Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage

Katherine McCoy

A new brand identity system references Cranbrook's traditional elements of the crane (an elegant bird) and the brook (a small river) in a contemporary design language. The design program was applied to all aspects of the cultural and educational institution's visual communications, including architectural and directional signage, business papers, websites and publications.

Images of Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage

  1. Image 1 — Cranbrook-Crane-Seal-AGI (Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage)
  2. Image 2 — Cranbrook-Sign-AGI-2000 (Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage)
  3. Image 3 — Cranbrook-Sign-detail-AGI-2000 (Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage)
  4. Image 4 — Cranbrook-Journal-1-AGI-2000 (Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage)
  5. Image 5 — Cranbrook-Journal-3-AGI-2000 (Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage)
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  9. Image 9 — Cranbrook-Journal-8-AGI-2000 (Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage)

    Katherine McCoy, USA (1986)

    Katherine McCoy focuses on communication design, design criticism, and graduate design education. She began her work at Unimark International, an influential interdisciplinary American design firm. There she had the opportunity...

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    • Cranbrook Educational Community Brand Identity and Architectural Signage, 1994

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    A new brand identity system references Cranbrook's traditional elements of the crane (an elegant bird) and the brook (a small river) in a contemporary design language. The design program was applied to all aspects of the cultural and educational institution's visual communications, including architectural and directional signage, business papers, websites and publications.

    • Client:

    • Cranbrook Educational Community
    • Sector:

    • Countries:

    • Disciplines:

    • Details:

    • Installation
    • Logo
    • Magazine
    • Print
    • Typography

    Katherine McCoy focuses on communication design, design criticism, and graduate design education. She began her work at Unimark International, an influential interdisciplinary American design firm. There she had the opportunity to build on her industrial design education, assimilating Swiss-school graphic design form and method from Unimark’s European design staff, and participating in projects combining corporate identity, interior, exhibition and industrial design. In 1971, Katherine and her husband, Michael, became CoChairs of Cranbrook’s Graduate Department of Design, and formed McCoy & McCoy. Clients have included Chronicle Books, Chicago Bears, Detroit Institute of Arts, Denver Art Museum, and International Design Center Nagoya. Current work focuses on branding and interpretative materials for museums and Colorado environmental groups. Since 1997, she and Michael have hosted the High Ground Design Conversation, an annual gathering of design curators, critics and educators.

    Publications

    plus

    Cranbrook Design: The New Discourse

    (1990)

    • Katherine & Michael McCoy

    Rizzoli International

    Graphic, industrial, furniture and interior design projects by Cranbrook Academy of Art graduate students, faculty and alumni from 1990 to 1990. Essays by Roy Slade, Niels Diffrient, Lorraine Wild, Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Daralice Bowles, and Katherine & Michael McCoy.

    Agencies

    plus
    • Unimark International

      1967 – 1968

    • Chrysler Corporation Corporate Identity Office

      1968 – 1969

    • Omnigraphics, Boston

      1969 – 1970

    • Designers & Partners, Detroit

      1970 – 1971

    • Cranbrook Academy of Art Department of Graduate Design

      1971 – 1975

    • Illinois Institute of Technology Institute of Design

      1996 – 2003

    • McCoy & McCoy

      1971 – present

    Other Professional Activities

    plus
    • Industrial Designers Society of America, President

      1983 – 1985

    • American Institute of Graphic Arts, Vice President

      1985 – 1991

    • American Center for Design, President

      1992 – 1994

    • National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Policy Panel

      1984 – 1986

    • National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Fellowships Grant Panel

      1981 – 1984

    • National Association of Schools of Art & Design Accreditation Teams

      1996 – present

    • BrandColorado Governor's Team

      2013 – 2014