The Blog

The conceptual premise of The Center for the Constitution’s brochure was that we tacitly understand contextual clues in our environment. We instantaneously observe the materials, textures, level of precision, craftsmanship, style, colors and so on. Through some amount of cultural acclimation, we are able to look at man-made objects and glean some idea of whence the object came. We determine timelines, geography and culture. In the blink of an eye. (Blink is an excellent read for more on this.)

The added bonus here is that a person looks at some piece of something and their mind instantly puts it in a context. That’s creativity at it’s best. Design has the power to transport one’s mind very far, very quickly. As visual designers, we’re in good company along with other great other creative professions – music, architecture, textiles, theatre … (more…)

Montpelier, the home of James Madison, opened The Center for The Constitution to educate our citizenry on the Constitution and its role in public life. Acknowleging that the founding document has no animation, sound effects or virtual connectivity, Sean O’Brien, Executive Director of The Center, challenged us to create some collateral that would bridge the gap in Constitutional knowledge and interest between adults and children.

The facts we had to work with:
• We are facing different issues today than 200+ years ago when the docuement was written.
• The principles of the Constitution are as valid and necessary as they are today.
• The printing press in the hands of Benjamin Franklin and his compatriots was the social media of the day.
• Communication today derives from websites, blogs, cell phones, texts, file sharing and maybe a few more.
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Pyle & Associates featured Birch Studio in its Entrepreneur’s Spotlight column September, 2008.

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Birch Studio has had 3 new folks join our team here recently. Mike Kanasink (designer) and Frank DeRosa (programmer) came to us several months ago and Jill Williams (designer) most recently. Their pics and bios are coming shortly. You will be hearing much more about them!