Newsletter 023
There’s no greater experience than to enjoy one another’s company over an elevated, intentionally prepared meal. Our leadership team, including spouses, met in January for an 8:30 pm dinner at Bongi’s in Perkinsville, IN. It’s a tavern that requires reservations months ahead of time, thus the Christmas party one month into 2023. Well worth the wait. With the hustle and bustle of Christmas deadlines behind us, we were freer to focus on celebration. Our waiter was so colorful, enhancing our experience. His ability to rattle off every scrumptious detail of the food pairings was impressive. His enthusiastic communication made every item on the menu feel like the best possible option, making it hard to select just one dish.
The combination of the company of our team and the rich and flavorful dining experience was a perfect example of something “made better than it was supposed to be made” because of one person’s full investment in the experience of dining. We expected a really good meal, but we didn’t expect the friendly character sprinkled over the menu descriptions and the humor perfectly placed during our interactions.
It’s with this kind of genuine intention that we work to approach the projects for our partners. We hope for delight when our approach to solving someone’s design problem is beyond their expectations. The solution has to tell the best parts of their story. It has to be genuine, creating something better than it was supposed to be made!
KENNEDY ART CENTER &
MARION DESIGN CO. GRAND OPENING
MAY 5, 2023
5:00 TO 8:00 PM
326 SOUTH WASHINGTON ST.
MARION, IN 46952
One of our greatest joys is utilizing design to tell the story of people in our community who are working together to do good things! We recently completed a brand identity for three Grant County Chambers who came together and agreed to work together as one organization rather than three separate entities. The Marion, Gas City, and Upland Chamber Directors, Kylie Jackson, Liz Adams, and Dianne Hovermale and their board members came together to agree on a unified new name, Greater Grant County.
From their vision, our hope was to create a brand that reflected their mission to be a catalyst for business growth, convener of leaders & influencers, and a champion for a stronger Grant County. Through the divergent and convergent research, synthesis, and ideation process we narrowed our concepts to present to the team of directors. After consulting their boards and reviewing their vision, they finalized their preference to reveal the final logo and brand guidelines.
Our proposal began with a question and concluded with a declaration of celebration. What does it mean to propel growth? To be a catalyst? To accelerate? Greater Grant County is the one stop shop that helps push people, community, businesses, and the economic growth from the ground up. Through an arrow that comes from the “G” it makes the corners of our square county expand and grow. What emerges is greater than what it was before. Ultimately celebrating the people of Grant County - we emerge connected, raising a rallying cheer, “Go Greater Grant!”
Ongoing relationships built on trust and vision are fundamental to our mission as a community based design studio. Layla was one of our first connections as we launched our work in downtown Marion. She advocated for us to the County Commissioners so we could work from the old Salin Bank on the corner of 3rd and Washington. This became our studio home for the first three years of our work. She continues to partner with us as we pursue revitalization of downtown Marion and work with clients to elevate the quality of design emerging from organizations and businesses.
AUDRA FRIEDEN
Magnolia Graphic Designer
Audra Frieden is a Colorado native with a passion for skateboarding, running (competed on the IWU women’s track team) and design that inspires. As a placemaking and graphic design intern at Marion Design Co. in the summer of 2021, she states that one of the most valuable things she learned from her time in Marion is how much presence changes perception. Before moving to Indiana, the narrative she would hear about the city of Marion were predominately negative. However, the more she became immersed in the city and community through her time at MDCO, her love for the city grew. Working with the MDCO team each day to stand shoulder to shoulder with other community members who were invested in the city inspired her and excited her to learn how much opportunity Marion really had to offer. Her time at Marion Design Co instilled a deep passion for human centered design, pushing her to always think about the core needs she’s trying to address and empathize with the people she’s designing for.
One of the projects she enjoyed the most was creating a set of postcards with illustrations of the city of Marion for the Christmas in July event. “I loved it because it felt like a tangible way to celebrate a place that is full of wonderful people & opportunities. I wanted to create something that inspired people to develop a deeper connection and new appreciation for their city,” says Audra. Her postcards are still available in shops around the city.
Audra is currently a graphic design intern at Magnolia in Waco, TX, where she’s designing for retail marketing and guest experience. She’s always been inspired by the design and content from their magazine, Magnolia Journal, so after graduating with her BFA in Visual Communication Design, she applied for Magnolia's internship program and was able to get connected to the creative team.
She’s currently finding inspiration from staying connected with friends in the creative world (many of whom are from her MDCO cohort!), observing historic architecture in the cities she’s spent time in over the last year and getting involved in community-based organizations in Waco such as Mission Waco.
Wendy Puffer, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer
I have a love/hate relationship with imposter syndrome. My efforts to blend in with the crowd have often left me with the exact feelings I opposed. I recall hanging out with the smart kids in high school, carefully veiled by their reputation with my secret stash of average grades. I was an imposter of my own doing.
Now, as one who’s raised teens, I’ve embraced the imposter syndrome of risk. For me, the feeling has become a signifier that tells me I’m sitting on the right side of risk. I’ve shifted the title from identifying my need for approval of outside sources to embracing an innate intuition to meet people’s needs. In order to keep my intuition in check, I’ve discovered key disciplines critical to growth so I have the courage to shout a risky “yes" to the right things.
Top on my list of courage builders is reading. I read something everyday. Each morning, always with a cup off coffee in hand, my reading begins with the most effective text of courage, the Bible. From stories to anecdotes, it sets me on track for how to approach the day.
The reading I do throughout the day comes from diverse resources in order to leverage various blocks of time to take in inspiration or key insights for my latest interests. Thanks to technology I’m able to read in the dark, while exercising, in the car while driving, during work, or resting on my sofa. Currently I’m reading Hangry: A Startup Journey (written by the founder of Grub Hub), To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink, Good to Great by Jim Collins, Maps of the World according to Illustrators and Storytellers, Atlas of Cities by Paul Knox, An Incomplete and Subjective List of Terms and Topics Related to Art and Social Practice, Art is Life by Jerry Saltz, and The Gift of Failure by Ari Rategegar. I just finished Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Auner, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff, Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, and To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue.
The voices in these books include messages I agree with - don’t agree with, theories I resonate with - have no experience with, world views familiar - unfamiliar, and words that I embrace - or resist. I’m ready to continue teetering on the edge of risk. It’s where I belong and, I’m discovering from my reading, where many others choose to live.
