Novum Magazine

The November issue of Novum, a German design publication, has a really nice article on Planet. But it’s the cover that caught our eye:

Here’s how they did it:

Planet + People + Furniture

When checking out a company, for whatever reason, I start by getting a sense of what they stand for. Whether I’m researching a potential client, peeping the competition, or considering a new credit union, how a group thinks is just as important to me as what they do.

But I like seeing a place too: the rooms beyond the lobby, the people behind the PR photos, the forgotten crud in their vegetable crisper drawer.

Anyway, Planeteer Lindsey had an AIGA speaking engagement recently where she was asked to provide a sense of how she thinks and where she works. She and Adam put together a video combining the two. Drew Lundberg of Often The Thinker made the music. It’s just the kind of thing I dig. So dig:

LeAnn Rimes: Lady & Gentlemen Packaging

LeAnn Rimes released her latest album, Lady & Gentlemen a couple weeks ago. The well-received project, if’n you’re not familiar, has her covering a slew of classic country from the likes of Merle, Kris, and Waylon. And again, if’n you’re not familiar, that’s a bad-ass trio right there.

It’s my favorite album of hers to date, so we’re extra proud that we designed the CD and vinyl packaging. We’ve worked with LeAnn on several projects over the last few years. She’s got a great sense of design and it’s always fun.

Mic check one. Mic check one two!

Ooh we’ve been gone for a minute! You know it’s bad when it takes you three guesses at the wordpress admin password.

At the gym, I keep my lock combination written on the insole of my workout shoe. Just in case I don’t make it in for a while. Along those same lines, I just wrote the blog password on my laptop screen with a Sharpie.

More to come…

Planet And The People On It

Madison, Wisconsin, late night, February 20th, 2011

Strange days, as of late, in the Capital City. A week and a half ago, Governor Walker proposed a budget repair bill that didn’t go over too well with some folks. Tens of thousands of protesters have been at/in the capitol ever since, with the crowd swelling to 70,000 or so on Saturday. It seems the only ones who aren’t at the capitol these days are Wisconsin’s 14 Democrat Senators. In an effort to delay the vote and allow for amendments, they’ve fled the state to avoid the reach of the state patrol that was sent to reel them in. Politics a go go!

But this post isn’t about that. This post is about this:

People.

Sure, I’ve been around people before. My parents are people, for example, as are several of my friends. And me? I’m a people watcher. I watch them and listen and later, hopefully, I get kudos for creating realistic dialogue (cuz I rip it all off!). If you’re a people watcher, Madison is the place to be right now.

Of course, any time you’re around a large group of people, it’s hard not to be moved. I’ve been at Lambeau for playoff wins. I’ve been to the World Series (of Rock! Speedwagon, baby!) I’ve been around large groups of people cheering for large things. But the scene around the capitol is fundamentally different. There are no lines between the players, the fans, and the field. They’re one and the same. And the rules of the game are being written as it’s played.

And yet. And yet: On Saturday, with 70,000 people crammed into one-square block, there were zero arrests. No violence that I saw, in any form, from either side. The pure humanity of that fact is astonishing. But still, for reasons I don’t fully understand, I’ve been on edge now for more than a week. Distracted and strangely emotional.

And so it was last night, at our annual Planet staff party, that I found myself struggling for words. Per party tradition, at some point in the evening I climb up on a chair like a doof and rattle on about the year that was and the year that’ll be. Those words, without fail, include something about what a luxury it is to choose who you get to hang out with every day. I say it every year, because I believe it every year. I’m surrounded by great people.

But last night, on that chair, the words wouldn’t come. At least not smoothly. Why not? The Contorter Porter perhaps? No, it was this: Looking around the room, I saw more than just the people of Planet. I saw the threads that connect them: to each other, to their families, to their friends. I saw, too, how those threads intertwine with others, the connections to our city, our country, our world.

From up on that chair, I saw farther than I have in a long time. I’m so thankful for the people in my life. And I’m thankful, too, for seeing that this group is dramatically larger than I ever realized. Sappy? Indeed. But there it is.

Peace in the Middle West.

john