Born online in September 2002, Speak Up is an author-based, reader-supported community devoted to graphic design open to conversation and dialog.
Its focus is to find design relevance within our field as well as outside of it. In the everyday. Relevant to the practice of creating communicative elements; of thinking about audiences, context and what has come before; of processing loose ideas and assessing disparate materials into tangible forms; of endless hours spent in front of a glowing monitor, or scribbling on a blank journal; of the quest for flawless and innovative execution. Further establishing the significance and relevance of those of us practicing under the umbrella of graphic design.
Through interviews, discussions and reviewsand supported by openness, honesty and immediacy, with an emphasis on open dialogand shaped by its authors, readers and random contributors, Speak Up has grown into one of the most dynamic and trusted communities within graphic design.
ABOUT SPEAK UP (THE SERIOUS DESCRIPTION)
ABOUT SPEAK UP (THE AS-IT-HAPPENED DESCRIPTION)
Speak Up was started on a whim by Armin, during the winter of 2001 in Chicago. Mostly as a response to the lack of traditional design practice found online as the web was overrun by “design portals” featuring explosive graphics that didn’t do much other than explode off the screen. With no fanfare, public or writing skills the first version of Speak Up was launched in its first iteration as one giant, slightly aimless, poorly-coded rant. But, nonetheless, it seeded the spirit and the pixelated ornamentation that would eventually become the calling card of Speak Up.
Landing page with original Speak Up logo, left; pop-up- and frame-based site on the right. Click for bigger view [Pop-up]
After six months, V1.0 of Speak Up had stalled. Until an encounter with Typographica and the discovery of MovableType sparked the eagerness to turn Speak Up into an open blog. Again, with no fanfare, public and ever so slightly better writing skills Speak Up was relaunched in September of 2002. Through persistent e-mailing to the members of the design industry and word of mouth, Speak Up began its snowballing into industry recognition.
Speak Up V2.0, sadly missing images and a Flash file, left; V2.5-ish, with Word It introduced. Click for bigger view [Pop-up]
Speak Up became famous for its heated discussions on AIGA, Emigre, and (starting in 2004) any major rebranding effort — like this, this and this. Slowly and with the help of a revolving door of authors and readers, it amassed an enviable readership and attention.
Over the course of five years Speak Up has emotionally endured highs and lows — and a consistently growing and crowded blog landscape — that have shaped it for better and for worse. And, technically, it has survived crashed servers, corrupted databases, two redesigns and evolving from a table-based site to a flowingly CSS-based beauty, leaving us at V4.2, more or less. But, most importantly and rewardingly, it has made a significant dent in the profession through engaging all those involved in it.
Landing page with original Speak Up logo, left; pop-up- and frame-based site on the right. Click for bigger view [Pop-up]
After six months, V1.0 of Speak Up had stalled. Until an encounter with Typographica and the discovery of MovableType sparked the eagerness to turn Speak Up into an open blog. Again, with no fanfare, public and ever so slightly better writing skills Speak Up was relaunched in September of 2002. Through persistent e-mailing to the members of the design industry and word of mouth, Speak Up began its snowballing into industry recognition.
Speak Up V2.0, sadly missing images and a Flash file, left; V2.5-ish, with Word It introduced. Click for bigger view [Pop-up]
Speak Up became famous for its heated discussions on AIGA, Emigre, and (starting in 2004) any major rebranding effort — like this, this and this. Slowly and with the help of a revolving door of authors and readers, it amassed an enviable readership and attention.
Over the course of five years Speak Up has emotionally endured highs and lows — and a consistently growing and crowded blog landscape — that have shaped it for better and for worse. And, technically, it has survived crashed servers, corrupted databases, two redesigns and evolving from a table-based site to a flowingly CSS-based beauty, leaving us at V4.2, more or less. But, most importantly and rewardingly, it has made a significant dent in the profession through engaging all those involved in it.
FUN THINGS WE DO/HAVE DONE
Stop Being Sheep
Every year we gather the very best comments left on Speak Up and print a small run of our beloved Sheepies. Measuring in at a tiny 4.5" x 6.5", and sporting only two PMS colors (green 612 and gray 433), they pack a true punch. Often sold, and sometimes handed clandestinely, Stop Being Sheep has given us the opportunity to bring Speak Up goodness out from its internet confines and into the hands of designers. For more on each volume, please see Year 1 / Year 1 Bonus! / Years 2 and 3 / Year 4.
Stop Being Sheep, Years 1 – 4.
T-shirt Contest
For our first contest we decided to do the trusty T-shirt. Who doesn’t like T-shirts? After a modest round of submissions, the winner was the now famous Marian Bantjes, whose T-shirt design offered a glimpse of the sexy ornamentation that she was about to unleash on the unknowing industry. The final design was printed with zazzy silver ink on black American Apparel stock. Some men considered it “girly”.
Winning T-shirt by Marian Bantjes, modeled by the founders.
Poster Contest
Back in 2004 we ran a contest to design posters based on quotes found throughout the Speak Up archives. After hundreds of submissions and some considered judging by Art Chantry, Ellen Lupton, James Victore and a viewers choice award we silk-screened four excellent posters. For more on the contest, you may refer to this comprehensive page.
Winning posters by Spencer Fruhling, Tristan Benedict-Hall, Jeff Gill and Bernie Roessler.
New York High Priority Contest
If you, and you should, are a fan of the weekly typographic illustrations done for New York magazine’s High Priority section, then you will understand how fun, and unique, this contest was. Plus, we also got some (bad?) buzz and were accused of fostering spec work. More than 200 entrants can’t be wrong, right? To see all the submissions and finalists please see here.
Winning design by Spencer Fruhling.
Design Life Now
In 2006 Speak Up was (very) honored by being included in the third installment of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum triennial, Design Life Now. If you could not catch it live in New York, you could still purchase the nice catalogue.
Our modest exhibit space at the Cooper-Hewitt.
Every year we gather the very best comments left on Speak Up and print a small run of our beloved Sheepies. Measuring in at a tiny 4.5" x 6.5", and sporting only two PMS colors (green 612 and gray 433), they pack a true punch. Often sold, and sometimes handed clandestinely, Stop Being Sheep has given us the opportunity to bring Speak Up goodness out from its internet confines and into the hands of designers. For more on each volume, please see Year 1 / Year 1 Bonus! / Years 2 and 3 / Year 4.
Stop Being Sheep, Years 1 – 4.
T-shirt Contest
For our first contest we decided to do the trusty T-shirt. Who doesn’t like T-shirts? After a modest round of submissions, the winner was the now famous Marian Bantjes, whose T-shirt design offered a glimpse of the sexy ornamentation that she was about to unleash on the unknowing industry. The final design was printed with zazzy silver ink on black American Apparel stock. Some men considered it “girly”.
Winning T-shirt by Marian Bantjes, modeled by the founders.
Poster Contest
Back in 2004 we ran a contest to design posters based on quotes found throughout the Speak Up archives. After hundreds of submissions and some considered judging by Art Chantry, Ellen Lupton, James Victore and a viewers choice award we silk-screened four excellent posters. For more on the contest, you may refer to this comprehensive page.
Winning posters by Spencer Fruhling, Tristan Benedict-Hall, Jeff Gill and Bernie Roessler.
New York High Priority Contest
If you, and you should, are a fan of the weekly typographic illustrations done for New York magazine’s High Priority section, then you will understand how fun, and unique, this contest was. Plus, we also got some (bad?) buzz and were accused of fostering spec work. More than 200 entrants can’t be wrong, right? To see all the submissions and finalists please see here.
Winning design by Spencer Fruhling.
Design Life Now
In 2006 Speak Up was (very) honored by being included in the third installment of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum triennial, Design Life Now. If you could not catch it live in New York, you could still purchase the nice catalogue.
Our modest exhibit space at the Cooper-Hewitt.
INTERESTING THINGS TO KNOW
The Logo
After meeting calligrapher, and all around nice guy, Michael Clark, we asked him to design our logo with a slight retro flair. He did.
Fonts
We get asked this a lot, so for the record, we use Underware’s super generously free Unibody, mostly the italic weight, and Atomic Media's Cellular.
Past Authors
Even though we currently have less than a dozen official contributors, over the past five years we have had the pleasure of being helped by a wonderful set of more than 20 individuals, in no particular order: Brad Gutting, Brady Bone, Christopher May, Damien Newman, Darrel Austin, David Weinberger, Graham Wood, E. Tage Larsen, Jonathan Baldwin, Brook Lorntson, Jon Selikoff, Joy Olivia Miller, Kevin Lo, Kiran Max Weber, Kris McCaddon, patric king, Peter Scherrer, Rebecca Gimenez, Sam Potts, Steve Liska, Tom Deja, and Tan Le, among others. Thank you all.
ADAA
UnderConsideration LLC
