Many of us fell in love with paper at a very young age.

The infinite combinations of textures and colors combined with that fresh pulpy smell has conjured up many a glorious mountain of ideas that would eventually get each of us lost in a seas of paper. While our complimenting materials would vary; colored pencils, paint, pastels, pen and ink, scissors, glitter; it always began with the paper. The unending stream of projects those beautiful fibers inspired filled our parents’ homes, our bedroom walls, and inspired many a career where paper and its wonder could be present everyday.

It’s this kind of childhood wonder Neenah Paper has always conjured up for us. Getting new sample books and promotions always carries a little bit of magic with it, sparking ideas of what could be. So when we received an invitation to be transported back to this place of wonder and inspiration with a trip to the Neenah Paper Mill, we jumped at it. Read the rest of the entry >

As my year-long internship at R29 comes to a close, I realize how lucky I really am. Few people get to experience Rule29 in such an intimate way that I did on a day-to-day basis. I got schooled in mathematical layouts, juggled multiple projects, learned how to communicate with printers, worked with developers, upped my production chops, and refined my type skills.

I knew starting here that some things in school cannot be taught and could only be experienced, but some things can only be learned at R29:

- Carrying 7 coffees at once is truly an art form
- Frozen lakes are best for practicing your golf swing
- Tacos are an essential key to creativity
- Coloring books and crayons make production meetings awesome
- Pumpkin smashing is the new carving
- Dual Shake Weights are easiest when doing deep squats
- Biscuits, honey butter, and blackberry jam taste best at 8am
- Healthy work culture breeds creativity

If you’re still in school or just getting out, an internship will help you grow and better prepare yourself to make the plunge into the working world. Thanks R29 for showing me how to Make Creative Matter®!

Want to have better conversations or be more interesting in meetings? Learn to talk about more than the weather.

Not everyone is a great conversationalist, and even the best have a tough day now and then. Plus, we all have clients that are challenging to talk to. So, how can you create a better conversation? Here are four ideas:

1) Be interesting by doing interesting things
“Interesting” can be simple or complex. Great conversations can come from things as simple as going to a gallery opening, book reading, or concert. Or for more extreme conversation topics, try running a marathon or skydiving, running with the bulls, or inventing the next great microbrew—you get the idea. Talk about, blog about, and share your interesting experiences.

Read the rest of the entry >

Today is Earth Day 2013, and we are so happy that our whole team has made it through the most recent round of events, with heavy rains causing flooding in Chicagoland! We pray that everyone is safe and sound and back to normal.

This year the theme of Earth Day is climate change, and after this past week’s rainfall, we all now know firsthand that Mother Nature is a beast and we need to take extra good care of her! Not that we could ever stop the flooding or whatever natural disaster she sends our way, but there are things we’re doing that certainly are not helping.

This past year the earth marked many milestones regarding climate change. 2012 was marked as the hottest, most extreme year in United States’ history and then marked the hottest year the entire planet had ever experienced! Extreme weather events are now the “norm.” Here in the United States, we went from historic flooding in 2011 to devastating drought in 2012. Those droughts helped fuel wildfires that consumed tens and thousands of acres across the West.

Most of us had never heard of the word “Derecho” until 2012. It’s derived from a Spanish word meaning “straight ahead,” and that storm system covered more than 700 miles—knocking out power to more than 4 million customers in the United States. The winds were clocked at more than 90 mph, killing at least twenty-four people in seven states, and leaving many without power for days in the midst of the hottest stretch of the summer.

Storms rocked the Caribbean, the Philippines and the northeastern US with Hurricane Sandy being ranked the most deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclone of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. The most troubling climate malfunction was the melting at the tops of the world, with the Summer Sea ice in the Arctic shrinking to 18 percent below the previous record low. The Arctic Sea covered an all-time record low, with a high-water mark in a long-term decline. Solar flares hit earth—which hadn’t happened in six years. Suddenly there was talk about space weather, something that most of us have never even heard of or thought about. In Greenland 97 percent of the surface ice sheet experienced melting. Read the rest of the entry >

In the past month Rule29′s work has been featured on AIGA’S website for the role it has played in design-driven social change. AIGA’S Design for Good initiative encourages and recognizes pro-bono and social engagement design projects that create positive social impact on the local or global community.  The case studies feature the work we have done with Team RWB’s and Life In Abundance’s Brand Development and the LIA Konjo Initiative.

Over the past 3 years Rule29 has worked with Team RWB in achieving their mission to transform the way America supports its wounded veterans when they return from active duty. They are currently viewed as the premiere veterans’ organization, and with 1.2 million veterans coming home over the next four years, R29 is proud to be part of helping them expand from 20 active chapters to (hopefully) 100 in the near future.

In addition to the efforts with Team RWB, Rule29 has made an impact in Africa as well in part through the Konjo initiative launched by Life in Abundance (LIA) in 2012. Konjo is an economic development initiative that involves sandals Read the rest of the entry >