Word on the Street

You never know where you might stumble across a giant cheeseburger. For SLS Graphic Designer Laura Schaeffer, this happened just a few weeks ago at the craft and art fair Show of Hands in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago. To call Show of Hands simply a “craft show” is a wild understatement; it’s more akin to an Etsy enthusiast’s bazaar dropped in the middle of a haunted house.

When our client, Brunswick Billiards, approached us with a request to design a logo that would celebrate 170 years of successful business, we jumped at the challenge. Developing a new logo can be tricky, and it requires careful consideration of a company’s history and visual style.

Canon Solutions America (CSA) Production Print Solutions came to Street Level Studio to build a website that would be a unified resource to educate customers on how to expand their business. The Production Print Resource Center (PPRC) was the outcome, an industry-leading website and resource center that educates customers and showcases beneficial production printing products.

The Highwood Bocce Club is an institution in the little town of Highwood on the North Shore of Chicago. Famous for hosting International Bocce Tournaments, this “private” club is open to public play most days of the week. And with both indoor and outdoor courts, it's a perfect environment for serious and amateur players. In fact, Street Level Studio has held several events at the club, and we’ve had a blast every time.

With more than 400 exhibitors at this year’s Pool and Spa Show in Atlantic City, there was plenty to see and do. The Pool and Spa Show is the place to be for everything you need and everything you need to know about today’s pool and spa trends, so we were eager to help our client, Emerald Spas, stand out.

As a bunch of seasoned graphic designers and programmers, we are always looking for inspiration for the next great marketing campaign. Given that today is a national holiday, Presidents Day, our eyes are drawn to the lighter side of politics.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the Chicago area was hit with a whopper of a blizzard. They say it was among the top five storms ever to blow across the area. Of course, with no way for everyone to navigate through 20+ inches of snow to get to work the next day, Street Level Studio had to deploy Plan B.

If you’ve seen the lines outside Apple stores just before the release of a new iPhone, you’re already familiar with one of the fastest growing tech trends—the use of mobile devices. It seems like mobile is the way to go, from email and social networking to shopping and online banking. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of American adults that own a smartphone increased from 35% in 2011 to 58% in 2014, while the percentage of tablet owners increased from 8% to 42%.¹

You’ve probably noticed that things look pretty different around here.

Every so often, part of the Street Level Studio team hits the road for a brief getaway. One might guess that their journey would lead them to a beach or ski resort, but co-founders Wendy and Joe Davis insist, it’s all about a tiny town in the middle of the West Texan desert called Marfa.