As a teacher, I am grateful to play a role in preparing design students to tackle problems differently, today and in the future. I'm noticing that the biggest hindrance to that kind of creativity is an inability to design with the whole body: the head, the heart, and the gut. I know this well because I'm not so good at it either. Here's my basic understanding of each of the parts and what it means to design from each.
Read MoreBrand and religion are two things I think about often. Branding is what I choose to do as a career, and religion helps me frame my faith. Not a day goes by when I don't think about these two subjects. However, it's not often that I think of them at the same time. Yet, these past weeks, I've been starting to wonder if the two have more in common than expected.
Read MoreIt (the Big Idea) tells who you are and shows the good you offer to people. It brings your team together and invites others in. Big Ideas are simple yet lofty. They bring clarity to the complex. They need to be understood immediately and easily shared. Like a person, organizations are compelled by their unique identities and callings—that’s Big Idea territory
Read MoreTakeRoot is a campaign led by University Christian Church (UCC) to raise $350,000 over three years to pay off its building’s remaining mortgage. I go to church at UCC and was asked to work on the campaign’s marketing team along with my good friend, Seth Lucus (wayfinding and environmental designer at University of Cincinnati). Together, Seth and I created the visual identity including the name, wordmark, illustrations, and collateral materials. The strategy for the campaign was led by Rick Vilardo of TC Ministries.
Read MoreAre trademarks (aka logos, symbols, monograms, emblems, etc.) really that important?
Read MoreIt’s the end of February, and we’re about at the half-way point through the spring semester. I’ve been teaching the Senior Capstone course at DAAP. The primary purpose of Capstone is for the students to exhibit the skills they’ve acquired during the last four years at DAAP. In that way, “teacher” isn’t quite the right description for my role because the end goal isn’t to learn from me. My job is to help the students express their knowledge and to encourage them through the most extended project they’ve worked on to date. It’s a lot more like the role of a coach.
Read MoreI’ve been working with students as an adjunct professor at DAAP, and I consistently find them stuck in the middle of a design block.
Read MoreWe designed a logo for our friends at Steel & Clay. They’re the top sellers at the West Chester Antique Mall.
Read MoreHow do designers begin to fix the problem of screen addiction? That was the challenge posed to my User-Centered Design class for their final assignment.
Read MoreHailey Bollinger shows off the insides of the old bank building that houses Branch & Night Drop.
Read MoreAmy Elisabeth Spasoff captured terrific images of Night Drop including some glimpses at the brand identity we designed for the basement bar and upstairs restaurant (Branch).
Read MoreHere’s are a few things we’re excited to share from October.
Read MoreHere’s are a few things we’re excited to share from September.
Read MoreHere’s are a few things we’re excited to share from August.
Read MoreJuly was full and enjoyable. It kicked off with the studio’s summer vacation in the Pacific Northwest, mostly walking in the mountains, and substantial time with family and close friends. Now we’re back in action and grateful for several things we had a hand in during July.
Read MoreWe’re off for a two-week summer vacation by train to the Pacific Northwest. That means the studio's closed (even our inbox).
Read MoreIs it really already June? The old saying, “time flies when you’re having fun” must be true. Here’s what fun we’ve been up to in May.
Read MoreI wrote the following note to someone I'm working with on a brand identity project. It feels worth sharing more broadly as it sums up Trischler Design Co.'s worldview on logo design and more generally the brand identity system.
Read MoreLast year I heard Don Norman lecture at the University of Cincinnati. One thing stood out more than anything else he shared. He suggested design can be research and research can be design, that the two don’t have to be separate...
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