OPERATION EDEN
Brooklyn-based photographer Clayton James Cubitt documented the devastating impact Hurricane Katrina had on his hometown of Pearlington, La., and published stirring portraits of his local heroes on his blog. (Some of the comments made by visitors to his blog are as powerful as the portraits.) Since posting the collection, Operation Eden, it’s been featured on NPR, MSN, in Rolling Stone, and has been linked to by more than 600 websites. Cubitt donated the photographs, which continue to generate emotional responses online, to relief organizations that are now rebuilding Pearlington (population 1,858) one house at a time.
http://operationeden.blogspot.com

THINK STUDIO
When, to the surprise of many, Burlington, Vt., marketing firm Kelliher Samets Volk acquired Manhattan’s Platinum Design, the latter’s creative director, John Clifford, decided it was time to become his own boss. By showcasing the high-end work he’s produced for past employers including ubiquitous branding for Barnes & Noble and Martha Stewart Living, his own Think Studio has landed new business from the likes of Chronicle Books and jazz beacon Nonesuch Records. His clever die-cut cover and design of L.A. Lofts, written by Los Angeles Times design editor Barbara Thornburg, will hit the shelves of Barnes & Noble in June, as will his CD packaging for the revived hit musical Sweeney Todd, which is bloody good work indeed.
www.thinkstudionyc.com

CONSUMER CULTURE
Before Michael Graves and Philippe Starck, there was Raymond Loewy (1893 –1986). The industrial designer who has probably affected the daily life of more Americans than any other in the 20th century, the legacy of Loewy lives in the traveling exhibition Raymond Loewy: Designs for Consumer Culture. This summer, the San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, located near the city’s premiere retail center, Union Square, is hosting this charming, nostalgic show from June 9 to August 27. The exhibition highlights Loewy’s stellar ergonomicenabled career with some of his most famous designs including the Studebaker, the Sears Coldspot refrigerator, vintage Coca-Cola bottles, and his drawings for NASA, which produced the first interior design standards used in the Apollo and Skylab aircrafts. .
www.sfmcd.com, www.raymondloewy.com

NATIONAL TOUR:
09/16/06–11/25/06 center for art and visual culture, catonsville, md.
12/20/06–02/28/07 price towers arts center, bartlesville, okla.
03/27/07–06/16/07 parrish art museum, southampton, n.y.
07/01/07–09/12/07 bellevue art museum, bellevue, wash.
10/04/07–03/23/08 national heritage museum, lexington, mass.
04/17/08–09/30/08 museum of the rockies, bozeman, mont.

CORRECTIONS:
1. In our March/April 2006 issue (the STEP Design 100 Annual) on page 82 (editorial), Octopod Studios’ winning entry, The Cult of iPod, was missing a credit. The client for the book was No Starch Press.
2. In the same issue of STEP, the winning Storytellers 2005 poster by F2 Design for RC&P Advertising shown on page 125 (posters) was printed incorrectly. Here is the correct version of the poster.