As most of you know, Element took a dramatic change of direction about six months ago, transitioning from a traditional brick-and-mortar agency with full-time employees sitting at desks to a consultancy consisting of me and whichever talented professionals I needed to complete the job at hand.

And there have been a few jobs -- I've just completed a rebranding, remessaging and relaunch of a web site for a New York City-based theater company, and have provided messaging and positioning for a local artisanal food company who shall remain nameless until the product launches.

But the vast majority of my time has been dedicated to running Asia's Hope, the non-profit organization I co-founded in 2001. Asia's Hope is dedicated to providing homes, jobs and hope for children in Cambodia and Thailand who are at high risk of sexual and economic exploitation. We currently operate 16 orphan homes, a school and a wide array of micro-enterprise and vocational training programs.

Yesterday I visited with Jim Davis-Hicks, a local photographer who founded a fantastic organization called Thirst Relief. I was inspired and challenged by his success in raising support for his clean water projects not just from churches and foundations, but from his professional colleagues. In fact, Jim told me that 70% of his funding comes from other photographers!

For years, I was so focused on competing with other designers, marketers and communications professionals, that I never tried to involve them in the work of Asia's Hope. My conversations with Jim and others have sparked a desire to reach out to my colleagues and invite them to participate not just financially, but creatively in this great adventure that has transformed my life, and has saved hundreds of precious children from the horrors of sex slavery and human trafficking.

So no, I don't have any specific plan or proposal. Not yet, at least. But I'm hoping that by the time I return from my summer trip to Cambodia and Thailand I'll have an idea of how we as a community of professionals can engage suffering and unleash hope -- together.

In the meantime, I'd like to invite you to follow me and my family online as we head to Southeast Asia from June 6 to August 13. I'll be blogging regularly on the Asia's Hope Director's blog. I promise lots photos and stories of the incredible kids and staff living at our orphan homes.

I'd also like to ask you to spread the word. I believe that something great is about to happen in the creative community. I believe that a great adventure lies ahead, and I hope that you'll consider joining me.

Peace,

John McCollum

Beyond the work itself, Element was known for its unique, people-centered professional environment. We had unlimited vacation days, four day work weeks, cocktails upon request and weekly breakfasts cooked together and enjoyed with coffee roasted on-site.

Life was truly good at Element. A better -- more complex -- life, however, was calling.

It started slowly. On something of a lark, I took a trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2001. That trip changed my perspective, and would ultimately change the course of my personal and professional life. Later that year, I co-founded an non-profit organization called Asia's Hope. My original goal was to "do the charity thing" on the side, and keep Element as my top priority.

Fast forward a few years and a completely different picture emerges: Asia's Hope is growing like crazy -- 16 orphan homes, 500 kids and 90 staff in Cambodia and Thailand -- and I'm the only person in the States working full-time for the organization. By Fall of 2009, it was clear to me that I could not successfully run both Asia's Hope and Element -- at least not without making some significant changes.

So, on October 25, 2009 I informed the Element staff -- and all of my clients and vendors -- that the agency would be closing. I shut off the phones, sold the equipment and began my new life as Executive Director of Asia's Hope. 

Now, the tables have turned: the majority of my time and effort is focused on providing homes for orphaned kids in Cambodia and Thailand at high risk of sexual and economic exploitation. I have, however, retained the Element brand, and as Element will continue to provide strategic and creative consulting services -- albeit on a very selective basis. 

If you're interested in working with a seasoned communications professional who has recently signed a new lease on life, contact me john@elementville.com or 614.859.9221.

Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design

Element's work for Columbus Brewing Company is prominently featured in this new must-have book by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez Palacio. It's getting rave reviews on Amazon and is sure to become a classic on every designer's book shelf. We enter our work for submission into many of the Rockport books but this project was especially cool because Bryony Gomez Palacio contacted us directly to request that we submit the CBC work for this book. It's an honor to be recognized in such an awesome compilation of work and among such a distinguished roster of great design firms.

Go buy yourself a copy or two.

Well, here she is. After countless hours in the basement workshop, the photo booth is fully functional. It has already successfully captured two events with some amazing results. Inside that simple plywood box is a conglomeration of scrap parts that were never intended to work together. There is an old brass sconce (with paint still on it where the previous owner carelessly painted the wall around it) and old black and white portable tv set, several odd parts from deceased Apple computers, metal garage door hardware, galvanized sheet metal from some old duct work, and lots of love. All of which was either pulled out of someone's trash, found at the Habitat for Humanity, ReStore Center, or picked up at the local thrift store. At the heart of this contraption is a Ricoh GR II Digital Camera.

How does it work? well, the booth sits atop an adjustable tripod stand. When you walk in front of it, you can see your happy face smiling back through a 5 inch black and white TV monitor. When you're good and ready, you reach up, push the button--the camera focuses and fires. Behind the white panel on the front is a glowing 75 watt bulb and a 40 watt-second flash. After the shot is taken the image stays on the screen for a few seconds so you admire your photo. It also has built-in wireless capability which sends the photos over a network to a laptop, that, when hooked up to a projector, will present a side show on the wall, automatically updating as photos are taken throughout the evening.

The next scheduled event is coming up in November for CSCA's Creative Best at the Arena Grand Theatre. Be sure to stop by and say "Cheese" to my photo booth while you're there.

It feels like Christmas here at Element this morning.

I am the lucky recipient of a 1987 Macintosh SE.  Talk about productivity in the work place!  This baby has dual floppy drives, 4 MB of RAM, and a sleek portable design with a nifty plastic handle.  I'm still trying to find the right rolling suitcase so I can take my sweet portable desktop down the street to Caribou.

Thanks for making me feel at home Element. 

Element joins forces with local art and design organizations CSCA and Wild Goose Creative to bring you Columbus' first unofficial SketchCrawl.

What is a SketchCrawl you might ask? Think all-day pub-crawl with less booze and regret the next morning and add group drawing and great food. Sketchcrawl is a self-guided tour of Columbus down-town landmarks where you meet other local artists with the same passion for drawing.

Grab a backpack, add your favorite art supplies and make new friends as we walk/bicycle downtown and draw the city. Locations will include North Market, The Statehouse, The Santa Maria and Goodale Park.

Free event, fun for all ages.

For more a map and schedule, click here.

To get a better idea of what to expect check out the links for SketchCrawl and Urban Sketchers.

1. from consumers to people: Consumers buy, people live.

2. from product to experience: Products fulfill needs, experiences fulfill desires.

3. from honesty to trust: Honesty is expected. Trust is engaging and intimate.

4. from quality to preference: Quality for the right price is a given today. Preference creates the sale.

5. from notoriety to aspiration: Being known does not mean that you are also loved!

6. from identity to personality: Identity is recognition. Personality is about character and charisma.

7. from function to feel: The functionality of a product is about practical or superficial qualities only. Sensorial design is about experiences.

8. from ubiquity to presence: Ubiquity is seen. Emotional presence is felt.

9. from communication to dialogue: Communication is telling. Dialogue is sharing.

10. from service to relationship: Service is selling. Relationship is acknowledgment.

Don't get us wrong. We completely like and appreciate "cool and restrained." And at some level, we'd love to set your company's name in gray Helvetica Neue Ultra Thin and charge you 50 grand for the privilege (Okay. I kid. No one really does that, do they?) and call it a brand.

We've just never found clients gullible trusting enough to let us do that. And, frankly, we'd hate ourselves the next morning.

While there's certainly something to the maxim "Less is more," it often translates into less effort, less emotion, less connection. In which case, "Less is just less."

This is probably why we don't get a lot of work from uber-chic, exclusive-for-the-sake-of-being-exclusive, "you should feel privileged and a little intimidated to buy and use our product" types of companies. And that's okay.

Okay. It's not Helvetica Neue Ultra Light. But it's just as pretentious, no?

We're passionate people. We laugh, we scream, we cry, we even dance (some of us better than others). We don't divest ourselves of our personality or our passion when we sit down to work on a project. We think it matters, and we hope it shows.

You know the stereotype. Art students. Graphic designers. All-black wardrobe with accessories, personality and a portfolio to match. Cynical. Terrified of serifs.

At Element, we're not afraid of color, of joy, of laughter, or of serifs. We're very serious about our work, but we don't take ourselves too seriously.

Our people are all really interesting, and have amazing life experiences and personal idiosyncracies, and we're all encouraged to bring our emotions -- not just our intellect -- to the office and to every project. As a result, we tend to attract clients who appreciate our approach and our vibe.

So, when you step back and look at, say, a year's worth of Element work, you'll notice it's not just excellent, it's exciting. It doesn't just inform, it inspires. And while we hate to think we have a "house style," it's hard to deny that we have a certain approach that affects our all of our work. And we think it's good.