Chris, who’s been with DWR for years, is the new VP, Marketing and Creative. Until recently, he directed the company’s Tools for Living division. He has literally traveled the globe sourcing accessories for every activity. Ask about any object on his Piet Boon desk {See the standard model below}, and hear where it was made, who designed it, and what Chris’s favorite details are. Once I have finished checking out his stapler {made by Zenith, ergonomic, dispenses super-sturdy mini-staples that can attach up to 50 sheets; his is translucent plastic, so he can watch it work; you can buy the also-fab all-metal model}, we settle in to talk about the role of identity materials at DWR in the digital age.
Arlene, who is the Creative Services Manager, talks about the various elements of the stationery system as tools– that word again. She summarizes, “We want to provide the people who work in the studios {DWR’s word for their stores} with tools so they can be as personal and personable with their customers as possible. I’m big on sending handwritten notes, and I prefer a buckslip to a note card.” Employees frequently staple {that tool again!} their business cards onto the inside of a note card when they’re sending a thank-you note. Chris adds, “If someone sees something that’s intriguing – an article, for example – they’ll photocopy it and mail it to specific customers.”
We riff on the context provided by a business card. Chris comments, “You can recall the transfer of information, and what comments were made about the card. This is very different than an electronic signature – which gets lost when a message is forwarded.”
The Design Within Reach logo, designed by Pentagram in San Francisco, has not evolved at all. Today, as DWR studios proliferate, Chris’s group pays special attention to tweaking the logo red for various environmental applications. “We want it to always look the same, and this takes adjustment. The saturation of ink on paper is very different than when we’re using plastic. And the red will look different with a brick façade behind it than it does on a plaster façade. We compensate for a dark corridor… or for the intensity of the natural light in Miami.”
My title for this post is a pale emulation of Chris’s clever copy for DWR’s holiday card a couple of seasons past, a wonderful scene by Maira Kalman with snow gently falling on a DWR store, printed on felt-finish cover stock, so it looks and feels like an illustration. Caption: brrrrr….dwrrrr. Inside in red: Paint the holidays modern, from all of us at DWR. Not only does Chris let me keep the card, but for “design dessert,” I get to gape at samples of paper products and holiday accessories. Many of which will become staples in my studio!
Business card + note card: Strathmore Script, Smooth, 30% PCW Bright White, 130dtc (352 gsm)
Letterhead + A7 envelope: Strathmore Script, Smooth, 30% PCW Bright White, 80t (118 gsm)
#10 envelope: Strathmore Script, Smooth, 30% PCW Bright White, 70t (104 gsm)
Client: Design Within Reach, San Francisco, CA
Designer: DWR In-house
Printer: Solstice Press, Oakland, CA
I LOVE that they tweak the color of the brand red to adjust for printing surfaces or lighting. And working with my favorite Maira Kalman on a holiday card….aaaah…..with that great DWR logo.