“We are committed to working on projects that enrich communities, so we choose to work primarily with cultural and civic institutions. Many of our projects involve curators, artists, architects, urban planners and writers who have strong aesthetic or editorial visions, which we help interpret in smart and accessible ways.”
Paul Carlos, September 2011
“Our strength involves using interactional and contributory skills to create content-rich narratives, experiences and environments. We believe ideas that are both formally and explicitly articulated—and also embodied by design—appeal to and engage diverse audiences in more meaningful ways. Said another way, it is an approach to design that goes beyond surface. Our process draws on the content, context and goals of a project, and is informed by our knowledge of cultural and social histories and public policies.”
Urshula Barbour, September 2011
After clarifying each client’s particular goals through face-toface meetings, in-depth observations and self-initiated research, we start conceptualizing designs, establishing timelines, and exploring and presenting solutions. Client and user feedback enables us to develop and refine our ideas and specify requirements and materials. As our client relationships evolve, we learn their culture and can anticipate needs and preferences.Whether creating an identity, an exhibition, a publication, or a website, we devise integrated solutions that communicate ideas, all while sourcing sustainable materials whenever possible.
Urshula Barbour [coprincipal] is a designer, writer and educator. Her approach draws on a multidisciplinary background that infuses design with knowledge of anthropology, social history and public policy. Her work has received recognition from the AAM, AIGA and SEGD. Urshula teaches senior thesis at Parsons and has taught at CCNY and Cooper Union. In 2010 she volunteered as an advisory member of the Bronx High School for Visual Art CTE Self Study Group. Urshula has been a speaker for events at CFA/AIANY, Columbia University, NYU’s ITP program, NeoCon, Penn State, SUNY Binghamton, Tufts, Yale and Sotheby’s Institute. She has written for I.D. and Print magazines. Urshula holds masters degrees from the New School Graduate Faculty (where she explored the cultural and social construction of olfactory scapes) and from the University of Penn and a bachelors from The Cooper Union. Before founding Pure+Applied, she was a Center for Women in Government Fellow at SUNY, Albany. As a fellow, she researched and wrote about—and participated in community outreach efforts to support—food security and economic security in disenfranchised communities across New York State.
Paul Carlos [coprincipal] is a designer, educator, and typography enthusiast. He was formerly the art director of Interiors magazine and was a design associate at Design/Writing/Research and Donovan and Green. He has won numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, The Art Director’s Club and Society of Environmental Graphic Design. After receiving a BFA from Cooper Union, he worked at Donovan & Green and Design/Writing/Research. He has taught typography, editorial design, and exhibition design at Parsons, The New School for Design, The Cooper Union and Maryland Institute. Paul has been a juror for the Society of Publication Designers and I.D. magazine and a guest critic or speaker for the AIGA, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, MICA, NeoCon, NYU’s Integrated Technology Program and Sotheby’s Institute.
We would like to thank…
Peter Cooper—A Mechanic of New York, Donald Albrecht, Julie Lasky, Abbott Miller, Ellen Lupton, Luke Hayman, Scott Devendorf & The National, Ileen Gallagher, Patrick Clinton, Marc Sapir, Christina Grillo, Mark Lamster, Bennett Robinson, Giedre Gudzuite, Mike Liddy, Virginia Chow, Alanna Stang, Andras Szanto, Paul Makovsky, David Bright, Lyle Rexer, Kate Stohr, Cameron Sinclair, Annette Weintraub, Dan Cameron, Joanne Chew, Bill Drentel, Anthony Calnek, Charles Nix, Marc Blaustein, Hans Haacke, George Sadek, David Gissen, Day Gleeson, William Bevington, Rick Bell, Susan Rabbiner, Michael Stafford, Michael Glickman, Arthur Corwin, Andrew Hearst, Alice Greenwald, Sylvia Harris, Alfred Zollinger, Tina Hoerenz, Margaret Morton, Rosamond Fletcher, Martin Moeller, Cathy Frankel, Michael Bierut, Uwe Reinhardt, Steven McClenning, Hope Sweeney,
Margaret Chace, Monica Parks, Margaret Newman, Susan Braunstein, Dani Simons, Madeline Rogers, Wendy Feuer, Emily Suber, Anya Farquhar, Kenneth Allen, Aviva Weintraub, Nao Kato, Claudia Mark, Zita Szatmary, Luc Nadal, Mandy So, Carolyn Thomas, Mimi Jung, Karilyn Johanesen, Walter Hook, Adriana Warner, Ruth Beesch, Ben Edwards, Claudia Gunther, Jonathan Corriera, Ron Deutsch, Sandy DiPasqua, Melissa Feldman, Shelley Grossberg, Andrew Wiley-Schwartz, Jennifer Turner, Michael Donovan, James Hicks, Jeffrey Hance, Daniel Belasco, Gabriel Orozco, Susan Meyers, Marge Levin, Nan Richardson, Don Kunz, Nellie Gonzalez, Ina Saltz, Susan Henshaw Jones, Tom Mellins, Kathleen Letchford, Sarah Henry, Susan Johnson, Autumn Nyiri, Beth Compa, Eve Kahn, Alexander Bohn, Christopher Mount, Rudy Kolleck, James Wines, Keropetse Kgositsile, Wendy Fairey, Jim Miller, Alan Mann, Phillip V. Tobias, Vaeringjar Sussman, Deborah Heart & Lung, Shoofly, Martin Paddio & Monthly Review Press.
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