Span

Welcome to November! 🍂 Nothing says fall like recognition for work that drives change and transformation for our clients. Excited to share that 🎉 Communication Arts just published an in-depth, 8-page article spotlighting Span🏅! This feature dives into how our team collaborates with clients to craft dynamic, 4-D brand identities that bridge foundational strategy with powerful, interactive experiences across digital, environmental, social, and print platforms. Jude Stewart sat down with partners Bud Rodecker, John Pobojewski, and Nick Adam to discuss Span’s origin, our flexibility, and our range of work across cultural, academic, civic, and community-based institutions. (1) 🦋 Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: Our rebrand, environmental, and interactive website, which President and CEO Erin Amico says is the smoothest brand launch she’s ever seen. (2) 🏛 MAS Context: A rebrand and interactive publishing platform for one of the nation’s foremost presentations of architectural and design culture. (3) 🎓 Nazareth University: A brand narrative and system developed on campus to reflect the heart of the school, its faculty, and its students. (4) 🚉 Our new brand for Regional Transportation Authority of Northeastern Illinois (RTA) that reflects the agency’s focus on accountability, transparency, independence, and equity — four important goals identified during five separate workshops with stakeholder teams. (5) 🎞 South Side Home Movie Project: A visual identity and interactive film archive for a University of Chicago initiative supported by Arts Public Life and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture. (6) 🏥 The Architecture of Health Book: Designed for Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and MASS Design Group, unearthing the interplay of architecture and healthcare over time—an STA100 award recipient. (7) 😷 Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics: Exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian, in collaboration with MASS Design Group, also recognized with an STA100 award. (8&9) 🎡 Slow & Low Lowrider Festival: Brand identity, environmental graphics, and book for Lauren M. Pacheco and Peter Kepha, founders Chicago’s largest independent arts festival, recently celebrated with an AIGA 365 award. It’s a proud moment for our team 🤝 to be recognized for harnessing design to empower institutions and communities. Thank you Valeria Bernal, Kevin Moreland, Alyssa Arnesen, Zach Minnich, Alec Hudson, Marisa Cruz, and all our collaborators. In 2025, let’s work together to create impactful work that resonates with the world and helps bring your dreams to life. Check it out and let us know your thoughts. https://lnkd.in/efhd84wD

Out now, Prometheus Vol. 7: In Between: Architecture and the Development of the Urban Landscape. Vol. 7 was designed by Span’s Bud Rodecker, Alyssa Arnesen, and Alec Hudson. The cover photo was courtesy of Alejandro Saldaña Perales, Ph.D., and the collage was designed by Alec Hudson at Span in response to the volume’s title: In Between: Architecture and the Development of the Urban Landscape. “In Between is introduced as a concept exploring architecture’s performance alongside a multiplicity of disciplines shaping the present-day urban landscapes. It aims to argue the critical role architects have in shaping our cities. It expects to highlight the key areas of interest for architecture in an increasingly complex environment and frames its responses in meeting new challenges. Finally, “In Between,” targets sharing the achievements and opportunities of contemporary urban development models.” — The Editors of Prometheus, Vol. 7(Alejandro Saldaña Perales, Ph.D., Aamena Mubarak Bakarmom, Çiçek Karataş, Sasha Zanko) Now in its 7th volume, Span’s system for Prometheus is designed to accommodate content from many different sources with a wide range of heavily cited imagery. The facade of Crown Hall directly inspires Prometheus’s underlying proportion and grid structure. Prometheus is a peer-reviewed journal that presents research-in-progress developed by IIT College of Architecture Ph.D. program candidates. See our case study here: https://lnkd.in/g_t34Kcr Prometheus editors: Alejandro Saldaña Perales, Aamena Mubarak Bakarmom, Cicek Karatas, Sasha Zanko IIT: Reed Kroloff, Dean Michelangelo Sabatino, PhD, Director Span team: Bud Rodecker Alyssa Arnesen Alec Hudson

How would we describe our clients? Generous collaborators celebrated for empowering communities to shape their world. We’re not the only ones who see them this way. Last week, AIA Chicago, 2nd-largest local chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) gathered for Design Night. A night that honors Chicago’s global design achievements. Seeing that 10 of our clients were celebrated with Social Justice, Design Excellence, and People’s Choice awards was thrilling. Congratulations! (image: Could Be Architecture) Could Be Architecture (Could Be Design LLC) who we are working with on a book about super graphics — won the Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice. Studio Gang who we worked with on the environmental graphics for Writers Theatre and Beloit College’s Powerhouse — won in the Architecture Medium category. Powerhouse Signage: https://lnkd.in/gNTDaQqc Writers Theatre: https://lnkd.in/gmZhJd97 Farr Associates Architecture & Urban Design who we worked with on the identity and exhibition design for Climate Action Museum — won in the Architecture Large category. Academy for Global Citizenship and Cultivate Collective who we worked with on their brand identities, website, and environmental signage for — won People’s Choice Education Award. AGC: https://lnkd.in/gdBSDAMj Triangle Square from Lamar Johnson Collaborative who we worked with on the building’s brand identity, website, and environmental graphics — won People’s Choice Multifamily Residential Award. Triangle Square: https://lnkd.in/gqEipJYX and: https://lnkd.in/grVmv-iS Fulton East from Lamar Johnson Collaborative who we worked with on the building’s brand identity, website, and environmental graphics — won People’s Choice Tall Building AwardWight & Company won a merit awards in the Architecture Small category. Latent Design Corporation who we worked with on the design and development of their firm’s website — won a merit award in the Architecture Medium category. Latent: https://lnkd.in/gQNdGRwG John Ronan Architects who we worked with on the design of the environmental signage for IIT Innovation Center while at Thirst — won a merit award in the Architecture Medium category. IIT Signage: https://lnkd.in/gjhp4v9z Ross Barney Architects project Railyard who we worked with on the project’s brand identity and environmental signage, and we have designed the firm’s website — won a merit award in the Architecture Medium category Railyard: https://lnkd.in/gi3MfxNX Ross Barney Architects: https://lnkd.in/gcSAN443 Krueck Sexton Partners who we worked with on the design of the firm’s brand and website — won a merit award in the Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice KSP: https://lnkd.in/gVzpA2Yn Also, major congrats to Moody Nolan, dSPACE Studio Architecture for Public Benefit, Woodhouse Tinucci Architects, and all awardees. AIA Awards: https://lnkd.in/g3qMiTtC https://lnkd.in/grpnQAsw

📣 From Chicago’s Loomis Street in Pilsen to the global design stage. 🌎 Our work for Slow & Low just received a 365 award from AIGA Design. 🏆 Selected from entries spanning over 26 countries, our design work for the Slow & Low Chicago Lowrider Festival is 1 of 54 projects to be awarded. 📰 View our case study here: https://lnkd.in/g6zmmHAc Collaborating closely with the event’s curators—Lauren M. Pacheco, Peter Kepha, and Edward Magico Calderon—Nick Adam’s team at Span crafted a visual identity and exhibition graphics that foster a deep sense of belonging by honoring the curators' dreams and the spirit of the community. Vivid, dimensional marigolds cascade across community images captured by Slow & Low’s world-renowned and emerging photographers. The juxtaposition of supergraphic flowers in the foreground of each design element creates a dreamscape aesthetic that resonates throughout the exhibition. Span design team: Nick Adam— Concept, Design Direction, Design with Cheryl Kao — Design Slow & Low Curatorial Team: Lauren M. Pacheco, Peter Kepha, Edward Magico Calderon Slow & Low Photographers Ed Calderon, Max Herman, Nick Lipton, Katrina Nelken, Mike Pocious Thank you #AIGADesign we are extremely grateful to the distinguished #AIGA365 jury who volunteered their time and expertise to serve: Abbott Miller of Pentagram, Dan Vlahos, AIGA DL of Merrimack College, Heather-Mariah Dixon of Overeasy, Jarrett Fuller of Scratching the Surface and North Carolina State University College of Design, Lucille Tenazas of Parsons School of Design - The New School, and Anna Kulachek

Congratulations Ross Barney Architects, on the AIA Chicago acknowledgement! Working on Railyard Park for the City of Rogers, Arkansas with you was a pleasure. Ross Barney Architects casestudy here: https://lnkd.in/dj-czusP Span casestudy here: https://lnkd.in/gHTrcePM

It was an honor to have collaborated with Cecilia Cuff as she founded Chicago’s new public park, South Side Sanctuary. At Span we worked with the Sanctuary team to craft a dynamic visual identity that captures the essence and energy of the park. The identity reflects the form, expression, and movement in South Side Sanctuary’s intentionally inclusive architecture and the diverse activities of its visitors. See the case study here: https://lnkd.in/esCq2886

Come for Bud Rodecker’s secrets, stay for the design industry’s version of the Hippocratic Oath. Bud Rodecker is a founding partner and design director here at Span. In his interview with Sevy Perez, Bud shares his design journey and offers valuable tips on navigating project opportunities, client relationships, and team dynamics. User Journey w/ Sev is a new podcast presented by The Society of Typographic Arts (STA). Host Sevy Perez talks to creative people about how their journeys influence their work today. Past interviews include Ellen Lupton, Alex Belardo Kostiw of Tenderly and School of the Art Institute of Chicago, actor and writer Ryan Ken, Nermin Moufti of Field of Practice.

Recently at the studio, we were asked to help rebrand SOS Children's Villages Illinois, a charitable organization dedicated to building the future of foster care by keeping families of siblings together in one household. We positioned them with a new name — One Family Illinois — to ”better represent the organization’s commitment to unity, inclusivity, and comprehensive support for children, youth and families.” With a new name came a new visual identity that emphasized both the siblings and the housing communities that One Family Illinois provides. A bold and wide-reaching color palette celebrates their diversity and inclusivity, expressed through a secondary pattern that is used to activate different materials. The typography is modern yet playful, a nod to the organization’s strong relationship with the Chicago architectural community including Studio Gang Architects and Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects (JGMA). In addition to the identity, Span created a detailed communication suite of stationery and social media assets to outfit them for the announcement of the rebrand. Case study here: https://lnkd.in/ggZYhJ3R Span design team: John Pobojewski — Concept, Design Direction, Strategy with Valeria Bernal — Design

Where to spend your PTO this Summer? Fast Company invited, partner and design director at Span, Bud Rodecker to share thoughts based on each city’s logo. Special thanks to Elissaveta Brandon and Liz Stinson for including Bud! Read FastCo article here: https://shorturl.at/z4U59

For over 30 years, Skyline Design has been setting industry standards by pairing a passion for glass fabrication with an unwavering commitment to design. As partners with leading architects, artists, and designers, Skyline redefines patterned glass in architecture through collaborations that enhance color, luminosity, movement, and privacy. Skyline’s small team of experts is obsessed with the art, science, and craft of transforming glass. They create glass for the widest range of applications while continuously refining quality control, cost, and time efficiencies. Privately owned and operated in Chicago since 1983. At Span we redesigned Skyline’s entire graphic identity system, creating a new logo and comprehensive branding guidelines. The new logo is a bold, simple wordmark that avoids competing with Skyline’s products and partners, while still allowing for versatility and transformation in its applications. The new identity celebrates Skyline as a "Dynamic Toolkit for Design" empowering architects and designers with maximum creative flexibility. It highlights the Skyline brand pillars of partnering with creators, practical problem-solving, environmental responsibility, and helping people succeed. The system provides clear guidelines and inspires possibilities. See the complete case study here: https://lnkd.in/gcakW5MQ Span project team: Bud Rodecker — Design Direction, Design Marisa Cruz — Design Alyssa Arnesen — Design Alec Hudson — Design Tom Mulhern — Strategy