What’s in a name? Chestnut St. Pixel Foundry went through a few revisions. I’m sure people are going to ask me why we chose a long and ungainly name, and the answer lies somewhat in a comparison of the Industrial Revolution and the Internet age. Yes, you’re in for a lecture. Bear with me.
The Industrial Revolution created graphic design. Illustration, handwritten text, signage all existed before, but improvements to printing technology and paper production, as well as a growing middle class that could read, meant an explosion of the printed word. Newspapers suddenly made sense as a product… posters advertising an event or product could be read by passersby on the street.. books were no longer precious and rare things, but common in most houses. The first designers were typesetters and printers, the first commercial illustrators were sketch artists.
The design of the Victorian era is very cluttered and busy as these new designers attempted to find a style and aesthetic sense.
We’re seeing a new kind of Industrial Revolution. Let’s call it the Internet Age. Someone else might’ve called it that before me but I’ll adopt the phrase for now. Just like mass-production changed the social and political landscape forever, the ability to communicate anytime, anywhere, with almost anyone… is having an impact we probably won’t fully understand until later.
The internet and communications industry has changed design. The “web 2.0″ aesthetic is now transferring to print… it’s common to see bus shelter ads and billboards with drop shadows, gradient logo versions, and other things we were told not to do in school. Aside from mere style considerations, smart phones and internet and social networking have changed the way designers have to think about projects. Will the logo we’re designing for X company look good on a twitter feed icon of 50 pixels square?
Suddenly there’s a lot more to think about, and more things to learn to stay current. Kelly, the other half of Chestnut St. Pixel Foundry, worked for a few months on phone applications for a telecommunications company. I’m starting to get known as someone to go to for Flash, something I barely learned in school and had to teach myself. Like the rapid changes of the Industrial Revolution, design in the Internet Age is constantly evolving, and it’s particularly challenging for designers today.
What does this have to do with our studio name? We wanted to acknowledge the Victorian era in our branding, for a number of reasons. Firstly, to show we have knowledge of design history and a background in studying design. We went to school for years to do this; we’re not just some kids with a bootleg copy of InDesign and Dreamweaver. Secondly, as I explained above… there’s definitely a correlation between the Victorian era and our own Internet Age. And finally, we just happen to have a soft spot for calligraphic flourishes, damask patterns, serif type, and vintage stuff.
Why Chestnut Street? Actually, our first name was Society Hill Pixel Foundry. The Pixel Foundry part came first, as an Industrial Revolution nod to what we do. However… it’s not incredibly original. We investigated the history of design and advertising and remembered that the first recorded advertising agency was run by a man called Volney Palmer in 1842. His advertising agency was located in a region of Philadelphia called Society Hill.
(An aside: we did consider calling ourselves Volney Palmer, and I like the irony of two women using a man’s name, but google found an existing agency called Volney Palmer with a very dead-looking website.)
However… the name registry in Victoria would not let us use Society Hill. Even though it’s not on the end of the name, the word “Society” can’t be present in for-profit company names. Booo!
Further investigation found that Mr. Palmer’s agency was located in a building (now a boutique hotel) on Chestnut Street.
And so, the Chestnut St. Pixel Foundry was named.
