We had many people ask us how our Christmas card was made this year and I decided that it would make an informative and interesting blog post.

Our card was made through a printing technique known as letterpress. It began in the 15th century with Johannes Gutenburg and the Gutenburg Bible. It involved locking movable type into a bed of a press and inking it to form an impression. It revolutionized printing techniques, because previously, each page of a book had to be hand carved individually with a woodblock or engraving. Now type could be reused and type could be moved to create pages must faster and more efficiently.

Having said this, our Christmas cards were created by having an individual die created for each color that was used. In our case, there were two colors. You can feel the impression on the thick cotton paper and see the detail of the beautiful letter forms and embellishments. After having done this project, there is one thing that I am happy to say,
“In this world of Twitter and short bursts of acronyms and shortened misspelled words, I am pleased to note that people continue to respond to printing that is created with care and thoughtful design.”

I am also please to see that letterpress is making a comeback and there are new letterpress printers sprouting up, not only nationwide but in Detroit and throughout Southeastern Michigan.

You can learn more online by Googling the history of letterpress.

Our principal, Marilyn Trent, was excited this month to be asked to address an audience at the Creative Juice conference in Chicago presented by Second Wind Network. Marilyn Trent walked the attendees through the process of how she has gotten more creative with the creative brief. Leading a group of 25+ advertising agencies and creative practitioners from around the U.S. in a discussion of style and substance, Marilyn and Michael spoke about how our new fact finding processes have helped to influence new and exciting work.

Trent Design’s Demo Reel helped kick off the presentation and gave the audience an idea of what kind of work we produce.

This event gave us a chance to demonstrate our practice for cultivating information from our clients by asking them to describe their company using each of the 5 senses. We believe this method gives us valuable insight into the way a client may feel about their company on a visceral level. It also eliminates the urge to give specific art direction that could derail a brand or product in the early stages of design.

Marty Kohr speaks about Lasker’s ad legacy

The conference attracted a lineup of fresh presentations from ad men like Ernie Perich of Perich and Partners, Bill Borders formerly of Weiden Kennedy, and Marty Kohr a professor at Medill Northwestern University who spoke about Albert Lasker, a pioneer of early advertising. This was a fascinating show n’ tell because it emphasized how technology has changed but human behaviors and desires have not. These talks rekindled our love for creative problem solving with our need for survival in an age where advertising is fast changing.

We also enjoyed Branda Garrand, principal of Garrand & Company, who could fill in for Kathy Bates as a double when she isn’t running her very cool marketing company and knitting socks. She talked to us about how breakthroughs are all that matter when you are branding a company and working with them to market their goods and services.

By the end of the 2 day visit, Trent Design walked away with some amazing tips on how great work is produced and the overwhelming sense that great creative does not always mean big budgets. Sometimes the strongest agencies are those who listen first and then act on behalf of their clients’ needs (sans egos).

We’d like to thank conference coordinator Tony Mikes at Second Wind Network for the invitation to speak at Creative Juice. It was an amazing experience.

Genna & Shawn review images taken on a recent shoot.

Trent Design spent this past Thursday on-site conducting a photo shoot that will encompass the creation of a video and website for a new industrial client. Designers Genna Cowsert, Shawn Adler, and Brian Hartwell were present and spent their time running away from giant machines, robotic arms, sparks, heavy machinery, and generally a lot of dangerous metallic things. All that aside, they left at the end of the day knowing they’d made some compelling images and dynamic video.

Photographer Keith Tolman sets up the shot.

The warehouse is a hive of activity.

Shawn prepares the camera to film another scene.

Using a tethered setup where the camera is fed directly into the computer, we were allowed to safely operate the shoot from behind a protective glass barrier. Workers and guests are not permitted access to stand in the same room as this machine with the robotic arm so we had to be creative about execution. With a little trial, some error, and a special set of software, our photographer Keith captured some great images of the equipment as it went about its usual task(s).

Project Credits:

Managing Art Director: Brian Hartwell
Video & Production Art Director: Shawn Adler
Photography Art Director: Genna Cowsert
Photography: Keith Tolman