Three logos designed by Mad Dog Graphx won Silver in the recent Graphis Logo Design competition, and will appear in the upcoming annual, Graphis Logo Design 9 and Letterhead 8.
Winning logos included designs for Osprey Air – an air taxi service providing passenger and cargo transportation in Southcentral Alaska, WAGE – the Washington Alliance for Gender Equality, and Denali National Park – who commissioned a commemorative mark to celebrate their 2017 centennial.
Michael Ardaiz of Mad Dog Anchorage created the logo for Osprey Air. The client wanted to reassure potential passengers by projecting an image that could go toe-to-toe with national air carriers.
Graphis is committed to presenting and promoting the work of exceptional talent in the visual arts. Founded in 1944 as Graphis Magazine in Zürich, Switzerland and currently based in New York City, Graphis has long been recognized as the arbiter of fine graphic design. Their roster of annuals include carefully curated collections of contemporary advertising, photography, logo design, branding, typography, poster design, and more.
Kris Ryan-Clarke of Mad Dog Seattle developed the mark for WAGE. The organization’s mission is to coordinate the efforts and resources of Washington state’s 300+ groups who actively promote gender equality.
Since buying the magazine in 1986, designer and publisher B. Martin Pedersen has been responsible for selecting the winning entries for each annual. For Pedersen, choosing the work that goes in Graphis, or in one of the many Graphis annuals and books, is probably the most demanding of all disciplines. “The selection process is very introspective,” he explains. “I spend a lot of time looking at portfolios, brooding, agonizing, asking myself what makes them unique. I try to publish work that’s so compelling I can’t get it out of my mind.”
Kris also worked with Denali National Park to create the logo celebrating the park’s 100th anniversary. Denali will be branding events and merchandise with the logo throughout 2017.
“He is the biggest fan of anyone he publishes,” says Margaret Richardson, a publishing executive at International Typeface Corporation. “To be featured in Graphis is the most sincere and personal form of homage Pedersen could give anyone. Marty’s seal of approval secures you a place in design history.”
“My God, what Marty does is so perfect, so clear,” says designer Massimo Vignelli, a colleague for many years. “He is addicted to supreme beauty. But it’s not out of ego or greed – it’s out of love for our profession.”
“Martin Pedersen is the most discriminating, meticulous, fastidious, focused, and anal designer I know,” says Push Pin’s Seymour Chwast. “Next to him, I feel like a slob.”
“What he does is too beautiful!” exclaims Lou Dorfsman, the graphic designer who oversaw almost every aspect of advertising and corporate identity for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) during his 40 years with the company. “It would be too much, except that Pedersen also turns out to be a great editor and publisher as well.”
Graphis Logo Design 9 and Letterhead 8 is scheduled for release in February 2017.
For more about each of these projects, visit our Portfolio and News sections.