DLECTRICITY 2017 Identity

Postcard, social media assets, poster, 2016

The antithesis of the coffee shop we're used to seeing, New Order Coffee Roasters is light, bright, and airy. We developed the brand from the ground up (pun intended), from logo to coffee packaging to menus, down to the smaller details like aprons, coffee sleeves, and in-store way finding. All images by Chris and Michelle Gerard.

Cranbrook Art Museum Exhibition Catalog 

68 page, perfect-bound book with foil-stamped cover, 2015

Creative direction for Will Leather Goods

Includes design, creative direction, and consulting for Will Leather Goods' new Detroit retail space on Cass Ave. Some of the work Unsold Studio produced for the client included the concept, brand identity, packaging and exterior signage for the in-store coffee shop COFFEE STATION, rewriting and redefining core brand value language, the design of new products such as two Detroit-themed totes, in-store print materials, and even a marketing concept for a plastic cow that sits in a turquoise vintage Ford pick-up (because, why not?).

Architectural shots by Michelle and Chris Gerard.

Cranbrook Art Museum Exhibition Catalog

136-page, perfect-bound book with UV coated cover, 2016

Culture Lab Detroit invitation, 2016

Brand Design, 2013

Stockyard is an artisan deli food truck and pop-up supper club in the Detroit Metro Area.

Title wall design for Cranbrook Art Museum's exhibition, "Read Image, See Text". Curated by Laura Mott. Exhibition dates: September 18, 2015 - March 20, 2016.

Book Design

300 page perfect-bound book, 2015

Written by James Stevens and Ralph Nelson

"Digital Vernacular addresses the why and how of digital fabrication in hundreds of step-by-step color images, illuminating a set of working principles and techniques that join theory with practice. Authors James Stevens and Ralph Nelson reconcile local traditions and innovations with globally accessible methods and digital toolsets. By combining ethics with hardware, the book will root you in the origins of making, ensuring a lasting and relevant reference for your studio practice. 

The book opens with the origins and principles of the digital vernacular, then outlines digital vernacular tools including computer numerically controlled (CNC) mills, laser cutters, and 3D printers. You'll even learn to create your own digital fabrication tools out of inexpensive materials. The book concludes with the processes of the digital vernacular, including techniques for removing, joining, forming, and adding. 

A companion website at make-Lab.org hosts additional step-by-step processes and project outcomes."

Cranbrook Art Museum Exhibition Catalog 

68 page, perfect-bound book with letterpress cover, 2013

Unsold Studio is very excited to be working with the Cranbrook Art Museum, creating a catalogue for the forthcoming exhibition, “What to Paint and Why: Modern Painters at Cranbrook, 1936 – 1974”. The exhibition is curated by Chad Alligood, the museum’s 2012-2013 Jeanne and Ralph Graham Collections Fellow, and it will run from Friday, June 14, through Sunday, October 13, 2013.

A little bit more about the exhibition: “Painters at midcentury faced fundamental questions of their medium: realism or abstraction? Flatness or depth? Intimacy or grandeur? At Cranbrook Academy of Art, such questions emerged through the productive tension between the styles of its early painting instructors: Zoltan Sepeshy and Wallace Mitchell. Mitchell arrived at Cranbrook in 1936 to serve as an instructor under Sepeshy, the department head. Voluble, colorful, even intimidating, Sepeshy’s bombastic temperament matched the tenor of his gritty, expressive paintings. Mitchell’s meditative abstractions, by contrast, seem to index his even-keeled reticence. This exhibition mines the dynamic contrast between these two foundational figures in Cranbrook’s history from Mitchell’s arrival to Sepeshy’s death in 1974, tracing the effects of their legacy through their own work and that of their students—several of whom went on to careers of national renown.”

Exhibition graphics and gallery guide booklet, 2014

Vinyl, spotlight

For the Theater of the Mind exhibition at Cranbrook Art Museum, curated by Laura Mott. For more information about the current fall exhibitions at CAM, please visit here.

Logo, 2013

FPB Studio is design/build studio run by Fernando Pavel Bales in the Detroit Metro area. Visit fpbstudio.com for more information.

Title wall and exhibition graphics for Cranbrook Art Museum's exhibition, "Designing Summer: Objects of Escape". Curated by Shelley Selim. Exhibition dates: June 20 - August 30, 2015.

Title Wall exhibition graphics for "Form Ever Follows" at Cornell College's Peter Paul Luce Gallery. Curated by Mark Baker. January 17 - February 28, 2016. 

A 16-page booklet that accompanies the exhibition "Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949—1987+" at the Cranbrook Art museum. The show is curated by Laura Mott, and runs June 21—March 15, 2015.

Logo, 2014

Realteam is part of Keller Williams Lakeside Realty in Shelby Township, MI.

A 20-page booklet that accompanies the exhibition "Culture Breakers: The Living Structures of Ken Isaacs" at the Cranbrook Art museum. The show is curated by Shelley Selim, and runs June 21—October 5, 2014.

Brand Identity, 2015

Voted the "#1 Best Photographer" by Detroit A-List, and named an "Inspirational Pet Photographer" by Pet Anthology, Kat Ku's brand demanded an identity to match her accolades. Focused on creating a look that that is approachable and classic, with a bit of whimsy, Kat Ku's brand provides visual flexibility for a range of applications.

Check out Kat's work here, and be sure to have her photograph your dogs, cats, guinea pigs, chickens, and goats.

A 16-page booklet that accompanies "Cranbrook Goes to the Movies: Films and Their Objects, 1925—1957" at the Cranbrook Art museum. The show is curated by Shoshana Resnikoff, and runs June 21—November 30, 2014.

Logo, 2014.

Woodward Avenue Photography focuses on wedding and portrait photography in the Detroit Metro area. Check out the portrait they snapped of us on our Who page. For more information about WAP, visit here.

For Cranbrook Art Museum's Summer 2014 exhibitions, we designed:

Exhibitions Title Wall

Gallery Guide Booklets for:

-Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949-1987+

-Culture Breakers: The Living Structures of Ken Isaacs

-Cranbrook Goes to the Movies: Films and Their Objects, 1925-1975

Wall Vinyl Designs for:

-Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949-1987+

-Paul Evans: Crossing Boundaries and Crafting Modernism

-Culture Breakers: The Living Structures of Ken Isaacs

-Cranbrook Goes to the Movies: Films and Their Objects, 1925-1975

-Ephemera: Fragments from Cranbrook's Social Life

-Modern/Moderna: Amie Siegel and Terence Gower

Poster featured in:

-Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949-1987+

*Please bear with our iPhone photos. Better documentation to come soon. 

Identity, 2013

SITEUNSEEN is an artist-run initiative founded as a means to explore the implications of space and location on artistic practice. The revolving conglomerate of artists and thinkers involved with the initiative are seeking to explore the socioeconomic conditions surrounding Pontiac, Michigan in order to engage with the aesthetics of labor, space, and urban decay.

Inspired by SITEUNSEEN’s interest in using abandoned buildings and plots of land in Pontiac, the design of the identity reflects and makes visible these forgotten spaces. The shape of the logo graphic echos the plot outline of each location in which the artists are working. The versatility of the design provides these places with their own character, while still “belonging” to the SITEUNSEEN identity. This individualized treatment allows these overlooked sites to become seen, the ultimate goal of the initiative.

53 Limited Edition Prints

19" x 25" silkscreened poster, 2013

Purchase in our shop. Free shipping to USA and Canada.

The poster references the iconic Volkswagon ad campaign from the 1960s. All Michigan-made. Designed by Unsold Studio, screen printed by Jeff Evergreen on French Paper produced in Niles, MI.

Original text by Unsold Studio reads:

Biking is work. You are the engine.

Your legs pump the pedals that rotate the sprocket. Its teeth grab the chain, rotating the back wheel, and you are fearlessly propelled forward. Gyroscopic and centrifugal forces help keep you balanced, all while you swerve, turn and switch gears.

The work makes you sweat, makes your heart rate increase. Your chest heaves and your mouth becomes dry. You fight through blisters, scrapes and weather, but you form calluses, become stronger and your metabolism grows faster. You are determined to keep moving.

You realize it is not work at all. It is freedom. Liberation from traffic, paying for gas, waiting in line with commuters, or trying to find parking. Instead, you ride above pedestrians, passing traffic with the wind in your hair. You glide to your destination, awaiting your next return to the saddle.