Our office mascot, Hollywood, will eat just about anything you put in front of her. Bulldogs aren’t the pickiest eaters. Here’s proof: one day, an X-ray at the vet’s office revealed a medium-sized binder clip had lodged itself near the end of her plumbing. The vet gave me two options: using an at-home doggy enema kit, I could attempt to remove the blockage myself; or he’d keep Hollywood for the day and do it himself. As much as I love spending time with her, I think it’s pretty clear which option I chose.

The point I’m trying to make, in a somewhat convoluted way, is that little things can have a big impact. Like a company’s letterhead. Letterhead is so important that the International Journal of Visual Communication holds an annual competition to recognize the best “first impressions” from around the world. This year’s collection will be featured an annual reference called Graphis Letterhead 7, which is used by designers worldwide for inspiration and reference.

Being in Graphis is a huge deal if you’re a graphic designer, which is why I’m very proud to announce that some of the thinkbank’s own design work will be featured in next year’s volume. It’s a package we created for a consulting firm based here in Harrisburg. Without getting into the specifics of what they do, they’re the last people you’d expect to have catchy letterhead (aside from maybe the IRS), which was why it was such a welcome challenge for our art director, Nicole Gable.

It’s been a good year for the entire thinkbank design team, whether it’s award-winning letterhead for a local client or producing head-turning work for national clients like Colgate (Softsoap packaging), E. & J. Gallo Winery (packaging for a brand redesign) or W.L. Gore & Associates (CROSSTECH brand design for graphic identity).

Great. Now my mind is racing with ideas for catchy IRS letterhead. Now that’s an organization that knows a thing or two about attention to detail.