JOIE DE VIVRE: IN NOLA AT THE HH WHITNEY

In our ongoing quest to support all things local, here's Nola's own HH Whitney House. There's an art to the kind of hospitality practiced at the B&B—an ability to anticipate not only what guests need, but what would make their time in town extraordinary. Glen and Randy's investment in their family—biological, adopted, and guest—and their ongoing warmth makes this my sweet home away from home. 

We wanted to get at the warm, familial nature of a stay at the HH Whitney, so we had little Randi give us a tour. Welcoming me at the door, she launched into an introduction of the solarium. Gorgeous, I said. It's your room! she replied happily. I traipsed around her claw-footed, tropical gardened, Italianate surrounds as she showed me around the place with the polished grace of a petite princess. 

FUEL FOR FIRE: IN SAN FRANCISCO WITH POET KEITH EKISS

Keith Ekiss was a Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford from 2005–7. His poems and translations have appeared in Gulf Coast, Harvard Review, New England Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, and elsewhere. His creative non-fiction has been anthologized in Permanent Vacation: Living and Working in Our National Parks. He is the translator of Eunice Odio's The Fire's Journey (Tavern Books, 2012).

Photographing writers is very interesting work. So often they are more comfortable represented by words. Images, not so much. We worked with Keith in his handsome live/work environment, the San Francisco apartment where he does the bulk of his writing. The generative space was lent a visual sense of his voice to the photographs.

WORKING WITH PEDAL LOVE: ADVOCATING FOR CYCLISTS OF ALL STRIPES

Pedal Love gathers the stories of inspired cyclists and helps cycling advocates around the country to do the same. All with the hope of encouraging people to get out there and pedal—in whatever way they can—for the love.

One of Pedal Love's primary concerns is creating a welcoming cycling environment. If you love long road rides, great! If you commute in all kinds of weather, fantastic! If you just got on a bike for the first time in a decade, also wonderful! We took this not-just-a-spandex-sport view of cycling seriously for our collaboration and worked with mothers dedicated to living car-free, tricyclists commuting to work, and elite internationally ranked athletes alike. 

Along the way we heard great stories of how a love of pedaling is reshaping the lives of men and women all over California. The stories proved so exciting that they ended up in the pages of Momentum Magazine and are slated for a few travel magazines this summer.

THE FLEA: TINY NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE

Bespoke coffee, slow and excellent, served in a cafe tucked into the facade of the neighborhood's beloved, deco theater, The Art.

Communicating the café's warmth and neighborhood feel, in combination with the coffee's excellent craftsmanship.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN ON THE THIRD COAST

Northwestern University draws talented scholars to rethink human interaction with the built and natural worlds. Their solutions to everyday usage problems populate the fields of medicine, transportation, food, and international aid. 

Given the way they externalize their brainstorming process in order to facilitate collaboration, we determined to split coverage between visual brainstorm process and a fresh portrait style that underscored the uniqueness of the team's individuals. 

VLKRE: IMPROVING UX WITH LOCAL APP DEVELOPERS

VLKRE focuses on creating beautiful, engaging experiences for large scale platform distributions. Prioritizing design, interaction, and user experience, they build apps for a variety of clients in travel, tech, and entertainment.

Externalizing a creative cycle that mostly takes place in small, computer-focused design processes can prove difficult. We worked with VLKRE to delve into the creative cycle, utilizing the kinetic and infographic roots of the innovation they harness when working on behalf of their clients.

WORKING WITH WELL HOUSE: EMPOWERING HOUSING INITIATIVE

Well House provides safe, affordable housing to homeless folk in Grand Rapids without requiring treatment or sobriety as a precondition.

Residents are resourced with treatment options for their recovery and integration into the community, which also cultivates tenant interests in urban farming, construction skills, and art.

Reflecting WH's respectful, individualized emphasis was imperative. Images underscore the tenants' love of music, their strength, style, personality, and autonomy—a unique mix of features for a communal housing project.