Carnegie Hall Museum Exhibitions and many other high profile projects. Barbara and her husband John Plunkett went on to found "Wired" magazine after she departed CGA.
Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar pictured left and right below Barbara are world renowned for their extensive design work. When I worked there in 1990 they were celebrating their 30th anniversary in business together. Steff Guissbuhler pictured at the bottom was an associate who I worked closely with on various accounts.
