Pandora’s Box
Everybody has a start. When acclaimed architect and program director at Kent State University, Sung Ho Kim was launching his career, he decided he wanted to create a book with a portfolio of his work. He titled it Pandora’s Box, equating this beginning as if opening a box and releasing all the troubles into the world, just like in Greek mythology.
The logo
Sung Ho approached me to collaborate with him on this project, and I was honored. I felt like this book needed to be sophisticated, just like his work. I also wanted a well-designed logo to match.
After a series of sketches, I discovered that you can create a box inside a logo with the letterforms. It also possessed linear qualities I saw in Sung Ho’s work.
We kept the book cover subtle and mysterious, by simply embossing the logo without additional color. It was like a calm before the storm, until you opened the pages.
Already as a student at Rhode Island School of Design, his work was imaginative but also deeply thought through. He continues today, teaching experimental design that bridges technology, science, and ecological investigations, while developing various commissions globally.