There’s an inspiring story behind Dignified Workday.

It all started when one person reached out to help one person. And it’s grown into a full-fledged program, one that supports dozens of unhoused people in our community by providing low-barrier jobs, a steady income, and the chance to build stability and find housing.

It’s all based on the simple concept that most people who are facing homelessness want to work. They just need to be given the opportunity. That’s where Dignified Workday comes in, and we were proud to help this new nonprofit program share its story through its website.

Dignified Workday isn’t trying to change the world. It simply offers people who are experiencing homelessness a chance to do work that makes a difference – in their lives and in our community. Thanks to low-barrier jobs in construction and property maintenance, participants have the chance to be constructive for part of their day, earn a paycheck, and feel pride and dignity in their work.

All of which helps them cope with their personal circumstances and build more stable lives.

After just one year, the program is already making a tangible difference in Spokane. Our team saw that difference firsthand, when we visited a few of the program’s worksites with our project photographer, Craig Sweat. It was apparent that Dignified Workday’s new tagline describes exactly whats happening with its crew members and their clients:

Real work. Real difference.

All design work has purpose, but when it’s tied to an important cause, it’s special.

We can’t wait for the next chapter in the story.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

They say the camera adds 10 pounds, but in this case, it’s more. A lot more.

In September, the Florida State Seminoles introduced their new baseball director of operations, and this post popped up in my Instagram feed.

I did a double take, and I wasn’t the only one.

In this image, Drew Linder looks more like a linebacker than a baseball coach. His shoulders appear disproportionately larger than his head, making him seem hundreds of pounds heavier than he really is.

But the camera didn’t add the weight. The design did.

The problem here is the contrast – or lack thereof. The garnet polo shirt and background have the same visual weight, making them nearly indistinguishable at first glance. And, when it comes to social media, a glance is likely all you’ll get.

Visual contrast, through color, size, shape, etc., helps us quickly recognize distinct elements in an image and make sense of them. Good, purposeful design relies on contrast to:

• create visual separation between elements,
• establish a visual hierarchy,
• emphasize which element is most important,
• add depth and dimension, and
• create a sense of balance.

Without it, we risk confusing the audience or communicating something we didn’t intend to – and embarrassing ourselves or someone else in the process.

Kudos to the social media team at Florida State (incidentally, where the Big Dumper played college ball) for recognizing the mistake and posting a new image.

Thankfully, this one shed the excess weight.

posted by: Denise Wilson  |  category: the design life  |  make a comment

“You can be cautious or you can be creative, but there’s no such thing as a cautious creative.”
– George Lois

The famed advertising executive and art director was right. The term cautious creative is an oxymoron; a true creative takes risks.

Our new intern, Gracie Alvarez, is a true creative.

On first impression – with her petite stature, soft voice, and delicate wire-rimmed glasses – she comes across as mild and unassuming. But beneath that quiet demeanor is a gutsy adventurer who’s waiting to take on new challenges.

It shows in her wide range of interests. Just look at this laundry list of likes and hobbies:

• animation
• motion graphics
• sewing
• knitting
• crocheting
• rock climbing
• aerial silks
• indie rock

Add in her nonprofit business, where she sells refurbished Barbies on Etsy and donates the profits to Shriners Hospitals for Children, and you’ve got a true jill-of-all-trades. Remarkably, she’s been motivated to learn many of these things all on her own.

This fall, Gracie will start her second year in the graphic design program at Spokane Falls Community College (which launches many a great designer). When she’s done, she plans to enroll in design at Eastern Washington University and earn a four-year degree.

“My ideal career would be remote so I can travel,” Gracie says. “I want to step out of what I know and experience different cultures.”

What tops her bucket list? Claud Monet’s house and garden at Giverny, in the Normandy region of France. Gracie would love to experience firsthand the inspiration behind Monet’s work – and practice her French while she’s at it.

Long-term, her goal is to become the creative director of an animation studio.

And as a true creative, she’s bound to get there.

Welcome to helveticka, Gracie.

posted by: Denise Wilson  |  category: the design life  |  comments(1)

While working on one of our most meaningful projects, I had the opportunity to meet several talented individuals. At the time, we were producing a biannual promotional piece for a local printer – titled PROOF! – and the fourth issue featured the work of several Spokane modern architects, particularly Swiss immigrant Moritz Kundig.

As we developed the story of Moritz, along with other notable architects, we learned not only about his life and accomplishments, but also how a group of young architects in the late 1940s through the early 1970s helped shape the architectural landscape in ways that would persist for decades to come. The story was so compelling that we asked, and received approval from, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture to create the exhibition “Spokane Modern Architecture, 1948-73.”

Our copywriter at the time, Aaron Bragg, and I met with Moritz on several occasions. We continued to keep in touch over the years. Always kind, supportive, and understated, Moritz spoke with a dose of humor followed by a quick laugh.

He once told us, “I like to think that my buildings have character and integrity and are somewhat timeless.” That aptly described both the man and his work.

On February 10, Moritz Kundig, FAIA, passed away at 98 years old.

His architectural legacy, however, will live on.

Moritz Kundig stands at the entrance of the Holmlund residence, one of his designs from 1963. The entry doors feature the work of the late artist Harold Balazs, a longtime friend and colleague of Kundig’s.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: architecture  |  make a comment

Do not touch mobs! Some of them might explode.

Whoa. Exploding objects are not what you’d expect in a museum. But that exact warning is posted throughout the newest exhibit of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC).

Clearly, at Minecraft: The Exhibition, visitors are playing in survival mode.*

When I took my kids to the exhibit two weeks ago, we encountered several hostile mobs, including a skeleton, an ender, a zombie, and a creeper who does, in fact, explode. (For the record, we did not touch any of them.)

It’s truly impressive – and I’m not just talking about the mobs that detonate. The 6,000-square-foot exhibit fills more than half the museum’s space, immersing visitors in a Minecraft world complete with life-size creatures, a working crafting table, day-to-night lighting, and authentic sound effects. The exhibit, which was developed by the Museum of Pop Culture in partnership with MoJang Studios, is likely the most complex exhibit the MAC has ever hosted, according to the museum’s director.

It’s also a far cry from the museum experiences I had as a kid. All I can remember are dusty artifacts behind plexiglass with dry-as-a-bone descriptions. And absolutely everything was hands-off.

Oh, how times have changed.

Today, museums like the MAC have shifted the focus from the artifacts themselves to the audience’s experience. An exhibit’s purpose, then, is not just to communicate information about a subject or collection, but to connect with the audience in a meaningful and visually appealing way.

It’s the same purpose behind the experiential design we do at helveticka.

If you haven’t had a chance to see the Minecraft exhibit yet, you’ve still got time. It runs through December 31. And according to my middle schooler, who is never melodramatic, it’ll be 1,000 percent worth your time.

As long as you don’t touch the mobs.

*Note: In case you aren’t one of the 140 million people who play Minecraft every month, the popular video game offers multiple modes, including creative and survival, and a “mob” is a mobile entity, or a living being in the game.

posted by: Denise Wilson  |  category: random thoughts  |  comments(1)

There’s a lot of drama in my neighborhood.

Animal drama, that is.

It beats any reality show on TV. In my yard alone, we’ve seen wild turkeys wander down the driveway, bucks spar by the trampoline, quail nest in the shrubs, and hawks nab rabbits right off the lawn. And who could forget the tubby raccoon that tried to use the cat door to get into our garage?

Not me. I discovered him.

It’s reached the point where our neighbors have even started naming the cast members. My personal favorites are Bruiser, the biggest, baddest buck in the hood, and Skippy, a gimpy doe who still manages to run off any animal that gets near her twin fawns.

Our neighbors gather in their front yards to dish about the animals – just like a bunch of Bachelor fans gossiping about who started the drama and what’s going to happen next:

“Did you see how Bruiser totally gaslighted Skippy?”
“OMG, yes! And I’m not even surprised. He’s such a thug.”

My husband and I hear about all the animal drama, whether we want to or not. Which is why we were so surprised, when we took a walk a few nights ago, to witness the most shocking episode yet.

A herd of goats was devouring the neighborhood.

Whoa. I did not see that plot twist coming. Frankly, I don’t think anyone did.

At this point, I should probably clarify that the goats weren’t eating our whole neighborhood. They were munching their way through a large, wooded hillside just east of all the houses. And they’d been brought into the neighborhood on purpose.

It turns out that goats are unlikely firefighters. In a matter of days, a few dozen can clear out acres of underbrush that might otherwise fuel wildfires.

Given recent tragedies in our region and throughout the world due to wildfires, I’m thankful for this latest turn in the neighborhood drama.

So, go ahead. Cue the goats.

I’ll keep watching the show.

posted by: Denise Wilson  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Here’s proof that designer dog names have gotten completely out of control.

At a stoplight this morning, I pulled up behind a car that had a bumper sticker in the shape of a dog bone with these words inside:

I love my whoodle.

Call me ignorant, but I don’t know what a whoodle is. I’ve got to assume, based on the shape of the bumper sticker, that it’s a type of mixed breed dog. But which one? These days, there seem to be endless varieties of bougie designer dogs with absurd names.

During the rest of my drive to work, I mulled over the meaning of “whoodle.”

The “oodle,” of course, was obvious. It’s a poodle. But what about the “who”? I couldn’t think of a single dog breed that starts with the letters w-h-o. The closest would be a whippet. But, as I discovered later, after a quick online search, a whippet and poodle mix is called a whipoodle.

For real? Is a kid making up these names?

Don’t get me wrong. I like dogs, and I have one myself. Timber may be a plain old Labrador retriever, the standard vanilla of dog breeds, but he’s still a good boy who lives for food, naps, and belly rubs. I mean, just look at him. Who couldn’t love that face?

People, on the other hand, are the ones coming up with these silly, over-the-top names for dogs. What’s the deal with all the whos, poos, and oodles? Why not just call the dog a poodle mix? Do we really need to invent a frankenword to describe man’s best friend?

With this naming logic, my childhood pup – a dachshund, schnauzer, and terrier mix – would have been a designer dog with an outlandish name. Like a weinerschnitzel.

Go figure. As a kid, I’d just assumed that Gus was an ordinary Heinz 57 dog.

As for the meaning of “whoodle,” I’d like to think that the “who” actually stands for, “Who got the poodle pregnant?” And the breed is essentially half poodle and half sneaky neighbor dog.

Now that’s a meaning I like.

And frankly, it makes a lot more sense than the real one.

posted by: Denise Wilson  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

I’m about to share two pieces of information. But, by tomorrow, you’ll only remember one of them.

And I can accurately predict which one it will be.

Here goes…

1. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, rear-end collisions make up 23% of all traffic accidents. Which is why I don’t tailgate.

2. Yesterday, I was driving to work on the freeway, and a station wagon rear-ended a truckload of porta potties. Let me tell you, sh%t got real on I-90. Which is why I don’t tailgate.

Alright, it’s obvious which piece of information is more memorable. Intuitively, we know that stories – especially the unusual ones – are, well, sticky. Stories tend to stick with us far longer than facts or statistics, even when they’re about the same subject.

Now, thanks to research from the Harvard Business School, we know why: it’s based on the way our memory works. I won’t go into the details here, but I definitely recommend reading the full study if you have the time. It’s fascinating stuff.

I also recommend driving at a safe following distance, especially when you’re staring at the backside of a dozen portable toilets.

And I’m sure you won’t forget that advice.

posted by: Denise Wilson  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment