Bryan is <40, and 1 of 40

Mad props to id29's Bryan Kahrs for being named one of the 40 most influential people (under 40) in business in the Capital Region by the Business Review for 2009.

Let the Good Times Roll

id29 is pleased as (bayou) punch to be involved with this weekend's Fat Saturday for the Arts. This will be the second year for the Mardi Gras-themed event, which benefits the Troy-based Arts Center of the Capital Region. Read more here. If you see beautiful silk-screened posters around town promoting the event, you have the super-talented Jakester to thank.

The packaging matters...

All juiced up about this story.

IKEA hearts id29

IKEA Business "Share Your Space" has included id29 in their business space feature, here. Koolum!

Internazionale, baby!

Bryan's most excellent Merlin Bicycles print campaign continues its reign of terror in the design awards, this time picking up Editorial Merit in How's International Design Annual (April 2009.) Props.

Cranbrookdesign.com lives again!

Thanks to some great work from our friend Arjen Noordeman, Cranbrookdesign.com is back online, and better than ever. There's even an interview and some work from yours truly.

tweet tweet

Follow id29's daily musings on Twitter, here.

Umm, I told you so...

Just in case you thought proper kerning was irrelevant.

click clack brew

Always fun to see our favorite brands in motion. Life is thirsty work.

id29 gets PRINTed

We're pleased to see 2 pieces of our recent work included in this month's PRINT Regional Design Annual 2008. Props to Bryan and Doug for their work on Merlin Bicycles and EMPAC, respectively.

Meet Max Kerning

Have you met Max Kerning yet? He cares about text. Some people say he cares too much. A cheeky fellow, to say the least...

How do you give a presentation without the presentor?

Novell (Waltham, MA) came to us looking for a redesign of their printed and digital partner presentations. These are presentations given to Novell's partners to help them understand new technologies and solutions from Novell so they can further spread the goodness. After we knocked off a couple of those, they had another question they didn't think we could answer, "How do we give the presentation without the presenter?" id29 went to work to find the answer.

Of course, the answer wasn't as simple as that, and there were a number of constraints that made the objective seem out of reach. We needed to provide an easy path from the current work (pdf presentations) to this new "product." We needed a format that would provide the richness of the presentation without huge files sizes. Last, it needed to act autonomously, but let users control it. We experimented with a number of solutions, but in the end we decided to keep everything contained in the pdf.

By using Adobe Acrobat and the PDF format, we were able to keep the original work, mitigate the file size, and create a self-running, user-controllable presentation. With video, we were looking at file sizes approaching 500MB for a 100 page presentation at the original size. With Acrobat, we were able to keep the file size below 40MB.

A quick word of warning though. We were originally enticed by the marketing messages of Adobe and expected a user interface to produce the PDF. In the end we needed to brush up on our javascript chops and program the automation from scratch. While Acrobat will let you create a photo gallery through the interface, we needed to program in the varying length of audio for each slide, plus the interactivity. It was worth it though, since we can now add PDF Scripting to our list of tech saavy skillsets we provide to our clients.

Check it out here.

It's the Great Pumpkin (Ale)

October 1 means Pumpkin Ale is now on tap at our neighborly Taproom at Brown's Brewing Co. The workday just got a bit shorter, today. YEEEEEEE!

We Win Wolda

Our logo mark for Ryan-Biggs has been recognized among the 192 final winning entries for the Wolda 2008 Annual. Winning logos were selected by a tiered judging panel comprised of designers, clients and the general public.

Head on over and check out all the bezier curve-ness.

you are jealous...

Dinosaur Jr. played downstairs from id29's studio tonight. It looked a little bit like this. Yeah, it's all good...

brilliant

The Ryan-Biggs identity was included in Chris Spooners article on 30 Brilliant Vector Logo designs, Deconstructed. Thanks Chris!

glide08

id29's Doug Bartow will be speaking at glide08, a "1st Biennial Design Web Conference" which will be live-streaming on Thursday October 22, 2008 to disseminate cutting-edge research that bridges cultural and geographic divides. The event is a collaboration between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Upstate and NYC chapters of the AIGA. More to follow...

Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold...

id29's identity work for Ryan-Biggs and a print campaign for Merlin Bicycles nab a gold and silver (respectively) in this years Creativity Annual Awards. Makes us break out in song, Burl Ives style: Ev'ryone wishes for silver and gold. How do you measure it's worth? Just by the pleasure it gives here on Earth...(refrain)

That's HOW we roll...

id29's seminal handbook, How To Be A Better Client, is featured this month in HOW Magazine's Promotion Design Awards, page 87. Glorious...glorious...

remembertibet.org

On the opening day of China's Olympic games, Jonathan Barnbrook and Pedro Inoue have launched a new site, here, asking people to remember Tibet's struggle for independence against "the undemocratic government of China." They have done a great job subverting the Olympic rings logo from 5 circles to 5 squares, which instantly reads as chain links.

Let the (Logo) Games Begin

id29's Doug Bartow is playing games with online logo design companies on the design blog, SpeakUp. Read about his visually exhaustive adventures, here.

Where, oh where, are all the iPhones?

I'm not going to lie to you, I want one. But, finding one is like shopping for the Wii on Christmas Eve. Do you have a new one, still in the box? Give it to me...bring it here. You don't need to see his identification. These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along, move along... UPDATE 7.18: The iPhones are at the Apple Store in Crossgates Mall. iRejoice!

The Stone of Sisyphus!

Obviously, today will be a light work day in the studio. After 15 long years, Chicago's triumphant 32nd studio album, The Stone of Sisyphus will be released today. We have spent the night on the sidewalk outside the local Best Buy, and our backs are sore. Oh, the goodness...

id29 almost awarded Best of Show.

At last Friday's Nori Awards (Albany Ad Club's answer to the Addys), we took home seven awards and came as close as you can come to winning the best of show without actually winning (to those of you who have been in a similar position, you know that's no solace). Our How to Be a Better Client campaign took first runner up in the Best of Show. Big props go out to the College of Saint Rose for their super-strong showing across the board and all other participants. Want more? Here you go.

id29 helps Pitney Bowes go green

id29 recently advanced the future of carbon-conscious mail by naming and designing the ecowise program and logo for Pitney Bowes. Ecowise℠ is a new mailstream validation program that helps mailers improve efficiencies and lessen the environmental impact of their mailings. Saving the planet, doing the bull dance, feeling the flow, workin' it, workin' it...

id29 will pump U up!

Arranging for patients' ambulatory infusion needs used to be a complicated undertaking for oncology practices until id29 helped its client InfuSystem make it easy with a complete rebranding of the company which included all new messaging, collateral, logo design and website.

id29 hauls in the hardware

We are pleased to announce that id29 grabbed a Gold Award of Excellence and two Silver Awards of Distinction at the 2008 Communicator Awards for our work for PitneyBowes MapInfo. We're kind of a big deal...

The 400 block of Troy, NY comes alive!

Videographer Roman Jaquez has just completed a great video titled, "400 Block: A Modern Renaissance" of our block in Troy, NY, along with some tasty interviews from id29, here.

Live blogging the How Design Conference

Doug will be at the How Design Conference in Boston starting this Sunday night live blogging the event for SpeakUp. Game on...

This AM at id29

enter id29

The greatest story ever told!

I've been hesitant to lay out the $99 annual fee for a .mac membership. I might rethink after this awesome story.

The Orphan Bill must be defeated!

Read about it and act here. Do it now!

Support Myanmar through Architecture for Humanity

Please visit here. Great initiative.

Please help save The Mount!

Edith Wharton called, she needs your help.

HOW Magazine features id29's book.

See id29's blockbuster book How to Be a Better Client in the June 2008 issue of HOW Magazine.

id29 is Dynamically Graphic this month

Bryan Kahr's seminal typographic work for Merlin Bicycles is featured in this month's issue of Dynamic Graphics magazine. Written by the amazingly talented Laurel Saville. Read on!

I aced the font test today!

Doug got a 34/34 today. Think you know your Bembo from your Didot? Try the font test. Better bring it, it gets harder as it goes...

id29 gets 17 Nori finalist nominations

...from the Albany Ad Club. Or, maybe it's 18...very secretive. See for yourself. Yay!

Doug Bartow SpeaksUp

id29's Doug Bartow was interviewed on the uber-popular design blog SpeakUp recently. Read on, there will be a pop quiz later...

id29 wins "Best of" at Rebrand100

In a stunning victory of rather epic proportions, id29 has been awarded Best of Show honors in the 2008 ReBrand 100 Global Awards - a competition that's juried by a panel of international business leaders, and the only global awards program of its kind. Not to drop names, but the judges are somewhat, shall we say, esteemed and hail from places like fastcompany.com, Arnold Worldwide and BMO Bank of Montreal. They recognized our comprehensive rebranding work for Brown's Brewing Company (Troy, NY) as "Best of" amongst other entries for clients such as Bravo, Delta Airlines, Intel, Wyndham Worldwide and GlaxoSmithKline. Observe details at ReBrand.com and check back as they launch a comprehensive showcase this spring.

Susan = Japanese Superstar.

An interview with id29's own Susan Merrick has been featured in the stylish Japan-based online art & culture magazine FlashFilm.com. Move over Aoyama Thelma.

New site on tap for Brown's Brewing Co.

id29 just finished a major overhaul for our pals at Brown's Brewing Co. in Troy, NY. A custom back-end CMS was developed with our friends jackadam that allows simple daily updates to the menu and specials, as well as the mission-critical 'beer of the day.' Check out the candid pix of id29's Doug Bartow on press with the beer cases, wielding a Pantone fan book while wearing ear protection.

id29 finds Mr. Wright

id29 is pleased to announce the addition of Jake Wright to our stable of madly-talented designers. Jake, aka 'Big Red', comes to us from the Commonwealth of Mass. via Arlington, VA and brings insane information design skills, along with a homemade pretzel recipe to die for.

Arte Levy is now a 29er.

We're proud as punch to announce that Arte Levy has joined id29 as Account Director. For over 20 years, Arte's been doing the marketing strategy, account services and event/promotion thing for prestigious and exalted clients such as Visa, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fortitech, Vermont Castings, Hannaford Bros. Supermarkets, Vermont Pure Natural Spring Water, Bruegger's Bagel Bakery, and MVP Health Care. Now, he's doin' it for us and our clients. Call him up or stop by and say hi at your earliest convenience.

Bright Hub & id29

Bright Hub (Troy, NY) - a social commerce network company that aims to provide the world with access to valuable, unbiased reviews of consumer and business software - asked id29 to help them develop their logo, visual identity and all kinds of other goodies. They're just beginning. They're backed by some of the brightest minds in the dotcom realm. Expect to see big things.

InfuSystem Chooses id29

We like working with category leaders and that's exactly what we're doing with InfuSystem (Madison Heights, MI). They recently selected us to overhaul their brand identity and all components of their marketing communications. We're in the midst of doing just that.

Keystone Light

id29's Doug Bartow will be judging the Pennsylvania Ad Club's ADDY Awards on Feb 8 & 9, 2008 in Lancaster, PA. World domination to follow...

COMMAND-SHIFT-3!

Here's an interesting site. It's a screenshot showdown for www pages. Our site is currently in the top 3% of all sites, and #9 in the graphic design category. Stop reading this post, and go vote for us. Good things will happen to you for the rest of the day as a result...serious.

29 and sunny in the Shires

id29 was in full force at the brand roll-out party for the Shires of Vermont last night in Arlington, VT. More coverage here. Side note: The Man of Kent pub on Rte 7 in Hoosick, NY is good. Real good.

id29 are total Luerzers

Errr...not quite. Well maybe, but not this month, baby, as we have 3 print ads for Merlin Bicycles featured in the very selective international pub Luerzer's Archive. Check out the thumbs for free here or go to your local Borders and drop some serious coin for the printed goodness. Mad props to Bryan for his typographic skilz.

id29 at the pinnacle

We are pleased to announce that our good friends at Acme Printing Co. in Wilmington, MA recently won a Pinnacle P.I.N.E. Award for their role in the printing of id29's seminal guide, How To Be A Better Client. Rock on Acme!

OMFG! Free font!

I designed this PS type 1 font a few years ago, but can never seem to find a good project to use it on. Please download it and use it for something. Email me the results, and if it kicks ass, you will win a fun prize! Seriously, Doug would never joke about a fun prize...

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...

We recently had our design studio space featured on a very cool site that documents creative workplaces, This Ain't No Disco. Go, now, and vote for us. Vote 5 out of 5... you don't need to see his identification, these aren't the droids you're looking for... move along...

Get up!

Bryan has contributed a small piece of work for the PBS Documentary 49 Up.

Small Business, Big Clients: id29 on entrepreneur.com

id29 inspires entrepreneur.com feature article. Take a look, here

id29 publishes How To Be A Better Client

Troy, NY, September 18, 2007
id29, a creative agency with a client roster that includes Scholastic, The Case Foundation, Pitney Bowes MapInfo and Litespeed, has released How to Be a Better Client, a detailed handbook that provides clients, and aspiring clients, with step-by-step instructions on how to make sure their advertising/creative partners are profitable, happy, successful and effective.

Doug Bartow, Principal + Design Director at id29 indicated, "These books cost us something like $25 a piece and we're giving them away for free to people who we think are worthy. That's insane, but we've become known for our selfless acts." When asked if this book is a thinly-veiled ploy to attract new clients, media coverage and attention, Bartow said, "Of course it is. Absolutely."

"Because of How to Be a Better Client, I now know how to dress, how to stand, how to sit, what to say, and all kinds of neat things that are sure to please my creative agency and improve my business," said Garrett Brown, President of Brown's Brewing Company in Troy, NY. "I even know the secret to defeating Colonel Steve Austin and how to quickly lance unsightly boils during business meetings without anyone noticing. That said, How to Be a Better Client certainly contains some controversial material. I think some people will find it hard to comprehend. Others will find it impossible to put down."

When asked about the Better Client philosophy, Dean Jackson, Director of Marketing at American Bicycle Group in Ooltewah, Tennessee noted, "The first time I met id29, they told me that they wouldn't work with us unless I guaranteed them that I would never, ever ask them to make my logo bigger or stifle their creativity with budgets and deadlines. I was skeptical, but I told them we'd give it a try. We've been so pleased with the results that we've decided to buy them a modest beach house in Monaco so they can hone their skills even further."

"How to Be a Better Client is like a do-it-yourself workshop that you might go to at The Home Depot on Saturday morning in your sweatpants. But, it's not a home improvement workshop at a big store. It's a client-improvement workshop in a book. There are 104 richly-detailed pages with nice words and illustrations that will keep aspiring clients entertained, informed and jacked up about continuous improvement," said Michael Fallone, Principal + Creative Director at id29.

Details about How to Be a Better Client and a PDF version can be found at www.id29.com/how.

About id29
id29 is a brand and communications design studio in Troy, New York. Since opening its doors in 2003, id29 has collaborated with clients to build powerful brands, campaigns and marketing strategies. Learn more about id29 and its work for Pitney Bowes MapInfo, Scholastic, Litespeed, DT Swiss, The Case Foundation, Steve Case's Revolution and more at www.id29.com.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Campaign Fueled by id29

Troy, NY, July 21, 2007 - On July 21, 2007, Scholastic released, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - arguably the most highly anticipated book in history - and the world watched. In contrast to the size, sales and importance of the new book, much of the creative and design for the book's marketing campaign was developed by id29, a small creative agency in Troy, NY that has quickly garnered national attention since opening in 2003.

"They loved our work immediately," indicated Michael Fallone, id29's Creative Director and Principal. "It's a great reminder that in the ad agency and design studio realm, some of the best work is being created by small shops."

Doug Bartow, Art Director and Principal at id29 said, "We developed a design aesthetic and five words - There Will Soon Be Seven - that really resonated with Scholastic. Our creative became the basis for much of the U.S. campaign and we spent the better part of five months executing the tactical components of the effort."

Working closely with Scholastic, id29 designed print ads, web ads, animated Quicktime and Flash movies, billboards, point-of-purchase, and exhibition design that heralded the imminent release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

"Obviously, we were honored to be chosen for such a massive, high profile effort. The nature of the project required complete silence, security and secrecy. Scholastic's been great to work with," mentioned Fallone. "Last year we started getting calls from a number of very well known potential clients. The call from Scholastic, and the opportunity, was particularly nice."

"Michael and I began id29 just four years ago, and we've focused on attracting and keeping, the finest creative talent available," said Bartow. "Our objective is to carefully build id29 into one of the best, small creative agencies in the world. I'm really proud of what we've accomplished and we're well on our way to meeting that objective."

about id29
id29 is a brand and communications design studio in Troy, New York. Since opening its doors in 2003, id29 has collaborated with clients to build powerful brands, campaigns and marketing strategies. Learn more about id29 and its work for Pitney Bowes MapInfo, Scholastic, Litespeed, DT Swiss, The Case Foundation, Steve Case's Revolution and more at www.id29.com

contact:
Michael Fallone: phone 518.687.0268 x101
email: [email protected]

id29 takes Honors at the 2006 Vision Awards

id29 is pleased to report that our work for MapInfo has been honored once again by the LACP Vision Awards. Our 2006 MapInfo Annual Report received 89 points (out of 100). This eclipses our previous record of 88 points, garnered with our 2005 report. Sorry, Bryan, but the numbers (like hips) don't lie...

id29 reaches Litespeed

Litespeed - the Ooltewah, TN-based maker of titanium bicycles, and ride of choice for champions past and present - has signed up id29 for a comprehensive (dare we say "integrated"?) array of projects. Look for much more to unfold throughout 2008 and beyond.

id29 steps out on the town

We volunteered our collective design and marketing chops to support a new community effort. Troy Night Out is a monthly arts and cultural event on the last friday of every month in our little city. The purpose is to promote the arts and businesses in downtown Troy. We whipped up an identity and some keen screen printed posters.

DT Swiss Signs us Up

DT Swiss (Grand Junction, CO), a manufacturer of exceptionally nice cycling wheelsets, hubs, forks, shocks and wheel components, has given id29 the go-ahead to craft a new brand campaign. Look for the rollout in early 2007.

Thar be gold in dem hills too...

Fresh on the heels of our triumphant Silver Medal Award for MapInfo's 2005 Annual Report comes news that we have been awarded a Gold Medal for our work on MapInfo's Corporate Brochure in the 2006 Spotlight Awards. Au > Ag. Rock on!

We had a party last night.

Ah - Octoberfest at id29! The stairway smelled of smoked meat products (and still does). We consumed several barrels of Brown's Brewing Company's "dependable" ales and lagers; a couple buckets of sauerkraut and potato salad; countless Slim Jims and York Peppermint Patties. Nobody fell off our roof. Somebody took some pix - check 'em out.

id29 in fine PRINT

Who says having St. Paddy's Day blowouts aren't good for business development? The fine editors of PRINT Magazine certainly think so. PRINT selected the 2005 invitation to our now 'infamous' St. Patrick's Day party as one of the best in the entire northeast. Our custom tyvek wristband mailer will be included in the upcoming November 06 issue of PRINT'S Regional Design Annual. Cheers to all! See you next March, Paddy...

Our new www site is magical

**Try this** see that image of our studio to the right? No? Click on the "Us" button up top. Now see? Roll your mouse over it. Whoa! It moves. And it moves faster the farther to the edges you roll your mouse. It's just like magic. Do not try this on high-speed until at least 30 minutes after you have eaten, however. For additional fun, try to count the number of Michaels in the studio. Dude is over the place. Good times...

Thar be silver in dem hills...

id29 is just giddy to announce that we were awarded a silver medal in the very competitive 2005 Vision Awards for our work on MapInfo's 05 Annual Report. The comprehensive judging scored our entry at 88 out of a possible 99 points, noting the piece had a good beat, and you can really dance to it. The judges (in reality) went on to say, "MapInfo Corporation and id29's annual report is, overall, excellent... The first impression presented by this book is excellent while the report cover and letter to shareholders are excellent and excellent respectively." We found the judges to be...well...excellent. Mad props to us and our excellent friends in the MapInfo marketing department whom we worked with closely putting this project together.

id29's Bartow talks the talk to Dynamic Graphics mag

The April/May issue of Dynamics Graphics Magazine features an article on Custom Typography that includes the work of and an interview with id29 Principal Doug Bartow, as well as 2 of his Cranbrook buddies. Well written by Laurel Saville.