Design Kompany | Brand Marketing by Graphic Design studio in Seattle

Dream Kitchen
Friday, March 28
KornerHaus (DK office)
10AM - 2PM
Brown Bag Lunch session with Bruce Rutledge at 11:30.

“There are two kinds of people. Those who do things, and those who talk about doing things,” said Melody Biringer, a dyed-in-the-wool risk-taker at Startup Junkie, and Crave Party (among a few other things) and “the most connected person in Northwest,” according to networking company Biznik’s co-founder Dan McComb.

Melody was our guest speaker at the Dream Kitchen co-working kick-off session a few weeks ago, and I have been mulling over her wisdom since.

Design Kompany’s Dream Kitchen: The Story

Why open our office to relative strangers? There are risks to be reckoned, sure. But we have the space, time, and willing participants now. I have talked about building creative community around Design Kompany for over a decade now, and it seemed like it’s one of those things to which we just had to ask, “Why not?”

We are lucky to know so many friends and colleagues who asked that same question and dared to dream. And they all have so much to share.

This week, we’ll get to catch up with one of our long-time friends and fellow entrepreneur Bruce Rutledge of Chin Music Press.

I met Bruce, a veteran journalist and editor, shortly after Design Kompany moved our operation to Seattle in 2004.

Chin Music Press, Bruce’s long-time dream and a new venture at the time, had just published their first book Kuhaku, for a small but enthusiastic audience worldwide. That summer, we had the pleasure of helping (just a tiny bit) Chin Music Press with the promotion of Kuhaku and its first online project Buzztracker in Seattle and in Portland, OR. We have been friends ever since.

Chin Music Press has grown considerably since, both in stature and (hopefully!) in profit. Its publications, which include anthologies on canned coffees, New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, a murder mystery, and a documentary on women’s sexuality in Japan, have been featured in Bookslut, NPR, NCR, Chicago Tribune, The Times-Picayune, PingMag, Japan Times, and other nooks and crannies in the world wide web.

Always popular amongst book-as-art aficionados, designers and comic book lovers, CMP now has a fanatic fan base that includes Lemony Snicket.

Their “adventure in publishing” has been documented on their blog, one of the most comprehensive looks at the contemporary world of book publishing.

Bruce Rutledge will be on hand from 11:30 to 12:30, this Friday, to answer questions about the business of publishing, guerilla marketing, and the how-tos of running a three-person office with three locations.

Co-working starts at 10AM, space is limited, so RSVP with us now!