Oh boy, a design company: "The paper chase"

Graphis, Nov/Dec 2001 by Martinez, David

Annual reports, web sites and corporate collateral have always been the award-winning specialties of Oh Boy, A Design Company, of San Francisco. But why stop there? When a self-promotional piece seemed like a good bet for the retail market, principal David Salanitro took the chance. Two and a half years after he first sent spiral-bound notebooks as gifts to his favorite clients, a ship from China greeted him with 36,000 more.

Together, they join other paper-based products that make up the two arms of Oh Boy, ArtifactsTM. "Disposables" consist of notebooks, gift cards, stationery, gift wrap and accessories. "Covetables," yet to be manufactured-and where the firm really wants to goinvolves publications and housewares.

Salanitro created the Oh Boy line of products to generate enough revenue for the firm to be even choosier with the projects they take on, whether it's their own line of paper products, more stimulating and rewarding client work, or home fashion design.

Meanwhile, with ArtifactsTM, does this designer-as-wholesaler risk siphoning the creative juices from the other 50 percent of his business? And how would the reputation of the design industry itself be affected if designers started putting their company names on massproduced, everyday items geared for the greatest-common-denominator market-just to make a buck?

Granted, that money will fund Oh Boy's muse. But even Salanitro admits that ArtifactsTM doesn't make a huge design statement, and that he's more fulfilled by the business end of the venture. While these products may not require the same complexity of design, as say, an annual report, he contends they flaunt the firm's highest design standards and talent.

Look at ArtifactsTM, then look at Oh Boy's other design work and you'll swear two different firms created them. Normally, they go for bold-hefty type with lots of white space, quirky photographs, an annual report cover that doubles as a mirror. What is ArtifactsTM doing with pastel, hairline patterns that call up the Formica kitchen counters of your childhood? It's more like wallpaper, Salanitro corrects, "with a modern twist." Related color combinations, he points out, and the lack of cross-hatching or solids to communicate a single hue keep the design looking fresh and new.

It all started in the fall of 1999 when a local printer asked Oh Boy to come up with an identity for them. The design firm explored geometric filigreed patterns to show off their client's printing chops. For Oh Boy's holiday promotion-an oversized, bound book of gift wrap-Salanitro and partner Ted Bluey decided to further develop the design that they would later elaborate upon in the ArtifactsTM line.

There's nothing novel about these products, themselves. You can find notebooks, stationery and wrapping paper anywhere. Why buy Oh Boy? Because, simply put, ArtifactsTM' design, materials and construction are refreshing.

A laminated cover with rounded corners adds sophistication to the Oh Boy 9-5 Guide. The weight, whiteness and smoothness of the pages in the 9-5 Guide express the company's appreciation for paper and the way a pen feels and leaves its mark while making its journey across. The Guide to Reading and Writing (Letter-Forms) feature handy self-sealing. The gift wrap is printed double-sided on creamy, thick paper and, along with the gift cards, are bound up in books. Ribbon and Tape complete the ArtifactsTM line and continue its 16 mix-and-match colors and patterns.

They're all products of a design and quality that Salanitro couldn't find until he created them himself. He figured he wasn't the only one who saw similar items out there as ugly, and poorly constructed with inferior materials. Who better than a designer to improve upon that?

For years, he and Bluey had casually considered making a line of functional paper products. Then they decided they'd better get on it before someone else did. Of course, they'd never been wholesalers before, but they sought out the expertise of others who were.

Dipping into the company's coffers, they contracted with a manufacturer in China, bought the paper in the United States and hired a print broker right in town. Overnight courier delivered proofs back and forth. Fortunately, Elizabeth Cutter, Oh Boy's production man- I ager, was already in China for a press check when she saw that the 'i final colors didn't match. Otherwise, everything went smoothly. Oh, except that staff are still spending spare moments stuffing gift cards and envelopes into their cellophane packaging-with chopsticks no less, to avoid tilting the wrap-around product label. All because the envelopes were manufactured somewhere else.

It wasn't until 324,000 units of product-which Oh Boy staff and one hired hand with a forklift unloaded by themselves, from six shipping containers the size of boxcars-started spilling out of their inadequately sized Oakland warehouse that Salanitro realized ArtifactsTM wasn't just an annex to Oh Boy. It was a whole business in itself

It's a good thing Salanitro thrives on taking risks. That business hasn't escaped from the red since it hit retail shelves in March, but this will change, Salanitro believes. Steady, eager response continues to pour in, with Oh Boy staff fielding sometimes 20 calls a day from prospects. They heard about ArtifactsTM by word of mouth, read articles about the line in major lifestyle magazines, and/or attended the San Francisco International Gift Show in February, where the premiere of Oh Boy, ArtifactsTM was enthusiastically received.