Lisa:  I grew up in a mill town in Massachusetts and used to spend time in the mill stores, drawn to the colors and textures of the yarns and woolens they sold. I wanted to be an artist and was always drawing, painting, and creating patterns. I remember being aware of how things were designed and noticed how design helped things work (like the awesome color-coded reading program we had in second grade!) In high school, I worked for a sign carver where a love of typography was fostered. I studied type and color in detail as I created layouts for signs and painted and gilded them after they were carved. My high school art teacher pointed me towards design as a career path and my first design class in college sealed the deal. 

Mark:  My father was a commercial artist who worked for newspapers and then private companies… think Mad Men… I grew up around drawing tables, T-squares, markers, rubber cement and x-acto knives… I saw him make things with words and pictures. I wanted to make things with words and pictures, too. My mother and Aunt were English teachers and writers. They influenced what I read growing up, and how I learned to write creatively. Role those influences together and you lay the foundation for checking the ‘Graphic Design’ major box in college.

Lisa:  Mark and I got to know each other and design simultaneously, so working together is normal for us. We met in 1983, our freshman year at the Philadelphia College of Art in a graphic design elective class. We started dating soon after. We went through the graphic design program at PCA and graduated together in 1987. A year after graduating we were married. In 1990 we were both accepted into the MFA Design program at Cranbrook Academy of Art where we obtained our master’s degrees. We’ve worked together most of our careers... and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Mark:  The short answer is that it isn’t ‘work’. We enjoy and respect each other, and love what we do. We’re both interested in solving problems for our clients, and pushing our own knowledge and skills, and working with someone you trust and who understands you allows that to happen on a daily basis. And anyone who’s met and worked with us knows that I married up…

The variety of companies and organizations we work with, learning about how other people do business, helping them realize their goals and building upon that success over a long collaboration. Very few professions allow you to learn so much about so many different businesses, markets or technologies. This gives us a great ‘backpack’ of experiences and knowledge that we apply to other projects as needed.

We work with creators, trailblazers, and big thinkers who have have big ideas, visions, and goals for their business or project.

The one thing they have in common? They understand what well-informed, creative, and well-crafted design solutions can do for them — and they want design experts at the helm. That’s us.

Our expertise is in:

• Strategic brand development

• Design for packaging, print, and digital communications

Let us know what you’re thinking and let’s turn it into reality.

First and foremost, we collaborate with our clients. Our process is very transparent and inclusive with their input and feedback guiding the process.

We also love working collaboratively with creative services professionals — on their own projects as well as client projects.

There is nothing like putting a team of high-caliper creatives in a room and watching the magic that happens. The work is energizing and the results — inspiring.