House of Pretty http://www.houseofpretty.com House of Pretty Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:24:33 +0000 http://www.houseofpretty.com en Yusho http://houseofpretty.com/Yusho http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Yusho Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:24:33 +0000 House of Pretty 2616605 Yusho is a newly-opened restaurant in Chicago, serving small plates inspired by Japanese yakitori. Yusho’s site, deceptively simple in appearance, is powered by a backend allowing restaurant staff and managers to add and edit dishes and prices without touching design, plus moving entire categories of dishes around on menu layouts. <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_001_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_001_o.jpg" data-mid="13242745" border="0" align="left"/> The restaurant is notable because of its team: owner and executive chef Matthias Merges was the widely respected chef de cuisine at Charlie Trotter’s for fourteen years. <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_002_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_002_o.jpg" data-mid="13242748" border="0" align="left"/> Young chef de cuisine Jennifer Petrusky, at 23, has already been awarded in the Palme d’Or USA. <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_003_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_003_o.jpg" data-mid="13242749" border="0" align="left"/> We are also representing the restaurant in their social media efforts, curating about twenty posts a day to twitter, Facebook, and an email campaign designed on a per-event basis. <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_004_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/2616605/yusho_004_o.jpg" data-mid="13242752" border="0" align="left"/> Movieline http://houseofpretty.com/Movieline http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Movieline Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:58:17 +0000 House of Pretty 1683564 We’ve designed and coded Movieline for PMC since the project’s inception in 2009. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_008_8_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_008_8_o.jpg" data-mid="9693738" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9693727" border="0" align="left"/> Movieline began its life as a gossipy, glitzy, glossy rag in 1989, and it was my favorite movie magazine—but through several editorial changes, the magazine morphed into Hollywood Life, then finally closed in 2008. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_003_3_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_003_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9693730" border="0" align="left"/> When editorial director Charles Runnette came to us in 2009 saying that the brand was to be revived as one of the few sites containing original long-form interviews and reviews, we jumped at the chance to bring a childhood favorite back to life. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_004_4_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_004_4_o.jpg" data-mid="9693731" border="0" align="left"/> Movieline publishes every day of the week, culminating in a monthly roundup, complete with cover image, highlighting the best stories of the month. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_007_7_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_007_7_o.jpg" data-mid="9693736" border="0" align="left"/> The site also covers festivals and awards shows extensively, including the Oscars and Golden Globes at Statuesque. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9693729" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_005_5_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_005_5_o.jpg" data-mid="9693732" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_006_6_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1683564/movieline_006_6_o.jpg" data-mid="9693733" border="0" align="left"/> In 2011, PMC spun off the site's TVline brand into its own site (not of our design), hosted by Michael Ausiello from Entertainment Weekly. Movieline itself sees about a million unique pageviews a month. WIRED 9.06 http://houseofpretty.com/WIRED-9-06 http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/WIRED-9-06 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:58:15 +0000 House of Pretty 1681462 The introduction to this issue of WIRED was an exploration of the perverse amounts of ego and money being thrown around the stock markets immediately before the bubble's implosion. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694032" border="0" align="left"/> The black and white photography is stock, taken from the Getty archives of the 1980&rsquo;s securities crash. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694033" border="0" align="left"/> Color photography is our own, and is actually portraits of prospectors from a now-failed dot-com era agency. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_003_3_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_003_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9694034" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_004_4_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1681462/wired_kings_004_4_o.jpg" data-mid="9694035" border="0" align="left"/> Each of the “little kings” was digitally fitted with a CGI-modeled and rendered 3D crown encrusted with diamonds and fleur-de-lis. Hawaiirama http://houseofpretty.com/Hawaiirama http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Hawaiirama Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:12:38 +0000 House of Pretty 1653095 Hawaiirama is Hawaii, one of the planet’s de facto Gardens of Eden, curated from the viewpoint of a native very much in love with his home. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694187" border="0" align="left"/> Alex Salkever is a business writer who was, at the time, living with his family on Oahu. We’ve designed Hawaiirama twice. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694186" border="0" align="left"/> To create the initial logotype and launching design, we started from round volumes, like the organic forms of tropical plant life. The logotype’s letterforms are custom, riffed from 1970&rsquo;s surfboard logotypes, and the headlines are set in a classic Hawaii Five-O stencil face. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_004_4_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_004_4_o.jpg" data-mid="9694191" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_005_5_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_005_5_o.jpg" data-mid="9694193" border="0" align="left"/> The colors are riotous, and each island's floral background is accurately drawn for the island's home flower. Every citizen of Hawaii is, as a matter of civic pride, an armchair botanist—getting a flower wrong there is like mistaking jambalaya for gumbo in New Orleans. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_003_3_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_003_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9694189" border="0" align="left"/> The navigation between islands on the site is novel in that each button is an abstract representation of the island, with all of them combined making a map of the island chain. Each post on the frontpage is identified by its island flower—the entire site is covered in flowers. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_006_6_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_006_6_o.jpg" data-mid="9694194" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_007_7_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1653095/hawaiirama_007_7_o.jpg" data-mid="9694195" border="0" align="left"/> in 2010, we created a new, streamlined version of the site to emphasize a revised focus on curated content and editorial content. Gone are the flowers and navigation by island, leaving a simple, open interface and much less content. Aon Hewitt http://houseofpretty.com/Aon-Hewitt http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Aon-Hewitt Sat, 25 Jun 2011 23:45:32 +0000 House of Pretty 1644721 This enormous project for Aon Hewitt Associates, the world's largest human resources company, greets visitors as they tour the company’s visitor center on their Lincolnshire campus. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694057" border="0" align="left"/> The project consists of twelve monolithic constructions, each highlighting a specific year in the company's history, a series of wall-sized backlit images, each illustrating one of Hewitt’s products, and a series of brushed aluminum plaques, one for each award they've won. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694058" border="0" align="left"/> The architectural forms were handled by our friends at WDW Design, who were kind enough to bring us into the project to direct and create visuals and language. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_003_3_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_003_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9694059" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_004_4_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_004_4_o.jpg" data-mid="9694060" border="0" align="left"/> We illustrated each backlit transparency in a highly idealized 3D form, each brightly colored and with sumptuous miniscule detail of surface to take advantage of the light behind it, rendering the images sparkling and gemlike. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_005_5_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_005_5_o.jpg" data-mid="9694061" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_006_6_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_006_6_o.jpg" data-mid="9694062" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_007_7_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1644721/hewitt_007_7_o.jpg" data-mid="9694064" border="0" align="left"/> Each timeline was written and composed from the company's archival material, then silkscreened onto the towers, and lit internally. We duplicated this format for other Hewitt offices in Manhattan, Toronto, Beijing, Vancouver, and São Paulo. Jezebel http://houseofpretty.com/Jezebel http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Jezebel Sat, 25 Jun 2011 07:40:53 +0000 House of Pretty 1642483 Jezebel, branded and illustrated for Gawker Media, was conceived as the antidote to the modern women's magazine. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642483/jezebel_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642483/jezebel_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694013" border="0" align="left"/> This was to be a general interest magazine for the woman who didn't need to know how to lose five pounds, who didn't need to be told lies about what men want in bed, who wasn't trying to be anything other than herself. The formula worked. Jezebel is now read by over 2 million monthly. The imagery is two sides of the same woman, torn apart down the middle. She's two photos of the same woman, chosen for her iconic bombshell beauty. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642483/jezebel_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642483/jezebel_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694015" border="0" align="left"/> The barf bag was created as a promotional event and handed out to potential readers at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Bryant Park. The Closet http://houseofpretty.com/The-Closet http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/The-Closet Sat, 25 Jun 2011 07:40:48 +0000 House of Pretty 1642427 The Closet was a friend’s concept for a raucous weekly gay night taking over a local club—but a night less about the perfect drag queen doing reverent Cher impersonations, more about the scary dude in a dress lying on the pool table screaming the lyrics to Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694113" border="0" align="left"/> The premise for the promotional materials was simple: old-fashioned department store perfume cards. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694115" border="0" align="left"/> Each flyer was printed (badly, and on purpose) in a single color on a sickly pale pink linen cardstock, then doused in dimestore perfume and left lying about in public. Under windshield wipers, on shop counters, tucked into mirror corners. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_004_4_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_004_4_o.jpg" data-mid="9694124" border="0" align="left"/> Everyone knew, every week, when The Closet was happening. The olfactory impact was so great that we actually ended up needing to print less than we'd anticipated, because the smell became the most identifiable factor. Kind of a gay threat that prompted people to look for flyers. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_003_3_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_003_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9694121" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_005_5_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1642427/closet_005_5_o.jpg" data-mid="9694127" border="0" align="left"/> We wrote, illustrated, and created custom typography for each of these pieces specifically to point out that the desired clientele were not polite people. But they did have an opinion about the state of the gay world. Defamer http://houseofpretty.com/Defamer http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Defamer Mon, 20 Jun 2011 05:06:47 +0000 House of Pretty 1616181 Defamer, Gawker Media’s Hollywood gossip brand, ran on its own domain from 2004 to 2009, then was absorbed into Gawker afterwards. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1616181/defamer_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1616181/defamer_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694161" border="0" align="left"/> The premise behind Defamer was a Golden Age of Hollywood gossip rag updated to the 21st century. The portrait was initially planned to be more Humphrey Bogart in shadow, until the chosen image presented itself during research. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1616181/defamer_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1616181/defamer_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694162" border="0" align="left"/> The image, drastically repainted, is Mr. Charles Boyer, whom you’ve probably not heard of—but you know his words. This is the actor who made famous the line, "Come with me to the Casbah," for his 1938 film, Algiers. The typography, a customization of a script whose original designer is unknown, has been spotted as long ago as 1859. The entire identity has never been rendered in anything other than slightly-seedy glossy ebony and gold. We liked that its intentions remained hidden. WIRED 8.06 http://houseofpretty.com/WIRED-8-06 http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/WIRED-8-06 Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:52:33 +0000 House of Pretty 1580918 In mid-2000, the dot-com bubble had begun to sputter under its own weight. Skeptics were beginning to doubt the strength of Silicon Valley’s ability to carry the American economy (nobody at that point considered the existence of a bubble in the housing market). <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580918/wired_engine_001_1_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580918/wired_engine_001_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9694080" border="0" align="left"/> To characterize a go-go economy of technology that couldn't be stopped, WIRED commissioned a fantastical 3D modeled and rendered engine, glittering in reflective chrome and emerald lights, flaming beyond control, and hot-rodded out California style with a chrome plaque reading “HOT STUFF!” This was printed in four colors plus a fluorescent orange wash and a fluorescent white to bring the flames to life. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580918/wired_engine_002_2_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580918/wired_engine_002_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9694081" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580918/wired_engine_003_3_700.jpg" width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580918/wired_engine_003_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9694082" border="0" align="left"/> Movieline Portraits http://houseofpretty.com/Movieline-Portraits http://houseofpretty.com/following/houseofpretty.com/Movieline-Portraits Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:01:45 +0000 House of Pretty 1580724 Each month, Movieline rounds up its most interesting articles and bundles them into an issue in homage to its printed past. Each month gets a cover, which we design about two days before public release. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover001a_1.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover001a_1_o.jpg" data-mid="9693807" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover002a_2.jpg" width="592" height="700" width_o="592" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover002a_2_o.jpg" data-mid="9693808" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover003a_3.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover003a_3_o.jpg" data-mid="9693809" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover004a_4.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover004a_4_o.jpg" data-mid="9693810" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover005a_5.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover005a_5_o.jpg" data-mid="9693811" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover006a.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover006a_o.jpg" data-mid="9693813" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover007a_6.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover007a_6_o.jpg" data-mid="9693814" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover008a_7.jpg" width="591" height="700" width_o="591" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/120381/1580724/ml_cover008a_7_o.jpg" data-mid="9693815" border="0" align="left"/> These covers end up symbolizing the month in The Vault, and act as a summary of not only Movieline's coverage, but its taste.