Creative Columbus

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The Columbus College of Art and Design recently published a report entitled Creative Columbus, which is an inventory study of Central Ohio’s creative industries including the arts, design, performance, media and marketing.

The prominent design fields in the area are fashion, industrial, interior and communication design, with a concentration of businesses in downtown Columbus and many self-employed creatives in based in Clintonville.

During our visit we took a closer look at communication designers and their role in local businesses. We want to highlight CSCA (Columbus Society of Communicating Arts) for its unique and independent approach to design promotion, and its Creative Best Awards initiative that rewards local talents.

A special mention goes out to Ologie, a branding agency that helps businesses with social media strategies, and to Gabe Shultz for his insight on the role that graphic designers play in the corporate world and for keeping the experimental alive through his project Bored Sketchbooks.

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Photos: © Jeff Seslar of Chromatic Identity – © Gabe Shultz

Columbus, OH

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For the longest time Columbus has been considered a typical American city and its local population has been viewed as a mirror image of the U.S. population as a whole. For this reason the city is often used as a testing ground for corporate America’s latest products and services.

Large chain retailers and brands such as Abercrombie and Fitch and The Limited (parent company of Victoria’s Secret) are headquartered in Columbus. Similarly, large insurance companies are firmly based there as well.

Despite such facts, Columbus doesn’t lack personality and is not afraid of supporting independent initiatives. And with the largest university campus in the United States, Ohio State University is a strong local asset that grows and graduates inspired young minds and plays a role in spreading fresh ideas into the city’s diverse communities.

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During our short stay, we had the opportunity to walk High Street of Short North, an area recently praised in the New York Times. Highlights include Jeni’s Ice Cream offering handmade confections made with locally sourced ingredients, the spacious and luminous Northstar Cafe, and Tigertree, a select store with unique design pieces from the area and beyond. The noteworthy North Market (the only market in Columbus and also small business incubator) was unfortunately closed during our visit.

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Andy Warhol – Art, Design, Life

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Andy Warhol’s creative approach challenged the boundaries between art and design and ingeniously introduced multi-disciplinarity into the arts. He merged it all in his career: from advertising to illustration, photography, film, music, and sculpture.

By embracing creativity as a whole and by collaborating with the most inspired talents, Andy Warhol showed that commercial art (which we like to refer to in this project as ‘design’) acts as a mirror to the world we live in and can serve as interesting social study content.

Andy Warhol’s fame began with his illustration work for established brands like Tiffany’s , Columbia Records and Harper’s Bazaar to name a few. His success as a commercial artist eventually pushed him towards visual experiments that captured the American way of life shaped by consumerism, materialism and celebrity culture.

A personal favorite at the Andy Warhol Museum are the “Time Capsules”: cardboard boxes that he filled with everyday objects, photos, letters, and other collectible items, from 1974 onwards. The Museum today holds over 600 Time Capsules in their archives and gallery spaces.

The few capsules on display are fascinating from a creative and anthropological perspective as they intimately reveal the random complexity of Warhol’s existence and the beautiful designs of everyday life. Our visit to the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh showed us that life is art, art is design and design is life.

Full Pittsburgh City Report

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The Design Center – A Cabinet of Curiosities

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The Design Center at Philadelphia University is located at the former private residence of Goldie Pailey (mother of CBS founder, William Pailey). The house borrows from California’s mid-century modern architecture. Even though the house has been converted into a gallery, the interiors have been kept intact. It features a beautiful 50’s kitchen with original appliances – that serves as a meeting room, closet spaces and bathrooms, including one that is being used as a site-specific installation room filled with light bulbs. Some vintage cabinets and drawers have been turned into mini fiber galleries by designer Todd Oldham (pictured above). In fact, there is not a single space that is not creatively occupied at the Design Center. It is a real cabinet of curiosities.

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Lace in Translation (pictured above) is the latest exhibition at the Design Center. Dutch design studios Demakersvan, Cal Lane and Tord Boontje were given access to the Quaker Lace Company’s collection to re-interpret the pieces and produce something new. The results are original pieces of contemporary furniture, garden sculptures and interior objects that reflect the delicate complexities of lacing.

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Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a place defined by art, craft and architecture and where the boundaries between creative practices are blurred. The city attracts tourists and creatives from around the United States and the world.

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Many details in Santa Fe, from signs to storefront and menus (pictured above) are a reflection of the city’s interest in the past and things that are handmade.

American Indian art is an underlying theme and a strong creative influence in Santa Fe. The Institute of American Indian Art is a one-of-a-kind museum and college of fine arts dedicated to the study of indigenous cultures and art.

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New Mexico Creates at the recently opened New Mexico History Museum is a different kind of museum store that sells handcrafted jewelry, Native American art work, Hispanic crafts, art glass, and textiles all created by New Mexico artists and artisans. One of their approaches is to showcase products that integrate contemporary design in traditional craftsmaking techniques.

Further from the city center, Railyard Santa Fe is a neighborhood that is being regenerated. It represents the possibility of a more contemporary Santa Fe.

Steve Wiman, Uncommon Objects

Steve Wiman walks Cities x Design through the inspiration, history and curatorial ethos of his super funky story.

Philadelphia City Profile

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Keywords – Urbanism, Old City, Ideas, Corporate, Colonial, Beer

100px-flag_of_philadelphia_pennsylvaniasvg Population: 5,838,471
Founded: 1682
Nicknames: City of Brotherly Love,The City that Loves you Back, Cradle of Liberty, The Quaker City, The Birthplace of America,The City of Neighborhoods, Philly

Tourism / Place branding / Historic Landmarks

Design businesses

MIO* (furniture)
Postgreen (green development)
Big Smack TV

Creative initiatives

Local businesses

Bus Stop Boutique (shoes)
Quirk Books (Worst Case Scenario)
Urban Outfitters Inc.

Institutions / Organizations

Art and Design Schools

Moore College of Art and Design
Philadelphia University
School of Design and Media
School of Architecture

Articles / Blogs / Other

Minneapolis City Profile

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Keywords – Arts, Collaborative, Progressive, High-tech, Educated, Publishing

100px-minneapolis_flagsvg Population: 3,175,041
Settled: 1867
Nicknames: City of Lakes, Mini-Apple, Mill City, Twin Cities
Motto: En Avant

Tourism / Place branding / Historic Landmarks

Walker Art Center

New Arch / Urban developments

Guthrie Theater / Jean Nouvel
Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center
Minneapolis Institute of the Arts / Michael Graves
Walker Art Center / Herzog & De Meuron
Weisman Art Museum / Frank Gehry