Span

Span Span is a studio crossing the boundaries of communication design in all mediums.

Heading into the weekend with a good one for you: our John Pobojewski is the latest guest on The Design Of Podcast from ...
04/10/2026

Heading into the weekend with a good one for you: our John Pobojewski is the latest guest on The Design Of Podcast from Rule29 Creative.

The conversation touches something we believe deeply at Span: design is not just what you make for clients. The practice itself is a design assignment—shaped, refined, and rethought over time.

As John puts it: “The business is also a design assignment. You’re constantly improving it and thinking about ways in which you can revise it. It’s not precious; it is in and of itself a living thing.”

A thoughtful listen on creativity, leadership, and building work that can adapt, endure, and matter.

Some institutions help make a city known to itself. For more than fifty years, the Reader has done that work with fearle...
02/04/2026

Some institutions help make a city known to itself.

For more than fifty years, the Reader has done that work with fearless reporting, curiosity, and a point of view you can spot across the street.

Span was honored to have and trust us with the evolution of the identity for the Reader’s next chapter.

For this work, we started where the Reader started.
In the archives.

We studied decades of mastheads, retypes, and small typographic decisions that shaped one of Chicago’s most recognizable marks, which has enlivened the city’s landscape for generations.

The centerpiece of our work is a careful redraw of the original Reader wordmark. Letter by letter. Optically refined. Corrected for balance. Rebuilt to live everywhere the Reader lives now, across print, digital, social, street boxes, and merch, while staying true to its history.

Thank you to the Chicago Reader for the years that built this legacy. Special thanks to for the collaboration, and to for the behind-the-scenes photos.

More soon. A full case study is on the way.

Designing Against Hate.Hate doesn’t always announce itself with violence. Too often, it slips into everyday spaces, unch...
08/28/2025

Designing Against Hate.

Hate doesn’t always announce itself with violence. Too often, it slips into everyday spaces, unchallenged and normalized.
In , Span’s own Nick Adam () writes about how the creative community has a unique responsibility and a powerful toolkit to resist hate.

Design isn’t just decoration. It’s declaration. A phrase, a poster, a campaign can interrupt the rhythm of hate, offer solidarity, and point toward belonging.

Read the full piece [link in bio]

In the piece Nick references work from

📸: Help Stop Hate for the and designed by our and at Span

invited us to exhibit in their Great ideas of Humanity exhibition. We had 4 works on display designed for the show. on ...
08/11/2025

invited us to exhibit in their Great ideas of Humanity exhibition. We had 4 works on display designed for the show.

on Theaster Gates
In equality

“I’m not a preacher, but I preach. I’m not a Buddhist, but I chant. I’m not race theorist, but I have questions and ponderances around the complexities of race and class and culture wherever I am.”


Artist Statement from Nick Adam
As a steward of space, history, and labor, Theaster Gates often engages deeply with materials, archives, and rituals that honor care and sanctity. In this work, the text set in GT Planar becomes a devotional object, carefully composed to evoke the tension between sacred and profane, spirituality and manual labor, intellect and emotion, archival preservation and radical disruption. Tea-toned Cyanotype on Hahanemuhle Platinum Rag.

What is Great Ideas of Humanity?
John Massey, former Container Corporation of America (CCA) head of design, encouraged the Design Museum of Chicago (DMoC) to reimagine the Great Ideas of Western Man campaign. DMoC happily obliged. DMoC reprise, Great Ideas of Humanity, embraces the increasing globalization of our world and celebrates the resulting cross-pollination of ideas, philosophies, societies, and cultures.

Great Ideas of Humanity
From 1950–1975, Chicago-based Container Corporation of America ran a campaign heralded as one of the best in advertising history, Great Ideas of Western Man. The world has changed since 1975, but great ideas are timeless. This response is organized by the Design Museum of Chicago, celebrating the enduring power of ideas through design.

The invited the team at Span to design works for the Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition.This one is from on Howard Zi...
08/11/2025

The invited the team at Span to design works for the Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition.

This one is from on Howard Zinn
In progress and change

“You can’t stay neutral on a moving train”
Howard Zinn

Artist Statement from Kevin Moreland
Howard Zinn warns of the passive participation in the making of history with his metaphor of the barreling train. Inspired by satellite images of rail yards, Zinn’s metaphor is materialized through overlapping lines and cautionary yellow with an arching path disrupting the composition. Set in Tatsuro from .co , the type originates from the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII and is reminiscent of the type often found on rail cars.

What is Great Ideas of Humanity?
John Massey, former Container Corporation of America (CCA) head of design, encouraged the Design Museum of Chicago (DMoC) to reimagine the Great Ideas of Western Man campaign. DMoC happily obliged. DMoC reprise, Great Ideas of Humanity, embraces the increasing globalization of our world and celebrates the resulting cross-pollination of ideas, philosophies, societies, and cultures.

Great Ideas of Humanity
From 1950–1975, Chicago-based Container Corporation of America ran a campaign heralded as one of the best in advertising history, Great Ideas of Western Man. The world has changed since 1975, but great ideas are timeless. This response is organized by the Design Museum of Chicago, celebrating the enduring power of ideas through design.

At Span were recently invited by to exhibit work in the Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition.This piece is from and Zach...
08/11/2025

At Span were recently invited by to exhibit work in the Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition.

This piece is from and Zach Minnich on Manal Al-Sharif
In knowledge and the mind

“How beautiful it is to live in a world with no walls.”
Manal Al-Sharif

Artist Statement
Zach Minnich and John Pobojewski are part of Span, a studio crossing the boundaries of communication design in all mediums located in Chicago. Our work is focused on challenging expectations with wit, logic, and a playful spirit. Blending typographic discipline with fearless expression, we elevate the role of the visual message in both culture and community. Span takes the long view — in every gesture and every project.

What is Great Ideas of Humanity?
John Massey, former Container Corporation of America (CCA) head of design, encouraged the Design Museum of Chicago (DMoC) to reimagine the Great Ideas of Western Man campaign. DMoC happily obliged. DMoC reprise, Great Ideas of Humanity, embraces the increasing globalization of our world and celebrates the resulting cross-pollination of ideas, philosophies, societies, and cultures.

Great Ideas of Humanity
From 1950–1975, Chicago-based Container Corporation of America ran a campaign heralded as one of the best in advertising history, Great Ideas of Western Man. The world has changed since 1975, but great ideas are timeless. This response is organized by the Design Museum of Chicago, celebrating the enduring power of ideas through design.

Recently at the studio we were asked by to submit work to the Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition.Here, our responded t...
08/08/2025

Recently at the studio we were asked by to submit work to the Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition.

Here, our responded to an Octavia Butler quote.

John Massey, former Container Corporation of America (CCA) head of design, encouraged the Design Museum of Chicago (DMoC) to reimagine the Great Ideas of Western Man campaign. DMoC happily obliged. DMoC reprise, Great Ideas of Humanity, embraces the increasing globalization of our world and celebrates the resulting cross-pollination of ideas, philosophies, societies, and cultures.

’s Artist Statement
Octavia Butler’s quote powerfully reflects the recurring cycles of civilization: “The past, for example, is filled with repeating cycles of strength and weakness, wisdom and stupidity, empire and ashes.” This poster responds with bold typography shifting in and out of focus with time. These dualities are presented side by side, linked by a looping ampersand that suggests continuity and tension. The composition and color palette draw inspiration from Corita Kent, pairing a vibrant orange with its complementary blue.

“Of course, writing novels about the future doesn’t give me any special ability to foretell the future. But it does encourage me to use our past and present behaviors as guides to the kind of world we seem to be creating. The past, for example, is filled with repeating cycles of strength and weakness, wisdom and stupidity, empire and ashes. To study history is to study humanity. And to try to foretell the future without studying history is like trying to learn to read without bothering to learn the alphabet.”
Octavia E. Butler

Great Ideas of Humanity
From 1950–1975, Chicago-based Container Corporation of America ran a campaign heralded as one of the best in advertising history, Great Ideas of Western Man. The world has changed since 1975, but great ideas are timeless. This response is organized by the Design Museum of Chicago, celebrating the enduring power of ideas through design.

Did you know, we named a fish and got it accepted in to dictionaries!Invasive carp are the greatest ecological threat fa...
08/08/2025

Did you know, we named a fish and got it accepted in to dictionaries!

Invasive carp are the greatest ecological threat facing the Great Lakes a looming crisis that demands bold action and fresh thinking. At Span we saw an opportunity to turn this challenge into a catalyst for change.

Enter Copi. A brand we created to rename, reframe, and reposition this invasive species not as a problem, but as a solution. It’s (likely) the only living species ever named and branded by a design studio. Copi transforms a misunderstood fish into a compelling, delicious, and sustainable choice. One that the call a ‘Best Choice’.

For the next 2 weeks at the , Chef Maurice Jackson brings Copi to the people — elevating fair food with innovative dishes that prove responsible consumption can be both impactful and irresistible.

Eat well. Do good.

This week, two of our design directors— and —head to NYC to speak at Type Lab, the experimental heart of the annual Ty...
06/24/2025

This week, two of our design directors— and —head to NYC to speak at Type Lab, the experimental heart of the annual Typographics Festival at The Cooper Union.

🟥
Bud Rodecker will unpack his team’s recent rebrand and website for IIT College of Architecture, where the solution wasn’t trendy—it was timeless. In this talk, Rodecker shares how a revival of Mies van der Rohe’s “Allzweck” type—became the foundation of the rebrand that embraces typographic archaeology.

It’s a story about design as memory work. About how the right letterform can carry decades of cultural meaning, quietly and precisely, into the present.

🟥
Nick Adam will offer a powerful meditation on typography’s civic role across three recent projects: South Side Sanctuary, Chicago Lowrider Festival, and a state-wide anti-hate project. This talk centers typography as a civic act—an expressive force capable of celebrating what matters and safeguarding what’s at risk.

Because the real question isn’t “what’s next in our field?” It’s “what do we want to last in our world?”.

Both talks will be part of Type Lab at Typographics

Bud Rodecker’s talk will be on Thursday, June 26
Nick Adam’s talk will be on Sunday, June 29

All TypeLab events will be open to the public with free registration.

See you in New York?

Best in Show. This one means a lot.Friday night, our design work with was awarded Best in Show by the (STA) as part of...
06/02/2025

Best in Show. This one means a lot.

Friday night, our design work with was awarded Best in Show by the (STA) as part of this year’s STA100.

As well, our rebrand of the was selected at 1 of the 100 best examples of typographic excellence produced around the globe last year.

These awards are as much the client’s , , and as they are ours and our team Cheryl Kao and Tom Mulhern

It’s an honor to be recognized by STA—a 98 year old organization, born in chicago, that has always stood for independence and design with purpose. A reminder that the best work happens when it’s rooted in trust, care, and community.

Thank you to the acclaimed STA100 judging committee: , , , , and

To launch Intuit Art Museum’s new visual identity, at we designed an engaging out-of-home campaign aimed at reintroduci...
05/28/2025

To launch Intuit Art Museum’s new visual identity, at we designed an engaging out-of-home campaign aimed at reintroducing the museum to both local and international audiences. Featuring ads and train cars and station advertisements, the campaign was strategically placed across Chicago to generate excitement and curiosity around the museum’s reopening.

The primary goals of the campaign were to build buzz around the newly renamed and rebranded museum, elevate awareness of the IAM identity, and attract a wider range of members and supporters both nationally and internationally.

Campaign messaging played on the museum’s unique position as an unconventional art space. Headlines such as “The art museum reimagined,” “We’re not a Michigan Avenue kind of museum,” and “We hope we’re not what you were expecting” reinforced the museum’s identity as surprising, imaginative, and welcoming.

This campaign positioned as a distinctive and approachable institution, promising visitors an art museum experience beyond the ordinary—one that invites everyone to engage with art in new, unexpected, and meaningful ways.

Span Design team:
, Design Direction
, Strategy, Writingcrz, Design

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