Pica Design has been designing theatrical posters for Belfast Maskers for over 9 years. Their most recent poster was designed to promote a concert performance featuring the songs of Janis Joplin.

Pica Design was asked to create New Packaging for a company in Blue HIll, Maine called Hydro-Photon. Hydro-Photon sells a product called the SteriPEN. Pica Design has been designing all of the SteriPEN collateral for the last 5 years. They recently released 3 new SteriPEN products; The SteriPEN Emergency, Mini, and Traveler. Each product is intended for a different market but they wanted the packages to have a similar look and feel. Click Here for a larger view.

SteriPEN Emergency, Mini, Traveler

I often wonder what the future of Web Design will be. Is the information superhighway going to become an infrastructure just like our roadways and city’s are designed. A place where every page has the same navigation structure and always leads to the same intersection. In theory it would be great if say for instance every state run organization shared the same navigational structure. This way we could all find the information easier without having to learn how to navigate each site. On the other hand it wouldn’t be great if every tattoo shop had the same look and structure. They would then lack the originality and character that attracts people to certain shops.

WordPress themes and others like it are changing the way the landscape looks and creating an economical option for small companies. The benefit is that it gives start-up companies an option to get online without breaking the budget. The risk is that your business might not stand out from the rest.

I am not sure what the future holds for web design but I am sure that WordPress themes will be around for a while. Please choose wisely.

Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year from all of us at Pica Design and please remember to Txt Responsibly with all of your new gizmos and gadgets this holiday season:) Please enjoy this slideshow featuring Pica Design highlights from 2009.

All words have a meaning, but good ones come with more than one,
When we picked the Pica name we took on quite a sum.
The many things a Pica is may be more than you think
So we thought we’d share with you all these handy links

Pica means a family of magpies, and a publisher of old
Red-wine grapes that wind and grow in the region of Garonne
There’s a city found in Chile, a pianist named Joe,
and the pathway to your brain through which the blood does flow
The urge to eat things not quite food goes by Pica too
But we hope you stick to food, good health it brings to you!

There are Institutes of Art in Portland and in Perth
And the heat shield on a spaceship so very far from Earth,
If you should twist and turn the ‘c’ into a ‘k’
And head into the mountains, way up above the fray
You may find a cousin to the rabbit, with ears just like a mouse
Who live in rocky hillsides, and whistle when they’re roused

But what we meant, in any case, was the measurement of space
Six picas in an inch to grant us design grace.

Timm Schamberger / DDP

We regularly get people asking us what our hold music is. It isn’t often that people like to be on hold. Since we added Dave Brubeck’s Take Five as our hold music, people have regularly commented on it. Sometimes even asking to be put back on hold so they could hear the rest of the song. The following is a short story on Brubeck’s Take Five album that appeared on NPR.

Dave Brubeck: An Unlikely Hit, 50 Years Strong

All Things Considered, June 12, 2009 – In 1959, jazz pianist Dave Brubeck topped the pop charts and shook up the notion of rhythm in jazz with an odd-metered song called “Take Five.”
Only trained musicians might understand exactly what gave the Paul Desmond-penned song its flow. It was all in the time signature: five beats to the measure, a departure from more traditional four-four time in jazz. It was cutting-edge and cool — a song millions would scoop up and savor. In an interview with Michele Norris, Brubeck explains what made the time signature so difficult.

“You were brought up playing in four-four,” Brubeck says. “Everybody could walk to it and dance to it. Put an extra beat on it — everybody’s tripping.”

Fifty years ago, “Take Five” appeared on Time Out, a title that served as a double-entendre. Those in the know knew it referenced the mood and the music’s meter.

At age 89, Brubeck has slowed down, but he’s still playing and writing music.

“The more you get to play, the better it is — just play as you can while you can,” Brubeck says. “I can’t wait for the next job so we can play.”

A few weeks ago we shared our excitement about the letter ‘O’ and how we accepted the challenge to create the letter using found or re-purposed materials for the 2009 AIGA BoNE Show in Boston. Well, our efforts were well received and unique in that we submitted the only entry that used 100% organic materials. In this case, hay and twine. Ultimately, our ‘O’ was auctioned off to a bidder longing for Maine and now hangs proudly on a sun porch. Here are a handful of pictures of the project in the making and the final installation. Thanks to all who participated. Enjoy!

We Bring You the 'O'

Final Installation at Mass College of Art in Boston. Can you find our 'O'?

Here is a short clip from the question and answer session at our recent seminar at Unity Center for the Performing Arts.

Matt O’Malia, principal of G•O Logic, LLC, has a fantastic editorial on Roll Call this week, in which he calls for a stronger energy standard in the upcoming American Clean Energy and Security Act.

“Buildings consume 40 percent of the energy produced in the United States, more energy than all of the cars on the roads today. And while automobile fuel efficiency is seriously debated as a path to save energy and money, building energy performance has not received as much scrutiny, even though we have the tools and technology to create super-efficient buildings today. A strong renewable electricity standard will mean these tools get used and these jobs created to make our buildings more efficient and begin to build the foundation of an American new energy economy.”

Read the whole editorial here: http://www.rollcall.com/news/36132-1.html

For more on Matt and G•O Logic’s houses, check out their website at www.gologichomes.com

Join us for a nuts-and-bolts presentation on the benefits of websites for businesses. This is a great opportunity to ask questions about websites, network with other business owners and learn more about putting the Web to work for your business.

Event Details:

Thursday, June 25th

4:00 – 5:30 PM

Unity College Center for the Performing Arts

42 Depot Street, Unity, Maine

For registration and event information, call Julie Downer at UniTel: 948-3959;

or email jdowner@uninets.net

Sponsored by Pica Design, LLC, UniTel and Unity College in Maine