Putnam History Museum

We feel lucky that we get to live and work in the historic hamlet of Garrison, New York, located in Putnam County; a stunning part of the Hudson Highlands region. This region is well-known for it’s rich history. We have the West Point Military Academy. It was here that the most critical battles of the  Revolutionary War took place. It was here that the American Environmental Movement began with the legislative battle against ConEdison, who planned to build a hydro-electric plant on Storm King Mountain. It was here that Russell Wright built his famous woodland home, Manitoga (meaning “place of great spirit”); setting the tone for Modernist living in America. And it was here that the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum was established. 

Concluding that the existing name was a mouth-and-mind-full, we worked with museum director Mindy Krazmien and the museum's board of directors to revitalize the organization by first renaming it, and then rebranding it. For this 107-year-old institution, we came up with the name Putnam History Museum, which is a more succinct description of its function in the county and community.

Once a new name was established, we decided that the format and color should be contemporary and memorable, to catch people’s attention, while the form had to be stable and strong to represent the museum’s role as a community stronghold. The combination of typefaces suggests a span of time, from the beginning of the Dutch settlement to modern-day New York. The serif typeface we chose, DTL Fleischmann, is a revival of the eccentric Baroque typefaces designed by Johann Michael Fleischmann in the 18th Century. And the accompanying sans-serif typeface, Gotham Light, is a popular choice rooted in the no nonsense lettering of the American vernacular. The stacked, lined layout of typography suggests the organization of an archive. And the color we chose is inspired by rust; symbolic of age, particularly of iron, which refers to the museum’s relationship with the West Point Foundry.

The Green Wave

It was a happy, cosmic coincidence that we were approached to create a logo by a Swedish duo debuting an online boutique, considering that Nic could respond fluently in their native tongue (he was raised by a Svensk-Mamma). So from the moment we connected with the folks from Den Gröna Vågen to design their branding, our bond was sealed . . . they were jazzed about Nic's Swede-ness, and we were excited about the prospect of using umlauts in a brand mark.

Den Gröna Vågen (The Green Wave) is a web shop of sustainably-minded, handcrafted goods hailing from Scandinavia, Japan and the Pacific Northwest. It's a project to which we feel emotionally connected, due in part to Nic's understanding of Scandi-culture, and the fact that I am a native Californian who digs natural materials and mellow vibes. The name Gröna Vågen was originally coined for a back-to-the-land movement that took place in Sweden, circa 1970s, when young families left the big cities to reclaim the countryside and live more aesthetically free and abundant lives. This idealistic concept resonates with us, considering we split Manhattan in 2009 for the same reasons, moving to New York's rural Hudson Valley, where we were able to create a spacious design studio, and have grassy hills for our Pug to run around.

For the logo, we channeled deep psychedelic hippie vibes from '60s and '70s Fillmore West concert posters, and experimented by soaking our hand-lettered design in dreamy watercolor ink washes. We're super excited about their boutique, and though it's hard to browse if you don't read Swedish, it's still a beautiful experience, with lovely products to peruse. Shown below are a series of eye-catching stickers we designed as a promotional tool in celebration of the site's launch.

Highlands Country Club + Tavern

In the picturesque hamlet of Garrison, New York, along the sweeping panorama of the Hudson River, lies the historic Highlands Country Club. Originally founded in 1898 as a clubhouse for local families, including those of William Osborn, Samuel Sloan, JP Morgan and Stuyvesant Fish, the HCC still thrives, especially for lovers of golf, tennis, or swimming, as well as those who visit the club's warm and inviting (and non-exclusive) TAVERN Restaurant. It is also a popular destination for weddings and society events.

As the HCC boasts quite a rich pedigree, we took a strong, but grounded and friendly approach to its re-branding. For the country club's logo (which required some updating and finessing) and for the restaurant, we developed a graphic language that would allow a distinction, but would tie them together thematically, and typographically (click images to view in detail).

For the Tavern branding, we took inspiration from the carved wooden signage of Colonial public houses. Printed items for Tavern include a business card, postcard, and menu, all letterpressed in brown ink on 100% cotton, natural white paperstock. To further aide in the nouveau-rustic look-and-feel of the branding suite, all the elements we created utilize a redrawn and revised version of Frank Atkinson's 1937 typeface, Half Classic Roman. We admired the inherent characteristics of the typeface, but made changes to the shape of some letterforms, and to the proportion and polish of the typeface in general.

Above are print advertisements we designed for Tavern, and its sister restaturant, Valley at The Garrison, which is another Hudson Valley golf club and luxury inn. These ads have been featured in culinary publications such as Edible Hudson Valley and The Valley Table.

For this project we also had the great fortune of working alongside web-gurus, Rodriguez-Valle on the development of the HCC site. We worked in tandem to unify and integrate the branding piece and the web (as can be seen in the interactive map that we illustrated). The result is distinguished, while maintaining the charm and happiness of the location.

Lashing Out.

Interior designer Corina Lash has a special gift for employing natural, organic materials, and turning them into modern feats of design. But we're also impressed by her Stevie Nicks-obsession, which was our first major clue that we would be creating a logo for a kindred, witchy soul.

For her logo (shown above), we took inspiration from her interior design projects, as well as her blog, where she muses on things like the delicate lines of Cacharel frocks, the magic of the 1982 film The Dark Crystal, prisms, pastel hair, and pierrots. We filtered all this mysticism through a more serious lens, considering her many accomplishments as a designer, and the final result is a simple-yet-powerful logotype, with a hint of geometry, and lot of magic.

We also created business cards for Corina, printed on 100% cotton paper, off-white with a bit of texture, in a rich metallic gold foil that catches the light beautifully. It's a classic and minimal layout, but the materials feel like bars of gold laying on a sheepskin rug. We know we've designed something resonant for a client when we feel pangs of jealously over their cards. With these, we feel a bit like . . . why didn't we think of that for us? Lucky for Lash, we don't have an A in our name, so dreams of Giza would've been impossible anyway. Plus, Corina is the loveliest of ladies, not to mention gifted at what she does, so we're delighted to have made her happy.

Garance Doré visits Thunderwing HQ.

We were given the dream task of designing and producing personal stationery for fashion photographer, blogger, illustrator and CFDA award recipient, Garance Doré, who also happens to be the loveliest of people (and if all that weren't enough . . . naturally gorgeous too). After having a blast conceptualizing and oohing-and-aahing over various handmade papers in the NYC flat she shares with her guy, Scott Schuman (aka; The Sartorialist), we went with a soft cotton paper in warm white, to be paired with a recycled kraft envelope, each one foil-stamped in rich gold, the cherry-on-top being that every card is accompanied by a vellum print featuring one of her inimitable fashion illustrations.

After completing the stationary suite, her curiosity about our creative process was still sparked, so one perfect Summer afternoon she, along with her team, came up to Thunderwing HQ in Garrison for a studio visit, to capture the letterpress process though her trusty, magical lens, which she lovingly wrote about here, on her gorgeous site (click the arrows to view all the wonderful photos).

What was only scheduled to be a brief tour, turned into a full day of lively conversation over tea and locally baked gluten-free French macarons, and we set off on a gorgeous nature walk around Russel Wright's modernist woodland home, Manitoga, browsed for vintage in historic Cold Spring, and visited local artistic friends whose stunning custom-built homes we knew she'd adore. She even conducted an impromptu shoot and interview with our stylish and inspiring neighbor Doris! We were just so jazzed to share our special enclave in the Hudson Valley with Garance, which was even more illuminated by her beaming, inquisitive, positive energy. 

 

Photo captions, from top: Our look at the stationery suite we created for Ms. Doré; A peek at our archive of vintage letterpress blocks, which she featured as the Weekend Inspiration on her site, along with our now famous letterpressed sandwich card; Garance's image of us working in the studio . . . Nic printing on our beloved turn-of-the-century Chandler & Price printing press, Aka: Grandpa; Pretty Garance exploring Cold Spring's Main St., after lunch on the porch at our local hang, Hudson Hil's.

Letterpress love and hugs to our PR wiz Delinlee Delovely for making this awesome collab happen, as well as Garance's sweet dream team . . . Emily & Alex. Thunderwing vous aime!

Cards, ahoy!

Based in New York's historic Hudson Valley, Urban Boatworks are wood artisans, having a vast combined knowledge of applications and techniques that span refinishing and restoring historic homes and crafting custom cabinetry, to building sailboats from scratch. They are believers in function first, and that true aesthetic beauty stems from intelligent engineering and high-quality construction. Everything from Dana & Julien's workshop is done with the utmost commitment and love.

 In developing their brand look-and-feel, we took inspiration from the Shaker movement, channeling classic simplicity, and heartfelt hand-craftsmanship. With guidance from Dana & Julien, we then articulated UB's mission statement, as well as the tag-line "Woodworking for Home and Sea". Because of the strong sense of tactility in what they do, we wanted them to have truly unique cards. They are twice as large as average business cards when unfolded from their envelope vessels. These envelopes can also be used to enclose color and material samples for their clients. Each piece was hand-letterpressed in a deep marine blue, with a typographic selection that is decidedly modern in arrangement but with a classical bent. The prevalence of the anchor is at once a symbol of sea-faring travel, as well as home and stability.

We are currently designing graphics for their company car, a sea-foam green Cooper mini that will soon be seen zipping up and down along the Hudson : )

Karen Walker's Little Aliens.

Being that Nic & I both wear Karen Walker sunglasses on a daily basis (his: Pilgrim, mine: Anywhere), we were over-the-moon when journalist and PR guru Linlee Allen (aka: Delinlee Delovely) asked us to create style cards for the L.A. launch of Walker's Little Aliens collection.

For the soirée in April at the Chateau Marmont, we letterpressed individual style cards for each pair of sunnies in grey ink, each card resting in a custom fabricated neon-green plexiglass disc (shown below). Our displays were placed in front of antennae-adorned glitter-and-sequined mannequin heads by Claire Cottrell, and alongside dreamy wildflower and spacey protea arrangements by Lili Cuzor. We were also elated that Karen included our letterpressed “Sending Good Vibes” cards in each gift bag, which were so sweetly written about on Cuzor's blog.

To view more photos of the event, check out photographer Jeana Sohn's Closet Visit blog, Aussie Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter (featuring an interview with Walker herself), and The Chalkboard (brought to you by L.A.’s awesome Pressed Juicery, who catered liquid goodness for the party).

Vive le Little Aliens!

Photos (from top): Karen Walker, Stephanie Keenan, Thunderwing Press, Linlee Allen

Pyramid Scheme.

Being that we are longtime lovers of stained glass, we were beyond stoked when L.A. glass artisan David Scheid contacted us to create custom cards that represented his cosmic one-of-a-kind pieces.

Using Sol Hess's typeface SanSerif (based on the 1927 typeface Kabel by Rudolf Koch) and a vintage sunburst illustration, each card was hand-letterpressed with custom-mixed turquoise ink on recycled chipboard, then cut into a pyramid shape.

You can view David's work in all its technicolor glory at his girlfriend Kathryn Bentley's gorgeous Dream Collective boutique in Silver Lake, CA (as pictured below), and at Beautiful Dreamers in Brooklyn, NY.

Barbarians at the gate.

My Barbarian is an undefinable collective of 3 artists: Jade Gordon, Malik Gaines, and Alexandro Segade. Their work is visual, musical, experiential, political and sometimes participatory. They've received international acclaim for their site-specific plays and musicals that experiment with theories of art and theater, combining a wide-range of subject matter such as sexuality, Greek Mythology, modern technology, consumerism, and psychology; making statements both serious and absurd about modern culture. They recently screened a short film from their Broke People's Baroque Peoples' Theatre series at MoMA, and have also performed at LACMA, MOCA, and The Whitney, as well as held a residency at the New Museum, and presented pieces at several major Biennials. We always look forward to their shows, as they are a blast to attend . . . filled with witty improvisation, inventive costumes, set design, and stellar songwriting.The concept of branding art is weird enough as it is, so we were put to the test when asked by MB to create a mark, as well as a web design, that would both encapsulate a truth about their work, as well as simultaneously leaving things open and abstract. So in the spirit of their wide palette of references, we channeled a 20th century "cave painting", or very early graffiti piece, documented by Brassaï in late '20s Paris. The symbolism is wide-ranging but touches on '70s "happenings", geometry, god, independent thought, voids, and the nebulousness of contemporary art. Both humorous and dead serious, we feel that this logo is My Barbarian.

Take Shelter.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, we visited the unique brand collective Shelter Half, where our clients and friends at Wombleton Records are currently curating a selection of rare purchasable vinyl, in the pop-up concept shop's expansive space. We were happy to see the cards we created for Wombleton featured on Shelter Half's site, which supports various decor items, each one made-in-America, and crafted with love.

To certify my love.

For the Los Angeles boutique, Vivier and Bentley, owned by accessory designers Kathryn Bentley and Clare Vivier, we hand-letterpressed over-sized gift certificates for the shop, featuring their signature monogram. Each certificate was printed in deep navy blue on recycled French paper, and ultimately given to the recipient in a kraft paper policy envelope, closed with a string-tie.

Vivier and Bentley also holds a sacred place in our hearts, as they carry a selection of our cards. So next time you're bopping around Silver Lake, be sure to stop in and have your eyes dazzled by all the beautiful bags, jewels, and letterpress love on display. Better yet . . . buy that foxy lady in your life one of these sweet certificates, for heartfelt accoutrement from one of the most soulfully chic boutiques in town.Some of current Thunderwing designs featured at V & B can be viewed here.

Cards on Film.

We've designed business cards for über-talented, Sydney, Australia based fashion photographer, Tim Ashton. Each card was hand-letterpressed on a heavy white cotton stock, and designed with a nod to minimal op-art and old-fashioned trade signage. We chose the blind letterpress printing method due to its accentuation of contrast and light-play . . . qualities inherent in great photography, like Tim's.
Some of Ashton's beautiful work can be seen here, And for those who haven't yet viewed the beautiful process video he filmed about our studio last year, feast your eyes . . .

All beautiful photos: Tim Ashton, naturally.

Summer Lovers.

Brilliantly simple letterpressed postcards for the Brooklyn record shop Co-Op 87, which stocks limited edition vinyl from the collectible label Mexican Summer, known for their ornately packaged re-issues of vintage experimental rock and electronic vibes, many of which are exclusive to the store.

We distressed their signature logo to give it a '70s Xeroxed-flyer feel. The postcards were letterpressed 4-at-a-time on a single sheet of felted paper, then each sheet was perforated twice. This technique enabled the sheets to be run through the shop's laser printer, after which the cards can be pulled-apart easily for individual distribution.

So be sure to visit the shop when in Bklyn, and if you want to know which dreamy platters to pick up, we highly recommend Honey Devash by Date Palms (pictured above), and Parellelograms by Linda Perhacs . . . both currently in heavy rotation at Thunderwing HQ.

Co-Op 87
Guernsey St.,
Brooklyn 11222

Cool Whip.

For Sweet Gwendoline, an apparel brand based on a character from John Willie's naughty 1950s comic strips, we created a sinister logotype and brand identity, incorporating customized fetish-inspired type, as well as Willie's original illustrations.

Sweet Gwendoline was also regularly featured in Willie's infamous underground magazine, Bizarre (compiled and re-published by Taschen in 2005), and was considered to be the most famous bondage pin-up next to Bettie Page, throughout the 1950s.

For the business cards, we used two printing processes: jet-black offset lithography on matte paper, along with shiny-black thermography for the bodice . . . resulting in a texture resembling black patent-leather, of course.

Greensleeves.

We recently created a brand identity, as well as custom packaging for our friends at MS&Co., a Portland based company that makes cool Cone selvedge denim sleeves for everything from your iPad to your passport. They even make a case to protect your Field Notes!

For the packaging and brand kit, we used typefaces inspired by turn-of-the-century letterpress woodtype, utilizing kraft paper for the boxes, business cards and envelope liner, and recycled Smart Paper coverstock in Husk for the note-cards, hang-tags, and collection card.

Every element of each item has been made and sourced in the U.S., garnering lots of well-deserved attention and press for the brand. So, if you like something, you should put a sleeve on it.

Laura.

For fashion historian and consultant, Laura McLaws Helms, we designed a graphic identity, and custom typography, that speaks to her glam vintage aesthetic. In the spirit of a true Renaissance woman, she not only possesses vast knowledge of fashion's history, but is a talented photographer, devout vintage collector, blogger, and style star. Her love of frocks and design hailing from the British Boutique movement of the late 1960s–1970s, is something we share in common, so it was a blast to combine her inspirations with ours.

As you see, the resulting vibe is a seductive mix of 1920s Hollywood Orientalism, Biba-esque floral femininity, psychedelic mysticism, and Art Deco pizazz, hot foil stamped in metallic silver on a velvety black cardstock. Her official website is currently in the works, and will share the same mystical aura.

Designs © Thunderwing Press