Design By the Book

Design by the Book is a cool collaborative project between design*sponge (one of my favorite blogs) and the New York Public Library.

The premise is five Brooklyn artists (a glass blower, graphic designer, letterpress printer and textile designer) are invited to go to the New York Public Library to find inspiration. Their journey from exploration and discovery through final project will be documented.

The above video is the debut video in the series where we meet the artists. More to come. Cool concept. Looking forward to the results!

The 5 Brooklyn artists are:

Rebecca Kutys of Moontree Letterpress
John Pomp of John Pomp Studios
Julia Rothman, textile designer
Mike Perry, graphic designer
Lorena Barrezueta, jewelry and ceramic artist

Awards and Accolades...

Elements is proud to announce our newest award to add to the collection: a gold MarCom award won for our postcard series "Share Our Vision" written and designed for Stamford based Icon International. Icon International is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Omnicon Group, the world’s largest family of advertising, marketing communications and related firms.



MarCom Awards is an international competition for marketing and communication professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of marketing and communication programs and print, visual and audio materials. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers.

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An image from the daily postings of Christopher David Ryan.

To Give and Recieve Thanks...

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.

It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.
We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
- Albert Schweitzer

Amy is thankful for...my little pilgrim and my little daredevil.

Kerry is thankful that...the many major changes in my life this year have almost all been positive ones. Change can be both exciting and scary at the same time, but I find myself a much happier person than I was at this time last year, and I am looking forward with curiosity and anticipation to see what 2009 brings my way.

Oh, and I'm also thankful for the turkey tomorrow!!

Jim is thankful for...Mexican food and Tums, in exactly that order. (Note the maximum strength...)

Chelsea is thankful that...our country has a whole day dedicated to spending quality time with friends and loved ones...for pumpkin roll...and also for these crazy people:


To all of our Elements friends and family, please have a restful, thankful and happy Thanksgiving Day with your friends and family.

Art Deco Wallpaper...

Wallpaper designers have been coming up with fresh, modern takes on wallpaper - we've seen plenty of that.

However, Bradbury & Bradbury have recently released their collection of art deco-inspired wallpaper - a nod to beautiful wallpaper designs of the early 20's to the late 30's.

Here are two of my favorites...


Bradbury & Bradbury's collection also include designs inspired by the post-war, atomic, and mod eras.

This brings me to my next point: Elements has been decorating!

We have just recently wallpapered our bathroom with Swedish wallpaper designer, Lisa Bengtsson's The Family paper.


As you can see (in the top middle) Miss Addie is currently being featured on our wall. Soon, it will become an Elements gallery - so if you're in the neighborhood, come check out our gallery. In the bathroom. :-)

Because we have much to be thankful for...

Our loyal readers know that this fall, Elements participated in a food drive to benefit Christian Community Action (CCA).

CCA, a not-for-profit ecumenical social service organization, has been providing turkeys and all the fixings to upwards of 1,500 families for more than thirty years.

Friends and families of Elements banded together to donate many bags of non-perishable goods to CCA, combining our love of food with our passion to give back to our community. On Saturday, some of us joined in and helped stuff shopping bags to include all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal.

Here's some of the Elements crew in our office with Al May, Director of Development of Christian Community Action, and just a sampling of some of the food we've been collecting displayed on the table before we packed it up and helped deliver it to Casa Community Center in New Haven.

We are thankful to our friends and family who helped us gather all this food to give to the many families in need in our community. Happy Thanksgiving!


Update from Al May of CCA, not more than a few hours after having picked up donations from Elements:

"No sooner did I get back to our office than one of our food pantry staff said “Is there any pasta and tomato sauce in what you just picked up?” A young mother had just arrived unexpectedly, and was desperately looking for these items to make supper for her three children tonight. “Yes, there is,” I said, as I proceeded to pull a box of pasta and a jar of sauce from the items you just gave me. “Oh, gracias, gracias, mil gracias,” the woman said to me.

So as you can see, your donations are already benefiting someone…and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet."

It feels great to give.

AIGA | CT Event: William Drenttel

Poster design by Winterhouse

On Wednesday night, AIGA | CT hosted their second event, a lecture by William Drenttel, partner of Winterhouse, and co-founder of the blog Design Observer. A networking hour took place before the event starting, featuring hors d'oeuvres and wine from 116 Crown.

Bill discussed many topics, with the main focus of his lecture outlining the progression of his work throughout the years. From large projects with major commercial clients on which he worked as a designer to smaller projects with public clients that enact social change on which he now works as a design visionary, Bill has a wealth of experience to share with designers in all stages of their careers. He also discussed his wife and partner Jessica's new book Scrapbook.

As described by Bill, Winterhouse has made evolutions from design studio to publisher to institute to social entrepreneur, and now is attempting to merge these into one new practice. One lesson to be taken from Bill's lecture: design can take you just about anywhere.

The event was great success and a wonderful time was had by all. Be sure to join AIGA | CT's Facebook group and visit the chapter's website for upcoming event information.

AIGA | CT board members with William Drenttel

Fundraiser tonite to help New Haven shelter

New Haven's Community Service Administrator is hoping to raise both awareness and $25,000 tonight through its “Tent City” fundraiser.

Thirty-one groups have pledged to pitch tents on the New Haven Green from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight to raise money for the Cedar Street overflow shelter. Budget cuts have left the shelter without full funding. Fundraising has been going full force, but as of last week, $23,000 was still needed to fully fund the shelter’s operations, according to city Community Service Administrator Kica Matos.

Tonite's event will be enlivened by live music, hot drinks, and food donated by local restaurants.

Get more info here.

We are obsessed with food...

The Elements team has been taste testing some Connecticut-made products for a special project.


See if you can match each plate with an Elements team member!

What is Graphic Design??

At about 3 minutes in, it starts to get really funny. Check out the guy with the kid and prepare to be hated.