trash everywhere

Mike and I participated today in an event today that is part of our beliefs at mindsalt – taking care of the world we live in. We spent the morning cleaning up trash along the Ohio river. The event was started by Living Lands and Waters and was sponsored by Athens Paper and Sappi.

We were boated to a spot in which 22 volunteers, some college students on spring break, packed garbage bags full of soda bottles, tobacco containers, shoes, styrofoam, plastic oil cartons. Plastic, plastic and more plastic.

Our thanks go out to Living Lands and Waters for their efforts and dedication to an overwhelming task.

Hands on design

An appreciation for great design goes far beyond the office walls. Rely on a computer for a corporate identity and you'll take your client down the all-too-common-cookie-cutter path to bad design. Great design exists in the head, hands and gut.

Take away our computers and, believe it or not, we're still great designers, craftsmen, sculptors, builders, thinkers...do-ers.

Take Casto. One of the most intuitive designers around. When it comes to thinking outside the box...well, he's never been in it, can't even fathom it. He listens. He understands. He blows clients' minds. But after the 9-to-5 (more like 7 or 8 in his case), Casto shuts down his computer and picks up a chisel and a spokeshave.

His most recent "mock-up?" A guitar. Yep. Casto is fascinated with wood-turning and the fine art of guitar-making. Just imagine what he can do with brochure design.

And Brian. When the need arose for a new conference table at the office, the notion of typical business furniture never crossed his mind. He went home and made one himself from pressed plywood pieced together end-to-end. That was just after he crafted their guest bathroom sink. And a while before that project, he designed beautiful, letter-pressed birth announcements for the arrival of his tiny new daughter. For Brian, typical is unheard of.

So when we think about design at mindsalt (which is all the time), we're not just thinking logos. Don't get me wrong. We think a lot about logos. But we eat, breathe and yes, even sleep design. Most of all, we practice design.

We live in a world of design...a rather cluttered world, but one we intend to improve one client at a time. And that world extends to our homes, our hobbies and everything we touch.