Overview
American Vitality is Calvin Munn’s brand identity for the New Liberals Institute in Current Affairs. It draws on defense-contractor aesthetics, venture-capital Art Deco, Soviet socialist realism, and Los Angeles Metro-style aspirational posters.
The identity marks Calvin’s attempt to turn NLI’s clinical name into a broader political mood. It also becomes a visual language that later returns to him in distorted form.
Development
Calvin prepares American Vitality with help from Nik Marlan’s Wacom tablet and art references, then pitches it successfully in the NLI boardroom. The work wins him more hours, status, and eventually health benefits.
Over time, American Vitality drifts toward safer corporate imagery as Calvin becomes overextended and agreeable at NLI. Years later, Calvin recognizes his own font and stippling brush in an anti-war ad and feels that the visual memeplex he put into the world has been turned against him.