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Congratulations to Blackstone Hotel

To say The Blackstone Hotel is an American landmark would be a slight understatement. “The Hotel of Presidents” has an unparalleled history. It has welcomed over a dozen presidents, was the birthplace of common political colloquialisms and the inspiration behind some great pop culture. Read about it.

When Sockeye was asked to work on Blackstone’s new identity we jumped at the opportunity. How often do you get to help reinvent an icon? The new identity touched on Blackstone’s great stories and gave nod to their roots. And it seems all that jumping helped land Blackstone Hotel a Mohawk Show Finalist nod. Sweet!

Next time you’re in Chicago stop by. Check it out. Soak in the history. Enjoy.

Mohawk Show 11 Finalist: Blackstone Hotel Identity « Mohawk News.

The Portland Art Museum

Quick snapshots are great. Sockeye designer John Fisher snapped this shot of a spruced-up Portland Art Museum, as it gets prepped for Disquieted (FEB 20, 2010 – MAY 16 2010). And, can you guess who PAM allowed to dress up their windows? Sockeye!

Vitamin D is for Designers

Looks relaxing, doesn’t it?

If these Sockeye designers learn one thing about being part of the crew, it’s that 10 minutes of sunshine gives them a whole weeks’ worth of Vitamin D. Mette and Fish scramble out into the long hallway for a quick sunburst.

National Handwriting Day Is Fun

Ah yes, the seventies. A time of Smithson’s Spiral Jetty installation, Intel’s first microprocessor, and sea monkeys. Not to be outdone is National Handwriting Day, created in 1977 by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association. “Though computers and email play an important role in our lives, nothing will ever replace the sincerity and individualism expressed through the handwritten word,” says David H. Baker, Executive Director. Very true. Mr. Baker says the event was created to encourage creativity by writing out a note, poem or letter. Let’s not hold out on sincerity or individualism now!

Using an excerpt from Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie’s beloved “Peter Pan,” we had everyone at Sockeye provide a writing sample, which we then analyzed using Handwriting Web Analysis, the “Original Web Handwriting Site.”

The results were interesting.

Analysis:
Your handwriting seems comfortable and pretty well worn in with your personality, doesn’t it? Quick minds often invent their own form as they go, and that’s a sign of adaptability. Good trait. You may sometimes have a tendency to get caught up in intense discussions a bit too often, and you can do some serious leaning into people’s faces with your intensities.
Continue reading…

Sockeye Creative + Chelsea Cain

EQUALS FUN.

For our latest video series here at Sockeye, we joined so many forces it would make Luke Skywalker jealous. Novelists, musicians, performers and actors all came together in the name of supporting Portland. First up, New York Times Bestselling author Chelsea Cain. She recently completed “Evil At Heart”, the third book in her Heart series of thriller novels (available at Powells Books and on Kindle). Chelsea can now add Screen Actor to her resume.

Photography by Cory Tepper. More imagery can be blinked at here.

Interview with a Designer

-by Jen

Recently, I had the pleasure (and I use that word loosely) of interviewing Sockeye Designer Rob Wees about his efforts surrounding Sockeye’s new apparel line, PLUCK, now available at the Portland State Bookstore.

Jen: Tell me about PLUCK, Rob.
Rob: If Pete and Andy could have a child, it would be PLUCK.
Jen: Do go on.
Rob: We created extensive brand ID standards for PSU about four years ago. The student groups were doing some funky things with the logo— which they could get away with because they weren’t subject to University Communications knocking on their door from logo misuse. They came to us and asked us about breaking some of the very rules we’d written. Sounded like a good time, so we took the bait.
Jen: How did you choose the name PLUCK?
Rob: We had a very scientific naming process.
Jen: I remember it well. My choice did not get picked out of the hat.
Rob: We had a company-wide email soliciting names. Andy picked a small handful and let people vote for their favorites. I must have been sleep deprived because I got fussy and demanded new options.
Jen: Ah, the good old democratic process in action.
Rob: One of my names from the original batch was Pluck. I believe that was one of Erin’s contributions. I wanted the name to be fun to say. “I’m gonna pluck me one of them tees off the tree, I mean, shelf.”
Jen: How many beers have you had?
Rob: So, I was tasked to purposefully bastardize the very logo we had created. You know, something that would be cool for the kiddies. I reached out to Fritz Mesenbrink and Cari Vander Yacht—two hilarious freelance designers who had graduated from PSU. I laughed the first time I saw both of their designs. Fritz had a bike with a helmet for handlebars and a mammoth fur bike seat. And Cari’s “tree huger” design…what to say? I don’t know the best way to describe it, but I would say it’s an obese tree with chubby arms and itty bitty hands holding the letters “PSU.” Kinda like a boddisatvha. Without any of the respect.
Jen: Tell us, what inspires you as a designer, Rob?
Rob: I like shiny things.
Jen: Like a crow. What else?
Rob: Fuzzy things.
Jen: Thank you Rob, that concludes our interview. PLUCK you very much and have a lovely day!

Bigger IS Better

-by Rob Wees

After scores of clients saying “Please make the logo bigger,” we decided we’d beat ‘em to the punch. For Albertina Kerr’s fall advertising campaign, we decided the best way to get their message out there was to make it big…giant, even. We took our campaign centerpiece—The Angels Manifesto—and projected parts and pieces of it on the sides of buildings in downtown Portland. See the video we used these projections here.

Sockeye Dog Show

–by Jen Stevenson

This is Mette, one of our designers. She likes to design beautiful things. Things like small paper dog shows. Continue reading…

Rob’s Classy Hot Dogs

-by Rob Wees

It’s like wieden’s old spice centaur commercial—two things brought together. In this case, it’s gourmet dogs and fun design.
On a recent trip to NYC to visit friends (Hi Luis!) and family (Hi Ma!), I happened upon this fun little space.
I have a faulty memory, but here’s what I am recounting: crisp white subway tiled walls with a giant mural featuring a cityscape filled with happy cows and happy people, polished cement floors, a huge communal butcher block-style table in the center with wickedly cool slideout seats. For menu fare, gourmet sausages (beef, chicken, pork, turkey, lamb, asparagus) with your choice of sauce (cheddar jalapeno, horseradish mustard, truffle gruyere, chimichurri, sun dried tomato feta, mint yogurt). I was in dog heaven.