Our Office & Studio Store Renovation

Call us crazy, but back in July, we decided to renovate our entire building—inside and out—while we kept working in the middle of the chaos. The goal was to transform our crusty old 70s-era office building into a hip multi-use hot spot of design and local culture. So we did a total makeover to create a warm and inviting retail space on the ground floor and a stylish design studio space on the 2nd floor.

For the last 10 years, our place looked like an ordinary office building. The structure was easy to ignore—and that didn’t bother us because we were busy minding our own business, creating award-winning logos, packaging and design work for clients.

Once our classic prints and gifts started selling like crazy on Fab.com and on our own site, we realized that we needed to create a gallery space to showcase our creations. That idea grew into the Anderson Design Group Studio Store. To make our office building look more like a retail store from the street, we blew up our poster art and decorated the building with our favorite designs. We added warehouse lights for a classic feel, changed the paint color, and cut down some bushes and trees that had been obscuring the building. The results have been amazing in terms of foot traffic into the new space.

As the workers transformed the outside, another crew was busy gutting the interior. Phase 1 was to establish a new environment upstairs where our designers could spread out and be creative. The 2nd floor had been a storage area, and the designers were all on the ground floor sharing space with our first attempt at a retail store/showroom. (Our prints and gifts had started to become so popular that we constantly had customers dropping in to browse, ask questions, and hang out while we were trying to work on design projects for our clients! We really enjoyed the interaction, but it soon became counter-productive.) Sharing space like that wasn’t good for the design firm or our retail biz. So we split the operation in two by moving the design team upstairs, making room for a for-real retail space downstairs.

The upstairs design aesthetic is rustic, creative and casual. We love being in the South. (For years, we had to convince clients from New York and L.A. that Nashville was a cool place. Now everyone knows that!) We wanted to celebrate our Southern roots and evoke some Music City Charm in the colors, textures, and vibe of our new interior.

After we finished the upstairs renovation, we moved the design team up to our fresh new creative roost. It turned out to be a soothing, yet inspiring space ideal for collaborating. Each design station got a brand new ergonomic UpDesk (a swanky motorized adjustable height desk.) The model we chose (the UpWrite) has a dry erase surface! (These UpWrite desks are amazing, by the way! We love them so much, we want to be sure to give a shout out to the folks who produce them!)

We used reclaimed wood and sheet metal (Joel Anderson distressed it and made it look old and rusty) to give the space a nice comfy, Southern vibe. We made our conference room table from an old tree that was sawed down the middle. Everything we did was intended to create a more natural, re-purposed, and creative environment—right down to the coffee table made from 2 old retired G-5 Mac towers!

 

(Of course, Joel had to make room for his collection of toys.)

Once we moved into our new design studio space upstairs, we started Phase 2—gutting the ground floor so we could create the Anderson Design Group Studio Store and gallery space. It is now a proper showcase for all of our poster art, licensed products, fine art, and other cool hand-crafted items from our favorite local makers. (Everything we sell was designed and made in Tennessee.)

Founder Joel Anderson describes the store like this: "We wanted to create a truly Southern shopping and browsing experience that showcases the history, creativity and charm of Music City. We planned every detail to draw people into the space, captivate them with clever use of color, texture, space and craftsmanship, and give them something to take home or give to a client, friend or loved one.”

The newly transformed space is ideal for welcoming our design clients, groups of design students who want to tour the studio, and customers who love well-designed, locally-made gifts. Our vision for combining business-to-business design with design for consumers to enjoy has come together in a beautiful way.

The entire building now exudes a welcome Southern charm and encourages everyone who enters to be more expressive, creative, and joyful. If you want to go somewhere that will make you smile as soon as you walk in, come to 116 29th Avenue North in Nashville, Tennessee. We hope to see y’all soon!

Ram Trucks: Part Two

Last year we did a series of Ram Truck posters for the Richards Group, Americas largest independent ad agency. The series was based around Texas state parks and styled after WPA era travel posters.

Here's a couple of last year's posters. You can check out last year's series here. 

The response was so positive that they wanted to do another series this year based on the outdoors. Camping, fishing, hunting, and boating were the subjects this year. This deadline was a tight turnaround so the client decided to split the project among four design firms to speed things along. Anderson Design Group had the pleasure of working on their camping poster, featuring the 2014 Heavy Duty 3500 Ram Truck.

Starting with a concept sketch based on direction from the client, illustrator Aaron Johnson took on the challenge to create this poster in under a week. This poster highlighted the serene seclusion of nature away from city life, and the power of the heavy duty truck to haul a trailer though the rough terrain.

After getting approval to proceed with rendering Aaron had less than three days to pull it off. After a couple late nights the poster was finished in record time.

The rest of the series can be found here.

Music City Eats festival

If you're one of the lucky ones who will be in Nashville this weekend for the Music City Eats festival, well, you're in for a treat! Featuring local restaurant showcases, cooking demonstrations, wine, beer & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions and, of course, live music, Music City Eats will present the best of high and low cuisine, dishing up authentic Southern flavor in a fresh, inspiring way. 

C3 Presents, in partnership with the Kings of Leon folks approached us with the task of helping them brand Nashville's first food, wine, and spirits festival! C3 Presents are the event organizers behind some of the biggest festivals (among them is Austin City Limits…which we've had the pleasure of working on before), and now included in their long list of credentials will be MCE. 

We started out with sketching a logo design for the event. After a clear winner was chosen, we moved on to poster sketches and finally, a style guide that could be used to create everything from the website, to banner ads, to napkins. To see more of our designs in use, or to snag a ticket for the event, check out their website. Happy eating Nashville!

High Brow Brew

It's safe to say Nashville has enjoyed a growth spurt of awesomeness these days. Local businesses are booming and we still pinch ourselves at the privilege of helping so many of these talented local artisans launch their brand. More and more creatives are moving in and using their talents to add a unique flair to the city's diverse culture. Among these skilled folks are Steve Pearson and Dorene Williams; West coast transplants who have brought with them years of working in creative environments. Stylish, sophisticated, and not afraid to speak openly about what they like and don't like, this hip duo immediately won us over after they approached us with a unique opportunity to brand a new coffee shop in Franklin. 

The coffee lovers that we are, we got jittery (with excitement!) for the chance to be able to work on a coffee shop, but what Steve and Dorene had in mind was even more special. They wanted to open a coffee shop that celebrated the flavors and lifestyle of the South in a way that elevated it to a more refined, sophisticated level. They even used the term "fancy chickens"; we were smitten! While the name "High Brow Brew" is meant to be taken "tongue in cheek," it has also become their business philosophy of setting high standards for providing quality goods. The name takes on additional meaning in that it hints at the brow view of the Tennessee countryside from their family's farm in Leiper's Fork.  

After a few rounds of sketch comps, we settled on a logo that felt a little bit glam, a little bit country, and full of Southern charm. The sunrise over the hill represents the view from the family farm, while the stylized swashes in the letter forms allude to the swirls of steam from a hot cup o' joe. The logo was finished off with a fanciful design of chickens and pipes. They were added as a fun yet subtle brand theme (because what's more whimsical than smoking chickens, right!?) In addition, we used some of the same elements to create a monogram logo mark, and parts and pieces that could be used on everything from napkins, to cups, to cigars. Warm, welcoming, and friendly, Steve and Dorene used their talents to extend the same vibe to their space with rustic barn wood, mason-jar lights, and a grand chandelier that flanks the entrance. Yes sir, Nashville is pretty awesome, and thanks to people like Steve and Dorene, we reckon it will stay that way.

To enjoy some delectable southern treats, visit their site for location and hours. 

Designer: Ligia Teodosiu

Photography: Promedia Tours

Green Fleet Bicycle Tours

Watching people outside enjoying the weather through our blinds while we stayed in making cool artwork got us itching to get some exercise. That itch was scratched when we got a call from Green Fleet Bicycle Tours. Founded by Austin Bauman, who started Nashville's only bicycle courier company, the business now includes a bicycle shop and guided tour service.

The bike tours start at the bicycle bus, which is parked under the pedestrian bridge between 1st and 2nd Ave S. The bus, which houses the bikes for the tour, was painted by local artist Andee Rudloff and a team of young artists.

The first thing to do was get the Green Fleet experience. Joel and Aaron took a bike tour over the pedestrian bridge, and got a feel for the business. Austin, who rides for fundraisers and visits children's hospitals, favored the whimsical folk art style from the bus. We incorporated that same feel into our poster which has the whimsical and adventurous youthful spirit that invites people of all ages to take a bike and explore downtown Nashville.

Next came the postcard and sticker/patch design, which speak perfectly with their bicycle courier roots.

Lastly came the logo. Working in reverse of our normal process the logo drew elements from the poster and patch but focused on the bike shop, which deals in tune ups and selling bikes. Now they have everything to tie the bike shop and the tours together for the complete Green Fleet experience.

Check out their website for information on how to book your bike tour!

The Cool: Self-Portrait Drawings by Gaikuo

Bird Dog Whisky

Hunting season opened early this year, when Western Spirits tracked us down to do a poster for their Bird Dog Whisky. With their sights set on our Bells Bend Park poster by illustrator Ligia Teodosiu they wanted to do a version featuring their whisky bottle and a hunting dog.

They threw us a bone with one of their cork-topped whisky bottles and the first thing we did was open it up to test out the flavor. This was very important research. 

Following that illustrator Aaron Johnson let the dogs out to find the right pose to capture the spirit of the hunting dog. 

After choosing their pick of the litter we rendered all the new elements and retooled the background a bit to fit the new composition. 

After all was said and done the finished product was quite the catch. After that we promised to never make dog puns again if we could come out of the doghouse and sleep on the rug.

Check out the Bird Dog site to learn more about their whisky and see all the flavors!