UNTUCK

The widening wealth gap and a system of privilege that has benefited the richest 1% of Americans at the expense of the other 99% made headlines this year with the genesis of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Yet, more than the economy, more than jobs, more than an excellent education for all children, the single issue that arguably stands to have the greatest impact on the future of Black America in 2012 is the vote. This 36th edition of The State of Black America examines how increased civic engagement by people of color will aid urban communities in their attainment of educational and employment success, empowering both these individual communities and the entire nation.

To view the four-part design process behind this project, click here.

The United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania (UWSEPA) strives to be the region's leading catalyst for change to ensure children succeed in school, families are financially stable, and older adults thrive.

The 2011 Campaign publications act as fundraising tools for a primarily corporate audience to state the case for why donors should and do partner with UWSEPA while stressing the importance of community impact. The main focus of this campaign is on the organizations that receive funding or individuals that benefit from UWSEPA services. Basic stats such as number of donors, dollars raised and where funding comes from are simply designed using graphics and charts to paint the picture of the overall investment in the community.

Facilitated by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, World Class Greater Philadelphia is a multi-year initiative that strives to make the region a world-class place to live, work, and play by 2026—the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

2026: Future Histories of Greater Philadelphia contains four very different, but very possible, futures for the Philadelphia region. These stories from the year 2026 are not meant to predict the future with perfect accuracy; rather, they are meant to challenge, provoke, and stimulate conversation among Greater Philadelphia’s leaders about what the region must focus on in the years to come. This report is meant to serve as a useful tool for business, nonprofit, and government leaders to manage uncertainty and plan more effectively within their own organizations.

Facilitated by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, World Class Greater Philadelphia is a multi-year initiative that strives to make the region a world-class place to live, work, and play by 2026—the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

This press conference hand-out serves as the Executive Summary to the report, 2026: Future Histories of Greater Philadelphia. The report contains four very different, but very possible, futures for the Philadelphia region. These stories from the year 2026 are not meant to predict the future with perfect accuracy; rather, they are meant to challenge, provoke, and stimulate conversation among Greater Philadelphia’s leaders about what the region must focus on in the years to come. 2026: Future Histories of Greater Philadelphia is meant to serve as a useful tool for business, nonprofit, and government leaders to manage uncertainty and plan more effectively within their own organizations.

Women Against Abuse required a website whose primary purpose was to encourage the public to sign the pledge against domestic violence. This would function as the official website for the annual Women Against Abuse anti-violence I Pledge Campaign. Secondarily, the site needed to make a case for support to each user whether through advocacy, volunteerism or donation, since Women Against Abuse largely depends on the commitments of the public. The site was designed to have clear call-to-actions while staying within the simple, illustrative style used throughout the campaign.

The I Pledge Campaign is a citywide anti-violence movement that calls on Philadelphians to help end violence at home and in the community. A Women Against Abuse (WAA) initiative, the campaign recognizes that unhealthy relationships at home not only destroy families, but in-turn compromise the health of our entire city. In order to build a stronger Philadelphia, WAA engages the public to take action against violence everywhere by signing the pledge.

The campaign is comprised of lightpost banners around City Hall, bus shelter posters, viral marketing palm card, t-shirts, buttons, web banners and the official website.

To celebrate a special milestone, the end of its second year in business, Untuck hosted a party at World Café Live in Philadelphia, thanking its devoted clients and partners. The invitation states, “It’s So Much Friendlier with Two, But It’s Not a Party Without You,” a tiny nod to beloved Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne). The textured pattern, tiny stitching and label-like shapes are signature elements in the custom-tailored, hand-made promise of the Untuck brand.

The bright holiday card greeting from Philadelphia-based law firm, WolfBlock is a proactive expression of peace and good tidings. The textured stock used provides subtle contrast to the embossed olive branches on the outside of the card, creating a special touch of visual interest.

Wolfington Companies is a full-service real estate investment and development company in Pennsylvania. The company operates and manages over one million square feet of commercial space and has successfully developed over 5,000 acres of residential, industrial, office, and retail real estate in the northeastern United States.

The shield is an effective vehicle for displaying three key elements relevant to the Wolfington Companies: the Philadelphia skyline; its vast acquired fields; and grains of wheat, signifying life cycles. The shield itself reflects the strength, stability and endurance of the company throughout many generations.

Women Against Abuse (WAA), a non-profit organization created to help victims of domestic violence and their children, needed a new twist on its usual Mother’s Day appeals. Looking to try something different, WAA agreed to the Seeds of Change concept, which consisted of a greeting card, outer envelope, purple forget-me-not flower seed packet and a remittance envelope to increase personal donations. Potential donors could grow these flowers to beautify their home and community, which then act as a symbol of positive change brought about by WAA.

Born out of the need to reach a sophisticated and discerning group of high net worth investors while separating itself from a flooded competitive landscape, Bouvel Investment Partners strived to reconnect with its existing customers and new prospects. The comprehensive brand development process ranging from naming and logo design through marketing collateral, spurred the creation of bouvel.com.

Unique in process, this website was a design-only venture for Untuck. Having already contracted with a financial compliance company offering a suite of products, including website and email campaign management, Bouvel provided us with the challenge of designing an aesthetic 'skin' for the site, within the many limitations of the proprietary content management system. The finished website fulfills the Bouvel brand promise and falls in line with the imagined corporate identity.

The new and improved bouvel.com, with full content management and tailored functionality, is set for the very near future.

Equipped with a top-notch development team in-house but without a designer, Reliance Standard requested an extensive set of web templates for integration with numerous sites.

A series of meetings involving key stakeholders from the RSL marketing and information technology departments started the process. All of the potential page structures for the public-facing site, the broker portal and the RSL intranet were identified and examined. Next, detailed findings were set in wireframes, then applied to paper, then screen, to produce an easy to use system of templates with a comprehensive implementation plan. Throughout the development phase, ongoing design support for any page-level needs was executed.

Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company is a leading insurance carrier specializing in innovative and flexible employee benefits solutions including disability income and group term life insurance, a suite of voluntary coverage options and fully integrated absence management.

The Everyday Guide to Web Lingo is a direct marketing effort to promote the new Reliance Standard broker extranet. The mailer aimed to ease the minds of current users during the transition from the old site by highlighting the extranet's improved usability with custom views and reporting, blazing search capability and intuitive interface. While navigating through the old site, many Reliance brokers may have used inappropriate and obscene four-letter words out of frutstration, but as shown in the Guide, new site users will utter alterate four-letter words like "Easy," "Fast," and "Cool." As a bonus, the perforated back panel is designed for the user to keep crutial contact numbers, log-in credentials and password information.

Pan American Academy Charter School is a small, tuition-free, K-8 charter school in North Philadelphia. Launched by the community-based organization Congreso de Latinos Unidos, the school’s unique approach balances the highest academic expectations with culturally responsive, supportive instruction. Pan American’s teachers are mostly bicultural and bilingual. Through small class size, intensive reading and mathematics instruction, and tutoring program, all Pan American students, the majority of which are Latino or African-American, get the support they need to meet and exceed their highest academic goals.

The blue ribbon in the logo reflects the award-winning education offered while the center star and stripes combine the American and Puerto Rican flags to stress the bicultural aspects of the school. The color palette is reflective of its partner organization, Congreso. Pan American Academy strives to be a beacon of hope and pride within its community and a model for other schools to follow.

Ann Brickley, republican candidate for U.S. Congress, is not a career politician. She's a career problem-solver. Ann aims to bring common sense and fiscal responsibility to Washington, D.C. through limited government and job creation. The Connecticut Congressional campaign, Brickley for Congress, resonated with 85,000 voters and made a significant impact on the 2010 elections.

The 2010 National Urban League Centennial Conference, Empowerment Time, was a three-day event held in Washington, DC, for participants to be informed and deeply engaged in the various elements of economic empowerment. The conference allowed attendees to experience the invaluable perspectives of business, political, and community leaders while connecting with companies looking for savvy entrepreneurs.

One highlight of the conference was the Plenary Session from President Barack Obama regarding the future of education.

The 2010 conference marked a milestone for National Urban League, its centennial, and increased awareness of the organization's, I Am Empowered campaign. The extensive signage at the event was the culmination of the overall conference identity, also developed by Untuck.

The 2009 National Urban League Conference, held in Chicago, IL, allowed participants to be informed and deeply engaged in the various elements of economic empowerment. Over the course of the three-day conference, the most celebrated and influential thought leaders shared their insight and expertise in regards to the challenges and opportunities African Americans will face in the 21st century.

The Path to Power, the 2009 conference theme, influenced many of the design decisions made for the overall conference identity and signage at the convention center space.

Master carpenter, Andrew "Buck" McLellan, followed his entrepreneurial spirit and formed McLellan Builders, a contracted network of craftsman and laborers in the Philadelphia area.

The logo, an inspired monogram, blends a stylized buck's head and letter M, exuding strength, confidence and credibility. The completed identity is aesthetically pleasing and practical featuring a nail type guide, screw driver reference and ruler system for the every man.

The Pennsylvania Ballet presents the finest in artistry and performance to the widest possible audience, and strives to enrich and expand the cultural lives of children and adults of the Greater Philadelphia region by educating its citizens about and through the art of ballet.

One of the most beloved holiday traditions, The Nutcracker, is the inspiration for this magical annual fund appeal brochure, Imagine. Dream. Believe. Hand-drawn student artwork and a spot varnish printing technique on oversized snowflakes, create an aura of innocence and fantasy to evoke an emotional connection with Pennsylvania Ballet constituents.

The 2nd Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, hosted in Philadelphia, required a dynamic website with social integration and participation at the forefront.

The GCECS 2009 site was created with development group, Round 3 Media (now SUMO Heavy) in a ridiculously tight window with Twitter, Facebook and Flickr integration and developed on the Wordpress framework for easy-to-make and up-to-date content management. The main inspiration for the design came from the grid and hierarchy of a printed newspaper—headline down to front-page stories with running commentary.

Commissioned by Innovation Philadelphia

Due to its budding intercollegiate athletics program, Harcum College, a 2-year school located in the Philadelphia suburbs, was looking to bring back its college mascot. The graphic version of Hatcher the Bear was illustrated for various medium such as apparel, accessories, printed collateral and the official college website.

A complete website overhaul, from strategy through implementation, was top priority for Harcum College. It was crucial for the site to be easy to use internally and externally, simple to manage by many hands across many departments and have a straight-forward presentation of user-centric content. This posed quite the challenge from both a workflow and architectural perspective.

Through many hours of research and planning that included stakeholder interviews, target audience feedback collection, information architecture development and wire-framing, a collective plan of attack was implemented. The solution was a custom content management system developed in tandem with our skilled development friends at Pedrera, tailored exclusively to the needs of Harcum and our recommended audience-based delivery of content.

Harcum College, a 2-year school located in the Philadelphia suburbs, wanted to attract prospective students to its Summer Open House. This playful BBQ grilling invitation welcomes a young group to campus with the promise of a tasty meal in a casual setting.

Gailey Murray Communications approached us to develop a cohesive identity package including website, that clearly told its story and promoted the firm as a public relations company of choice who could be looked on as a source for ongoing marketing efforts. Absolute requirements in functionality and content were identified and a manageable and scalable architecture for future updates and add-ons was devised.

To further position Gailey Murray as PR experts, the creation of a recurring e-newsletter named Novel Ideas was key to providing practical advice and tips for all registered recipients, as well as adding to marketing data collection. Novel Ideas was built as an editable template using a robust, yet intuitive, online email campaign tool and is fully-managed by the Gailey Murray team.

Established in 1977, Congreso de Latinos Unidos is a nationally recognized leader in human services for the 21st Century. As its mission states, it strengthens Latino communities through social, economic, education and health services. Its staff and clients reflect the diversity of the Latino/African American community in Eastern North Philadelphia that it serves.

The theme for its 2010 Annual Report, The Measure of Promise, is indicative of the strong data that Congreso is able to collect on its many clients in the community, in turn providing them with the best possible programs and services. The organization is able to see the impact of the programs that it provides and measure the promise of success in the Latino community.

Established in 1977, Congreso is a nationally recognized leader in human services for the 21^st Century. Its staff and clients reflect the diversity of the Latino/African American community that it serves.

Congreso’s Annual Black Tie Gala Latina is always a tremendous success and a memorable celebration. The gala theme, Feria De Las Flores, A Night in Medellín honors the annual, week-long series of parades and parties at the Flower Festival in Medellín, Columbia. The festival is said to continue into the night making this the best nightlife time to visit Medellín. The vivid illustrated flowers of the invitation soar off the black background, reflective of the night sky during the Festival, and bring elegance to the event.

The State of Black America is an annual report published by the National Urban League including the 2010 Equality Index™, which examines African-American and Latino progress in economics, education, health, civic engagement and social justice.

The 2010 report, Jobs: Responding to the Crisis, addresses the staggering job losses the country continues to face. Confronting nationwide unemployment, the report outlines innovative steps that must be taken—including supporting small businesses and the emerging green economy, reforming education and expanding broadband access—to move this country and our urban communities forward toward full economic and social equity.

Large- and small-scale signage was created to visually promote the report at the press conference and book launch, the National Urban League Annual Conference and various other chapter events.

The National Urban League’s State of Black America 2010 // Jobs: Responding to the Crisis addresses the staggering job losses the country continues to face. Confronting nationwide unemployment, the report outlines innovative steps that must be taken—including supporting small businesses and the emerging green economy, reforming education and expanding broadband access—to move this country and our urban communities forward toward full economic and social equity.

The report presents the National Urban League’s plan for creating jobs and includes the 2010 Equality Index™, which examines African-American and Latino progress in economics, education, health, civic engagement and social justice.

The cover, a cracked asphalt photo with the exposed tips of typical men’s and women’s working shoes, give life to the job-hunting expression, "pounding the pavement" and depict a dire state of the current employment situation in the United States.

The State of Black America 2010 // Jobs: Responding to the Crisis won an American Graphic Design Award.

Café Habana—best known for its authentic Cuban cuisine, late night dancing and lounge atmosphere—changed ownership and its identity.

The pen and ink illustrations supplied by a local artist, provides a unique and engaging basis for the logo, stationery system and menus. The system consists of lunch, dinner and cocktail menus, printed on a natural, parchment-like stock.

Café Habana—best known for its authentic Cuban cuisine, late night dancing and lounge atmosphere—changed ownership and its identity.

The whimsical pen and ink illustrations furnished by a local artist, provide a unique and engaging basis for the restaurant's logo, stationery and menu system.

For more than 90 years, Equipment Corporation of America (ECA) has been a premier distributor of specialized foundation construction machinery for heavy commercial, civil, mining and marine construction projects.

The Foundation of Success ad campaign uses a weathered paper background and stylized line drawings to capture the long-standing history of ECA. The company has been helping to build the foundation of this country since the turn of the century. ECA’s trusted equipment was even used onsite at Ground Zero in NYC.

Bouvel Investment Partners provides independent, insightful investment advice and management services with a very personal touch. It is an established investment advisory firm dedicated to providing affluent individuals, families and businesses with a one-to-one relationship with the firm’s principals to help achieve investment objectives such as capital preservation, growth and/or income.

After a recommended identity assessment and name change, the hand-drawn B for the founding Bouvel family was created to serve as a personal yet sophisticated symbol. The clean, professional identity system alludes to the company’s skillful knowledge, precision and experience in the investment world.

Sage & Swift is a consulting and training firm that helps companies improve business processes and manage change. The Sage & Swift logo, a clean, corporate and modern representation of the firm's culture, reflects its 25-year experience and ability to rapidly achieve tangible business results.

JB Garrett’s, formerly the Brick Bar—a local college hang-out—has been redesigned into an upscale bar and restaurant with a stronger food focus.

The stationery and menu for JB Garrett’s uses a more serious, refined color palette of maroon and navy, and references the logo by including notched diamond corners in the margins. These signature notches provide visual interest as well as lead the customer’s eye to important information, such as each section of the menu, as an aid for easy ordering. The menu is clean, well organized and laminated for quick cleaning.

There is a rumor that Bruce Springsteen himself is a huge fan of the peanut butter pie and autographed one of the menus.

The Boy Scouts of America provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness.

This fundraising appeal to save Treasure Island, a Boy Scout camp that was ravaged by storms, mimics a leather-bound journal with nostalgic scout memories. The mailer first opens to rounded corner pages with handwritten notes, sketches and saved snapshots, then fully unfolds to a worn map of the island, discovered treasures, earned badges and letters written home. An appeal card is tucked into a vertical pocket on the side with remittance envelope. 

Commissioned by Leapfrog Advancement Services.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a national leader in fine arts education that brings together artists and the public through exceptional teaching programs, a world-class collection of American art, major exhibitions, and widely accessible public programs. 

The 2006-2007 College Viewbook for PAFA provides an overview of the school’s programming to attract prospective students to apply. The book features magnificent photography of the studios and facilities, student and faculty artwork, and accomplishments of distinguished alumni, all within a grid-like, color-coded system. The folder in the back reveals various applications, forms for financial aid and tuition information.

Commissioned by Leapfrog Advancement Services

In 2001, Mayor John F. Street awarded the historic Thomas Eakins house to the Mural Arts Program, allowing it to double its current space and offer additional arts education programs and outreach to at-risk youth. A significant portion of the funding for the renovation of the Eakins house was provided by Lincoln Financial Group and the City of Philadelphia in 2005. This appeal brochure was created to supplement those gifts by gaining support from individuals and providing information on the renovations for the state-of-the-art headquarters that was to come.

The design showcases the beautiful photography of various Philadelphia murals and features bold call-out quotes from a diverse group of advocates (such as the mayor) along with proposed floor plans of the new Mural Arts Center.

The international traveling exhibition,Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World was organized and presented by the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary to mark the 300-year anniversary of Franklin's birth.

The Family Guide is a children’s activity book for the exhibit, presented by “Skuggs” the custom illustrated squirrel that Benjamin Franklin sent from Philadelphia to a friend in London. (It is said that he was quite fond of those furry gray creatures.) The Guide features fill-in-the-blank questions, word jumbles, a crossword puzzle and more, relevant to content in the exhibit.

The international traveling exhibition,Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World was organized and presented by the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary to mark the 300-year anniversary of Franklin's birth.

Using reference materials, a timeline and the existing color palette, the printed accordion fold guide book appropriately leads the viewer through the exhibitions six sections: Character Matters, B. Franklin Printer, Civic Visions, Useful Knowledge, World Stage, and Seeing Franklin. It also provides an illustrated map on the back.

The exhibit toured to five cities in the United States and to Paris and the guide book was translated into French and Spanish.

Dish It Up is a food and beverage tasting event to benefit one of the largest domestic violence programs in the country, Women Against Abuse. This annual event features some of the finest culinary creations that Philadelphia has to offer, along with the purple dish award for the best purple food served by a chef during the event.

The identity for the event aims to attract a young, professional crowd and includes the playful Dish It Up logo, save the date postcard, invitation and coaster with a vibrant color palette and pop art feel.

Committee of Seventy (Seventy) is a not-for-profit group that works for effective, efficient government to benefit all citizens and create a better future for those in the region. In essence, it is Philadelphia's only non-partisan political watchdog plus a whole lot more. The ambiguity of the Seventy mission and its inability to connect with audiences under 35 emerged as the key organizational issues leading to inefficient donor relations and poor volunteer recruitment.

Preliminary research resulted in the selection of a modern typeface (Avenir), and a broader color palette, ranging from vivid blue to near fuchsia, purple and warm gray. These changes were careful considerations to prevent alienating existing donors, yet still showing a clear sign of progress for the organization.

This fully-managed site enabled Seventy to add, delete and modify all content on the site using a easy to use content management system. Then a custom-developed volunteer portal used internally to manage sign-ups, training sessions, qualifications, assignments and placement of all registered volunteers, was deployed by strategic development partner, Pedrera. Volunteers were now able to apply for a position and once approved, access the secure portal, manage their profile, sign-up for specific training sessions and upon completion of training, sign-up for an assignment with time and location options.

The previous site for The Lighting Practice (TLP) was a Flash-based website that was laborious and time consuming to update, had miniscule photos displaying client projects (downplaying the luminous environments TLP creates), and was generally flat and static with little user interaction.

A new corporate identity and structured research phase drove the website process. Much of the aesthetic was framed around the concept of light and its many personalities: dark and light; pure and haunting; bold and subtle. Using these dueling qualities as the basis, a neutral gray was selected to provide the backdrop for more accurate color viewing on screen while enhancing the drama and saturation of the photos.

The entire site was developed on the ExpressionEngine web publishing platform due to its no-limitations-approach to design, structure and content. Multiple content relationships between projects, people and services were created to present an information-rich and relevant experience for each user. Now this full-feature content management system is nimble enough for The Lighting Practice to handle all of its updates and add-ons at a moment's notice.

The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania stands at the forefront of education, research, and policy studies on the processes, nature, and consequences of existing and emerging media. Therefore, the school diligently keeps in contact with its alumni through a bi-annual publication, NewsLink.

The editorial re-design of NewsLink features news worthy articles relevant to the mission of the School and updates its readers on many topics such as international and local events, faculty research and alumni honors. The cover art is a custom illustration created to represent the globalization of the Annenberg School.

For many years, the Urban League of Philadelphia (ULP) had produced an annual report entitled The State of Black Philadelphia but for the last 10 years, had let the report fall away. In re-introducing the report, the hope was to overcome a larger obstacle of the lack of awareness among the black population of Philadelphia and, in particular, a youth set that had little knowledge of the organization. ULP’s leadership knew it wanted the kind of fresh, clean and modern design that a data-driven piece needed in order to appeal to a wider audience.

What began as an attempt to reach new audiences and re-introduce the organization to those who already knew of the Urban League movement, became one of the most successful pieces ever released by the Urban League of Philadelphia. The interest was so great that the report had to be reprinted to meet high demand.

The State of Black Philadelphia won an American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Philadelphia Design Award.

In support of its programs and as a vehicle for regular updates and information, Innovation Philadelphia requested a custom-designed, reusable template to be integrated into the Constant Contact system. The developed Email Newsletter "Innovation Matters" features all the necessary sign-up functions, linking back to the Innovation Philadelphia website.

In collaboration with Innovation Philadelphia to create its new identity, an online brand manual for easy distribution, access and management was born. Services included writing, development of graphic standards and design for the electronic manual. The result was a low-cost and easy to update alternative to the traditional printed binder.

The Marketing Kit for Innovation Philadelphia—a nonprofit organization committed to supporting technology-driven economic growth in the Philadelphia Region through growing creative industries—targets its audience of designers, film-makers, photographers and IT professionals. Innovation Philadelphia aims to attract and retain young professionals vital to economic growth, while fostering entrepreneurship and new ideas. A few well-placed key words on the cover help to explain the mission of the organization.

ACHIEVEability, a non-profit that seeks to permanently improve the lives of homeless persons, hosted a food tasting event, Food for Thought. The event featured flavors fired by seasoned Philadelphia chefs such as Marc Vetri from Osteria, Kevin Sbraga, Bravo's 2010 "Top Chef," and Michael Shulson of Sampan.

The save the date postcard simply highlights the Italian cuisine of headliner Vetri, while hinting at the elite line-up of celebrity chefs in attendance. 

Two seasoned public relations professionals formed Gailey Murray Communications, a team of strategics and tacticians who aren’t afraid to execute and get their hands dirty. The firm helps clients craft and tell their stories—to the right audiences, through the right channels and at the right times.

Gailey Murray makes it a point to learn every side of a story to create unique and compelling marketing and public relations programs that result in success. That story-telling differentiator is the driving force behind the design. The Gailey Murray identity consists of logo, tagline (It's your story. Tell it.), stationery system and website.