Volume 20–4.pdf - U&lc

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WILD AT HEART
Purple might seem an unlikely
color for an annual report for a
Zoo, but not if you think of purple
as regal or believe that animals
live in a kingdom. When the Zoo -
logical Society of Houston hired
Houston-based Rigsby Design in
1991 to create its annual report
and 25th anniversary review,
Lana Rigsby used the occasion to
wrap the report in violet paper as
crinkly as a hippo's hide.
Her most influential contribution,
however, was to link past
and present through the use of
illuminated letters that relate
historical events to the Zoo's own
achievements. She commissioned
photographer Arthur Meyerson
and illustrator Andy Dearwater to
work with her in overcoming the
biggest challenge: recognizing
25 years of conservation leadership
without letting the brochure
digress into a sentimental scrapbook
of isolated Society events.
An "immersion" zoo where animals
roam freely within their
natural habitats, the Zoological
Society of Houston allows visitors
to feel as if they are penetrating
nature, underscoring the
inextricable connection between
wildlife and their ecosystems.
This booklet aims to replicate
this intimate experience through
the use of Meyerson's tightly
cropped, tactile images of animals.
The photographs act as a
foil to the restrained, old world
elegance of the text pages, as do
Dearwater's lush illustrations. A
detailed timeline of the Society's
history further highlights key
moments in the Zoo's growth and
ties them to developments in the
worldwide preservation effort.
The Houston Zoological Society
employs design as activism, elevating
its identity from an annual
report that summarizes a quarter
century of efforts to one with a
more urgent message. The strategy
appears to have worked.
As Nancy William, the Society's
executive director remarked,
"This elegant, sophisticated book
has not only caught and held the
attention of our audience, but
also clearly conveys the magnificence
and dignity of the earth's
wild creatures and the gravity of
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CLEVELAND CALLING * a
Call it a cleansing of the palate:
Zachary Bruell. owner of Z Contemporary
Cuisine bid adieu
to the '80s glittery excess and
called in Mark Schwartz and
Joyce Nesnadny of Clevelandbased
Nesnadny Schwartz to redesign
his restaurant. We knew
and loved the restaurant, so for
us the project was a double win;'
says Schwartz.
Culinary sophistication has always
been plentiful at Z Contemporary
Cuisine. But now style has
taken a fresh new turn. "Our idea
was for an identity system that
could accommodate lots of interpretations,"
explains Schwartz.
The letter Z's clean, angular lines
became the central motif from
which every visual element
evolved. The team photographed
food arranged in a Z pattern, set
up an on-site desktop publishing
system that prints out new menus
and wine lists as needed and
designed a cloth-bound portfoliostyle
menu folder. Vellum menu
inserts echo glass blocks used in
the restaurant's interior and, in
a playful nod to the less pretentious
'90s, brightly colored rubber
bands stretched through metal
grommets into a Z shape hold the
menu in place.
Since the budget was tight, all
work was assigned to local vendors,
with 83 percent of the costs
arranged through trade. "In an
effort to be economically and
environmentally sound, we even
found a way to use up 20,000
boxes of old matches," explains
Schwartz with pride, "We designed
four different Day-Glo
colored labels, each containing
copy about recycling, that were
adhered to the boxes until the
inventory was depleted:'
In yet another variation on
the restaurant's theme, sinuous
grapevines in the foyer were
coaxed into a big meandering Z.
"Instead of going to a sign maker,
we went to a florist. The grapevines
subtly pick up on the menu.
the stationery. It's there and it's
not there:'
Subtlety comes as a matter
of course at Z Contemporary Cuisine,
with its 24-piece identity
system that gradually reveals itself
over time. "Being obvious;'
adds Schwartz, "is not our forte:'