Designing for The Department of Defense
Over probably the last one thousand years, I've been subjected to an uncanny slew of interviews. I've sat before medical boards, college professors, every flavor of corporate personality, even one time a Geranium farming magnate. The Defense Digital Service was the first time a guy flashed a badge and told me about possible jail time regarding how I answered his questions, so, you know...I'm not crying, you're crying.
It's the actual "The Pentagon," so little of my work is sharable for consumption. Below are a few of the more public and available consumables - delicious bits of type, gradient, and big fat textures I lean into each and every day.
THE PENTAGON
// 2021
TEAM:
DESIGN GUILD
MY ROLE:
I COULD TELL YOU, BUT THEN...
It will shock absolutely no one that I've found a way to put our organization's brand in my favorite type of creative choke hold with a set of brand guidelines. I think I'm going to make myself a tshirt that says,"Follow the Rules, I'm Looking At You, Phil" in big block letters.
After listening to Roman Mars' design-podcast episode on governmental challenge coins years ago, they weirdly landed on my design bucket list, which probably isn't a real thing. My second ask on the job with DDS: "Have you ever designed a challenge coin?" Now I'm up to five or six. Please stop asking.
I don't believe in the corporate notion of the "flat heirarchy," which is a weird thing to say to the Deputy Director of the organization you work for that is...a flat heirarchy. In a fair-play display of saying, "Okay smart-ass, then what do YOU think?" - I was asked to help architect what we call The Guild System with design thinking and creative choppery. It's the rules for a rule-less org stucture, and I sort of hate that I like doing stuff like this.
We contributed to the DEF CON hacker conference via pandemic-friendly video, the theme of the year "something 90's but like the movie Hackers, but like popped collars and a bunch of techno static, you know?" Cool, cool cool. Here's some purple gradient work and a bombed out logo for our booth. Also, skulls. Because skulls rule.
