Rule29 is a part of STA’s Chicago Characters

Rule29’s art director, Justin Ahrens, was asked to join 30 other designers to take part in a public installation of 30 posters about 30 characters (people and companies) that are a part of Chicago’s design history—using 30 characters of an extended alphabet (some punctuation added).

These posters were by 30 talented Chicago designers, covering topics from A-Z and beyond, were installed at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart and demonstrated a snapshot of some of Chicago’s design past. The public installation, which was officially called Chicago Characters: A Brief & Incomplete History of Design in Chicago, was led by the STA (Society of Typographic Arts). STA was founded in Chicago in 1927 and has been a vital participant in the Chicago design community, sponsoring seminars and conferences, and developing publications, and putting together events like Chicago Characters. We were given the letter H for Chicago design legend Hayward Blake. Our design incorporated both first letters of his name and echoed back to much of his early, simple and conceptual corporate brand work. For more on the STA please go here. Or for Hayward Blake check out this STA video archive.