Span is an American multidisciplinary studio in Chicago, Illinois, specializing in identity design, branding, exhibition design, environmental graphics, motion graphics, interactive design, and publications.[1][2] It was founded in 2020 by Bud Rodecker and John Pobojewski who both worked at the design studio Thirst with Rick Valicenti.[3] In 2023, Nick Adam became Associate Partner.[4]
Notable projects
In 2024, Span led the rebranding of one of Chicago's oldest institutions, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.[5] The studio used the prairie as a key design inspiration[6]
The rebrand of the invasive species of carps—which were widely referred to as Asian carp—as Copi,[7] along with the tagline “Eat Well. Do Good.”[8] The Copi renaming is a part of a Federal and state initiative to get the public to eat the invasive fish,[9] decrease its numbers in Midwestern waterways,[10] and prevent its introduction to the Great Lakes.[11]
The short 3D animation/motion graphics films called Urban Sequoia -- about buildings that absorb carbon--which premiered at the UN Climate Change Conferences in 2021 and 2022.[13]
The exhibition graphics for Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.[14][15]
The rebrand of and brand identity for New York state’s Nazareth University.[16]
The identity for Bronzeville, Chicago’s new public park, the South Side Sanctuary.[17]
Co-producing with Manual Cinema the puppetry + digital animation film, Countdown. [18]
Designing Slow & Low, a retrospective book of Chicago’s Lowrider community. [19]
Awards
Anthem Awards for Sustainability, Environment & Climate, 2023.[20]