BRITT GETS HITCHED!

Britt Martinez is a lot of things: smart, thoughtful, funny, quite a designer, the best Team Glue in the biz, and now, married. Her wonderful beau Isaah is an office favorite (whom we see far too little of), and after years of courtship, their union just made extraordinary sense. That said, she'll likely always be a Martinez to us.

In the spirit of so many things TC, hers was a team wedding. Britt put her project management skills to excellent use, planning for nearly 300 guests, designing heaps of collateral materials, and putting her team to good use.

At the reception, Lynn and Melinda were both spotted cutting rugs (probably argyle), and Daniel was there to capture the whole spinning eureka. (It's little-known, but put the Beastie Boys on the dance floor, and Platow's there like a shot.)

We may post party photos, so you, who were ostensibly not at the festivities, can enjoy the whole spinning eureka, too. But today, we thought we'd ease you in with the small, profound happinesses of preparation.

 

 

We wish the newlyweds the greatest joy, here, and in the years to come.


Team: Britt Martinez, Lynn Platow, Daniel Hulsbos

WE'RE TEN!

It's been a long, delicious haul through the single digits, and it's our birthday! We've learned a lot over the last decade, made a lot of friends, moved around the country and the world, and found our… identity.

It was with no more than laptops and tiny Wacom tablets (appropriate for our tiny hands) we began the TC odyssey in an e-cafe in NYC's East Village. When the weather was bad, or the eats were good, we'd venture to other internet-bearing restaurants.

And recall, in 2001, this was far from today's norm. Not to shine our nails too much, but at the start of the 2000s, the notion of a mobile, internet-accessible office was still a fresh idea. A little scary. But with desk space, electricity, ethernet cables, and Mark Robinson our only client, we staked an office. Nowadays, with deepening roots in Albuquerque and Regensberg, and a team of 17 members (plus dog), it tickles us CMYK to reflect on how far we've come.

The team back then consisted of only one illustrator, one designer, and one photographer – working over coffee. (Private meetings occurred at the nearby Wendy's.) We had occasion to remember those days recently, when our building's Internet service went down and we regrouped within the hour at our much-beloved Napoli Coffee.

So if you're near a glass, and want to raise it in our honor, please do. Particularly, as we're just returned from a glorious, sun-flooded vacation, and will be ploughing through work till our next school vacation.

TEAM KUDOS: GOURMET BOOK DESIGN

In the spirit of showing off our team's talents, in the last year we've trotted out all manner of work by Daniel, our chief photographer, and Melinda, our prize illustrator. Today, it's time to feature the work of our copy-guy, Adam.

When he's not ghost-writing this very blog (don't tell the dog), Adam carries on as Gourmet Book Design. He ran a small poetry press for nine years, and now designs for print, hand-binds books, oversees printing, writes copy, and edits text both for marketing and creative output. He also publishes, under his Gourmet Books imprint, An Underground Guide to Alburquerque, which we've mentioned here before, and blogs about writing his experimental novel, The Dredge Cycle. This makes him a very busy Adam, indeed.

Of course, being a print designer, Adam hired Daniel to photograph his portfolio a while back. Daniel, being Daniel, obliged, and Adam relaunched his website last month, beaming ear-to-ear.

We think you'll find something that tickles your fancy among the 17 projects he's posted so far. He's adding more as he finds time amid his myriad projects and TC responsibilities. Keep your eye on it in this Fall!

SWEET SWEET LABOR DAY AVAILABILITY

Suddenly, it's the beginning of September, again. And like everyone, we're faced with the daunting responsibility of taking a day off.

It's like this: we love what we do. We love doing it so much it's a little hard to put the laptop down. So this Labor Day, we'll be working… on relaxing. This means our phones will rest five feet away – on a counter, end table, or beside one of those fine signature drinks of the Southwest. This is a marked improvement on last year's in-hand-but-not-in-ear approach.

 

We encourage you to experiment with relaxing along with us… and we know just how likely that sounds. If you must work – and we salute you for it – and you must call, know that we'll pick up. (We'll even be in a state to answer cogently!) It may just take a moment longer than usual for us to locate the ring.