A Process for Sustainability
“The National Trust provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize our communities,” www.nationaltrust.org.
The National Trust was chartered in 1949 to preserve and restore places in America that are part of our history. The Denver branch of the National Trust has worked with Anabliss for many years to create beautiful, motivating publications about historic sites in need of help.
One interesting movement the National Trust is involved in is the restoration and re-use of old barns. They came to us for help in telling the story of these icons of America’s farmlands. Many barns are torn down so that larger, less-sustainable ones can be built. New barns often use non-renewable resources and require much more power, machinery and maintenance than their ancestors. National Trust had provocative, intriguing photography of these sites, both before and after they were lovingly restored by small farmers. We used this great resource, as well as their compelling copy, to inspire the layout of the Sustainable Agriculture publication.
Integrating clean lines and elegant typography with farm-inspired textures and vintage elements, we created a publication that comfortably bridges the timeless traditions represented by the old barns and the progressive, “green” philosophy of the National Trust and the farm-owners featured.
Several interesting case studies helped to make the NTHP’s case. We set these off with texture and an interesting, western-clothing-inspired border. Later, NTHP reused this publication as a web-based PDF. We simplified the texture here to make it much easier for them to read the publication when it was being printed on a desktop black-and-white printer.
The call-to-action in the back of the book had a photorealistic postcard look. We found vintage elements such as the stamp and cancellation, and the postcard itself, to make this work. The piece really connects with farmers and those associated with them, motivating them to get involved in this exciting, cost-effective movement.
In addition, we worked with Tewell-Warren Printing, a local printer with FSC certification. This allowed us to get FSC certified paper and put the FSC logo on the back of the publication, which aligned well with the sustainable message of the whole piece.
