DESCRIPTION A-Z Poster DATE September 2009 DESIGN CREDITS The Best Part, Jason Dean PRINT CREDITS Designers' Press

QUANTITY PRODUCED 1,000 (500 on each paper color) PRODUCTION COST $2,800 PRODUCTION TIME 1 week DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH 18 in × 24 in PRINT METHOD Foil stamping PAPER STOCK 100 lb. French Pop-Tone, Whip Cream and Black Licorice NUMBER OF COLORS 1 spot ink (per paper color) OTHER Emboss

Observing pop culture is a big part of our job description as graphic designers. What we decide to do with that information is up to each one of us individually—how we process that information and how we chose to share our opinion in the en varies greatly. Jason Dean designed a poster that encompasses his latest interest and observations on the subject:

I’m very interested in pop culture, especially in the way that corporate culture has crept into our daily lives. Practically everything, including brands that we might think are mom-and-pop operations, is either owned or at least sponsored in one way or another by the top 1% “Mega-Corps” of America. Being a designer who is often employed by these companies, I am at once repelled by some of their social responsibility as well as in awe of their incredible branding initiatives, marketing and overall public image know-how. For example, I’m sure Paul Rand would be aghast at what happened at Enron, but his work for them has surely stood the test of time, and while his logo may now be a symbol of corporate greed, it’s no less beautiful or functional as a design object. This is the fine line between art, daily life and corporate culture that I’m exploring. Branding and corporate culture have become so pervasive that I sometimes wonder: will these be the symbols that our children’s children equate with these letters, rather than apple, ball, cat and dog?

Using two colored papers from French Paper, Jason set out to produce this poster without using ink—with embossing and foil stamping in mind he set to work. He has now partnered with Mechline in order to sell his posters which are available in gold/cream or silver/licorice.