Last Tuesday, Reason to Give had its annual Back to School event. They gave out school supplies, back packs and clothes to get our families ready for the new school year. Great job to Shannon Medic & her volunteers for organizing the event and thanks to all the donors who helped us provide these kits to 60 kids.
Home Depot makin' it happen!
Last month's Reason to Give home makeover project was one of my favorite weeks of work since I started at Firebelly two years ago. When everyone showed up on the first day at the Singleton's house, I don't think any of us could have imagined the incredible transformation that was about to happen. There was so much to get done and even though it seemed like an impossible task at the start, we did it.
We painted, laid new laminate flooring, landscaped the front and back yards, fixed plumbing leaks, updated bathroom and kitchen appliances, replaced moldy drywall, hung curtains, and brought in new furniture and linens. Perhaps more importantly, we worked together, gave lots of high fives, had a few sing-alongs, made new friends and helped a family come together to love and appreciate their house again. Maybe it would have been shorter to list what we didn’t do.
We can’t say THANK YOU enough to the Home Depot for the manpower, supplies + know-how, Anderson Pest Solutions for getting rid of the bugs, Rebuilding Exchange for the materials, Service Sanitation for the bathrooms as we fixed all the plumbing, Knockbox for the coffee to keep everyone awake, Colorphonic for the banner, Shannon Downey for the fantastic furniture, Coyote Logistics for sending a small army of workers and all the other amazing volunteers who showed up with smiles on their faces ready to get dirty and do some good. We couldn’t have done it without you + loved meeting y’all too.
And last, but certainly not least, Shannon Medic (Reason to Give’s Executive Director) is a rockstar. She had the vision for the project and got all the right people on board to make it happen. She’s also the only person I’ve ever seen do this much manual labor with perfectly polished nails. You go Glen Coco.
Watch the before + after video and read more about the project on Reason to Give.com
Lindsay knows that giving a little means getting a lot.
Friday April 13th through Sunday April 15th is Reason to Give's very first Home Makeover Project. The studio's Project Manager Lindsay is on the job with Reason to Give Executive Director Shannon, a crew of Home Depot contractors and a team of hardworking heart-forward volunteers. I even saw great guy Kyle LaMere of I Shoot Rockstars helping out.
Reason to Give is our flagship program founded in 2007 impacting the lives of Humboldt Park residents. Reason to Give allows online shoppers to directly purchase or donate money toward goods that children and families genuinely need. Participants of the program attend monthly educational workshops taught by professionals on everything from computer skills and financial planning to healthy eating on a budget and active parenting, giving them the tools + resources to help them help themselves.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The studio is ramping up excitement around our 5th annual Camp Firebelly. We are inviting the brightest & most talented design students & recent grads to join forces inside our Chicago studio. Camp offers the next crop of socially-minded designers the chance to use their talent and creativity to make a difference, experiencing what professional life is like Firebelly-style. For 9 days, 10 campers live and work with us to craft a strategic design solution for a nonprofit client, from initial research to final implementation. Camp Firebelly challenges students and recent grads to address social issues through a collaborative project of their own design.
The original hand-lettered Newberry sign is still perfectly intact, and just as beautiful as ever.
Nothing is better than ending a week of hard work by investing a morning at one of Chicago's greatest institutions, The Newberry. Years before Will Miller or I worked at Firebelly several projects from the studio were accepted into the Newberry's collection. Last week Friday, we met with Paul F. Gehl, Custodian of the History of Printing wing, to enter some current Firebelly work and get a tour of the Archive.
The current show is the 26th annual Juried Exhibition of the Chicago Calligraphy Collective. We saw that our friend and colleague Rick Valicenti was a juror for the exhibit. Included in the show is his My Move piece. 
A personal favorite in the archives was the calendar works of Oswald Copper for Bertsch & Cooper. These calendars were created annually as a promotional piece for the studio and were extremely sought after for their excellence and detail in type. Below is an example of the original mock-up. 
While we sat at Big Chicks drinking mimosas today at lunch, I couldn't believe how much we got done this month. The meticulously handcrafted holiday gift boxes of letterpressed coasters and hand stamped packaging took a small army of Firebellies and FU fellows to assemble, but we were so happy with the finished gifts it was more than worth the effort. Rohner Letterpress, as always, did an incredible job with our design.
The Popup Shop on December 9th + 10th was an absolute success. Thanks to the help of all of our talented friends, we raised more than $6k for Reason to Give. For those of you who couldn't make it out, some of the weekend's highlights: Nick and Ohn's homemade cheddar popcorn/caramel foam snack, lovely doodle portraits from Jana Kinsman and jumping in the holiday photo booth.
On the 21st we had a Firebelly/Firebelly U potluck and secret santa. There are some seriously talented cooks in this office! All the food was delcious and watching people take whiskey shots for each wrong guess of their secret santa was a real treat.
Wishing you a happy new year! Cheers + see you in 2012.