Prost! Check out the Stocktoberfest materials that we designed for Xpedx‘s 2011 Fall Paper Preview. Hope to see you there tonight.
Xpedx invites you to see what’s on tap this fall from your favorite mills. All lines on display are made with only the choicest pulps, producing the finest grain. Join us in our yearly toast to to all things paper! Cheers!
Thursday, Oct 6 , 2011
4pm – 8pm
Arhaus Furniture always allows us the ability to visit interesting locations – be it a farm, a trout club, a beach, a vintage greenhouse, a southern plantation, or a turn of the century mansion – art directing photoshoots literally takes us into the pages of an Arhaus catalog.
In May – Anne, John and Brian had the fortune of attending the opening gala for the newest Arhaus store in New York City. Arhaus transformed a two-story warehouse space into an exquisite exhibit of everything that Arhaus is – incredibly crafted furniture, lush rugs, unique accessories and beautiful lighting – all styled and placed with perfection. The elegance of Arhaus product finds itself a striking new environment to reside in, amongst the chic downtown dining/shopping mecca of the Meat Packing District in lower Manhattan. It was fascinating to meet the many vendors and designers from all over the world, and hear their rich history with Arhaus Furniture, who is celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year.
The perfectly balmy May weather allowed us to take advantage of the sights and sounds of New York City in the best possible way – walking everywhere. We witnessed the haunting beauty of the work of Alexander McQueen in the exquisitely curated retrospective at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, window shopped our way through Greenwich Village at which Anne and Brian put the legendary Magnolia Bakery cupcakes to the test (yes they are incredible and worth waiting in line for), and dined at the delicious open air restaurant Barbuto,recommended to us by our client Zack Bruell.
One of our favorite experiences had to be The High Line. The High Line is an elevated walking park created from a railway system originally constructed in the 1930s to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan’s streets. Non-operational since 1980, the park was constructed using monies raised by “the Friends of the High Line” conservancy, transforming this once despaired of and abandoned landscape into a thriving and lush park, alive once again with greenery, people and public art. It was nothing less than inspiring to peacefully walk above the streets of the bustling city, as you encountered all the variations of botanicals nestled amongst the train tracks, art, and countless visitors strolling, reading, resting, and sunning along the mile-and-a-half park. The High Line is a MUST visit next time your find yourself in New York City.
New York City is always inspiring, especially for designers – where incredible signage, packaging, window displays and fashion are a part of daily city surroundings. We were certainly honored to be a part of such a monumental achievement for our friends at Arhaus Furniture, and we wish them continued success in their new city home!
For this year’s TEDxCLE, I was asked by organizers Hallie and Eric to shoot some photos for the event to which I gladly accepted the offer. Having attended the TEDxCLE 2010, I knew that it would be filled with inspirational talks and this year’s speakers hit on a few topics that I have an interest in: Food, Art, Community and History.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.
Client, Chef Jonathon Sawyer’s talk, “Sustainability: Local, Practical and Profitable”, focused on the importance of eating local. He lives this motto with his restaurant The Greenhouse Tavern, which was Ohio’s first Certified Green restaurant.
Hearing Dr. David Franklin, Director of The Cleveland Museum of Art‘s talk, “Why Museums Still Matter”, was very inspirational. Being a Designer in a digital medium, it is important to snap back into a real, tangible world. A digital replica of a museum is just that, a replica. To truly experience something, you have to be immersed in it. He brought a couple of ancient carvings, over 5,000 years old from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection and held them as he spoke. The audience gasped at amazement that Dr. Franklin actually brought the items to his talk. Somehow the images on screen did not have the same effect as Dr. Franklin holding over 11,000 years of history in his hands.
There were a few related talks about the effect of community public spaces and their effect on cities. One of the statistics references was the fact that Public Spaces, more so than jobs or schools, is a deciding factor on where people choose to live. Seeing some of the plans for Cleveland’s Public Square flash up on the screen really got me interested in seeing what becomes of that development.
Talks on preserving history were another interesting topic to me. Working on the ClevelandHistorical app, I have learned a lot about the history of Cleveland. As the city moves forward, I hope that historic preservation is integrated into the plans for advancement. A lot of “what used to be” is no longer around as evidenced by the ClevelandHistorical app. Another good documentation on historic Cleveland is a documentary on Ideastream entitled “Downtown Cleveland“. I caught it on WVIZ but you can also view it online.
TEDxCLE has been a great event for the city. The Cleveland version of TED highlights a lot of local people, companies and organizations that are working to make our city relevant, our region stronger and our world a little better. If you get a chance to attend next year’s event, do it. All that it takes is a little motivation from one of these events to get your wheels turning on how you can get involved and get your ideas heard.
A friend of mine, Chef Adam Wilson, happens to be the Director at the Viking Cooking School at their Legacy Village Store. He asked me to come out and take some shots at one of their events for him, so of course I would take him up on the offer.
The Viking Store has two class rooms and a studio kitchen (which I had been in previously for a Greenhouse Tavern/Brooklyn Beer Dinner). They also have an outside section for grilling classes when the weather permits. The two classrooms were both in use on this night and each had a nice size crowd. Class times range from about 3 -4 hours and private events can be scheduled as well. Adam says this year has been pretty booked up, but when cancelations arise, they post notices on their facebook page, most of which offer discounted seats for last minute reservations.
It was nice to see Chef Adam in action. He is very knowledgeable and gives tips and techniques so that the attendees can take what they have learned home with them. Terminology and culinary basics are the items that he conveys. He believes in Mise en Place (everything in place) and preaches this as his first step in the class. He is very comfortable in front of the class as he has even more experience teaching at the Tri-C Culinary Arts Program. With all of the instruction Chef Adam is no Chef Gordon Ramsay and this is not “Hell’s Kitchen”. The chefs keep the mood light, entertaining the patrons as they create their dishes. Once the chopping is done and knives are put a way, wine (and sometimes beer) is served with each class.
I am thinking that setting up one of these events for my craft beer crew might be in order. Maybe a beer and food pairing event? Those details will be worked out soon, in the meantime, I suggest setting up one of your own classes. Could be a good team-building exercise.
Marla Gutzwiller celebrated 30 years of design excellence with Epstein Design Partners, Inc. on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. To celebrate this momentous day, the Epstein Design crew gathered at Chinato and enjoyed a tasting menu lunch prepared by Zack Bruell just for the occasion.
As a designer, partner, instructor and art director – Marla’s love and enthusiasm of design remains a constant inspiration. Drawing from her rich experience and knowledge – one cannot help but be influenced by Marla’s approach to design, enjoying the research and the exploration of possibilities any particular design project can take. Epstein Design congratulates our good friend and colleague, and look forward to many more years of collaboration!
Last Fall the Larchmere Merchants Association charged Epstein Design Partners with designing an identity for the commercial district. Since taking up residence on Larchmere Boulevard in 1998, we have seen a lot of businesses come and go, but the core businesses here are keeping the vitality of the neighborhood moving and the Larchmere Merchants Association has really helped to get the area more visibility.
There are many unique events happening here on Larchmere Boulevard. We are happy to be a part of some of these events by providing the design and communications. On Saturday, May 29th, don’t miss the “Larchmere Sidewalk Sale”. Then, Wednesday, June 9th through Sunday, June 13th is the “Patios of Larchmere” event that celebrates the great restaurants along the boulevard. Participating restaurants include the Academy Tavern, Felice, Flying Cranes, Larchmere Tavern, Menu 6 and Vine and Bean Café. There are more events planned throughout the summer, so stay tuned.
So I spent the [snow] day at the Capitol Theatre in Gordon Square attending Cleveland’s first independently run TED event, TEDxCLE. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It was a diverse panel of thinkers and doers in the Cleveland area that ranged from medical, bio-fuels, culinary, entrepreneurial, fashion and transportation. You can see all of the panelists on the TEDxCLE website. The thing that tied all of these things together is not just geography, but the fact they all started with a vision and persevered to make their dreams happen. With their visions, they are also creating a better community. Whether it is a neighborhood shop or fashion designing with textiles made in the region and throughout the US, these talented panelist were great to hear their thoughts, their stories and how they made it or are making it happen.
Our friend, Danielle DeBoe, owner of Room Service and creator of Made in the 216 had a great speech. It was all about her life, her path and how she finally came to realize instead of having a great idea and waiting for someone else to make it happen, she made it happen herself. She also spoke about how being a shop owner, you are not just a businessperson, you are part of the community. Her “dinner for strangers” idea sounds excellent and I cannot wait to attend.
We were recently turned onto the HBO Original Series, “How To Make It In America“. After hearing Sean Bilovecky from Wrath Arcane speak, the plot of the series seems pretty close to their story. They continue to grow and this Fall will have a women’s line.
The entire event was inspiring and while there was no formal Q&A at the show, the panelists were all at Stone Mad afterward and were glad to participate in discussions with the attendees.
Long story short, it is great to see these success stories in the Cleveland area, but these people are not satisfied with their accomplishments. They continue to seek growth, innovation for the betterment of the city, state, nation and world. I can’t wait to see what great things these people come up with next, better yet, they have inspired me to do something great as well.
I was lucky enough to go thanks to winning tickets from Cleveland Foodie’s blog.