Dustin Slack

Role:

SALT Brand Book, Layout Design, Conceptual Design

Solution:

Creative agency SALT asked me to design a simple, bold, and elegant brand book. There was plenty of trial and error throughout the course of this project, which is always a good thing. What came out of this work was a layout that moved with fluidity as it interacted with personality rich photography and a clean yet expressive use of typography and color.

Role:

Logo design

Solution:

Seattle based fashion blog Pacific Northeast needed a logo that would visually represent my clients aesthetic sensibilities as well as his geographic roots. The “northeast” in the name comes from my clients upbringing in Boston, Ma. The “Pacific” refers to the sea, tree, and rain influenced city of Seattle, where both my client and I live. 

The goal was to visually refer to the brand’s geographic background by using common symbols in a clean and clever way. After endless sketching and a couple rounds of drafts I came up with logo that combines an evergreen tree and a compass, which points north and east. 

Role:

Identity Design +  Coffee Package Design

Solution:

The amazing people at Alkami coffee needed a logo for their newly founded startup. They wanted something modern and playful, with clever hints of illustration and symbolism.

As I dug into the history of coffee brewing I realized that the ritualistic ways in which we brew coffee are similar in many ways to the practice of alchemy.

The creation aspect of this project was one of the most fun logo projects that I've had the privilege of working on. The name of the brand and the purpose of the brand were aligned in such a wonderful and peculiar way. 

Alkami Coffee Co's final logo is heavily influenced by esoteric symbols. The pyramid and the eye point to mystical secret societies and the mysticism surrounding alchemy. These ingredients make for brand mark that is memorable and symbolic. 

Role:

Identity Design + Product Tags

Solution:

Cody needed an updated logo, along with packaging and promotional materials. My partner Heather and I came up with a solution that both represents his business and sets him apart from other artists in the area.

Role:

Conceptual Design + Layout Design + Illustration + Printmaking

Solution:

I'm a huge fan of analog or pre-computer graphic design. I wanted to celebrate a means of creation that is almost forgotten in the modern design community.  

I created a magazine that would allow me to utilize the hands on techniques I had been researching. I gave it the name "XACTOMUNDO", which is a reference to one of the most widely used analog art and design tools, the X-Acto knife.

The cover and inner cover graphics, as well as the contents page graphics are lino-cut prints that I made over several experimental design sessions.

This project called for a shift in my usual design process as I had to think about design in tangible ways. I welcome any project that asks me to think outside of the traditional process in order to find a solution that is not only unique, but bold in its exploitation of unavoidable human errors. 

Featured art and design work:

Pages 1 - 2: BankerWessel

Pages 3 - 4: Jason Munn (The Small Stakes) 

Pages 5 - 12: Augustine Kofie

Featured writings

Pages 13 - 14: Steven Heller