Alyssa Arnesen
ProjectsExperimentsInformation
Detroit-based graphic designer specializing in branding and editorial design. Open for freelance opportunities
Spot
Branding, Animation, Social Media, Menu Design
2024
  • Spot is a Detroit food pop-up serving down-to-earth eats and block party vibes. The identity is inspired by vintage Detroit house records and vernacular typography. The revolving logo “place setting” is designed to advertise the details of future pop-up events.
Client
Spot

Credits
Evan Gendell: Collaboration

Be Bold
Book Design
2023
  • Kohler commissioned Span to design a commemorative book for its 150th anniversary. The book celebrates all of the creators who have propelled the company forward with their bold vision. 

  • Working closely with the Kohler team, we wrote, edited, curated, and designed Be Bold. This collaboration resulted in a beautiful catalog of innovation that celebrates the past, examines the present, and looks forward to the next 150 years of Kohler.
Client
Kohler

Credits
Bud Rodecker: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Donna Speigel: Copy Direction
Melinda Van Leer: Proofreading
Classic Color: Printing
Michael G. Mueller (Kohler): Creative Direction
Krystina Russell (Kohler): Editorial Project Management
Christopher Donlon (Kohler): Production Management
Daniel Arsham Studio: K150 Branding
Designed while at Span
Janitor’s Closet
Branding, Menu Design, Illustration
2019
  • Janitor’s Closet was a speakeasy in the lower level of Fieldhouse Jones, a boutique Chicago hotel. The bar featured vintage cleaning equipment as decor in homage to its history as a custodial supply room within a bygone dairy depot. To complement the interior aesthetic, I created a brand that feels both retro and refined through its unique menu substrates and playful typography. The identity system was applied to various print collateral, including seasonal food and drink menus, a specials card, barkeep rags, and promotional materials.
Client
Bedderman Lodging

Credits
Nicolette Ross: Screen Printing
Dan Kelleghan: Photography

Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100
Climate Chains
Illustration, Research
2022
    Climate Chains is a series of studies that visualize the surprising and far-reaching effects of climate change on different ecosystems. My intent is to celebrate Earth’s biodiversity and promote its conservation while also showcasing the incredible ways in which various species are adapting to the current climate crisis in real-time, proving their resiliency and giving hope for their longevity.
Credits
Thor Hanson: Author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: The Fraughtand Fascinating Biology of Climate Change, from which much of my research was sourced

Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100
Kimball Arts Center
Branding, Illustration, Environmental Graphics, Web Design
2020Kimball Arts Center has been an inclusive hub for creative small businesses in Chicago for over 15 years. We worked with Stocking Urban and Range Design on a refreshed brand identity that celebrated the building’s renovation. A rigorous typographic system is balanced by playful collages inspired by the legacy of Bauhaus' László Moholy-Nagy, all channeling the creative spirit of those who practice within this space.Client
Stocking Urban

Credits
John Pobojewski: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Range Design: Architecture
Jon Shaft and Kameron Sears: Photography
Designed while at Span

Manual Cinema
Branding, Web Design
2021Manual Cinema is an Emmy Award-winning performance collective and design studio known for its unique theatrical performances and short films using projected light and shadow. We created a new visual identity system and website inspired by the cut paper forms used throughout their productions. The new brand launched on the premiere of Jordan Peele's Candyman, which contained Manual Cinema’s shadow puppetry and film title design.

The identity’s monogram is inspired by the shape of a projector, a frequent tool used in Manual Cinema’s work. Cut paper versions of the monogram were scanned and used as frames for different production stills throughout the website.Client
Manual Cinema

Credits
John Pobojewski: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Collin Joyce: Programming
Designed while at Span

Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100

The Architecture of Health
Book Design
2021
      While combating the COVID-19 pandemic, society questioned the role buildings play in supporting (or undermining) our public health. We worked with MASS Design Group and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, to design The Architecture of Health, a book that explores this question through the lens of hospital design and how this discipline has changed over time in response to healthcare crises and innovation.

    Historical imagery acts as footnotes to the text. The chapters are punctuated by photographic spreads that showcase detailed architectural plans from the birth of the hospital into the present day. The design and ideas within The Architecture of Health were translated into a physical experience in Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics, an exhibition put on by the Cooper Hewitt.
Clients
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
MASS Design Group

Credits
Rick Valicenti: Design Direction, Design
Bud Rodecker: Design
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Designed while at Span

Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics
Exhibition Design
2021
Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics asked the question: “What is the role of design in times of crisis?” This exhibition presented architectural case studies and historical narratives alongside creative design responses to COVID-19, and featured the work of designers, artists, doctors, engineers, and neighbors who asked, “How can I help?” 

We worked with MASS Design Group and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to design the exhibition graphics. These graphics showcased the multitude of creative responses to the pandemic, ranging from medical devices, PPE, and rapid-response prototyping to mutual aid, open-source collaboration, and collective activism.

The pandemic revealed what some have known for a long time: breathing is spatial. Design and Healing revealed these implications at the scale of the body, building, city, and planet.
Clients
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
MASS Design Group

Credits
Bud Rodecker: Design Direction, Design
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Rick Valicenti: Design
MASS Design Group and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum: Curatorial Team
MASS Design Group: Exhibition Design
Matt Flynn © Smithsonian Institution: Photography
Designed while at Span

Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100

Selected Press
The New York Times
Forbes
The Washington Post
The Wall Street Journal
Metropolis
Superbloom Floral & Event Co.
Branding
2023
  • Superbloom is a floral artistry and event planning company serving the Detroit area. Case study coming soon.
Client
Superbloom Floral & Event Co.

Credits
Evan Gendell: Collaboration

Bartholomew County Public Library
Branding, Illustration
2019The new identity system for the I.M. Pei-designed Bartholomew County Public Library (BCPL) in Columbus, Indiana, was designed around an archival symbol drawn by John Squadra in 1967. The Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives shared historical documents of the vintage icon, which included specific guidelines for its reconstruction. 

We redrew this logo for the present era and developed a modernist identity system based on its proportions. Page grids are constructed from multiples of the mark, a minimal and logical typographic system features two weights of Neue Haas Grotesk, and linework illustrations showcase the potential applications for the revitalized logo.
Client
Bartholomew County Public Library

Credits
Bud Rodecker: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Designed while at Thirst

Modern in the Middle
Book Design
2020Bud Rodecker and I worked with architectural historians Susan Benjamin and Michelangelo Sabatino to design their book Modern in the Middle: Chicago Houses 1929–1975, published by Monacelli Press.

Modern in the Middle is the first survey of the classic twentieth-century houses that defined American Midwestern modernism. Accompanied by original and historical photography, this collection of essays explores the substantial yet overlooked role that Chicago and its suburbs played in the development of the modern single-family house in the twentieth century.
Client
Monacelli Press

Credits
Bud Rodecker: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Logan Doyle: Design
Designed while at Thirst and Span

Recognition
Docomomo US: Modernism in America Award of Excellence

© 2024 Alyssa Arnesen. All rights reserved.