A colleague forwarded me the link to this tea company’s website. He was initially attracted to the company for its tin designs — which are indeed collectible — but once in the site, he realized the words were equally fantastic. 

Each tea has a distinct character, described not in the adjectives generally reserved for tea and wine — plucky, reserved, fruity, dry, leggy, demonstrative, smoky — but in cheeky narrative vignettes.

The brilliance of these delicious little stories is that they simultaneously reinforce the personality of the brand and describe the tea — and they are exactly the kind of thing one might want to read while drinking piping hot cup of tea.

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In 1999, Century Graphics founders Ric Pace and Tim Deis determined to rebrand the company and, among other things, they chose a new name. In the following interview, they discuss the whys and wherefores of the new name and its longevity.

Why did you decide to rebrand Century Graphics in 1999?

Tim: As a company, we had been growing and growing. The talent we had working for us and the capabilities we were able to offer had changed along the way, and we realized that if we were going to continue to grow, we needed to stop and do some strategic planning, which we did, really for the first time. Out of that came a focused direction for the company and we realized that our name, Century Graphics, didn’t fully represent our brand—it wasn’t a fair representation of who we were or where we wanted to go. 

Ric: Century Graphics was the name that we assumed when we bought the firm. It was the name our existing clients knew us by, but when it came to hiring new talent or pitching new clients, “graphics” had the connotation of  a production service bureau, which was not an accurate view of our organization and its services.

(more…)

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The only kind of shopping I truly enjoy is grocery shopping, and even that can get to be a bit of a slog on the weekend, when the whole world is out thumping melons and squeezing the Charmin. For all other forms of shopping (with the possible exception, now that I think about it, of hardware), give me a cup of coffee and a catalog – no, not the Internet, but an actual paper catalog.

 When it comes to buying stuff, I’m as happy as the average toddler to look at pictures, but oh, what a joy it is to slouch down on the couch with a catalog that ventures beyond materials and technical specs in its product descriptions. 

I love a catalog with a sense of humor, a story or simply a whimsical approach to its subject. And why should it not always be that way? Sure, the product descriptions inhabit a modicum of space, but what does size matter: no copy was ever so avidly read as the predictive aphorism we find on the 2″ x 1/4″ slip of paper tucked in our Chinese fortune cookie.

(more…)

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Florent restaurant closed in June. It’s in New York, so you might wonder why I care. Well, I happen to love Tibor Kalman’s work, and he designed the restaurant’s business cards and advertisements for many years.

I especially love the piece in which the diners are represented in type alone, she with her pumps and a napkin in her lap, giggling flirtatiously; he with his napkin resting on his loafers, quietly enjoying a sip of wine in mirth.

Check out both Kalman’s cheeky work and the restaurant, which was in its own way an institution, here:
A Gallery of Tibor Kalman's work for Florent

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Somewhere, everywhere, in darkened alleys and well-lit office cubicles, criminal minds are hard at work bungling the English language. Oh, their mockery is subtle — a dangled participle here, a malaprop there — but it undermines our ability to communicate effectively. Soon we will all be staring confusedly into our alphabet soup, looking for lost words.

Who will save us?

WordGirl!

WorldGirl is not so unlike Superman. Her space ship crashed here on Earth when she was but a babe, and she’s grown up as mild-mannered Betsy Botsford. Hailing from the faraway planet Lexicon, WordGirl’s super powers are “flying at the speed of sound, super strength and a comprehensive vocabulary.” Plus, she alliterates like a champ.

I’ve been a huge fan of WordGirl and her monkey sidekick Captain Huggy Face since last fall, when PBS spun them into a full show. What’s not to love about a 10-year-old girl who confidently fights criminals with big words and a quick wit? WordGirl is clever enough that adults will find her funny, but the show is based on the premise that kids are smart enough to understand long words and more complex humor. If I had kids, I’d be psyched that such a fantastic role model exists — mamas could do worse than to let their babies grow up to be WorldGirls.

You can check out WorldGirl in this hilarious interview with Jim Lehrer:

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