OUCH!

View through broken window pane of St. Francis Savior Cathedral

While cutting and installing floor molding on the second floor of the main hall, a piece of timber broke through one of the larger stained glass windows. Luckily, the broken glass was not a piece containing terrific detail as in the face of a person. As I have learned from Kelly Smith, from Cristal Vetro, Stained and Beveled Glass, a detailed piece of glass would have been very difficult to reproduce.

1. Broken Pane, 2. Pane Removed, 3. Pane Install Complete

Kelly, a glass artist located here in Green Bay, was brought in to repair the broken pane. She explained that the more detail in a given pane, the more time and talent it requires to replace it. A person’s face on a glass pane, for instance, requires painting and firing over five times to reach the level detail needed in the glasswork. That’s “panes” taking effort…pun intended!

In her effort to restore the window back to normal, she had to remove the broken piece from the glass wall. As you can see from the photograph, the accident happened on a window painted to represent a stone wall. Kelly had to match the glass, cut the shape needed, and paint the texture, then fire the glass for a match.

The piece was then installed back into the original window on the building. This was a particular challenge as Kelly could only work from one side of the window; the other side was inaccessible.

Thanks to Kelly’s vast experience and talent, the mishap is now undetectable. With the glass repaired, she offered cleaning advice for the building’s windows. For anyone who has stained-glass windows, here are the steps she recommends for properly cleaning them.

1. Using a light setting on a vacuum cleaner, carefully vacuum the panes of glass to remove any surface dust.

2. Fill a bucket with warm water adding vinegar and a mild dishwashing soap. Mix or whisk thoroughly until suds begin to build.

3. Fill a second bucket with warm water.

4. Working in tandem between the two buckets and using a separate sponge for each, apply the suds/foam to a small area of the window, dabbing it gently. Do not use water directly on the glass as it may loosen the grout that bonds the glass to the lead.

5. Using the second bucket of clear water, wet a new sponge and wipe the suds from window pane. Rinse the sponge in clean water.

6. Repeat process until the sponge used for rinsing extracts clear water when rung out.

7. Move on to a new area until entire window is completed.

Thanks Kelly for your wonderful insights and expertise!

Paul Meinke

Next up, some of the finer points of the building and the artists that helped to make them happen!

Look what else we’ve been up to at:

http://www.arketypeinc.com

A Little Green

“It’s not easy being green,” sings Kermit the Frog. And I suppose for a frog or for that matter anyone who might be different its not. But in business the truth of the matter is that with just little effort, it’s actually not hard at all. What’s more, one can get very creative while staying green.

Green doesn’t require a grand, master plan. It’s merely a conscious effort. It can be a simple mindset that new is not necessarily better; in fact in some cases, new isn’t even practical.

Take for example the coat and hat rack in our lobby. It’s made from using a cut-down church pew and a piece of the railing from the upper deck that was removed when we added onto the existing walkway. Thank you Steve Motl, Project Manager and Creative Guru!

Or another great find by principal Jim Rivett was salvaged underwater pool lights. Through creative thinking, these are now beautiful wall luminaries in our men’s and women’s washrooms, thanks to wiring by our CFO Kurt Anderson.

Of course there’s endless shelving made from the maple pews that found their way into places throughout the building.

Here and there, wood flooring was pulled up, refined, and then moved into different spaces to make like-new floor areas. In fact, most all the floors throughout the building were rescued from 100 years of layer-upon-layer of carpet and tile. They now shine brightly today.

A reconditioned bubbler from 1910 makes a great accent on the upper level, along with a vintage sink—both stood in the existing building.

There are nine existing light fixtures that we rewired, painted, and then reinstalled in areas throughout the building using warm, efficient fluorescent light bulbs.

The deck railing was another great accomplishment. In order to meet modern-day code requirements it needed to be six inches higher and have maximum space between horizontal bars no greater than four inches.

This was done by raising the existing railing up to the required height, and positioning it onto a solid bumper that was then installed with lighting, electrical, and data lines. Additional rails were sanded, painted, and added to meet safety requirements.

This significant change kept the existing railing and woodwork intact, and when completed, it looks as if nothing was changed at all. The craftsmanship is outstanding.

Wood paneling around doorways, along with the doors themselves were carefully removed. Once walls were reconditioned, paneling and doors were put back into their places or moved to new door-opening locations.

Another item in our long reduce-reuse-recycle list was the rescued washroom stall panels from 1910. They were modified for new ADA requirements, sanded and painted, and put into place. And instead of furnishing just the two lower washrooms in which they were found, we were able to furnish all four restrooms with these unique fixtures.

These are just a few of the green examples found throughout 612 Stuart Street. Being “green” in the sense of reducing and reusing material was easy and helped to maintain the authenticity of the building. All it took was a bit of ingenuity, creativity, and good old-fashion craftsmanship.

The cleaning folks come this week as we wind down the major pieces of the project. Next up, the restoration of a broken window.

Paul Meinke

Look what else we’ve been up to at:

http://www.arketypeinc.com

Texture

How many people take the time, while moving through life, to see texture as it fills the vast halls and venues of our world? You might not think you “see,” but perhaps you do.

Texture serves as our sight in the tactile world, and it’s everywhere, all around us.

From where you’re sitting right now, look around and identify all the textures you see, from your desktop to your flooring. Look up…what makes your ceiling appear the way it does? Is your pen or pencil simple and smooth, or does it support a little soft comfort wrap for your fingers? What makes up your lampshades and window covers, or your windows themselves? Are they flat, clear, colorless panes that bring the outdoors in, or textured cubes, or louvered, perhaps sporting a horizontal tactile plane?

For the lack of television entertainment, I call our 4’ x 5’ picture window up north our “Yooper” Flat Screen! It’s on 24/7, 365 days a year and is very “green,” requiring no energy. You could say it’s solar powered!

From this window, one can see a multitude of textures at any given time of day or night. In early morning light, the mist and clouds that rise from the lake give way to the texture of leafy, maple wood stands that envelop it. Blue skies that appear in the window are sometimes thick with vaporous black and white storm clouds, flashing endless canyons of light and sparked with electricity. Or they can be filled with light cotton puffs of ever-changing texture, moving effortlessly away from the bright warm glow of a setting sun.

At dusk, hundreds of winged bats pass in front of a twilight ceiling. Their rapid movement provides a visual texture quickly evolving and changing instantly from a velvety black to contrast the crisp evening light. They will yield eventually to an endless night sky dome punctured with pins of light, some small, some large.

Why is texture important? Texture plays a critical role in telling a story. Of helping to make something “stick” in the minds of an observer. It can be a map for one to follow as on a path—deliberately broken to create contrast or allowed to run freely to engage the participant to venture farther.

Texture is not only found in a hands-on world. As illustrated by the flat screen, texture can be implied visually. It is an element used in everyday life as in nature to build structure, to build identity, or in many cases in our business, to build a brand.

Our building is awash in texture. From its terrazzo and wooden floors and stained glass windows, to its halls of sand-like plaster finishes or new glass walls that allow us to see its completeness. This week they are installing carpeting in some areas, painting out the multipurpose rooms on the lower level, building more shelves, installing sinks and bubblers and light fixtures. Soon it will be “punch list time.” What started three months ago is quickly coming to a close in just a few short weeks.

Look for the finishing touches of “green” in the next blog as we look over the reuse of materials throughout 612 Stuart Street.

Paul Meinke

Look what else we’ve been up to at:

http://www.arketypeinc.com

Contemporary Thinking

Business moves at an ever-increasing rate. What drives it, other than good-old conventional competition, are today’s tools, which can be readily accessed.

I recall receiving my first overnight package in 1983. I remember thinking in amazement that in less than 12 hours, it had been somewhere else far, far away. Then along came the fax machine and computers, mobile telephones, copiers, and color printers, the BlackBerry and picture phones, text messaging and the mother lode of them all, the Internet. All these tools help propel business at an amazing speed.

Such tools however are exactly that…tools. They only work as well as the operators behind them. It’s not the computer that has the design or communication degree; it is the person sitting in front of the computer. A hard lesson learned when desktop publishing software was made available and every company president thought that the company secretary could simply begin to effortlessly publish the corporate newsletter. Aha! Not happening!

At Arketype we still require that traditional disciplines be used and practiced. For it is within these skill sets that true problem solving and critical thinking takes place. What drives this is not today’s technologies—they are only a means for fabrication and implementation. What drives critical thinking is knowledge. Being aware of the greater whole, or as we call it around here “Observant Thinking;” observation that includes ongoing education and new life experiences.

At 612 Stewart Street we will dedicate an entire room to support this concept. It’s a traditional space, one that embraces the title, Library. With over 450 linear feet of shelving, books, and information, its contents consist not only the traditional design and marketing manuscripts, but also non-conventional material as well—old and new non-related works of great interest. It’s data to stimulate the senses and remind us both of history and future.

This space will be a conduit to higher ground. A tactile place which will allow one to explore without interruption. As Franklin P. Adams once observed about libraries, “I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking something up and finding something else on the way.” That, too, is what observant thinking is all about.

Housed in the building’s bell tower, the room is graced with two linear stained-glass windows and shelves made from hundreds of feet of the church pews that nobody wanted. With chocolate brown walls that blend into the dark-stained maple shelves, it will have newly refinished hardwood floors and several cozy chairs. It will also support online access and be a showcase for some of the company’s vault of textiles and other treasures housed in storage rooms on the lower level.

Even though business still moves at a quickening pace, at Arketype, we believe one way of catching up is by first slowing down as demonstrated by our new library. It’s also the way to produce solutions that break through today’s mass media clamor with all the wisdom of a world’s experience.

Paul Meinke

Look what else we’ve been up to at:

http://www.arketypeinc.com

Colour!

Sunset view of the Mackinaw Bridge from Grand Hotel’s famous porch, Mackinaw Island Michigan.

This past October I had the opportunity to visit Mackinaw Island and stay at Grand Hotel for a wine seminar with some friends. In addition, I had the privilege of listening to a lecture and meeting Carlton Varney, president of Dorothy Draper & Co. Inc. He was hired along with architect Richard Bos by Dan and Amelia Musser, owners of Grand Hotel, in 1976 to begin to give the 90-year-old landmark a facelift.

Some highlights around Grand Hotel include the dinning room, entrance floor inset, main lobby, and the chandelier in “the room with a view, ” two story Cupola Lounge.

Carlton Varney, known for his use of vibrant color and bold pattern used in contrast with organic prints, spoke with great conviction of the importance of including color throughout space in support of the human condition. And Grand Hotel, along with many other auspicious hotels that he has influenced which people seek time away to relax, is an inspiring example.

Kurt Anderson our CFO, Carlton Varney and me

But these buildings – are places different of those the likes of Arketype associates work in on a day-to-day basis. For starters we’re not sporting demitasse after lunch or ballroom dancing in our conference rooms, although at times…hey why not?

Painting around the beautifully framed stained glass windows takes time and much needed equipment to reach the second floor ceiling from the main hall floor.

Vikki Baumler-Perkins, who has recently joined Arketype as a account planner and project management, writes this about the place in which she works:

“I’m looking forward to the color injected into the new building and its rich history associated with the Green Bay area.

Off with just the top of the existing hardwood flooring, some of which is over 130 years old. All holes in the flooring in which walls were removed were restored with flooring pulled from other parts of the building.

‘What’s important to me is not so much about my personal space as it is the entire atmosphere; creative, historic, lively, colorful and unrestrained. I’ve always thought our current space was cool, but the new space will definitely build upon those feelings and perceptions even more.

“Note: My mantra at the last place I worked was borrowed from the Las Vegas ads with Penn & Teller – Freedom from Beige.”

Outside freshly stripped and stained doors await their new reclaimed stained glass windows.

Well far from beige, though I don’t believe Carlton Varney will drive Jim and I to build a place that delivers a baroque-like atmosphere, his experience will help us build upon Vikki’s mantra. After all we are a design and communication business and we need a certain amount of neutral ground to create unique and individual brand communications for our diverse client base.

Jim speaks with Brian in the paint department…behind them shows the open floor on the top floor looking down to the main level bringing both venues together, connecting stained glass windows in the original 1873 church.

Installation of the long awaited windows on the east wall of the building.

In the end we will build a place that nurtures and promotes depth, a place that fosters creativity.

Paul Meinke

Look what else we’ve been up to at:

http://www.arketypeinc.com

Extra! Extra! Extra!

Well, we did it! We won an Emmy® from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chicago/Midwest chapter. It is the First time we entered the contest and we managed to pick up the gold winged statue grasping the world. Arketype received the award for Outstanding Achievement for Individual Excellence in Non-News Graphics and Animation.

The award recognizes Arketype’s work for the television commercials produced for fete, the Give-A-Kid-A-Book campaign starring Deanna Favre, and Arketype’s self-promotional demo reel consisting of various multimedia work produced by the firm. Arketype multimedia designer DeGaull Vang created the animation in collaboration with producers Jim Rivett and Shelly Young, and editor Jason Davis.

Check out the pictures below from the evening and the work at:

http://www.arketypeinc.com

DeGaull Vang with the Emmy…

Jim Rivett and Milda Davis…

Milda and Jason Davis, Kurt Anderson and Megan Pichette…

Tom Lorenson, Shelly Young and Paul Meinke.

Levitra