This portfolio book is a showcase of an amazing body of work over the last 10 years by Louise Brooks & Vince Falotico. An Architecture firm in New Caanan, CT. It didn’t take much to make this book look good. Every page, every house, is a real treat to look at. We used a dove gray linen cover with a blind gloss embossed stamp on the cover, to give it that subtle & classic edge. Inside pages printed on mohawk’s soft white (superfine ivory paper). There is something sentimental about looking at personal living spaces and I think this communicates well to the clientele.

Can a bag design help save the Halls Mills Covered Bridge and preserve history?

The River Bag sends $10 directly to the New York State Covered Bridge Society fund to Save Halls Mills Bridge, damaged in Hurricane Irene. Bags can be purchased at the Neversink Town Hall.

Press & Video about one of the last remaining covered bridges.

The Hewitt School is an independent girls school in Manhattan. It was founded in 1920 and has a very strong alumnae following. This spring those alumnae will be introduced to an all new design of the Anchor Magazine.

When I started the project, I felt the word “anchor” should really be at the bottom reading up, like an anchor! The previous cover was all caps, Helvetica, and didn’t seem to communicate the school’s attitude. After some studies, I decided that lowercase Didot would be more approachable, intellectual and conversational.

Joan Lonergan, Hewitt’s head of school, mentioned 3 words of inspiration for 2012:

Bold, Ambitious, & Nimble

So, this started me thinking about a great exercise we can do to help define and elevate our identities (businesses). We can only be who we are, and in this world of transparency, I think staying true to your “word” is important, even if it changes from year to year.

What 3 words describe your business or project?

I’m so excited to share with you the cover design of the Local Economies Project Prospectus, through Pirtle Design. This amazing “pilot” project, sponsored by The New World Foundation, is going to make history in the Hudson Valley Farms and Foods System—something I now believe in tremendously! The identity is centered around the red barn background, and the bright, sun yellow type, in conjunction with local photography by Jennifer May Photography and Joseph R. Duba Photography (my dad).

It’s interesting because about a year ago, I had bid on a design job for a regional food grocery store identity project. The job did not come through, however, I had learned so much about regional foods and farms. To be honest, other than going to the kingston farm market, I was rather clueless about the importance of our regional food systems and how the future of our economy will depend on it. My family and I are always searching for a greater sense of community here in the Hudson Valley, and often times find it centered around good, and most importantly, healthy food.

As spring approaches rather fast this year, I’m getting ready to garden. I’ll be growing flowers for cutting, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and classic french and italian herbs for cooking, in my small city lot in Kingston, NY.

CHARM, GLAMOUR, VITALITY. 3 words made into a set of 3 candles. The packaging design was derived from their famous “rickrack” on their newport table[s]. The integrity of their table designs are inherently part of their brand look, and make for a great repeat patterns too! See them at the NYIGF (gift fair at Chelsea Piers this week)!

It has been a busy couple months! I’ve been traveling to Alexander Isley‘s studio in Connecticut, to work on the TED MED conference program. The TEDMED conference (TED) is where the world’s most creative minds meet healthcare’s most innovative science. Once a year, TEDMED brings together leaders in the fields of medicine, science, business and technology for three and a half days of groundbreaking insights and off-the-record conversations. This is where technology and medicine meet.

We designed 50+ unique portraits for each speaker. The design process was very experimental. I photographed black and white portraits on the tv/computer screen to get the moiré pattern effect. Typically this is something photographers try to avoid. But, it allowed each one to be a unique, and the effect added depth and texture to the flat black art. I then added color overlays behind the black and spotted them with white line art for more texture.

-EYTHOR BENDER (above)- WHAT’S A GOOD SECOND STEP? 

-ERIC SCHADT (below)-HOW ABOUT A GPS FOR YOUR DNA?

-JILL SOBULE- DOES JUST A SPOONFUL OF MUSIC MAKE THE MEDICINE GO DOWN?

-STEVE WOZNIAK- (COFOUNDER, APPLE INC.) WHAT HAS MY LIFE TAUGHT ME ABOUT HEALTH AND MEDICINE?

This year’s pick for the Lunar Calendar 2013, Published by Rizzoli Universe. One of my favorites–a glow-in-the dark calendar with the moon phases! Hard to believe I’ve been designing calendars, and the Lunar Calendar, since 2004!

Since June, I’ve been working with a bean to bar chocolate company named “Fruition Chocolate”. Their chocolate is out-of-this-world, with cocoa beans (seed pods) from Costa Rica and Madagascar. The taste of the dark chocolate is often floral and earthy with long finish. The chocolate maker, Bryan Graham (CIA grad) beautifully handcrafts the chocolate in small batches. Needless to say, I’ve been inspired. Eating chocolate for design research–does it get any better than that!? They are located in the Catskill mountains, Route 28 in Shokan, NY. The results of the branding project include the chocolate mold design, chocolate bar packaging, window graphics, signage, business cards, stickers, and jar labels.

More to come… including an online store at www.tastefruition.com

Beautifully Constructed, Hand Made Furniture & Accessories. Oomph Luxury Furniture | oomphonline.com Classic yet modern handmade tables, designer pillows, & custom designed chairs give your home decor

“The Esopus Creek is one of the Jewels of the Catskill Mountains…” This recently released booklet and map, designed by Scarlet Duba, encompass some of the most unique characteristics about the creek. History, biodiversity, rare animals, plants, the fisheries, and more. The Lower Esopus Watershed Project fosters appreciation and stewardship of the creek to enhance water quality and function to support ecosystem health and encourage recreational activities.

If you need more information about this publication, or your land on the Lower Esopus, please go to www.loweresopus.org

I recently had the opportunity to work with Robert Hite on re-designing his website. Hite is an artist whose movement out of the South and through the world suggests the essence of “yesterday won’t be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago” -William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust. Born in 1956 in rural Virginia, Hite is inspired both by a rich southern narrative tradition and a closeness to nature. Hite has photographed and made a study of rural houses and shacks in Central and South America, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and the southern United States. His paintings, sculptures, and photographs come filtered through a lens on the natural world, layered with gestures of human and ecological struggle, and with a sensitivity to what is beautiful, poetic, and harsh within this interaction. Check out his new website! Upcoming solo show In the Contemporary Gallery at The Nassau County Museum of Art, May 21, 2011 through September 4, 2011

Robert Hite  www.roberthite.com

Bouncing Squid is a new business. Owner, Jasper, is a independent video game developer in Raleigh, NC and has been working with Electronic Arts for the past year working on XBox games. When he mentioned “Bouncing Squid” as a new company name, our visual gears started turning. Both black on white and white on black will be printed business cards. You choose!

Over the past year, I’ve been working with a company called oomph. They make fabulous tables, pillows and chairs. It has been so much fun designing for designers and building their brand. I’ve now completed their brand identity including logo, business cards, stickers, postcards, website, and a few small marketing pieces including an oomphtini recipe card! Everyone needs a little oomph in their life, and I agree! www.oomphonline.com

I recently had the opportunity to work with Julia Santos Solomon on re-designing her website.  Her “Family Narrative Sculptures” and new paintings from “New Zealand” are absolutely stunning!! Julia is one of the most successful contemporary Dominican artists on the landscape today.  Julia is a multi-faceted artist creating paintings,  sculpture, drawings and mixed media. The bright colors of the Caribbean landscape are an important vehicle for her expression.  She portrays the mystery and beauty of the vegetation. Julia’s work has been exhibited nationally and abroad.

This public outreach project was sponsored by the Rondout Neversink Watershed. Their goal is to educate people about the importance of native plants. The Catskills streams are the main water source for all of NYC. Native (not invasive) plants not only thrive in their area, but they function to keep a healthy ecosystem. Invasive plant (and insect) species are destroying what we have spent years to maintain. Japanese Knotweed is a major culprit along the rivers & creeks. This project is an educational display so one can identify these native plants by looking at the leaves, and be inspired to plant them in their gardens and along their stream properties. This was a collaboration with Paul Beichert in Kingston, NY. Paul locally sourced the rough cut pine from a timber stand (Brueckner Lumber) in the Town of Olive, NY. They were Milled on site and fabricated by Timely Signs of Kingston, Inc. The Scientific Illustration Graphics were printed on Fabric using Roland Eco-Sol low VOC inks.

“Van Gogh’s letters to Bernard form a blazing witness to this process, and a true testament — a testament beautifully presented, it should be said, in the catalog, a model volume of scholarship and of book design and manufacture.” from a review by John Updike called The Purest of Styles

Published by Rizzoli

Design: Pirtle Design (Art Director: Woody Pirtle, Senior Designer: Scarlet Duba)