Illusio Design

The elixir of life

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:10:15 +0000

Brand identity and website for Page 124 Productions, a nonprofit based in New York specializing in documentary films for the recovery industry. Their premiere release is Bill W., a documentary about the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Well known for its 12 Step recovery program, A.A. has been a support system for over two million people worldwide. Thousands have credited Bill W. with saving their lives and he’s left a legacy that continues to help people every day.

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e created a logo that’s bold, iconic, and unexpected for the recovery industry. Vintage photography and a distressed feel provide a sense of history to the brand. Compelling stories are found in the images of Bill W. as he struggled with “the elixir of life”. The website is built on WordPress and MailChimp connects visitors to both the client’s screen requests and inquiry for DVDs.

From a handful of men, A.A. grew to a worldwide fellowship of over two million people.

Launch Website

Protected: BikeNYC for CA

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:40:50 +0000

Sustainability simplified

chuck — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:00:59 +0000

Brand identity for Design Ecotech, a modern furniture company based in Bend, OR specializing in sustainable furnishings. Made of recycled aluminum and powder coated with a punch of colors, their products prove sustainability and brilliant design can coexist. We created their logo, business cards, sell sheets, website, and Twitter background.

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nstead of stereotypical swirls or leaves, we presented the products in a fresh and honest manner with headlines such as “Natural Form” and “Sustainability Simplified”. The photography was shot on location in Oregon near Rooster Rock State Park, leaving a minimal to non-existent impact on the environment.

Gone are the days when the word ‘sustainable’ brought to mind granola and grass floor mats.

Bike or die

admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:57:33 +0000

Front-end redesign of the BikeNYC website for Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit in New York. Their mission is to reclaim the Big Apple’s streets from the automobile and are heavy advocates for bicycling, walking, and public transit. NYC is about to embark on its largest increase in bicycling ever and BikeNYC serves as a central hub for a ton of events planned for the summer.

The old BikeNYC website lacked a focal point and brand personality. We whipped it into shape by using Lady Liberty and the “Know Before You Roll” headline as the core excitement of the brand. Now, the’s highlighted bike events, highly organized content, and Call-To-Action areas to get users clicking. We also provided responsive views, so the website will look killer on iPhones, iPads, desktops, laptops, and any portable device.

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ne of the biggest events is the NYC Bike Share, which will boast over 600 bike stations throughout the city, which means 10,000 bikes for public use! Now, how’s that for alternative transportation? Another excellent collaboration with our wildly talented partners at CivicActions. We’re all about the nonprofit love.

10,000 bikes open for public use in NYC, summer 2012.

Launch Website

Get your thinking cap on

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 06:04:14 +0000

Branding in progress for The Learning Project, based in San Francisco. They help students become confident, critical, and big thinkers. We’re creating the logo, WordPress website, business cards, Facebook imagery, and more. Look for the site launch in May 2012.

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roviding strategic solutions to issues schools face in the 21st century, The Learning Project builds and cultivates meaningful relationships with each school that focus on continuous workshops, in-classroom demonstration lessons, and site-based follow-ups. TLP creates tailored solutions and upgrades for classrooms and campuses while integrating relevant child development and education research to bring schools the most substantive solutions.

Creating confident, critical, and big thinkers.

We’re big in Napa

admin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:39:56 +0000

Logo design concepts for company that’s smack-dab in Napa, CA – one of the major wine and food epicenters in the world. Tapped into a very bustling (and profitable) industry, eWinery Solutions delivers the liquid. Its bundled software features a scalable marketing solution for wineries of all sizes: Content Management System, CRM, eCommerce, Wine Club, and Internet Marketing.

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large part of the strategy was to create a logo which reflects the software’s multi-solution capacity and connectivity of customers to businesses. It was crucial to demonstrate a essence of sales persons, business owners, and customers interacting together. Keywords: professional, progressive, hip & fun, and empowered. Created for Ricochet Partners.

Move over beer. Vino is here to kick some butt.

Charles Eames, eat your heart out

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:36:53 +0000

Website redesign for Pacific Furnishings, a Portland, OR company specializing in Herman Miller products and high-end office furniture. The site boasts a large collection over 200 products from workstations, seating, ergonomics, lighting, and stylish tables. There’s also a killer Modern Classics collection bound to get Mid-Century modern and Charles Eames furniture collectors drooling.

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he new Pacific Furnishings website is minimal, clean, and packed with Mid-Century modern products. A ton of content (about 250 pages) was migrated onto WordPress from the old website. We maximized WordPress’s blog functionality, allowing products to easily be added and maintained. Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo prefer blog-based and real-time websites. This will ultimately have a very positive effect on POF’s rankings. If you’re in the downtown area, be sure to grab a seat.

Over 200 Mid-Century modern products to make furniture enthusiasts drool.

Launch Website

It’s Beer:30

chuck — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Website design and development for burger, a highly beer-centric restaurant based in sunny Santa Cruz, CA. Burger is located on the corner of Mission and Bay St. – conveniently close to the university. The restaurant is big on using California grass fed beef and local produce. On a sustainable level, burger also serves their food in 100% post-consumer recycled boxes with 100% compostable cups, glasses, and silverware. Gotta love that!

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aturally, the Burger Santa Cruz website is built on WordPress, a Content Management System (CMS) used by over 50 million businesses. A huge perk was the addition of a dynamically generated beer menu. The content is pulled daily from a Beer Menus database, which is easily maintained using a web browser. This unique function allows the style of the website remain intact, while the content is always fresh and current. Now, who’s ready for some hops?

Boasting over 40 beers on tap, ingredients and brews matter.

Launch Website

Art. Culture. Justice.

chuck — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:19:28 +0000

Website redesign for Lambent Foundation, a New York based nonprofit which supports artists, dance companies, and theatres. Their vision is to “leverage the critical role of arts and culture at the intersection of social justice.” Through their grantmaking and creative programs, they explore the impact of contemporary art as a strategy for promoting sustainable cultural practices in New York City, New Orleans and Nairobi.

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site is clean and minimal with power bursts of color that allow the photography to be the focal point throughout the site. HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery power the subtle aesthetics and unexpected grid-based layout. This technology allows rounded corners and transparent images but degrades gracefully on older Web browsers. Built on Drupal, an open-source platform in collaboration with our partners at CivicActions.

Leveraging the critical role of arts and culture at the intersection of social justice.

Launch Website

Monkey wrench the system

chuck — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:14:48 +0000

Logos, naming, and website design for nonprofit, Privacy International (PI). It’s one of the oldest surviving privacy advocacy groups in the world. For over 20 years, PI has defended personal privacy from sneaky governments and corporations at international level on privacy issues.

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e provided sleuthy names for the website and games: Privacy Hunters, Domain Invaders, and IP Sleuth. The games demonstrate how “harmless-looking” information can be used by government organizations or corporations. Visit the site to learn how your personal information can be collected and illegally used by privacy thieves. Another wonderful joint project with Drupal partners, CivicActions.

PI’s campaigns are often controversial, but they always respect the primacy of truth and principle.

Launch Website