Collateral made for Russell Kerr’s Lorado Taft Lecture in February at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Serigraph/2013 

Midwest Posters

A set of posters created with Bernard Canniffe using a process whereby the images were generated by google search results for the term “Midwest”. These stereotypical images were then used to create visual amalgamations that attempt to capture the true sense of what the Midwest may (or may not) be.

The space at the base of the posters is reserved for venue information, similar to circus posters that announce dates and times specific to the location.

In all, 7 different poster designs were created. 6 designs were screen printed by hand in editions of 60, with the 7th design to be produced this fall.

GR&D LAB Desks

These desks were created as a response to the new design studio, GR&D LAB, at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. They were designed to accommodate a wide range of anthropomorphic dimensions, with Li Zeng, our shortest researcher at 4’11” at one end of the spectrum and Bryan Clendenen, our tallest at 6’3” at the other while still remaining functional and comfortable.

One desk was designed and prototyped to ensure a correct fit while insuring compliance with the institutional demand that they could be produced for 50 dollars or less. After minor design revisions which included a more functional cable-management system, the desks were put into production and a run of eight made.

The design is meant to be open source and flexible enough to fit a variety of systems and budgets.

The Youth//Dhalinyarada

The Youth//Dhalinyarada is a documentary project that intends to profile thirteen young Somali men living in Minnesota who are actively and positively engaged in their community. This project highlights the contributions these men are making to America, their adopted homeland. Furthermore, the subjects of these photographs share the conflict they feel in just trying to be themselves, and as much as they try to adapt, they often feel foreign at home here in Minnesota.

A multi-tiered approach is used in order to depict an in-depth portrait of these men. The first method is a traditional gallery show that will display thirteen large-format prints of the young men. In addition, a run of 2,000 16-page tabloid-sized newspapers will be printed that includes photos and abbreviated testimony of the participants for widespread distribution throughout the community. Later on, a book will be made that includes additional photos of the young men as well as testimony in both English and Somali recorded during the photo shoots.

Press

Minnesota Public Radio News – March 29, 2012

Minnesota Public Radio – March 27, 2012

Reflections of New Minnesotans podcast 3-31-12 by Brian_Wiley

Photography: Mohamud Mumin

Additional photography by Nikki Tundel/MPR

Pots + Pints Forever, For All

A small series of posters about what makes Australia so great, presented as a gift to Russel Kerr of SocialStudio.org for being such a great host during my time spent in Australia. Great!

BI Worldwide Identity + Book

Over 4 weekends during the months of January and February, 9 students from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design came together to offer creative strategies on how to represent the B.I. Worldwide brand. The 9 students were a mix of undergraduate and graduates that were divided into 3 teams of 3; 1 Graphic Designer, 1 Web/Multimedia, and 1 Bachelor of Science/Visualization per team.

Ideation and concept generation took place on Saturdays, and refinement of those ideas occurred on Sundays with input coming from outside critics. On the aggregate 48 working hours were spent at B.I. and MCAD.

From this process 5 marks were defined and presented to the company for their consideration. One mark was selected and was debuted to the company and pubic on August 23rd of 2011. Additionally, a book + DVD were produced to document the process.

Art Direction: Brian Wiley

Project Coordination: Lars Mason

Creative Direction: Bernard Canniffe

Meet Your Neighbor

The project, entitled Meet Your Neighbor, attempts to reconfigure the small-town practice of introducing oneself to immediate neighbors for the larger urban environment. The study follows the methods and results over a 24 day duration in the Stevens Square and Whittier neighborhoods of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The paper was selected by Icograda for publication and presentation at the AgIdeas 2011 International Design Research Lab.

Click here to download a full copy of the paper.

Click here to download a copy of the entire photo documentation.

Halal Hotdogs

Halal Hotdogs was created around the premise that food could be a tool for community engagement and cultural acceptance. One of the most outward symbols of the Somali community is the word Halal which can be found on scores of shops in the Twin Cities. Halal is the practice of slaughtering meat according to Islamic Law. Although Halal meat is no different in practice than Kosher meat, the word Halal is frequently misunderstood by the Midwestern community. By combining the Halal practice with one of the most American foods, the hot dog, it’s aim was to act as an easily accessible tool to explain and celebrate Somali culture within the Midwest.

Through collaboration with Ahmed Hirsi and Mohamud Mumin, the Halal Hotdog cart functions in the community to celebrate Somali culture in the Midwest and at the same time create a sustainable source of income for newly-arrived immigrants.

Halal Hotdogs recently won the Design Ignites Change Idea Award and currently is partnering with the American Refugee Committee to search for funding. It is hoped that 3 carts will be fully-functional by the middle of summer. More info about the project can be found here: HalalHotdogs.org

Press

Design Ignites Change Idea Award

Mogadishu Times

GOOD magazine

Additional photography by Mohamud Mumin

GR&D LAB

At the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, the graduate graphic design students recently created GR&D LAB (Graphic Research and Development Laboratory). This studio model places a significant emphasis on graphic design research through trans-disciplinary collaboration and participatory methods.

The identity system needed to reflect this emphasis on collaborative research, as well as accommodate the constant flow of students and class structures that would be added every year. As a starting point, the laboratory’s time clock and timecard became the impetus for the graphic system that would eventually represent the lab.

Through the system each student is assigned their own unique logo for personal use, and a comprehensive class logo is formulated from the unification of all individual logos. The laboratory’s logo stays consistent overtime and represents the founding seven members of GR&D Lab.

Design: Brian Wiley & Lauren Thorson

MCAD Soccer

MCAD only has one quasi-official sports team – soccer. And these are new quasi-official uniforms! They were created by using heat-activated vinyl film and a 30-inch Ioline plotter, and all materials and production methods were commensurate with industry standards. 60 unique home jerseys were created, with the away jersey to be produced in the 2012-2013 season.

Art Direction: Brian Wiley

Design: Brian Wiley and Mallory Heyer

For the past two years, 10 students from the University of East London have visited MCAD to take part in a 2 week immersive course on culture and design. At the end of the workshop students participate in a 2 day intensive making session.

The outcomes are responses to American and European culture, and made use of Google Voice to process accents and generate the language, as well as a visual version of the children’s game Telephone to generate the visual vernacular of the piece.

Art Direction: Brian Wiley, Lauren Thorson, and Jasio Stefanski. 

Creative Direction: Timothy Foster and Bernard Canniffe