The Gran Gala Shakedown is a promotional site looking to find the next signature Gran Gala cocktail. Bartenders and mixologists are encouraged submit their own unique concoction. From there, drinks are liked, shared, mixed, tasted, and judged to determine the winner. The grand prize is $5,000 and a feature on the soon-to-be-launched Gran Gala main site. Stay tuned!

Work
06.11.10

T-Mobile's launch of the first Garmin-built Android™ device encouraged us to revert to a time when excitement about travel was as pure and real as the families of that same era. Everything from the illustration style to the colors and texture to the tone of voice was influenced by 1950s America.

Come by our studio at SW 1st/Taylor in Portland to check out our new outdoor gallery. We'll be adding a box of 3D glasses for the crazy 3D window (come in and ask for a pair for the time being). Also, prints of the artwork will be on sale soon in the studio store and/or online.

Inspiration
04.02.10

Check out these amazing little illustration by the incredibly talented Jon Klassen. He created these for his friends Carly and Dave's wedding. The idea was each table would have a bird accompanied by a pin with the bird on it that the guest could take home. Pretty rad idea. Check out his work here.

Inspiration
03.15.10

Alexa Meade has a style like no other. She applies acrylic paint on to of her subjects. It looks fake but as you look harder at the photo they are incredible pieces of art.

Check out a couple examples here.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Super simple and delicious sandwich paintings by Dan Kenneally of Lunchbox. Check out all of his abstract takes on your favorite sandwiches here.

Inspiring, funny and delicious Ted Talk by Chef Dan Barber. Check it out here.

From 2000–2008 we were known as Lakonic, “The Silent Creative Partner.” We were primarily a digital creative and production agency that worked exclusively with many of the world’s leading advertising agencies.

Despite our adamant position to work quietly behind-the-scenes, we grew year-over-year through word-of-mouth. Eventually, I made the decision to open an ancillary “lifestyle communications” division, called — you guessed it! — Tangible Worldwide, to support both a broader multidisciplinary offering and the growing direct-to-client interest.

To shift from an invisible interactive/technology shop into a full-service agency in a horrible economy wasn’t an easy feat. But, within a year, we opened a second office, added staff to support the growing offering and client base, and officially said goodbye to Lakonic, rolling it into Tangible. Besides a mention in the local paper, we did this all in typical Lakonic fashion: without much fanfare.

Today we are releasing two self-promotion utilities that embrace a total philosophical shift from our legacy Lakonic days. The purpose of this site is to be completely transparent. The non-invisible sort of transparent. We invite you to celebrate or debate our work and perspectives, learn more about the agency, including bios of every employee, freelancer, vendor or partner, and enjoy a daily dose of web finds that inspire our team. You can even help us define who we are as an agency.

For me, the most exciting aspect of this site is the ability to show off the portfolio of work we’ve developed in such a short period, and to be able to share it with the public for the first time. The second is to announce our new franchise, Grabba Beast. I could go on and on about both, but it is probably best that you explore for yourself.

Enjoy. And, please, tell us what you think!

Merrick, Founding Partner

Methane Studios have been posting some amazing new poster designs for Dave Matthews Band 2010 European Tour. You can purchase them here.

Check out Tangible's second poster for Urban Outfitters. When Colby and I were coming up with ideas for designs this was by far the weirdest one but we love how it turned out. Check it out here.

After changing our name from Lakonic to Tangible Worldwide, we decided to take our new name literally and create a business card that would make the guys from American Psycho want to join together to slay each one of us out of jealousy. Our goals for the cards were to: make an immediate impression; reiterate our name by creating tangible texture and level differences; and, evidently, create a self-defense mechanism in the event that we needed an emergency throwing star. This last goal would have been helpful had the American Psycho people attacked.

We chose to use two sheets of 140 lb linen cover stock. Our wordmark was letterpressed on one sheet, while the contact information was offset printed on the other. The two sheets were then duplexed together and cut, which inadvertently (although until now we claimed that this was done on-purpose) created a beveled edge.

They were thick. You could only carry two, at most, in a wallet; eight in a traditional leather business card holder. And they both weighed/cost more than those fancy aluminum, dye cut cards. Every employee received at least 100 of them.

Sadly, like most business cards, they were almost a total waste. Developers don't give out cards. Account executives pretty much deal with the same handful of people every day. And art directors give them out like candy… to their designer friends. A few people were successful in using them to impress the opposite sex. At least two long-term relationships were forged by way of this card.

Time went on and we continued to hire new faces in Chicago and our new Portland office. We decided against reprinting these cards. Instead, we decided to rethink how everyone uses (or could use) business cards.

NEW GOALS: MAINTAIN COOL FACTOR, REDUCE COST, ELIMINATE EXCESSIVE WASTE

We're still a design studio at heart, so we wanted to have a clever, well-designed card. The idea of a low-run, handcrafted card soon came to mind. The handmade look would create a unique texture for every card, and the personalization capability would allow the team to leave a real personal impression. As a byproduct, considering each card would take some time to create, the process would also train them to give away cards to people only when needed and to avoid making unnecessary cards.

We still wanted to convey the "Tangible" idea, so we again opted to use a letterpress process. Our friends at Studio On Fire used a recycled 130 lb cover stock to strike a shell print on the back of just 2,000 cards. The front was left blank—with the exception of the opposite impression left by the letterpress strikes—and shipped back to us to complete the process.

Using the new icon system from our updated identity package (seen throughout this site), we created 40 stamps, and a stamp for each employee's name and contact information. The cost of the stamps ranged from $2.00 for the icons, and $8.00 per name for non-bulk orders. This means we can continue to create new names and icons at a fraction of the cost of even a generic, digital business card printing service.