Yurich Creative in the Press

We were featured in GD USA highlighting our green practices we utilize in our firm. Usually we just do our thing without accolades because it is just part of our process, but it was nice of Gordon Kaye to recognize our sustainable practices.



Since we are tooting our own horn, we were also nominated for a national Green Plus award in the spring. Yurich Creative was up against some pretty impressive businesses. We are proud to have been nominated.

Cose, Council for Small Businesses did a case study on Yurich Creative.

Grow Fabric

Clothing Designer Suzanne Lee grows her own clothing. Watch this amazing video to see how the fabric is grown in a few weeks.

BioCouture is a research project directed by Suzanne. Her blog will keep you up-to-date on her progress.

Here are some of Suzanne's beautiful creations:

Office supplies

More office products that caught my eye, a staple-free stapler and a desktop sized dry erase board. Post-it notes be gone!

You can purchase the Stapler at Think Geek. The dry erase board can be purchased from Three by Three.

Desktop Waste Solution

BASKETBIN separates waste material. The big basket collects sorted office paper, the removable small bin holds compostable waste. And fits in a dishwasher for easy cleaning. Plus, it is nicely designed so your office will still look hip. I love when form and function meet.

Second Case Study

Arhaus Showcase Brochure

This environmentally conscious furniture store needed a concept brochure for the sales team to take throughout the country, to sell the business-to-business community on their overall store concept. This piece needed to tell the Arhaus story, be as environmental as possible, to prove they walk-the-talk, and also look creative and contemporary like their furniture. Also, it needed to be short and sweet, so the busy folks they were showing the piece to could grasp the concept in a short amount of time.

Yurich creative decided to make the piece slender (environmental and contemporary in approach). One of the materials the store uses for a table top is copper and reclaimed wood. We decided to use a metal and twigs to close the brochure as a method to communicate the materials Arhaus uses. We found Copper was too soft and hard to source so we used brass. The twigs are just found twigs. The paper is 100% post consumer.


Here are the stats:
• Smaller size means less paper used
• Paper had 100% post consumer waste
• Less paper used saves energy in shipping
• More white space in the design means less ink used
• Piece was printed at Great Lakes Integrated FSC certified
• Ink has a total bio-based, renewable raw material of 45%
• 29% of it vegetable base
• Printers were local, paper was manufactured in New York State
• Envelope uses no printing, just logo embossed

This piece continues to wow our clients and potential clients. One thing that helps in its wow factor, is the great job our writer Jimbo did on the copy. The partial success of the brochure was that he nailed the copy for the demographic. When designing green, thinking of the "whole system", design, copy, printing, shipping, recyclability... the list goes on, is essential, so not only is in itself green, but it is used by the consumer in a successful manner. In a graphic designers world that means it is communicated effectively. In an industrial design world it is form and function.

Case Studies for a UK Magazine

We were asked to submit a couple case studies for a UK magazine, so we decided to include them on our blog.


SFC Portfolio (created instead of a binder)
In the original design request, the client asked for a three ring binder with dividers and inserts. This was for a new community so the only visual was this portfolio and the website. Knowing the environmental impacts of a binder (not recyclable, mixed use materials, vinyl which had toxins) we really wanted to talk the client out of a binder and into a greener solution. We came up with the "envelope" idea, which could still have the dividers, but utilize paper. The only non environmental piece is the attached Velcro for closure. Yurich Creative felt it was not necessary. We felt either a die slit or nothing at all was sufficient but compromise is sometimes necessary.




Here are the environmental stats:

• 30% post consumer recycled content
• Portfolio was printed at Great Lakes Integrated FSC certified
• Ink has a total bio-based, renewable raw material of 45%
• 29% of it vegetable base
• Printer was local, paper was manufactured in Ohio
• Some of the interior pages were printed B&W double sided on a toner based printer on an as needed basis
• Items that were general were in larger quantities, specific data was smaller quantities (because of changes) and digital printed

In the end it was a great success, for one reason because the consumers kept the portfolios and brought them back for holding items as their house was being built. Longer life and use is always a better idea in our disposable graphic design world. But at the end of its life cycle this portfolio can be recycled, except for the velcro dot.

Cheap Winterizing

So, maybe I am a bit late with this post, but I am sure Feb. and March will still be pretty darn cold. A friend of mine on Facebook posted this this morning: "Woke this morning to find living room 58F on the thermostat and furnace not working. Sent Hubby to check and he figured out the kids flipped the "off" switch on side of furnace. It was completely off from 8pm until 7am and we only lost 8 degrees overnight in the middle of winter." That is good insulation!

Then I found this on Treehugger and thought I would share with you all the cheap ways to winterize your home.

QUICK RUN DOWN ON WHAT IS ON THE LIST
1. Lower water heater temperature (check to see what's safe)
2. Install a programmable thermostat
3. Stop the air leaks
4. Insulate your water heater
5. Insulate your attic
6. Install efficient showerheads
7. Winterize your windows
8. Install faucet aerators

Think of the lower energy bills!