Takeaways from Natalie Zanecchia, owner of PRESSEDCO

Natalie Zanecchia is a multi-disciplinary designer here in Denver, Colorado. During her education, she enrolled in an environmental design class. This opened her eyes to a new passion. After graduating, she was hired as an intern at Monologue which was another local design firm. Then she became an independent designer and has done a lot of amazing environmental work. She's worked on museum exhibitions for adults and children around the country. When she's brought on to work on these large-scale projects, she usually becomes a subsidiary for an architect firm.

Little Caesars Arena was a new stadium that was being constructed in Detroit, Michigan in 2015. It became the new home for the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons. They wanted to have a space dedicated to displaying historical artifacts and sharing fun facts with their fans. They ended up creating an entire, permanent exhibition and Zanecchia was brought on as the environmental designer. She wanted to ensure that she was honoring the legacy of the Red Wings and Pistons, but also creating graphics that fit with the intricate architecture of the building. She and the architecture firm she teamed up with, Cambridge Seven, all conducted research and dove into archives. This research also included demographics and psychoanalytics so they could create an exhibit that would be appreciated by the Red Wings and Pistons fanbase. The finished product was an exhibit that displayed jerseys, trophies and honored important players. In the end, it was loved by their fans.

When Zanecchia worked on an environmental design assignment, she calculated how many hours she'll spend on the specific project and present her clients with a flat rate. Her standard practice is to ask for 50% upfront, and the remaining 50% after the project is complete. When they come to an agreement, she uses an Excel spreadsheet to detail out every material and how much of it they will need. Then she constructs miniature mock-ups for the project. She'd schedule out her tasks in different phases. Sometimes they'd overlap if her to-do list was feeling short for a specific day. She also has some reliable fabricators that she'll recommend for the job if they need some. However, Zanecchia believes that people who understand or have a connection to the topic of the project are the best people for the job. Her role differentiates for each job, but she is usually just responsible for the actual design. The architects, fabricators, and installers work independently from one another.

While she got to be a part of a lot of cool opportunities, her true calling was in letterpress. It was an escape for her to get away from staring at a computer and creating digital things all day. She likes more hands-on art and design. So, in 2012, she started her own print shop under the name PPRESSEDCO. She has a shop where she has pre-designed lunar calendars and postcards, but she also offers customizable options. It's been beneficial during the pandemic because she can work from home. She has worked in a lot of fields during her career which has made her a well-rounded designer and artist.