United Bamboo S/S & F/W Invitations

United Bamboo is a New York City and Tokyo based fashion house founded in 1998. We were commissioned to create invitations for their seasonal fashion shows. Our solution is based on only one design, which we produced in a different way for every season. For Spring/Summer the invitation took the form of an embroidered iron-on patch. After the show, it could be ironed on to clothing or bags. The shiny embroidered type and blue color scheme was reminiscent of a bright day on the ocean, the inspiration for the S/S collection. For Fall/Winter the invite was produced as a flexible refrigerator magnet to reflect that season’s masculine and somber mood.

Man Made Catalog

Studio Museum in Harlem is a nexus for African American Art based in Harlem, NYC. This catalog accompanied Stephen Burks’ first show at the museum. Working closely with Stephen Burks and the Studio Museum in Harlem, we came up with a list of criteria for Stephen’s exhibition catalog. First and foremost, the catalog should feel “artisanal.” Much like Stephen’s work, the catalog should strive to be an amalgam of different influences, textures, pictures, colors, layouts and materials. There should be no right or wrong way to read it, as the entering point for each reader will vary. The biggest challenge here was to create a mass produced object (in this case, 2,000 catalogs) on a limited budget that felt like each one was artisanal; hand-made and unique. 

In approaching this challenge, we looked at all the variables we could play with to achieve maximum variation with each catalog. First, we structured the content into 5 categories: Text, Image, Essay, Collage, and Sketch. Each of these five categories were then limited in length to 16 page signatures, so that we could use a different paper stock for each category. Paper stocks were chosen based on creating maximum contrast. By binding the signatures together in 5 different sequences, we were able to introduce even more variation. In order for this difference in sequences to be apparent, the cover and back cover needed to be clear, so we chose a plastic material which allowed the different front and back pages to show through. The title was then silkscreened onto each cover. For binding, we used a vinyl coated cloth material normally used as gaffer’s tape. This material came in many different colors, but we limited our selection to 10. Each book was then bound with 1 of 10 different color tapes. By working within these constraints, we were able to produce over 25 different variations of catalogs without incurring much additional cost.

Erwan Frotin Invitation and Portfolio

This is an invitation and portfolio package created for photographer Erwan Frotin’s Wildflowers exhibition at Art + Commerce. We captured the spirit of Erwan’s photo series by air brushing the edges of each invitation with gradient colors.

A new post featuring more work by Studio Lin will be published later in the week — Studio Lin’s new site.