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In late October, Associate Creative Director John Siddle and Managing Director Erica Danford traveled with long-time collaborator Bruce Gibbs to Europe for a whirlwind, four-country, five-stop tour. They were there to capture video and still imagery for TOMRA, the world leader in collection and sorting solutions—a company completely focused on transforming how the world obtains, uses, and reuses its resources. JDK has been partnering with the Norwegian-based brand since early 2011, when we were engaged to work on brand strategy, including both internal and customer research. Throughout the summer we developed TOMRA's new strategic creative platform and are now concentrating on bringing the story to life through video and print.

The shoot included visits to all five of the facilities that house TOMRA's business streams: reverse vending, compaction, recycling, mining, and food. Siddle, Danford, and Gibbs had the chance to meet with the people behind the brand and witness first-hand the impact of TOMRA's remarkable sensor-based technology. While they never saw daylight the entire time they were in Norway, they did have the opportunity to eat horse charcuterie and drink plenty of amazing coffee.

JDK recently partnered with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) on a rebranding process that focused on providing a more inviting patient experience and a reenergized marketing platform. Through research, strategic brand analysis, and a revitalized visual vocabulary, JDK helped PPNNE begin to reconnect with today’s patient and improve brand perception and experience.

On December 10, 2011, Burlington, VT’s PPNNE branch invited friends, colleagues, local politicians, and donors to the grand opening of its new health center. The energy and excitement was palpable, and the space projected the brand's new look and feel with simplicity and impact.

Valerie Vass, PPNNE's Director of Marketing and Communication, and the project lead said, "We loved that JDK combined meticulous research with unbridled creativity. They got to know us and then exploded our creative barriers, while remaining completely focused on our culture and business needs. JDK was uncompromising in their attention to detail but, most important, they were FUN! They helped us usher in a period of transition and delivered cheeky, bold designs that our company culture and patients enthusiastically embraced."

PPNNE's Burlington's health center is one of many across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine that has undergone, or will soon be undergoing, an environmental refresh based on the new PPNNE brand look and feel.

Client: Planned Parenthood

JDK’s close collaboration with Terry Bicycles has led to recent successes for the “Original Women’s Bicycling Company.”

Terry—a pioneer in women’s cycling equipment and apparel—unveiled its Spring 2012 apparel collection at Interbike in September and the response from retailers was, and continues to be, overwhelmingly positive. Terry’s new Cadence dress was featured in Momentum magazine's Interbike Trends Guide and was featured in the City Style fashion show at Interbike.

JDK provided trend and color forecasting, developed print and pattern design and application, and led all merchandising for the new line, basing the design work on the idea of “new European heritage”—honoring cycling heritage and nostalgia, and reinterpreting those roots in new and contemporary ways.

JDK is proud to support Terry Bicycles, a committed partner in the Modern Mobility Movement.

Last year, JDK NYC Creative Director David Covell spent a week with longtime JDK partner DY Works, a Mumbai, India, brand design firm. As part of this ongoing cultural collaboration, DY Works sent Associate Creative Director Dharam Ullagaddi to JDK for three weeks starting October 24, 2011. He worked primarily out of JDK’s NYC office.

Dharam grew up in rural India. He was born in a village with only intermittent electricity and went to a primary school that required him to walk three miles one way every day. He studied visual arts in college, learned the business side of advertising at Leo Burnett and other firms, and then found his calling at DY Works concentrating on pure design.

JDK has had a ten-year affiliation with DY Works (http://dmabranding.com/) and its related entities, a partnership that has promoted a productive and creative exchange between the two companies (and countries). This cultural collaboration has positively affected the two firms’ client work, while offering an opportunity for creative staff in each company to broaden their horizons and expand their worldview—achieving the global perspective that is critical to branding in today's world.

JDK partnered with Black Diamond to design new graphics for its 2011 Power Series skis. Black Diamond’s reputation for excellence is well-known; with JDK’s help, their skis are being noticed as much for their looks as for their quality craftsmanship and performance. The editors at Outside magazine heaped on the praise and put the new Verdict on the cover of their winter 2011/12 Buyer’s Guide. JDK Design Director Byron O’Neill drove the creative for the Power Series line and designed the Verdict graphics.

Jager Di Paola Kemp Design (JDK) is pleased announce the launch of its new website. Designed to better showcase its groundbreaking work and distinctive studio culture, the revamped JDK.com will be a dynamic gallery for projects past and present that highlight its range of multidisciplinary services, as well a frequently updated, ever-evolving destination for ideas, events, news, and blog posts.

JDK partnered with Tag New Media (TNM)—an interactive communications firm headquartered in Burlington, Vermont—on this overhaul, which not only included a redesign of the website, but also a next-level upgrade to JDK’s mobile site, JDK.com/mobile. Whether you’re at your desk or on the go, JDK will now communicate its progressive design mission more clearly and effectively than ever—for clients, prospective clients, industry leaders, and fans.

JDK is pleased to announce that its New York City studio has a new home: the top floor of the historic E.V. Haughwout Building in the city’s vibrant SoHo neighborhood.

This beautiful new space allows us to better serve clients in the New York area and provides global focus for meetings, Collaboratories, trend research, and talent recruitment. Here, surrounded by global fashion leaders and tastemakers, our creatives will be inspired daily to push their work to new levels of progression.

JDK NYC has a staff of approximately a dozen employees, headed by Creative Director David Covell and Managing Director Tracey Taylor.

Covell, along with a team of noted young architects and consultants, led the design of the new space in this Venetian-inspired 1857 structure. The Haughwout Building has long been affiliated with innovation—it featured the world’s first passenger elevator and once was home to a internationally famous emporium whose clients included the Lincoln family and other world leaders.

In a world where people are encouraged to keep their feet—and their minds—planted firmly on the ground, "Thought Bombers" seeks to inspire, inform, and provoke on a much higher level through a symbol of innocence and freedom—the kite. This exploration in the atmospheric and aesthetic seeks to unlock and inspire unbounded creativity and collaboration in its artists and audience alike.

Trying to come up with unifying concept for the show was an interesting process. The idea of repurposing an object, turning something meant for one thing into a blank canvas for expression is near and dear to the creative culture's heart, but for this show, rather than go down the well-trod paths of another skateboard or snowboard show, the group sought inspiration from much farther above.

Kites! Amazing, accessible, approachable. Dynamic canvases that convey ideas in flight as well as standing still. A wide variety of forms and sizes, each offering inspiring opportunities for creativity and expression. The twin goals of the show: to unleash an interesting/important/profound/ odd/amazing idea into the air for all to see, and to do it beautifully at the same time.

The group of artists is comprised of current and former JDK designers and creatives who were each challenged with coming up with an idea or message that deserved to be sent skyward. From personal opinions and memories to issues of global importance, the group's thoughts span a wide range, manifesting themselves in ways both obvious and open-to-interpretation.

On the form and materials end, the artists were given the freedom to focus their efforts around any type of kite form they wanted. This has allowed for a tremendous degree of variety, from the 2D diamond and triangle kites through box kites, sock and stunt kites, all the way to recognizable but abstract sculptural expression, with a similarly varied range of materials on display as well.

When his home country was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March, JDK Design Director Marin Horikawa knew that he had to do something, even from faraway Burlington, Vt. Although a natural disaster of this magnitude can feel overwhelming, Marin believed that "art, and people willing to extend a hand, can help."

Marin and his wife, JDK Account Manager Nelia Horikawa, created Art Helps Japan, a live and online auction to benefit the Japanese Red Cross. Local, national, and international artists—such as Chuck Anderson, Skye Chalmers, Terje Haakonsen, Cody Hudson, Scott Lenhardt, and Tyler Stout, to name only a few—immediately donated work to the cause. Others at JDK and around the community stepped up as well, tackling everything from designing the auction website (arthelpsjapan.com) and hanging the art to distributing flyers and getting the word out.

With help from sponsors JDK Design, Iskra Print Collective, Burlington Bay Catering, Cabot, Driven Studio, Ben & Jerry’s, Burton Snowboards, and OKAY!! OKAY!!, and led by auctioneers Charlie Barsalow and Mark Waterhouse, the live auction was held Friday, June 24, from 8 to 9 pm, in JDK's Maglianero cafe and community space. The online auction ran from June 8 to June 25.

Art Helps Japan raised nearly $8,000, all of which will go directly to the Japanese Red Cross to help with earthquake/tsunami relief efforts. While disasters may be local, caring knows no boundaries, and help comes from all over the world.

Jager Di Paola Kemp Design (JDK) officially launched the Modern Mobility Movement with the opening of its Maglianero Cafe on May 27. The cafe is located at JDK's headquarters at 47 Maple St. in Burlington.

Michael Jager, JDK Chief Creative Officer and founder of Maglianero, describes the cafe as a "farm-direct, handcrafted" coffee house, a commuter cycling hub, and a community gathering space. Maglianero also offers a line of cycling apparel designed with the year-round commuter cyclist in mind.

Coffees and teas are provided by Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea (vtartisancoffee.com) of Waterbury, Vt a leading specialty company known for its high-quality products. Vermont Artisan's coffees and teas are sourced ethically, often through direct relationships with small growers. Owner Mane Alves travels the world to find the best products available, and has played a key role in developing a unique coffee experience for the Maglianero Cafe.

Michael and his design team have created the Modern Mobility Movement around the trend toward alternative forms of transportation that seek to mitigate the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels, fight high gasoline prices, and provide healthful exercise all at the same time.

Michael noted, "Burlington is one of the leading cities in the country in being a center of cycling and environmental consciousness. It is the perfect place to launch the Modern Mobility Movement and the Maglianero Cafe and the apparel brand. We are hoping this catches on in other similarly progressive cities."

The Maglianero Cafe will be open Monday through Thursday, 7-4; Friday, 7-7; and Saturday and Sunday, 8-7. It will serve a variety of handcrafted, sustainably sourced, farm-direct coffees and teas, along with fresh pastries. It will offer a bike wash, commuter shower facilities, and a cycle-repair area. Maglianero's manager is well-known barista Jesse Bladyka.

Inspired by the Burlington, Vermont, creative community, JDK Design, Spike Advertising, and Champlain College recently founded the Native Creative Consortium, a collection of community opinion leaders in the creative industry—communication, advertising, design, interactive media, and aligned services. JDK Creative Director Michael Jager explains the impetus for creating the consortium: "If we allow our energies and ideas to be open and integrated, we can design the creative future we all want to share, like an ecosystem—supporting each other and nurturing a very unique and creative culture that attracts clients, design buyers, and amazing new talent, from the USA and from around the world." Native Creative Consortium participants included Issa Sawabini from Fuse Marketing; Seth Neary from Driven Studio; Chris Thompson from Burlington City Arts; Pat Sears from Spike Advertising; Eric Petersen, Sascha Mayer, and Cris DaBica from JDK; and Rick Machanic from Tag New Media. The consortium continues to build momentum and is now focusing on projects and purposed actions. News of events and creative explorations will be announced soon.

Black Diamond has a reputation in the mountaineering industry for exacting the highest standards of quality within its products. This level of expectations was a point of pride for designers at JDK when BD chose to partner with us on new ski graphics which can be seen gracing the walls of high end ski shops and under the boots of driven mountain athletes everywhere.

When a fire broke out early in the morning of January 12, the heart of Pete's Greens, their barn, was a total loss. Fortunately, the certified organic farm had a lot of fans. Burlington-based Driven Studio, longtime friend of Pete’s Greens, immediately put together a benefit art show and auction to help the beleaguered farm. JDK offered the use of its JDK Gallery space to host the event. Artists from Burlington and around Vermont, including JDK's Allison Ross, Byron O'Neil, and Marin Horikawa, were featured in the show, which helped transform a disaster into a celebration of the organic, the local, and the community based.

Merrell's barefoot line is poised to sell record numbers as the spring season unfolds. JDK and Merrell partnered on design and creation of the new shoe offerings which are now poised to sell a million pairs in their first push into the market.