A hot summer, two new brands, a site redesign and a whole gorgeous handful of passion projects. This is how we get through the year’s stickiest season.

They call these the dog days of summer, a phrase that is more about the stars than it is about dogs, if you can believe it. Isn’t that nice? A good reminder too, even in the thick of this heat and humidity, chaos and uncertainty, we keep our eyes to the skies.

EXPANDING NARRATIVES

Allow us to re-introduce you to the Terra Foundation for American Art. We kicked off our collaboration in Spring 2024 and went deep with the organization’s leadership and communications teams to rethink the brand identity from top to bottom—visual identity, brand voice and messaging, print and digital collateral, and oh yes, the website. Shout out to Jessica Warchall, project lead and communications director extraordinaire, Marty Spellerberg on the Wordpress wizardry, André Marques for his UX savvy, and Sharon Corwin for the deeply considered color confabs. Good conversations make excellent work. Write that down.

Visit Terra

PLANTING SEEDS

Maybe you remember back in December, dear Nermin took a swift, epic trip. Three days in Cairo, a lifetime of memories type shift. That pilgrimage now begins to bear fruit—we’re thrilled to share the launch of Seeds & Routes, a wholesale distributor of specialty coffee, sourced with deep love and intention from some of the world’s best farms. It’s one of three family-owned coffee businesses, each one overseeing a different phase of the humble coffee bean’s journey from seed to cup. Full case study coming soon. Speaking of which…

PREPARE TO RELAUNCH

This summer we’ve been having a ton of fun on our own website redesign—Kristin’s been learning CSS(?!) and Nermin’s making serious internet magic. Big ups to our soul sister and production queen Lindsay McMenamin for managing the hell out of this one. Should be ready to roll out by Labor Day and in the meantime, we put together a pretty sweet portfolio deck, ready to send to anyone and everyone interested in a little brand alchemy. Feel free to share far and wide!

Get the Deck

SLOWING DOWN, DIGGING IN

We’ve been taking the summer slowdown as an opportunity to spread our wings and dig in deeper, pursue curiosity and follow joy. Kristin recently wrapped up with Artist Inc Albuquerque, a two-month peer-learning fellowship for working artists sponsored by Mid-America Arts Alliance, and signed on to serve as a judge for the New Mexico Book Awards in poetry. Nermin designed a postcard to celebrate the launch of Faculty Magazine, Issue 2, published by Chicago Graphic Design Club, and volunteered at the grand opening of her little bro’s restaurant (and FoP client!) Hot Chi Avondale.

The economy sucks and the old world is burning. We choose to live anyway. To show up for our people and push toward progress, move with community. To honor our needs, some days, for slowness and grace, and other days to get on our horse and hustle. We figure it out as we go along and hold each other up, as best as we can.

ON OUR SHELVES

You know what helps us expand our hearts and our minds and make sense of this moment and figure out how to meet it? That’s right, BOOKS. Get your paws on a copy of The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer if you’re looking for lessons on generosity and reciprocity from the natural world. Or Let This Radicalize You, by organizing heroes Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes. Chicago baddie and subversive cross-stitch all-star Shannon Downey has some wisdom to share with crafters and creatives looking to stir shit up in Let’s Move the Needle. Here’s a free download of All About Love by bell hooks. Round up some friends and read it together.

You know what else? We made a book together too. First of many, inshallah. This one’s a chapbook of poems, written and compiled by Kristin, designed and typeset by Nermin. It’s called here i show you a human heart and it’s got a 14-page poem of the natural history of the earth, an incomplete list of deaths by bear, white space like whoa, a poem about a possum becoming flowers, and love, and love, and love.

Grab a Copy