Elixir Design

In honor of April Fools Day, we are pulling a fun one from the archives.J. Unque is our fully-produced self-promotional catalog,featuringstuffjunk, reallyfrom our garages with a pro twist. This was created with thephotography team of Michael McRae, Thomas Petillo, Skylar Nielsen; stylists, Jutta Gellerson and Betsy Shaver; and writer Karryl Nason all of whom wereour frequent catalog collaboratorsfor companies likeSundance, Athleta, and The Body Shop, among others. It... was an ode to working with each other and the work we love doing, and a garage sale like none other. In the spirit of all the Js (J. Crew, J.L. Powell, J. Peterman, J. Jill, and so on), we came up with the name J. Unque. We set up a phone number to receive orders and were delighted when a few actually came in. The people at Banana Republic wanted to buy five Pat Nixon Party Dresses, replete with authentic dustbut of course, there was only one.

We had three talented new team members start just weeks before the shut down a year ago. With our new normal stabilized, they deserve a proper introduction! Mari is third generation Bay Area and a lifelong arts community native. Match that with a degree in Business Administration and you’ve got an exceptional Project Manager for a San Francisco based design firm. Almost always in her signature beige, she is calm, versatile, and clearly commands creative projects, wrangling ...the constantly evolving big picture. While people don’t call us for Project Management, the role is a vital part of successful outcomes for the team, the clients, and the work. Mari is unique in her ability to think like a designer but act on behalf of the client and project to keep the train on the tracks. We are lucky to have her on the team. Pic 1 of this post made with Elixir’s@typifyapp. Pleasecheck out our IG and follow to see what can be done with our free app available for iOS. See more

Welcome aboard! See you on zoom! We had three new team members start just weeks before the shut down. With our new normal stabilized, they deserve a proper introduction! A background in graphic design, web design, film, and hospitality, and a natural predilection for making things, details, data, make her our Art + Science unicorn. Christelle @criki985 shows up like a magical Elixir glue binding disparate skills. Multitalented, insatiably curious, and thoughtful; we are ...not sure what to be more impressed with, the personalized, crafted holiday gifts she made for everyone or her truly, next-level spread sheets skills The nice thing we don’t need to choose. She fills a complex role at Elixir beautifully, often with pink accents. Check out her observations, One Year Into The Pandemic: What Have We Learned About Work? on our website Journal page. Pic 1 of this post made with Elixir’s@typifyapp. Pleasecheck it out and follow to see what can be done with our free app available for iOS. See more

We had three new team members start just weeks before the shut down so all of our water cooler time was relocated to zoom. With our pandemic sea legs now in place, they deserve a proper introduction! We were lucky to catch Alexis Reid (@ohheytherelexi) as our new digital designer who had just landed in the Bay Area for the first time after a year of traveling and volunteering around the world. From Kansas originally, where she developed a love of design, illustration, and c...oding, she followed college with time in NYC advertising, honingher visual storytelling skills.Her grounded yet global perspective, bright energy, and penchant for social causes walked hand in hand with her stellar portfolio. Knowing a good thing when we see it, we offered her a job on the spot in the interview. Alexis also had an early draw to journalism and that curiosity serves us and our clients. She has helped shape the recent fun and informative posts on Elixir’s@typifyapp feed. Pleasecheck it out and follow to see what can be done with our free app available for iOS. See more

It’s time to open the doors wide and design a more tolerant and accepting future. Our differences are additive. We have collective anti-racist work that needs to happen to support ALL communities of color. A useful resource for education and Asian allyship can be found at https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/

Sundance, Jerde Partnership, and Athleta were among our first holistic branding projects many seasons ago. The first image here was a catalog image done for Sundance, highlighting the heart of the brand: to champion individual artisans. This story focused on a local gingerbread baker that was able to use the Sundance platform to reach a wider audience. @seagravesphoto The second image shows logo explorations done to capture the entirety of the Sundance brand (resort, film fe...stival, institute, farms, and catalog) that we showed to the creator of Sundance himself. . . . #branding #branddesign #brandstrategy #communicationdesign #clientwork #logo #logodesign #typography #identity #photoshoot #artdirection #artisans #loveourclients #process #gingerbread #sundance See more

It would be fun to have a little "envelope cam" to follow the mailing adventure from sender to recipient. Just like life... some journeys are easier than others apparently... . . . #usps #inthemail #nothing #2020 #sentwithlove #onceprestine #journeys #didyouwantinsurancewiththat?

Over the bridges and through the woods and each Elixir "remote office" we go... The "No Thing" journey map. From our houses to yours... #tlc #personaldelievery #welovewhatwedo #designforpeople #happyholidays #snailmail

We are students of successful brands and it might not get more successful than one that is 900-years-old. We also have a special place in the cabinet of curiosities for elixirs of all sorts... Fun read: https://nyti.ms/2WqXOW8

We love attention to detail. Holiday cards are certainly no exception. #1000 #signedwithlove #byhand

Every election matters. This one, especially so. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by November 3, 2020; ballots returned at a secure ballot drop box must be deposited by 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2020. . .... . #1 #vote2020 #vote #everyvotematters #useourvoices #ballotbox #countdown #typography See more

Let's use our voices to break records. If you haven't voted it's not too late. To register to vote online in California you will need:... Your California driver license or California identification card number, The last four digits of your social security number and Your date of birth. Your information will be provided to the California Department of Motor Vehicles to retrieve a copy of your signature on file. If you do not have a CA driver license or CA ID card, you can still use this form to apply to register to vote. However, you will need to take additional steps to complete your voter registration. Voting locations will be available in all counties before Election Day. . . . #letsgo #vote2020 #vote #votingmatters #countdown #typography #neonink See more

Hopefully, you've voted already! If not, there is still time... Check if you areregistered to voteand if so, in what county.... If you are not already registered, you can still register! You will need to complete theSame-Day Voter Registrationprocess and request your ballot in person at your county elections office or polling location. For more information on voter registration and voting locations, contact your local county elections official. . . . #vote2020 #vote #countdown #typography

3+ Directions: While establishing the identity for Front Porch Farma bastion of bio-diversity in Sonoma Countywe were tasked with branding their wines. Simple typography silkscreened on the bottles won the day in our several rounds of exploration. . . . #frontporchfarms #sonoma #logo #logodesign #branding #branddesign #behind the scenes #clientwork #options #designstudio #typography #identity #packaging #wine #happyfriday #drinkwhatyoulove #cheers #silkscreen #bottledesign #winebottledesign

Ultimately we landed on bespoke colorful air-brushed gradient textures to imitate olive fruit for the basis of hand wash boxes, and a photographic style featuring actual ingredients gathered from McEvoy Ranch for the hand lotion boxes. Even if it's a bit more labor-intensive at Elixir to prepare, presenting dimensional mockups (versus flat printouts or computer renderings) is a far superior and more realistic experience for the client to understand how the product might look and feel.

3+ Approaches: These are just a sampling of the exterior box comps we made for the various design rounds of ODE's olive-oil based Hand & Body Wash and Hand & Body Lotion. We experimented with illustrative, photographic, color, texture, painterly, and abstract styles. . . . #design #graphicdesign #branding #clientwork #portfolio #designstudio #sanfrancisco #logo #logodesign #icon #signage #typography #identity #packaging #odenaturalbeauty #mcevoyranch #mcevoyrancholiveoil #skincare #cleanbeauty #luxuryskincare #healthyhands #handwash #bodywash #naturalskincare

In collaboration with our partners Jen Pitts and Kevin Head, Elixir had the pleasure of creating a film to be shown at the event to convey gratitude to the donors and demonstrate the breadth and depth of groundbreaking work their contributions are funding. We took the story of UCSF: The Campaign, as told by those who know it best, and distilled it into an emotionally impactful 4-minute story. . . . #virtualevents#events#textanimation#animation#brandfilm#messaging#teamwork#ucsf#designmatters#wordsmatter#goodworkmatters

We used lenticular printing to add movement and motion to the fireworks and to convey the idea that this was a night of celebration and music.

Many of us are in the thick of learning how to take traditional in-person events and pivot them to captivating digital "gatherings" at home. Some event tenents remain the sameset a tone with your invitation and feed your guests well. For "Dinner on the Screen," a virtual event to thank UCSF's generous donors we used the imagery of the sun setting to create a "time and place." The printed invitation used lenticular printing to add movement and motion to the fireworks and to c...onvey the idea that this was a night of celebration and music. . . . #virtualeventplanning #virtualevents #events #eventcollateral #invitation #design #program #lenticular #designmatters #elixirdesigned #dinnerunderthestars #virtualconcert #bayarea #communicationdesign #clientwork #designstudio See more

UCSF celebrated major donors with a wonderful virtual event accompanied by a picnic dinner and musical offerings by UCSF’s Chamber Music Society, Michael Tilson Thomas, Laurence Hopgood, Billy Valentine, and Michael Dailey. A night "out" at home. . . . #savethedate #animation #digitaldesisgn #eventcollateral #virtualevents #dinnerunderthestars #virtualconcert #bayarea #communicationdesign #clientwork #designstudio #designmatters

If you find yourself at the post office asking for multiple sheets of twenty 15-extra-ounce stamps (for a total of $3 in postage) and the postmaster squints at you bewildered with a head tilt, start your response with, "Well, I work at a design firm..." they will wave you off with a head shake, likely thinking to themselves a rational approach is a lost cause... . . . . #buttheyaresoawesome #details #attentiontodetail #usps #uspsstamps #stamps #postagestamps #geekyforstamps #snailmail #designmatters #vote #countdown #design

Here at Elixir, we tend to sweat the details a bit more than usual when it comes to our own projects. Case in point: when our awesome printer suggested we experiment with food coloring to lightly tint the padding glue for our Countdown piece. . . . #lookingforward #vote #graphicdesign #forfun #countdown #design #graphicdesign #communicationdesign #designstudio #elixirdesigned #neonink #process #designprocess #fonts #fontselection #attentiontodetail