As a trusted partner, Jones Lang LaSalle came to PJD when they sought to create their first venture outside of the JLL umbrella. Prior to this venture, their umbrella of services were strictly housed under one brand. The new offering manages laboratories for optimum efficiency for the Life Science industry. Using research and interviews we established a strong case for why this service offering should become a separate brand. We then developed the brand positioning, messaging, company name (Labwell), and built the visual brand.

To help build distinction for Labwell’s visual identity, we created kaleidoscopic images based on cost-effective stock photography. The kaleidoscopes, when paired with the original images, show how Labwell looks at laboratories from a unique perspective, then creates comprehensive solutions to make the complex simple.

To learn more about our brand work for Labwell, including website, logo, and print and e-collateral, visit the case study page. To learn more about other brand work for Jones Lang LaSalle, visit our website.

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom would like to spark a national conversation about privacy rights in the digital age. For 2012′s Choose Privacy Week, the ALA asked us to develop campaign materials on the issue of government surveillance.

The result is intended to be simple and striking, portraying how America is being watched, or how the government might be watching you. After the initial quick read of the visual, the viewer can see that the eye’s pupil is a lens and the iris is composed of keywords that list everyday actions that can potentially be collected to build a profile of you: your library records, web searches, banking transactions, GPS data, and more. Once people realize how much personal information is open to exploitation, they might want to reclaim their freedom to read and receive ideas anonymously.

For more information, go to the case study page.

Our holiday greeting this year was a bottle of Red Savina Habanero Hot Sauce made by PJD’s own Gino Whitaker.

Hand-crafted in small batches in a commercial kitchen, the sauce is made from the Red Savina habanero pepper and local, organic ingredients.

Warning: HOT! The Red Savina held the Guinness World Record™ as the hottest chili pepper in the world from 1994 until 2006. (Now it’s the Bhut Jolokia chili pepper.)

Wishing you and yours a hot and spicy 2012.

In November, PJD staff and alumni got together for an after-work party, to catch up and share stories with friends old and new.

We are proud of all our alumni and the incredible design and art they are making throughout the city and country. Thank you for being a part of the PJD family!

Lastly, a big welcome to the newest PJD-er, Cori Stadler. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Cori came to us from Bockos Design and Petrick Design. (Thanks, Robert!).

Bill Johnson and Wendy Pressley-Jacobs were honored to be named among Graphic Design USA magazine’s People to Watch in 2011. The annual feature profiles notable names in the design industry, each recognized for talent, leadership, success and newsworthiness.

Read the article to find out what audiobook is playing on Wendy’s car stereo and for an exposé of Bill’s surprising bed partner.

A notable feature of our recent brand work for RHR International is the image library.

Our approach to RHR ’s brand imagery was to portray the art of business consulting and RHR ’s unique perspective into the human element through the science of psychology. The new RHR brand image library consists of photography featuring a commissioned sculpture entitled Trusted Advisors (bronze, 17″ x 17″ x 19.5″), by American sculptor Mark Bava.

We discovered Bava through our neighbors here in River North — the Gruen Gallery. He was selectedfrom a shortlist we prepared of contemporary sculptors whose work could fit our brief. Once we chose Bava, the Gruen Gallery helped with purchasing and usage rights. (The gallery is just one of a community of art spaces in the area. Be sure to check them out — particularly on the first Thursday of each month.)

Illustrations by Allen Garns supplement the primary photographic imagery. Their sketchlike qualities are intended to communicate that business development and consulting is an ongoing and flexible process.

Often an afterthought, image libraries can in fact be a powerful asset for a strong, cohesive and distinct visual identity.

To learn more about our brand work for RHR , visit the case study page on our website at: pjd.com

recently had the pleasure of hosting a Chicago Public School student for the day as part of the district’s Job Shadow Initiative.

We were all very impressed with the smart and savvy Priscilla, who came prepared with a lot of questions about our work and the design field in general. If she is representative of the upcoming generation, they’re going to do some great things.

Thanks to AIGA Chicago for promoting the program.

Chicagoans, consider a Job Shadow at your office: chooseyourfuture.org

To coincide with the announcement of our new name and our 25th anniversary, we’re launching a new website.

Showcasing our latest projects and some classics from our archives, we’re letting the work speak for itself. In that spirit, we’re going to quit writing about it, and encourage you go and see it for yourself.

We invite you to visit our new website.

Pressley Jacobs Design opened for business in the autumn of 1985. There have certainly been lots of changes since then, but we’re more excited than ever about the industry. Technological advances have widened the creative possibilities but our thought processes and methodology still serve us well. Whether developing a logo, a branding program, a piece of B2B communication, or a website — we still start with a similar series of questions. As Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it serves to strengthen all we do. “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit” (ee cummings). Design is the act of bringing together the communications elements that best reach out and connect people. And with the help of our clients, our employees, and our supplier partners, we intend to mark our time bettering business communications.

We thank you all for sharing this wonderful journey.

Pressley Jacobs Design is pleased to announce that it has changed its name to Pressley Johnson Design. Bill becomes the new ‘J’ in PJD. “It’s a momentous milestone for both of us” says Wendy Pressley-Jacobs. “His vision and his openness to new directions and technologies have been instrumental in the firm’s evolution.”

“Design helps instantly communicate the vision, sophistication and quality of an organization,” says Bill. “We help leadership teams put their vision into action so that their organizations are valued properly by the investment community, by policy makers and advocacy organizations, by their customers and clients and, perhaps most importantly, by their employees.”

Bill continues, “I have always been fascinated by what others do and what makes them tick. I use the word ‘and’ because no one is just one thing. They’re a unique mix that is discovered as you build a relationship. It’s the difference between an acquaintance and a friend, people and culture, work and passion.

“My job is to listen, observe, understand, and act. You can only act through sound methodology. That process allows one to create from a unique perspective: someone else’s. And talent completes the picture, making the message clear and memorable.”

And that’s why our work does not all look the same. It’s ours AND yours. We believe. (To view some of our work, visit our website.)