whole fam damily
Spring is here and it seemed appropriate to take a fresh photo of the foerstel crew. We got everyone in this shot, although not all on the same day (thanks for the compilation and retouching Claudia), including Ralphie!
earth day every day - part 2
Yeah, yeah… we know that Earth Day was yesterday but so continues our list of things we do to make Earth Day EVERY day!
Kim & Jim recycle at home and work.
Marie buys organic milk from a local company that delivers it in returnable/reusable containers, is using 100% recycled paper and organic materials to make her own paper stationery, digs through the trash before it goes to the dumpster and removes any and all recyclable items (her family is still in training), and put cows on their newly acquired field to mow down the broadleaf foliage instead of spraying with weed and feed.
Laura pulls her weeds instead of using chemicals.
Jeff has double-flush toilets.
Debbie, Linda & Kim use reusable cloth bags when they go grocery shopping and all are organic gardeners.
Mark turns off the water when brushing his teeth, prefers to drive with the windows down instead of running the AC (same goes for his house), waters the lawn early in the morning to maximize efficiency and minimize use and recycles jokes as often as possible.
Holly grows her own vegetables, doesn’t use plastic, upcycles, downcycles and of course, recycles.
earth day every day - part 1
April 22nd may be the day recognized as the official Earth Day but we try to think of it as every day. When Foerstelians were asked what they do on a daily basis to make their world a little greener, the list was long but included:
John rides his bike as his major form of transportation year around (which is saying something when you live in Idaho).
Daryl is all about Freecycle.
Dennis, Debbie, Kim and Linda all have compost bins at home.
Tom buys, cooks and eats a 90% organic diet, and uses earth-friendly cleaners and recycled paper products at home and at the office.
Janet is creating a treasure chest of little items that normally would have been thrown away like tags and attachments that come on clothing, shoes and accessories. She plans to put these to creative use - maybe even on the art canvas she’s working on for the office.
Tom, Debbie & Linda have programmable thermostats.
Janell has planted over 45 trees on her property not to mention a wildflower garden.
Tom’s front yard is officially recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as being wildlife-friendly (he didn’t install the snazzy plaque though).
Debbie uses eco-friendly laundry products in her energy star washer and drier, has drought and bug resistant grass that cuts down on watering and eliminates the need for pesticides, and has eliminated bottled water by installing a water filtration system at her house and arming all the family members with a PBA-free water bottle.
Claudia and her 10 year old daughter, Anna, recently watched a PBS documentary on how Earth Day came about. Anna was amazed that such a massive movement could be organized without the help of emails, or facebook, or blogs. Excited, energized and inspired to do something, they decided the first step would be to limit showers to 3 minutes.
During Linda’s recent remodel she put in reclaimed doors, energy star light fixtures and windows, carpet made from recycled pop bottles, a high efficiency furnace, double flush toilet, recycled glass tiles made right here in Boise and Marmoleum.
all hail the queen
Let’s get in the way back machine with Mr. Peabody and go back to 1996….here is a conversation that you would have overheard.
Linda: Let’s get office kitties!
Tom: What? Really?
Linda: Yes, really! I will love him and hug him and feed him and call him George (I could be paraphrasing here). But we should get two so they aren’t lonely. And it will be great.
Tom (with hesitation): Uh, OK!
A little while later a sweet little grey tabby and a slightly goofy white Siamese cross kitten showed up in our office. Our office kitties had arrived. Being the animal experts that we are we named the tabby Ralph and the Siamese JoAnne (long story on the names, ask Tom sometime). Turns out Ralph is the girl and JoAnne was the boy so they were henceforth called Ralphie and Joe.
They both grew into great cats. Ralphie a little skittish and really didn’t like her brother very much. Joe was a beautiful, loving cat, but had some medical problems. Joe lived in our office for about 8 or 9 years. After a long relationship with his veterinarian they finally decided to tie the knot and she adopted him. A perfect new home for Joe.
After her plan of office domination worked and her brother was out of the picture, Ralphie basked in the glow of being the center of attention. Our move to our newest office has brought out an even more loving side to her. She welcomes some guests and spends most days sitting with John or Jeff at their desks and will steal anyone’s warm chair that goes to pick something up from the printer.
a blank canvas…literally
With all the creativity floating around here, there’s no reason for blank walls. That’s why the latest Foerstel project is to arm each employee with a 16″ x 16″ canvas and total creative freedom to execute whatever they envision. We’re pretty sure we’ll be discovering all kinds of hidden talents. Installation is slated for June 1.
carefast protein supplements
CareFast approached Foerstel to help them develop a brand identity, package design, and brand architecture for the launch their soy, whey and rice protein supplements. Their goal is to stand apart in an already-crowded category by offering a line of products that are specifically formulated to meet consumers needs. They wanted a look and feel that did not blend in with the typical bodybuilder look many of their peers employ. So we developed this modern, clean design with a natural feel. A unique selling point is that CareFast supplements come in smaller canisters – typically half of what you normally commit to when purchasing competitive products. This enables CareFast to entice new trial by offering a much lower price point. Find out more at their web site and check out the whole line below….
no pizza eater left behind
It’s hard to simultaneously be a pizza eater and a vegan. Or at least it was before our client Tofurky developed a new line of pies. They combined their great meatless sausage and pepperoni products with the new revolutionary vegan cheese (it really melts!) from Diaya. Now no pizza eater need be left behind.
And, for pepperoni toppings for your own pizza (and other) creations, see below…
why wait until may?
It might be raining and gray outside but there’s no reason to wait until May for flowers. These blossoms are brightening our reception area (and our day) now.
40 free drawing tutorials
If you enjoy drawing like I do, would like to learn how or just improve your skills, this link provides you with 40 free drawing tutorials covering a multitude of topics and styles. Ain’t the internet grand?
death by killer sandwiches…resurrection by moving day
As a creative design agency, we often try to utilize our creative minds for things other than amazing package designs and cleverly constructed websites and ads. We decided that we would design “killer sandwiches” today instead of the doing the normal run of the mill lunch options. Everyone brought in multiple sandwich building fixin’s and we had the biggest sandwich spread this office has ever seen!
After the meat and carbo overload…and a brisk walk…we played musical desks and everyone got a charge out of working off the sandwiches by moving their workspaces! It was a blast!
