Marketing and Design Blog

Atomicdust Supports Artcrank through Sponsorship and Design

For five years now, Artcrank, a 'poster show for bike people,' has pedaled its way to St. Louis. Artists and bike-lovers alike will descend on Atomic Cowboy in The Grove on May 10-11 to enjoy bicycle- and St. Louis-themed posters printed on traditional letterpress, and of course, talk fixies.

Poster design, bikes and beer are right up our alley – so Atomicdust is happy to sponsor this year's event, as well as design the show’s promotional poster. The concept behind our poster design for Artcrank was to show how St. Louis can seem both divided and united at the same time. We quickly sketched concepts using one of our favorite tools, the Paper App on iPad.

Artcrank began as a one-time event in Minneapolis and now spans from London to LA – celebrating cycling at every stop. Local artists design and create handmade, bicycle-related prints that are signed, numbered and available for purchase for $40. In addition to celebrating bike culture, Artcrank will be supporting one of our favorite nonprofits, BWorks.

Admission is free, so join us at Atomic Cowboy this weekend. The fun starts Friday night at 5pm. If you head over on Saturday, be ready for street closures on Manchester, Chouteau and S. Newstead for the Tour de Grove professional bike race. To learn more about Artcrank, visit their website or Facebook Event Page

Icon Design Rules of the Road

Here at Atomicdust, we're doing more and more icon work: icons for apps, touch-icons for mobile websites and social media profiles for brands all require varying degrees of iconography. Just like any design specialty, icon design has rules and best practices, and following them can lead to a better designed, stronger brand. Read more about the Icon Design Rules of the Road.

Spring Wallpapers from Atomicdust

Time for some spring cleaning! And that includes your desktop, smartphone and tablets. Archive those old docs and spreadsheets, clean up your folders and make room for a new wallpaper design from the creative team at Atomicdust. 

Go ahead and download one (or all!) of these spring-inspired wallpapers from Atomicdust.

‘Brand New’ Honors Atomicdust with Two Identity Design Awards

We’re happy to announce that Atomicdust’s work for Pastaria has been recognized by the Brand New Awards for ‘Logo Design’ and ‘Comprehensive Identity’.

Organized by UnderConsideration, the Brand New Awards is a judged competition that celebrates the best identity work produced around the world. The competition places as much importance on concept and execution as it does on strategy and business decisions by focusing on the work itself, the process, and the client’s involvement. 

There were more than 700 submissions from around the world, and only 75 were selected as winners - and two of them were for our work with Pastaria. It’s exciting to see our design work for a St. Louis business shown on a world stage.

And congratulations to our St. Louis friends and neighbors at TOKY whose work was also honored. Out of all the entries in the category, only three logos were given the highest-awarded rating of five stars - and to think that two of them came from the same block in St. Louis is pretty amazing. #STL

Goshen Coffee Named ‘Package of the Month’ by Food & Beverage Packaging

Atomicdust's branding work for Goshen Coffee was featured in Food & Beverage Packaging January/February 2013 issue as the Package of the Month.

Here's a little taste of what Food & Beverage Packaging had to say about Goshen and Atomicdust: 

Goshen brought Atomicdust on board to create designs more reflective of the company's colorful attitude and commitment to unique, bohemian java... To counteract the typical exclusivity of the average coffee brand’s packaging, Atomicdust took a bold and unique step, finding inspiration in Canadian photographer Michaël Fournier's "Modern Rosie" image... The "Modern Rosie" look embodied a rebellious, underdog attitude representative of Goshen's history and bright future.

You can read more on Food & Beverage Packaging's website. 

Branding Work for Pastaria Featured in Communication Arts

There’s an extra-special thrill that comes from having our work recognized by a publication we admire.

Atomicdust’s work for Gerard Craft’s restaurant, Pastaria, was featured in the April, 2013 issue of Communication Arts.

We had known this was coming for a couple of months, but there’s nothing like holding a copy of this in our hands. It’s incredibly humbling to see the Pastaria branding honored alongside so much other great work in a publication we read every month. 

Goshen Branding Featured in Gallery: The World’s Best Graphics

The language of design is universal – or at least global. That’s why we were thrilled to learn Atomicdust’s branding and packaging work for Goshen Coffee was featured in the Chois Gallery November, 2012, issue of The World’s Best Graphics.

The publication’s criteria for selection include creative ideas and design execution – two things that are very important to us here at Atomicdust. We’re honored to have our efforts on these fronts recognized internationally alongside some truly stunning work.

March Wallpapers from Atomicdust

You know what we love about March besides Girl Scout cookies and the first signs of spring? That it has 31 days, so even though we are a little late getting you these wallpapers, you will still have an extra calendar day to enjoy them!

Go ahead and download your favorite Atomicdust-designed wallpaper for your computer, smartphone or tablet. Happy March!

Valentine’s Desktop Wallpaper from Atomicdust

We just got back from Colorado, and we know the month is half over. Still, we wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day with this single, special desktop. So go ahead and download it for your phone, tablet or desktop and spread the love today!

Shared Stories:            St. Louis Children’s Hospital Annual Report

Our office can get pretty busy, and a lot of times we start on a new project the minute another ends. This, of course, is a good thing. Every once and a while, though, we like to take a few minutes and reflect on the stories behind our work.

And so we created a video series we call Shared Stories.

This time around, designers Katie Werges, Beth Porter, and I share the story behind our work for St. Louis Children’s Hospital Annual Report.

Mike Spakowski is Principal / Creative Director of Atomicdust and is involved with the day-to-day design strategy, art direction and studio management.