During my many years as a principal at the New York design firm of Ross Culbert & Lavery, I was responsible for developing most of the firm’s  self-promotion. From Frisbees to beach towels to seed packets and more, humor was the secret ingredient that ensured the piece avoided the circular file.

Among the most anticipated promotion we did was a year-end blank notebook, which contained  satirical front matter riffing on current events and pop culture. The books became so popular and sought-after over the 25 years we published them that clients often called in November to make certain they were still on our gift list.