WEETU CELEBRATING 7 YEARS

weetu7anniversary from weeTV on Vimeo.

Let's celebrate 7 years of creating! If we had to compare ourselves to one of the seven deadly sins, we'd be pride. We're proud of our work, and proud that we've helped our clients tell their story in ways they like to brag about. This admission will probably doom us to the least desirable of the seven levels of purgatory, but it's worth the risk. We’re looking forward to many more years of taking chances. 

7 years at a glance: Interiors, architecture, landscapes, deskscapes, truck shows, competitions, world exploration, logos, websites, photos, videos, branded environments, terror and culture (not at the same time), fashion, plant lamps, teachers, learners, explorers, Fulton Market Chicago to Garment District NYC. Blue hair, green hair, pink hair, purple hair……….no hair. Brazil, West Coast, East Coast, Middle Coast. Bangkok, Berlin, Toronto. What’s ahead for weetu? Still getting our hands dirty, more neon (hey- we started it), translucent synthetic materials and very soon the launch of a brand new website! 

Thanks to our clients, collaborators, friends and family for seven great years. Here’s to 7+ more!

Our cupcakes are on fire! 

Get your taste buds watering with weetupcakes, an inedible treat that's easy to make, and even easier to destroy. Here's a list of ingredients to a culinary sensation that will definitely not sweep the nation. 

Birthday cupcake recipe:

Black poster board

Black construction paper 

White colored pencil

Double sided transparent tape

Scissors

WD-40 or any reliable accelerant

Cigarette lighter or matches [who said to not play with matches?]

A bucket of water can be substituted for a fire extinguisher

Special thanks to Tyllie Barbosa for an afternoon of talent and patience- a photographer who makes her living taking gorgeous pictures of actual food. See for yourself at tylliebarbosa.com 

Also many thanks to weetuzooer, Amy Turilli for playing with fire and putting our little video together.

[Director of Architecture, Kevin Estrada + weetu Founder, Carly Cannell]
Celebrating in style in NYC. Cheers to another 7+ more years!

CAN WEE GET A BIG GULP?

Cornelius Atrium, looking towards Entry

As you roll into the 7-11 for your daily caffeine fix, have you every noticed anything but the refreshing carbonated beverage or juicy frozen deliciousness coming out of the nozzle? Chances are, you haven’t. Somewhere out there, that nozzle, and everything else it’s attached to, is highly engineered by a creative and technical team. Turns out, a significant part of that team resides just outside Chicago. 

Cornelius is the world's leading supplier of beverage dispense and cooling equipment. They manufacture and market an extensive range of beverage dispense systems for soft drinks, juices, teas, frozen drinks and more, as well as ice makers and a complete line of accessories. Their products are the choice of the world’s leading beverage brand owners, restaurants, convenience stores and hospitality chains. 

View towards Conference Room with translucent graphics. It's like meeting in a giant glass of water. 

Cornelius is the world leader of drinks machines, to the world’s leading drinks machine users. Why should the people who work so hard to make Cornelius the world’s leading supplier of beverage dispense and cooling equipment have to be subjected to a sterile working environment? They deserved better and that’s why weetu was awarded with the challenge of enlivening their corporate interiors. 

Other than the established blue and gray color palette, weetu started from scratch in creating a visual design for the client, and with only a month from creation to installation, time was not a luxury. 

Inspired by machine-era industrial design posters (Yes, movie buffs, the visual of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis that just flashed across your brain is spot-on),  weetu paid homage to the technical complexities of getting all the moving parts to work in sync, by casting the humble line in the starring role. There wasn’t a better design muse for this project and Tiffany Tiano, a Marketing Specialist at Cornelius thinks so, too: “Our graphics look great, they really added just the right pop of color and inspiration to the space!"

Views looking down from the mezzanine

Reception Lounge

Entry Wall with Mission Statement

Special thanks to N'dio for the translucent graphics at all glass locations and Speedpro Imaging for all drywall applied graphics. Both companies are good people, extremely talented and professional.

Photography by Tyler Mallory . Thanks T!

weetu thousand thirteen

Entering into weetu’s sssixth year, it is no surprise that it happens to coincide with the year of the snake. The Snake is the most complex force in the 12-year zodiac cycle and as history tells us the Snake Year is anything but tranquil. 

So after a year that saw the opening of weetu’s NY office extending it’s architectural reach; selection to help lead Chicago into its cultural future; the creation and launch of national message, brand and ad campaigns for some the largest non-profit organizations, the birth of a global design collaboration with Berlin’s own DesignProvocation and the release of weetu’s flatpack “plantlamp” product, 2013 is primed to be a year full of energized projects and inspired accomplishments.

So in other words it’s always best to keep your eye on the snake and, of course, weetu.

Let's Get Cultural, Cultural

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Weetu to Lead Marketing Campaign for Chicago Cultural Plan Initiative
Branding and Social Media Campaigns to Begin in February

Weetu will helm the social media and marketing outreach for the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012. As the communications component of the City of Chicago’s selected planning team led by Lord Cultural Resources, weetu’s role will be to develop an overall branding campaign to be implemented across social media and traditional marketing channels.

In partnership with Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, this plan will deliver a set of recommended initiatives that support the Chicago arts and promote its economic growth while enhancing the city’s reputation as a global cultural destination.

“Weetu is proud to be part of this historical initiative. It’s not often that one gets the opportunity to help shape a great city’s cultural future,” said Carly Cannell, President of weetu. “Our approach throughout this campaign will be in the spirit of Burnham’s ‘make no small plans.’ We want our communications effort to challenge Chicagoans to dream big and take ownership of this cultural plan.”

“We are honored to be working with weetu on this project. Weetu's innovative approach, principles of inclusive public engagement, and leading-edge design emulate the elements we wish to reflect in Chicago's cultural plan,” said Orit Sarfaty, Project Lead for Lord Team.

Gail Lord, co-president of Lord Cultural Resources added, “Chicago is one of the world's leading cultural cities and so we are truly honored to be working with City leadership to plan its even greater cultural future.”

As its first two orders of business, weetu has developed and launched both an overall campaign brand and the social media hub that can be found at www.chicagoculturalplan2012.com.

About Weetu
weetu is a Chicago-based design collaborative specializing in interiors, architecture, marketing and branding. Founded in 2007 on a model of inventiveness, weetu brings together seasoned creative leaders from multiple disciplines and backgrounds to generate new methods, ideas and products as real solutions for real problems. Core to its design is the concept of “collaborative play” fueling weetu’s overall environment and creative processes. It is through this hands-on approach that weetu’s design teams are encouraged to explore ideas and inspirations free of construct or limitations.

weetu – reinventing innovation

For additional information on weetu please visit www.goweetu.com, e-mail at info@goweetu.com, call (312) 624-9592. Follow us on Twitter @weetu.

About Lord Cultural Resources
For more information on Lord Cultural Resources, please visit their website at www.lord.ca.

About the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)
For more information visit www.explorechicago.org/DCASE.

Cultural Plan Social Media Links
Main Website
Linkedin
Blog
Twitter @ChiCulturalPlan
Facebook
Tumblr
Google+

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using her giant noggin for good

On August 20th, Weetu Carly was invited to participate in the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) DESIGN FUTURES: THE INTERIORS ENTITY REGIONAL THINK TANKS, hosted at Harrington College of Design.

IFI’s Design Futures: The Interiors Entity initiative seeks to clearly understand the core need for the Interiors discipline and to better understand its value, relevance, identity and responsibility. This global IFI initiative intends to explore Interior Design as currently positioned and understood, within the fullest parameters of the discipline (including research, education and practice). This is a collaborative and consensus focused effort which will involve members, experts and generalists from around the world. The Harrington College of Design’s Think Tank is one of nearly two dozen being held in North, South, Central and Latin America representing the Americas. Additional Think Tanks occur in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The all day forum included professionals from both large and small firms, educators, researchers, and associated trades people from the midwest region. This diversity in both profession and experience provided multiple perspectives around Interior Design and what it may hold in the future. Needless to say, Carly's brain was sore for a few days following, but it was worth the effort to be a part of such a thoughtful and enjoyable group.

Best of Luck to 'My Gold Mask' at SXSW

Weetu was at Empty Bottle to send off My Gold Mask.(band website) Jack and Gretta will be performing 3 shows in Austin's SXSW Music Fest sandwiched between show in Arizona and NY. Yeah, way cool! Wishing they kick TexAzNy ass like they did tonight at EB! Undoubtedly, they will.

...And buy their muzak. Great, great and great.

We, especially, like their limited edition cassette tape. (see below)

Good Neighbors

A reminder to all that local area food banks need your donations more than ever. We were out doing some documentary work for Chrysler on their Auto Show food drive for the local Community Food Pantry on the Southside, where high school volunteers helped sort the loads that were brought in. Demand for their services is up, so help out with a can when you can.

Random Compliments

Even the coldest winters give way to spring. We're not there yet, but I think the end is in sight. Now is the time to go out and see what the snow has been hiding. Out and about the other day, it was nice to stumble on a random compliment hiding in plain sight, where no one would be expected to find it.

I'm here for the weather

As we careen into the depths of winter, what better place to go than... The Beach! Forget going to fancy Florida, though. I've decided to stay right here in Chicago and explore the lakeshore for the winter. While the shore is a magnetic draw for people in the summer, the opposite is true in the winter. In a city this size, it's rare to find such utter solitude. And for good reason. Everything is locked in snow and ice and the wind seems to howl forever. Those same elements turn everything into a subtle, graphic simplicity. Boat docks are empty, baseball fields lose their diamond shape and well-traveled paths disappear. 

It does take an extra layer or two of clothes, but the parking's easy and you can leave the sunblock at home...

CS Interiors - WEE on Wheels

Super thanks to CS Interiors magazine for tracking us down and including us in their summer-2008 issue. As we continue to plug away at developing new concepts, it's excellent to get a little attention in our own backyard. We look forward to sharing more of what happens in our wee-studio perching over the city on the west side.

(For those of you who know us and had quite a giggle over the "duo of cool" header - knowing quite well the truth behind the spoofy poses and dark sunglasses - give us a break...okay? My grandma loved it and has it stuck to her cork board next to her recliner.)