Before I start here with my thoughts on this project, let me warn you, I enjoy talking about typography…maybe too much. I can thank Eric Ligon—my typography professor from art school at UNT in Denton, Texas. Eric didn’t necessarily light the flame for my love of typography, he simply had an infectious passion that fanned my flame into a bona fide wildfire. Side note, I went on to teach typography and subjected my students to the same rigors Eric put me through. I’m thankful. I hope my former students are as well.

The ampersand seems to be loved by all in and around the creative industry, whether you’re an art director, a photographer or pillow maker. We continue to see it show in advertising, brand names (eg. Crate&Barrel, Room&Board, Dean&DeLuca) and even home decor (see previous pillow reference). I suspect it’s because we all have this wanderlust with the many variations the ampersand comes in, or can be created with.

While other characters in the alphabet are typically within a standard or expected shape and expression, the ampersand takes many creative forms. The fanciful iterations can ultimately be linked to the origins of the ampersand—a ligature for “et”, the Latin word for “and”.

Well, I guess I’m like many others—my fascination and desire to play with the ampersand must be expressed. So, why not find a fun way to play with food and the ampersand shape? For this I decided to shoot foods normally ampersand-ed…like Fish & Chips, Mac & Cheese…you get the idea.

This is an ongoing series and you’ll see more here over time. For now, let me introduce you to Milk & Honey with food styling by Callie Blount. Also on set with us was our own Emily Pierce with prop wrangling and styling.

– Kyle

Props. We’ve got them. Actually, we’ve got loads of them. In fact, we have a whole storage area people don’t see because we have more than we want to readily admit to, haha. While I wear the marketing hat at Dreier & Company, I also have the pleasure of being in charge of our vast prop inventory. Sourcing, organizing and creating one-of-a-kind props… that is my happy place!

The pursuit of perfect props (say that ten times fast, hah!) is personally one of my favorite activities. There is nothing quite like the rush of tracking down a gorgeously aged vintage milk jug or stumbling upon a set of quirky gold serveware… I start to visualize how they can be incorporated into our vast stock, as well as, worked into potential photographic scenes. Sometimes, the perfect prop find can inspire an entire photoshoot… you just never know! Lucky for me, our studio is conveniently located in downtown Nashville near “antique row” making the trips to explore frequent and fruitful.

Better still, we’re a crafty bunch and make time to create our own surfaces, backdrops and such. On any given day, it’s not unusual to find me and/or Kyle experimenting in the studio with textural techniques for unique surfaces or discussing the finer points of rust. All in all, it’s really quite amazing what we have to offer and highly satisfying to deliver the goods that make a photoshoot perfect for our clients.

Here’s a little peak behind the scenes into our ever growing prop “database” courtesy of my handy iPhone. 🙂

– Emily

A change in scenery is always fun… especially when it involves the fast paced hustle and bustle of documenting the culinary teams of the Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville, TN. Dreier & Company had the pleasure of being the proverbial “fly on the wall” as Executive Chef, Bobby Hammock, and his team prepped and catered for VIPs during the NHL All-Star games this January. While the hockey teams suited up for center ice, a massive orchestration of culinary crew, servers, runners, chefs and more had their game faces on and prepared quite a feast for the lucky patrons. It really does take an expertly trained kitchen to churn out food this delicious looking and tasting for a large group of people. Much like professional hockey, all-star level catering is not for the faint of heart!

– Dreier & Company

Ever wonder what goes on in the minds of Dreier & Company collaborators? We certainly do. To catch a glimpse, we’re subjecting team members and some of our favorite people to a “rigorous” and deeply “scientific” questionnaire. To kick off this inaugural quiz post, we’ll start with Studio Manager/Producer/All-Around-Office-Glue, Erica O’Rock. We have a feeling this won’t disappoint!

– Dreier & Company

It wouldn’t be spring without the friendly appearance of Peeps in every shape and color on grocery shelves. Its an American Easter essential. Just Born, the company that produces the sugary marshmallows, churned out over one billion of them this Easter season alone. Which got us thinking… when the easter egg hunts and sugar comas subside, what are we to do with the copious amounts of marshmallow that remain?

So, we had a brainstorm session and came up with some helpful ideas…

• Snuggle up to a big mug of hot chocolate with floating marshmallow peeps.
• Forget March Madness brackets… microwave Peep jousting is the future of sport!
• Graham Cracker + Peep + Chocolate = Peep S’Mores
• Working on a sewing project? Peeps of all shapes and colours make fun, inexpensive pincushions.
• An unusual and sweet take on sushi, meet “Peep-shi.”  This is where rice krispies treats replace traditional sushi rice.
• Keep opened wine bottles from getting funky… just plug with a peep for an adaptable wine stopper!
• Replace those plain Jane marshmallows on your next batch of rice krispies with pinks, yellows and blues to achieve marbled “Peeps Krispies Treats.”
• Fishing on a budget? Pick up a 10-pack for about a dollar and the brightly colored peeps will serve as excellent fishing lures.

(Note: We are totally kidding. Well, with most of these… we might host a bonfire just to make those Peep S’mores.)

– Dreier & Company

Since joining the Dreier & Company team as Marketing Wrangler in February this year, I was initially afraid that being surrounded by food and its accouterments all day, every day, would cause me to run away from my kitchen. I’m delightfully surprised to say that has turned out to not be the case.

I have never considered myself a foodie or kitchen centric individual. While I can decipher between the ranges of sub-par to excellent meals, as well as, create my signature potato cookie recipe from memory, I really haven’t given much thought to the process. Historically, the act of cooking dinner has felt more like a robotic response than a frolic through the fields with Martha Stewart. Yet, since joining Kyle Dreier’s photo + motion studio, I find myself being drawn into my kitchen. Cooking documentaries are filling my Netflix cue, once dusty cookbooks are becoming dog-eared and a previously scattered grocery list has become “meal-centric.” While I don’t foresee a change to our household ritual of “Sunday Night Pizza” happening, an undeniable gravitational pull towards the details and appreciation of food production is certainly occurring.

I can only credit this shift to one thing: witnessing the creative and joyful collaborations within our studio. Being “on set” is fun in itself, but to witness a crew of talented creatives, from kitchen to camera, transform a lemon garnish on one’s sweet tea into a lasting, emotive moment… well you just have to sit back and drink it in.

– Emily, Future Foodie