Happy Holidays Wallpaper from DK Design Studio

Happy Holidays.

Click to download.

Happy Thanksgiving Wallpaper from DK Design Studio

Here’s our Thanksgiving Wallpaper for 2009. Click to download. Enjoy.

DK Design Studio Featured on “This Ain’t No Disco”

Our Oakland studio was featured on the “This Ain’t No Disco” website yesterday.

How fun!

eco stucco™ Website by DK Design Studio

eco stucco is a range of lime plasters designed to provide healthy, functional, and sustainable mineral finishes for walls, facades, and ceilings in the form of artistically handtrowel artisan plasters.

A sustainable alternative to cement plaster, acrylic plaster, and other high embodied CO2 coating products, eco stucco cures and hardens naturally by carbonation and without exhalation of toxic, hazardous gases. During the curing process, the lime (calcium hydroxide) slowly absorbs the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases its water content.

The process results in a mineral crust made exclusively of calcium carbonate – the chemical structure of limestone – derived from the presence of sand and the carbonation of lime.

We recently finished up their website design and programming.

The site is a WordPress CMS system that allows the user to make changes to text and photos without knowing any code.

One particularly interesting feature on the site is the Color & Texture page. We developed a program that allows the user to see the results available with their 216 colors and 7 textures. If you click on a texture and a color you get a representation of what it would look like once applied to a surface.

We had a lot of fun designing this site and working with eco stucco. They are based in Sausalito and have a great product and philosophy.

DK Design Studio Featured in Big Book of Green Design [Harper Collins]

Being environmentally conscious is no longer trendy or unique. It’s expected. A growing number of today’s companies are requiring their creative firms to develop and incorporate more eco-friendly packaging and printed materials. These clients are turning to their ad agencies and designers and asking for solutions.

The Big Book of Green Design, the first book on sustainable design focused exclusively on the graphic design and advertising communities, is also the first book to showcase real world green solutions from small to medium sized firms.

It explores the specific techniques and methods that graphic designers are employing worldwide to make their business a more earth-friendly one. When paying clients need a more environmentally conscious image, they turn to their ad agencies and in-house designers for cost-effective solutions. The results are often surprising, innovative and new, and The Big Book of Green Design features over 200 examples of these earth-friendly designs.

Our Alameda County Sustainability Identity will be featured in the book to be released in November.

Dissecting the Gyre

Great graphic from Good Magazine that breaks down the plastic gyre in the pacific ocean.

How you can reduce the growth of the plastic gyre:

• STOP using plastic bags. No more plastic bags from the grocery store. No more products packaged in plastic bags. No more zip locks. Reuse the ones you have. I haven’t bought zip locks in 2 years and still have a drawer FULL.

• Recycle ALL plastics you do use. Remember, plastic bags can NOT BE RECYCLED.

• Pick up plastic trash when you see it. The plastic bag on the side of the road will end up in our waterways. Pick it up.

• Tell everyone you know to stop using plastic bags. It’s toxic.

• Carry a bag with you at all times. Put one in your car, put a small one in your purse or backpack or bike bag. Never ever be in a situation that requires you taking a plastic bag. Fast food companies are a big problem. Give them a bag to put your food in.

West Coast Green, October 1-3, San Francisco

West Coast Green is coming up October 1-3 in San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center. It’s a great opportunity to see the future of green build and get familiar with the products and services that will be an integral part of our landscape in the years to come.

A few of our clients have booths.

Check out ecostucco @ booth 477. We’re just finishing up their website. They offer interior, exterior, healthy, durable, and elegant lime plaster wall treatments.

K-tect Sustainable Building Systems @ booth 309. Light gage structural steel systems which integrate insulation and eliminate thermal bridging. DK Design has been helping them with marketing collateral and developing a consistent style for their outreach efforts.

Greener Printer @ booth 4.
Highest quality and most affordable eco-printing in the Bay Area.

Greener World Media@ booth 28.
Greener World Media is the business voice of the green economy.

Here’s a link to the West Coast Green site.

Marvin Deal Identity System by DK Design

A home is more than just the house where we reside. It is where we are inspired, where we recharge, where we escape from the hectic demands of work, where we live, play and love.

No one understands this better than Marvin Deal of Marvin Deal Construction.

Marvin has a true artisan approach to fine home building and remodeling using natural and reclaimed materials for their beauty and to respect the environment. His philosophy is that a home should be both functional in layout and design and equally beautiful in every detail no matter how small.

DK Design Studio approached his identity in much the same way that Marvin approaches his projects. After a thorough discovery phase we decided to focus on his attention to detail, his modern and classic style, and to use natural, earth-friendly processes and materials. The full project included his identity, business system, a brochure, a direct mail postcard marketing program, and his website.

A business guide to help prevent greenwashing…in your own company.

“Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide ” was just published by BSR and Futerra Sustainability Communications. It’s a nice guide to help you understand and avoid greenwashing within your own company.

I’m not going to lie. There were a couple of items that we need to work on here at DK Design. The guide is helpful. I didn’t feel like they were pointing fingers….just pointing out areas to be aware of and work on.

Bottom line is, complete honesty is the best policy.

DK Design Solves Another Identity Crisis

[and you thought we were just designers]

If blue plus yellow makes green, then green plus green makes evergreen. Such was the case when two eco-entities, DK Design Studio, Inc. and Alameda County, came together to create an identity for Alameda County’s sustainability initiative.

The successful partnership between DK Design Studio and Alameda County is another example of how eco-minded teams can be matches made in heaven, yet rooted in the Earth.

The full project included the Logo Design, Style Guide for Logo & Template use, Fact Sheet Templates, and Auto Decals for Alameda’s eco-friendly transportation options.

If your company needs a new identity or a brand overhaul please contact DK Design Studio @ 415-944-8541 or email us at info (at) dkdesignstudio (dot) com. We also do websites, marketing plans and implementation, print, and photography.

Creative Director: Darilyn Kotzenberg
Lead Designer: Joe Wright
Copywriter: Kristin Slye
Project Manager: Hilary Crawford