Sherry in Seattle!

One of our most fabulous clients, Sherry Council of America, has made their way to Seattle on the next stop of their East to West coast road trip.

Seattle, the city of Fino and seafood, welcomed the Secret Sherry Society with open arms.

What are their plans whilst in town?

Well, yesterday, August 25th, the Society hosted a Secret Sherry Tasting at Pike and Western Wine Shop, where guests enjoyed an assortment of Sherry wines, coupled with delicious tapas.

Even though the entrance was a secret, folks seemed to find their way in to experience the excitement.

This weekend, the Secret Sherry Society is a sponsor at the International Food Blogger’s Conference happening here in town.

They’ll be gathering at Theo Chocolate on August 28th for a pre-dinner cocktail party for conference attendees.

Salud!

Winners!

Our not-so-secret Secret Sherry Society has just been selected for the 2010 Print magazine Regional Design Annual. The posters artfully emulate the tastes of various types of Spanish wine through a set of eight characters. See “The 8” on our web portfolio or hold out for a hard copy and buy Print Magazine. If you want to experience what it’s like to be apart of the Secret Sherry Society go to _______at______. Or just keep an eye out for mysterious projections on city walls.

Also on the list for the Design Annual is JanSport’s Reclaimed Art Canvas campaign where we used the nostalgia of drawing and writing on a backpack and took it to a whole other level. At the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival we put up huge blank canvases—the same canvas used to make JanSport packs—and let anyone who wanted to go to town with paints, markers and other art supplies. The end result was fourteen vibrant, one-of-a-kind murals that we took back to the JanSport factory to cut apart and sew into backpacks. Watch the video below and see it for your self!

JanSport Reclaimed Art Canvas, Bonnaroo from Creature on Vimeo.

Ryan Berkley

At Creature we are extremely fortunate to partner with talented folks all around the world. This year, one of those very talented people was Portland based illustrator Ryan Berkley. We worked with him to create eight different personalities for eight different types of Sherry. One of those Sherries, Cream, was featured in the 2009 Communication Arts Design Annual.

   
              Amantillado is slightly nutty.                        Cream Sherry is sweet and velvety. 

     
              Fino has a dry and delicate wit.                    Manzanilla comes from a seaside town.

We were searching for the perfect illustrator for the Sherry project when we happened upon Ryan’s booth at a craft fair in Seattle. We were smitten right away. Who wouldn't be, his entire body of work sheds a unique light on the personality of our furry (or feathery or fishy) friends. Check out some of our favorites:

    
                    A real self starter.                                          He is quite the ladies man. 

      
            You'd best stay on his good side.                                It's business time.

You can view all of his work on his etsy page.

Or read his blog to keep up with the latest and greatest.

Secret Society induction party: live art, cocktails and Mike Cina interview

Trade in a secret for a Sherry cocktail. That was the basis for a San Francisco cocktail-party-turned-live-art-event where hundreds of culinary, entertainment, music, design and fashion personalities were inducted into the Secret Sherry Society.

Attendees confessed a secret, got their drink and then watched as their secret was transformed into printed pieces of original art. The art was put on display (about 50 or so pieces) for all the guests to take with them and will be part of an online gallery built this winter. There’s even some rumors of a limited edition collectors book.

Seattle-based Heaters DJ’d the perfect vibe for the night where literally hundreds of secrets were turned in (free delicious Sherry cocktails helped people find their muse). The crowd loved the entire experience and passionately debated the merit of various secrets. Some guests even left with a dozen or more pieces of the artwork.

To create the live art, Creature's own Steve Cullen partnered with Mike Cina, founder of the legendary design firm You Work For Them. After the event the two caught up for a quick chat.

SC: We kinda had some sweaty palms the day beforehand.

MC: For me it was the day before when we "practiced" a bit. Since the live element was not there and we had never done it before, it was hard to know what to expect. I like being prepared and there really was no way to know what to expect. But after getting the first secret, I realized that this was going to be like riding a bike. As soon as I read the first card, I felt more relaxed and ready to have some fun. The rest of the night was very enjoyable.

SC: Ever done anything like this?

MC: I have done some live work before but it is normally controlled and planned out. This was amazing on many different levels and I got a lot of inspiration and insight by designing in the moment. I definitely think we pulled it off. When you consider the amount of time spent on each work (about 5 minutes) and the nature of it all, I think it turned out amazing. People were very thankful to have their secret done visually and I am sure they talked about it a lot to other people. I feel like we really touched people through the work.

SC: What secrets stood out to you?

MC: "The account is empty" was by far the most striking of them all. I mean, how epic is that? There were a lot of love-themed secrets that I had expected to see. Love triangles, etc. There were a couple of other dark ones that I can't really repeat.

SC: A lot of dick jokes too, right? So weird. Anyway. You've been dubbed by design blogs as “the man that never sleeps.” What's the secret to your productivity?

MC: Work smart. I see designers not focusing on "what is at hand" and what the job needs. That is where experience comes in. If you can attack a job with a vision, normally things start to work out at a rapid pace. There are always 20 side projects that I have going on at any given point.

SC: You're starting a new company, a solo adventure, in the middle of the worst economy in 80 years. Seriously?

MC: I have done it before in the last bad economy. Its time again!

SC: What secret do you think design and advertising creatives never seem to learn?

MC: Keep it simple.

SC: What, in graphic design, are you secretly sick of seeing?

MC: Repetitive styles without consideration for the project.

SC: What do you hope to see more of?

MC: Brains and hearts being used.

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(Just a few of the secrets of the evening...)