Acclivity Software is, as their tagline states, “a small business making small business software”. A few months ago, I worked closely with Co-Founder Scott Davisson, fellow font snob enthusiast, to create three hand-lettered chalkboard murals for the walls of their headquarters.
It’s obvious when visiting the offices that everyone is passionate about and proud of their work - which translates into an excited, fun environment that I wanted to pick up on and amplify with my boards.
Because I draw so much of my inspiration from vintage branding and advertisements, my work can often turn out a little serious. A friend and fellow designer once told me that the 2-ply letterpress business cards I designed for my handyman boyfriend made him seem less like your friendly neighborhood handyman and more like the handyman who will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. (I think that’s supposed to be bad) But I just like to keep my work from looking silly or juvenile and it can be difficult to capture whimsy without crossing the line.
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| Stellabird Creative - Serious handyman business cards for serious handymen. |
So the goal with the Acclivity boards was to play up the fun vibe, while still keeping with the vintage feel that I so love to draw from. I decided to do so by bringing in elements of antique theatre marquees and circus signs. I used the clean sans-serif typestyle that they use for most of their branding to keep it looking modern, and popped it into dimensional-looking signage surrounded by little marquee bulbs.
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| Photo Credits: UL: Wikipedia; R: commons.wikimedia.org; LL: SchuminWeb |
The first board I put up was pretty straightforward. Their Product Development team uses their chalkboard to create fluid calendars for keeping track of each others’ vacations, etc. I wanted to give them a more permanent framework for that and add a department title to the top.
