Summer Break & Getting to Know the Women of PDC
We thought it might be fun to share with you a little more about the women of PDC. We’ve all been busy soaking up as much Maine summer as possible, but in between that and working with our amazing clients, we found time to answer some questions about what makes us tick. Enjoy!
Abby Towne, PDC’s Senior Designer
1. What’s your other dream job: Detective/investigator (aka Mare in HBO’s Mare of Easttown).
2. Favorite book: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
3. Best Halloween costume you’ve had: The Eastland Hotel in Portland, complete with light up windows and a glowing red “EASTLAND” sign.
4. Hometown: Kennebunk.
5. First concert: Jimmy Eat World (lol).
6. Favorite local spot to eat: Terlingua! Their patio / spicy margs / corn, bean, and mushroom frito tacos are the best.
7. Dream client(s): Because I can’t just choose one—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Naomi Osaka.
8. If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life: DAMN. (Collectors Edition) by Kendrick Lamar.
9. What talent would you most like to grow and develop: Digital illustration / getting back into into biking. I just fixed up and repainted my 1970’s Centurion with Spray.Bike black & gold paint and it’s dreamy!
10. Something you’ve done that made you feel extreme happiness: Committing to becoming a vegan and sticking with it since January 2018. The scale and “normalcy” of animal agriculture and exploitation is deeply troubling to me and I wasn’t feeling morally aligned. I also love to cook, so recreating typically non-vegan meals and seeing people’s reactions is definitely something that brings me joy. One of my favorite go-to meals to make is my mom’s spicy bow tie pasta (typically made with cream, butter, and hot Italian sausage). I make it with coconut cream, Miyoko's butter, and crumbled Beyond hot Italian sausage—plus lots of fresh parsley, diced onion, and red pepper flakes.
11. If you were a potato, what way would you be cooked? Latke style w/ vegan sour cream + chives.
12. If you could only bring 3 things to a desert island, what would they be? Unlimited tacos, my partner, Luke + my dog, Zu.
Nicole Manganelli, PDC’s Copyeditor & Junior Designer
1. Best halloween costume you’ve had: I dressed like a sheep & acted shy all night—I was sheepish.
2. For what are you most grateful today: I had a pretty intense back injury in July and I am so grateful that it has healed almost all the way and I’m in a lot less pain.
3. If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked: Twice baked! Who doesn’t love that crunchy browned potato top??
4. Do you like cilantro: Yes, very much, but I didn’t always! It used to taste like soap to me, but it is in so many foods that I love that I made it a project to retrain my pallet and now I love it.
5. What does success mean to you: To me, success means being able to participate in making other people’s lives better in both interpersonal and structural ways.
6. Something you’ve done that made you feel extreme happiness: Letterpress printing! Hand-setting wood & metal type into presses & thinking carefully about each word and the placement of each line is incredibly satisfying & fulfilling for me.
7. Favorite activity outside of work: Letterpress printing! Not to be too repetitive here, but it’s true!
8. Hometown: Standish, Maine!
9. If you could take three things to a desert island, what would they be: If the three things couldn’t include specific people, I would take my beloved anthology of June Jordan’s poetry, many gallons of sweet cream ice cream, and a freezer.
10. What was your path to becoming a designer like: I worked in nonprofits for years doing anti-oppression workshops and trainings, mostly in schools with students, staff, and families of students. My letterpress printing work started in 2012 and I did it in my free time for years. Then LK started to mentor me in 2017, encouraging me to give myself projects to learn design. I took that advice to heart and designed a 78-image tarot deck using just Garamond letterforms, called the Printers’ Tarot, and then I was hooked on digital design. LK continued to mentor me and in 2018 I went freelance to do graphic design and printmaking, working both with Portland Design Co and on my own. Throughout this whole process, LK’s support and encouragement have been incredible—she is an amazing & skilled teacher as well as a brilliant designer. I’m so grateful I get to work with both LK and Abby at PDC!
11. What are three things you love to do with your time: I won’t say letterpress printing again, because I think you’ve got that at this point (lol), so—swimming in fresh water any chance I get, walking long distances, and narrating the inner life of my rescue dog, Ossie.
12. Favorite place to eat in Portland: As a treat for very special occasions, I love Eventide. They’re known for their amazing oysters but their whoopie pies are *chef’s kiss*.
LK Weiss, Owner & Creative Director
1. What’s your other dream job: Zoologist, working with harmed or abandoned primates in their native land.
2. Where do you hope to travel/visit: Croatia.
3. Favorite book: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah.
4. Favorite activity outside of work: Active challenges that benefit others: Currently wrapping up a 750-mile Boston to Bar Harbor (through Vermont) road bike challenge to fight hunger in the US. Before the pandemic, I participated in three Tri for a Cure triathlons, raising almost $20,000 to fight cancer in Maine.
5. If you could eat one thing for every meal moving forward, what would it be: If I wasn’t allergic to everything, I’d eat an Amato’s veggie Italian with all dressed chips and Orangina. But my fave food in reality is tacos.
6. Anyone in the world you could have lunch with: Tossup between Rachel Maddow, Bryan Stevenson, and Michelle Obama.
7. What does success mean to you: Making work I feel super proud of, that is also meaningful and helps someone in some way.
8. At what job would you be terrible: Childcare.
9. Funny memory: I was about to finish a 5K race, and as I approached the finish line, the announcer on the loud speaker said “…. And coming down the final stretch is…. LICK WEISS!” Because he didn’t know how to pronounce LK.
10. If you could take three things to a desert island, what would they be: Wife, dogs, bike, (and books and coppertone sunscreen).
11. If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life what would it be: Graceland by Paul Simon.
12. How do you break through a creative block: Quit for the day, get outside and do something active. Pushing myself through physical barriers almost always results in breaking through mental/emotional/creative barriers. Biking and hiking is where I do most of my heavy duty thinking.
Thanks for taking the time to get to know us :)
Take a tour around the site if you’d like to know more about our work and process as designers and artists.
xoxo PDC
