Free Arts NYC, a non-profit provider of educational arts and mentoring programs to underserved kids launched a new visual brand identity and logo, created through The A to Z Project, a year-long collaboration of diverse leading artists, illustrators and designers committed to the spirit and belief that art can be transformational in children’s lives.
Red Peak Branding, a unit of Manhattan-based Red Peak Group developed the new logo and brand identity using letters, symbols and numbers created by over 40 New York City-based artists, including fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, typographer Tony DiSpigna, street artist Erica Haze, graphic designer and educator Michael Bierut, architect Michael Arad and illustrator Izak Zenou. Together, the 45 letters, numbers and symbols form an exquisite typeface that is the foundation of the new logo and brand identity.
The original artworks were auctioned Nov. 21 at a fundraising event in New York City for Free Arts, hosted by Harper’s BAZAAR magazine. Prints of each of the pieces, and other related merchandise, are available for sale at FreeArtsNYC.org as of November 22, 2013.
Explaining the A to Z Project’s genesis, James Fox, CEO of Red Peak Branding said, “As a board member of Free Arts, I know just how important Free Arts is in transforming kids’ lives through the power of arts education. As CEO of a design firm it seemed fitting to contribute by engaging the power of the design community to create a custom alphabet that would not only draw attention to Free Arts but could become a source of income through merchandise now and in the future.”
Here is a full list of A to Z Project participants. Before you look, can you guess who created what?
A TONY DI SPIGNA
B RAFAEL ESQUER
C ALAN DYE
D DIANE VON FURSTENBERG
E STEPHEN DOYLE
F JOE MIMRAN
G JAMES VICTORE
H HUGO GUINNESS
I CARIN GOLDBERG
J JENNIFER MEYER
K MICHAEL DE FEO
L ERIN FETHERSTON
M JULIA HOFFMANN
N MATTEO BOLOGNA
O JAMES NARES
P MARTIN FINIO and TARYN CHRISTOFF
Q TODD DICIURCIO
R BOB GILL
S ERIC HAZE
T ALEX OLMSTED for A.A. ANTONIO AZZUOLO
U IVAN CHERMAYEFF
V BOB BARRIE
W BRIAN COLLINS
X MICHAEL BIERUT
Y GEORGE LOIS
Z IZAK ZENOU
1 MICHAEL ARAD
2 JESSICA HISCHE
3 MISHA NONOO
4 TIMOTHY GOODMAN
5 KINGBEE
6 CATHERINE MALANDRINO
7 RACHEL ROY
8 MICHAEL PERRY
9 BRIAN MESSANA and TOBY O’RORKE
0 FABIEN BARON
! WARBY PARKER
& LAWRENCE WEINER
+ TREY LAIRD
@ CNNCTD+
$ SAM SOHAILI
% GAGE HAMILTON
? CYNTHIA ROWLEY
’ HARPER’S BAZAAR
# STEVEN ROJAS
Want to learn more about this project. Check out this video as well as the other video interviews with design greats like Cynthia Rowley and Bob Gill.
