Ok, award season is over… time to start caring about basketball.

As the wife of an avid sports fan, the spirit of competition has been something I’ve grown to very much enjoy. From baseball to football to hockey, I’ve found myself looking for ways to engage myself with athletics, whether it be by joining fantasy leagues or taking in a live game—everything short of actually playing. However, around this time of year, it’s always a little bit easier to immerse oneself into the sports world. The time when everyone and their kid sister gets involved. I’m talking about March Madness.

I realized a handful of years ago that this is the best time of year for people like me (a.k.a people with limited sports knowledge). Why? Because no matter how much you watch ESPN or track players throughout the season, the March tournaments always end up being fairly unpredictable. It’s amazing how many upsets there always are.

With that said, there are multiple ways to approach the tournament bracket. We have our own techniques, of course. Inspiration for picking who will go to the final four can be drawn everywhere from steadfast design principles to high school memories. Here are some we suggest trying when you go to “design” your winning bracket next week.

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In 1912, the Titanic sank, Woodrow Wilson was elected President, and painter Jackson Pollock was born. Also that year—on Valentine’s Day, no less—the United States lovingly opened its arms to welcome Arizona to the Union, making it our 48th state. The people of Arizona have lived through so much and have an abundance of unique stories to show for it. Along with Arizona writer Lisa Schnebly Heidinger, O’Neil Printing, Roswell Bookbinding, and countless photographers and historians, Rule29 worked to collect those stories in Arizona: 100 Years Grand—a commemorative coffee table book to celebrate the State’s centennial.

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As stated by the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, approximately 25% of all women will experience an act of domestic violence in their lifetime. This type of behavior is often repeated, and stems from the abuser’s desires of power and control. It is not always physical, nor is it always directed towards women. It affects all ages and people of every social status. The worst of all—it is silent. Humiliation often prevents victims from coming forward and speaking out against their abusers. How can the community help a silent, yet incredibly damaging issue? One solution is to raise awareness.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As our way of showing care to the victims of this issue, Rule29 spent a day up in Woodstock, Illinois volunteering at Turning Point, a 24-hour crisis intervention and response center. In order to maintain the facility and allow it to continually serve the community, Turning Point relies on the community to provide whatever contribution they can. Through various types of donations, the organization is able to supply shelter and supplies, counseling, education, and advocacy to those in need.

In a group effort with our friends at Grip Design and Faust we were able to take a break from our busy schedules to lend a helping hand. (Read more about our serving adventures here.) From brightening up a dreary stairwell with a cheerful mural to organizing a cluttered supply closet and lots of yard work, we were able to make a big difference in just a few hours. (For a closer look at the day, check out our Flickr set.)

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Every Fall we collectively are bombarded with a mass of pink merchandise—at least more than usual. Some may not even recognize the significance, but ultimately many of our pink purchases go to a special cause. October is breast cancer awareness month—in honor of all the moms, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers, and cousins who have dealt with the disease. A portion of the sales from the pink goods often goes to breast cancer research, supporting research and events. (It should be noted that not all Pink Ribbon merchandise goes to support breast cancer research—sold with the intention that the buyer will use it to support the cause.)

Unlike many of the organizations selling everything from mugs to hats sporting the Pink hue, the American Cancer Society wants the public to Pink Differently—not just buying a shirt with a Pink Ribbon to be supportive, but doing more. Take that shirt and wear it to an ACS cancer walk, raising funds to go directly to cancer research. The Pink Differently campaign asks us to go beyond the barrage of products and do more to fight the war against cancer.

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Our own Justin Ahrens was recently provided with the opportunity to speak about Will Bradley, a local design legend, to a group at the Geneva Historical Society. This local organization told us about Bradley and mentioned he hailed from our hometown. (Up until that moment, the closest designer we knew of was Frederic Goudy—renowned typeface designer from Bloomington, Illinois.) We were intrigued to hear this piece of news and set off to research and present our newfound knowledge to the community. The event set out to show attendees that often to discover something amazing and profound you don’t even have to leave your hometown. You just have to realize that greatness can be anywhere. Take a closer look. In our case, not only was Bradley a well-known icon close in proximity, but in discipline.

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