Branding, Animation, Social, Menu Design
2024
- Spot is a Detroit food pop-up serving down-to-earth eats and block party vibes. Our challenge was to design an identity that could travel from Spot to Spot and be employed at a moment’s notice. The logo needed to embrace ephemerality and flex to announce any event that Spot might cater while still being instantly recognizable in the Detroit food scene.
Inspired by vintage techno records and vernacular typography, we designed a revolving logo “place setting” that serves up the location and date of the next Spot on a platter. A restrained typographic palette and the use of black and white ground a suite of playful social animations that announce the next pop-up. The modular menu design accommodates the wide range of dish names and ingredient lists that Spot cooks up.
Spot
Credits
Evan Gendell: Collaboration
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.
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
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.
Thor Hanson: Author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: The Fraught and Fascinating Biology of Climate Change, from which much of my research was sourced
Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100
Branding, Web Design
2025
- The IIT College of Architecture stands at the intersection of modernist legacy and future-forward innovation. Educating the next generation of architects in Mies van der Rohe’s Crown Hall, the school balances conceptual exploration with hands-on, material practice. Yet their outdated website no longer reflected this dynamic identity, nor did it adequately convey the breadth and depth of the student experience.
Span was engaged to bring IIT’s essence to life online, led by partner Bud Rodecker. We set out to communicate the school’s distinctive blend of big ideas and real-world application—what they call “shut up and build.” Our team highlighted IIT’s hard-working, humble ethos and commitment to the community while emphasizing its intellectual rigor and innovative spirit. Central to the brand refresh was a typographic system that included Neue Galerie—a digital revival of Mies van der Rohe’s “Allzweck” drawings—and The Future, a modern take on Futura used by IIT in the 1940s.
Through immersive workshops and a meticulous design process, we created a refreshed brand system, responsive website, and cohesive set of graphics. These elements underscore IIT’s core purpose—teaching modern building design—and its differentiator: a continuing emphasis on making physical things. In service of undergraduates, graduate students, and a global audience, the new digital presence blends the practical and conceptual, honoring IIT’s storied architectural heritage while showcasing its readiness to shape the future of the profession.
IIT College of Architecture
Credits
Bud Rodecker: Design Direction, Design
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Alec Hudson: Design
Brett Burwell: Web Development
Identity designed while at Span
Website designed while at Span
Branding, Animation, Social, Merch
2023
- Superbloom is an inclusive floral artistry and event planning company serving the Detroit area. We worked hand-in-hand with owner and lead florist Megan to create a visual language that conveys the beauty, adaptability, and personalized detail that Superbloom brings to every engagement.
The identity system utilizes the variable typeface Exposure from 205TF to create two “blooming” wordmark variations and a bouquet of typographic flowers. We blended analog and digital animation techniques to make unique brand assets that allude to the bespoke nature of Superbloom’s practice. Our collaboration with Megan extended to the creation of social assets, merchandise, letterhead, and client estimate templates—all of which position Superbloom as a trusted choice for exquisite florals in the Detroit market.
- Case study coming soon.
Superbloom Floral & Event Co.
Credits
Evan Gendell: Collaboration
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.
Bedderman Lodging
Credits
Nicolette Ross: Screen Printing
Dan Kelleghan: Photography
Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100
Branding, Web Design
2021
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.
Manual Cinema
Credits
John Pobojewski: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Collin Joyce: Web Development
Designed while at Span
Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100
Branding, Illustration, Environmental Graphics, Web Design
2020
Stocking Urban
Credits
John Pobojewski: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Range Design: Architecture
Jon Shaft and Kameron Sears: Photography
Designed while at Span
Web Design
2020
- Since 1981, the SOM Foundation has awarded more than $3 million to assist emerging professionals making a difference in the built environment. The SOM Foundation awards support students and faculty of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and engineering to undertake rigorous interdisciplinary research.
- Span designed and developed a new website
for the SOM Foundation in collaboration with executive director Iker Gil to highlight over 40 years of experimental design research. The site was designed and developed on the Craft CMS to be extremely flexible, allowing an editorial team of two to customize the presentation of each fellow’s research as needed.
SOM Foundation
Credits
John Pobojewski: Design Direction
Alyssa Arnesen: Design
Clark Nelson: Web Development
Designed while at Span
Recognition
Society of Typographic Arts: STA 100
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.
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 100
Exhibition Design
2021
Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics
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.
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.
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