Every two years, the Philadelphia chapter of AIGA hosts a juried competition to showcase great design in the area. With each competition, they put out a call to create the graphics for that year’s show. In 2017, we won the bid.
The landscape for design in Philadelphia was shifting dramatically—fresh talent was pouring into the city, creating a community of artists that rivaled hot design hubs like LA, New York and Milwaukee. We thought it was important to capture some of the excitement and energy that we saw around us. So we rebranded the competition—and in the process, designed a call-for-entries poster that hand-folded into a direct mail piece, social media and web graphics, event signage, postcards, award certificates, and a 142-pg catalog of the winning entries.
(Not to brag, but DiSanto Design had two winners in the book that year. And two years later, our branding system for the 2017 show won in the 2019 show, too).
Photography: Zave Smith
Printing: Perfect Communications
Lyric Fest is a unique Philadelphia musical experience. Its voice recitals are lively and entertaining—but they also educate, encourage dialogue (yes, between performers and audience) and foster a deep sense of community.
So when this organization wanted to broaden its reach, it came to us to help them clarify their message. They described themselves as fun and lively—but at the time, their current website and programming collateral didn’t match that vibe. We took a deep look at their competition and where they wanted to be. Then we refreshed their branding, clarified their voice—and launched their new look with a refreshed, bright and user-friendly website.
Since the year 2000, The Center for Peace and Global Citizenship at Haverford College has offered students a financially-supported opportunity to participate in local and global community projects—everything from internships, to study abroad fellowships, to volunteer work in the greater Philadelphia area. This Center’s mission is simple: to ‘support student and faculty activities that advance peace, social justice, and global citizenship’. Truly incredible work. And just the kind of people we like to partner with.
In 2014, the Center approached us with a problem: it had hundreds of these projects and internships that it wanted to showcase both to students as well as to financial funders and supporters. And it wanted to showcase them in a print piece that could sit at both the admissions office (for students to pick up) and mailed to high-end funders.
After a careful review of their existing brochures, we created a magazine-style piece with colorful photography, great stories, and a centerpiece map that visually represented the breadth and depth of their students’ reach around the world.
The design was such a great success, the Center hired us to design the magazine for the next six years.
Photography: Haverford students
Printing: The Standard Group
Bridge Boston Charter School describes itself as a “challenging, joyful, inclusive K1-8 public school” in the Roxbury section of Boston. After years in the neighborhood, the school opened a brand new building—and they wanted to celebrate with a refresh of their marketing and communications. Their new director of development found us through our work with The Steppingstone Foundation and asked us to help. We worked with the school to develop a brand strategy, define its brand attributes and then brought all to life through a refresh of their communications digital outreach and collateral, a few years’ worth of annual reports (with stunning photography by Jo Sittenfeld and great writing by our very own Daisy Scott) and even redesigned their logo to feel more friendly and inclusive. The communications platform now better reflects the school’s energy and its deep roots in the community.
Photography: Jo Sittenfeld
We love working with colleges and universities to create pieces that work with their mission. Here, we teamed up with Paskill Stapleton and Lord to create this viewbook and companion pieces for Marywood University.
We love working on branding projects for a wide range of clients. We approach even the smallest project in the same way that we approach a complete brand overhaul: we ask questions. Lots of them. We want to understand where you sit in the market, the tone you are trying to convey—in short, we help you develop the strategy behind your brand and then create a unique, memorable mark to bring it to life.
Shown here are a few of the thoughtful marks we have created for our clients.
We worked with the folks at New England Conservatory for more than ten years, bringing life to their performance promotions and working closely with the development team to create connections to their donor base.
Twice a year, NEC puts on a fully-staged opera on the boards of its beloved Jordan Hall. So twice a year, we created a unique graphic system for each opera (featuring some clever copywriting, thanks to writer Daisy Scott). These graphic concepts worked across all media including promotional posters, social media blasts, printed direct mail pieces, guerilla marketing, and collateral for the performance itself. We also developed TV and radio spots, too.
In addition to the operas, we created similar seasonal promotions for many other concert series, one-off performances, and special events at the Conservatory. Each promotion was unique to the style and theme of the performance, yet still tied strongly to NEC’s brand.
We also developed print collateral for the development office—including direct mail pieces, season brochures, and support for fundraising campaigns. Fundraising like the Leadership Campaign that sought funding to build a new student life and performance center in the heart of NEC’s urban campus. We crafted a folder out of blueprints for the building and filled it with a burst of colorful photos of students and faculty at work—along with schematics of the new center.
Located on Broad Street in Philadelphia, University of the Arts offers undergraduate and graduate programs in design, fine arts, media arts, crafts, music, dance, theater and writing. It also offers the nation’s first PhD in Creativity.
We teamed up with our friends at Steege Thomson to design a campaign viewbook for the University that not only showcased blueprints of its new building, but also captures the energy and diversity of the school. The oversized piece was meant to feel like a portfolio and features blind foil stamping on the cover with three paper stocks.
Printing: CRW Graphics
March 2020 introduced us to the term Social Distancing. While so many of us remained apart, we found ourselves cooking together. Our friends at Wink Design decided to collect recipes (from professional chefs as well as home cooks—all sheltering in place) into a single volume cookbook that might offer a bit of connection and comfort during this extraordinary time.
And once the recipes were collected, they hired us to help design and steward the printing of the book. 65 recipes. 112 pages. Perfect bound and gift-sized at 6 x 8”. Many of the recipes are accompanied by a story or a whimsical illustration (by the uber-talented Cynthia Meyers).
All profits from the cookbook were donated to Feeding America. In the end, we raised more than $7,000. And due to high demand, the cookbook had a second printing in the fall of that year.
We love the tactile impression that is true only to letterpress. Over the years, we have designed and pressed our studio holiday cards—celebrating everything from New Year’s to Valentine’s Day to Chinese New Year.
And one year, we recorded hand-me-down recipes from the descendants of our grandmother and favorite cook, Rose Leslie, and collected them in a keepsake recipe book that we gave out to Rose’s daughters and grandchildren.
(Almost) all of these projects were carefully printed by hand with our friends at Lead Graffiti letterpress in Newark, DE.
Boston Lyric Opera describes itself as “an opera company for the modern world”. So when it tasked us with bringing that description to life, we worked with Daisy Scott to create some very unexpected promotional pieces for its season of both classic and unique performances.
Photography: Getty Images
The transition from pediatric to adult healthcare is often difficult for teens—even more so and more crucial for teens living with HIV. The Massachusetts Department of Health and Next Step (a support organization that works with this population) wanted to help make that transition easier for them, their caregivers, and the healthcare professionals that take care of them. They interviewed all three groups and found out what made them nervous, what they didn’t understand, where they needed more resources. DiSanto Design was then commissioned to take all of that information and turn it into an easy-to-navigate guide that not only engages, but also speaks to each group in a visual and written language that they can understand and relate to. The resulting piece—the first of its kind—was a huge success.
Photography: Getty Images
We first started working with the Steppingstone Foundation more than 30 years ago when they were a small start-up. They were trying to garner early supporters to their program: recruiting Scholars and their families, pitching potential funders, and educating the community around them. Even though they were a brand new program, they needed to look like they were rock solid and worth consideration. The early work we did for them helped connect them with the audiences they were looking to reach: it was professional, yet humble. Two colors. Great photography (thank you, Bill Miles Photography) and impeccable production.
Over the years, however, Steppingstone grew. And programs doing similar work started to pop up around them. The humble look we developed started to look small. So our work grew, too. We moved into more storytelling, more color, bigger pieces—even an online version of the annual report—but always the same voice and impeccable production.
We have loved our partnership with The Steppingstone Foundation. And continue to work with them today through their initiative: The National Partnership for Educational Access, a national conference that brings like-minded organizations together to share best practices and support each other in their work to make college accessible for all students.
