Podcast Creation, Branding and Exhibition Makeready

Overview As a MFA thesis project, Duncan Robertson developed a podcast, titled Makeready, which features conversations with designers about how they came to a place in their careers where they are satisfied with their work and client relationships. Makeready explores the need for designers to share their backstories, business strategies, philosophies, and practical lessons learned through experience. Each conversation focuses on the preparations and milestones that helped designers find and define success. Project Brief For the project to succeed, Makeready needed: an identity which communicated the intent and the character of the podcast; an easy to navigate website that allowed listeners to discover episodes and permitted room for growth; in addition to collateral items with original designs for promotional purposes, and thank you gifts for podcast participants. Outcome Makeready launched in January 2014 with a gallery exhibition at Texas State University, and with rave reviews from some of the world’s most-acclaimed designers. Makeready continues to develop as a “real world” project. “Your podcast is GREAT! Congratulations.” —Debbie Millman of Design Matters “Keep up the great work.” —Christian Helms of Helms Workshop “i know what i will be doing this weekend.” —Rick Valicenti of 3rst

The Makeready Podcast runs on Wordpress for easy cataloging and updating.
The Makeready Logo is a simple generative design with over eighty variations (more explanation below). Layers, connections, crossing paths, unpredictability, a delicate balance, and frenetic energy in this mark represent the backstories and connections revealed in Makeready interviews
Logotype
 
The logotype integrates the concept behind the logo into the podcast name through the application of the same generative formula used with the “pickup sticks.” This is a purely typographic representation of the brand for use when the main logo format does not work as well in application
Typography
 
Pitch was chosen for a myriad of reasons. The basic design is based off of classic typewriter letters. Typewriters have a legacy of functionality, romance and literary seriousness, which fall in line nicely with the goals of Makeready. Like a podcast,  the letters require very little formatting, or typographic styling. Pitch is a humble, beautiful object, which represents the ernest motives behind Makeready
A system was developed in which the lines bounced around in an irregular way and avoided collisions with the letters. The formula is based on a nine-sided shape and nine lines used to create a crisscrossing design. Eight drawings were created by extending the lines from one point to another point a certain number of spaces away. Seemingly random shapes were generated through the simple formula. For the first composition line one was taken from the first shape, line two from the second shape, line three from the third shape and so on. Nine lines were chosen in rotation until the shapes started repeating. 90 unique shapes were generated.
 
Next, the connection between the type and the intersecting lines was lost when the lines no longer ran between the letters, and the pathways seemed too finite when they terminated with round endings.
 
Pitch—a slab serif, monospace font—was chosen to make a stronger connection between the letter shapes and the generative lines. The monospace design also helps relieve tension in the rythm between letters when they are evenly spaced around the nine-sided shape.
 
The intersecting-line portion of the logo was adjusted to help the pathways appear more open-ended and get back to the feeling of crisscrossing. And, a generative formula was applied to the letter serifs to help tie the letters into the overall concept, and customize the font in a way the makes it unique to this logo.
 
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