News. Patrick

We just launched the initial materials for the New Aging Conference organized by the University of Pennsylvania and our good friend Matthias Hollwich of HWKN and Architizer fame. Assembling a world-class roster of provocative speakers from various industries, and culminating in a manifesto to reinvigorate the industry, it aspires to spark a new era of elder care. With that in mind, we developed a logo that imagines a "New & Improved!" aging experience and asked participants to imagine " How do you want to live when you are old?" through the brochure and web site. All with the goal of getting society to think beyond the current options; to imagine - and create - our own better future.

Ever feel like the award juries just don't understand your work, and think you deserve a second chance? If you are an architect, then you now have the second chance you were looking for with Architizer's Competition Competition - a competition to determine the best designs from entries that lost in other competitions. We did the promotional graphics, using a crumpled paper background texture to help inspire architects to pull those losing entries from the recycling bin and give them a chance at redemption!

We just received a shipment from the printer with our 2010 Portfolio of projects for Health industry clients. With 44 pages packed with photos of some of our greatest work for clients in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and related industries, it's a great feeling to look back and see the breadth of projects we have produced over the last few years. With clients ranging from BlueCross BlueShield to Virgil, an innovative nursing home in Los Angeles, we have learned a lot of interesting insights, love working on health projects, and are really looking forward to what 2010 has in store. If you are in a health industry and would like a copy of the book, drop us a line.

We've been busy at work on a number of projects for the elder care industry. One of the most interesting is the upcoming New Aging Conference in April, put together by our friends at UPenn. Examining Architecture and Aging, it will present exciting advances in the industry and hopes to develop a manifesto for the future of elder care. We just put up a holding page for the web site, and have some exciting materials in the works.

Here at UltraVirgo, in addition to branding and marketing, we really like developing materials that provide real educational content, especially related to health. With this in mind, we have developed a great resource for anyone with aging loved ones. This Family Education booklet for Virgil Skilled Nursing Center in Los Angeles provides a wealth of resources, including answers to common questions about aging, in-depth info about common conditions and how to help, and a lengthy glossary of medical terms. If you have an aging loved one and would like a copy, drop us a line, and we'll get one to you.

Our officemates at HWKN just launched a cool new web site: Architizer - social media for architects and architecture enthusiasts. Go poke around and learn about some great architecture from around the globe - like Rem Koolhaas' amazing CCTV headquarters in Beijing, or the undulating Aqua Tower which I watched go up in Chicago last year. And of course, I'm partial to this one.

Some intriguing ideas coming out of the TEDMED conference. Like Intel's Eric Dishman's call for healthcare to make the shift from the mainframe (hospital) to personal (home). Follow the stream of tweets. 

Our friends and clients at MXTelecom are out in San Diego at CTIA. If you're there, feel free to use our simple wayfinding ad in lieu of those complicated showfloor maps.

UltraVirgo is proud to welcome Steven Waldron to our creative team, fresh from Glasgow. Next time you call in, if you get a Scottish accent on the line, be sure to welcome him.

Just got back from vacation to some good news: three recent projects have won American Graphic Design Awards! The winners are: Our brochure for CoreNet Global Orlando Conference, our logo for KFT Capital, and our poster for Bruce Levingston's Sacred + Surreal concert.