It is impossible not to be influenced by the magnificent mill buildings we inhabit. In the design department we continually dig though inherited archives for inspiration. One particular instance is the graphics and mid-century typography of the former Sprague plant.

The original Sprague logo has worked it’s way into many iterations:

Appearing often enough we decided it was time to create a full-fledged working font. With the help of former super-intern Danelle Cheney, SpragueFace was sketched and produced into a beautiful, multi-weight, real-deal font.

More source material:

Initial sketches:

In use:

A bonus look at the light weight:

There you have it! Are any of our readers type geeks? Let us know what you think. Have you ever made your own font?

My awesome friend Meredith in the Performing Arts department took a few minutes to visit with designer/artist Jim Findlay while he was here working on his design and video for the Music of George Crumb concert which is the grand finale to International George Crumb Day here at MASS MoCA. Meredith put together a few clips of her time with Jim to give you idea of what he has up his sleeve for the video portion of the concert. Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Brittany

Our friends at Kidspace have a new home on the world wide web. The new website features photos, educator guides, a brand new blog, and so much more! What are you waiting for? Visit the new Kidspace website NOW!

Cheers,
Brittany

This new product from an Australian designer just came across our desk.  Its called the Sky Planter and its by Patrick Morris. The website touts the Sky Planter’s ability to save water, floor space, and your plants, but we already knew the benefits of upside down plants here at MASS MoCA.  We’re checking our records to see if Mr. Morris has ever been a visitor….

We are delighted to host the first BeCreative Bar Camp with the good folks at Berkshire Creative on Friday, May 1 starting at 5:30 PM.

While there will be a cash bar available, the event is focused on creativity not drinking or gymnastics.

The name “BarCamp� is a playful allusion to the event’s origins, with reference to the hacker slang term, foobar which is a common placeholder name for something with an unknown value: BarCamp arose as a spin-off of Foo Camp, an annual invitation-only participant driven conference hosted by open source publishing luminary Tim O’Reilly.

Stay after Bar Camp for the Cuban Dance party in the Hunter Center. Tickets just $13.50 for Bar Camp participants.

We’re proud to note that the exhibition catalogue for Spencer Finch: What Time Is It On The Sun? was recognized in PRINT Magazine‘s Regional Design Annual 2008. If you don’t yet have a copy of the beautiful catalogue, designed by Tim Hossler, you can order one here or by emailing Hardware: The MASS MoCA Store.