Project brief: Real Simple reaches more than two million women every month and is beloved by readers for its simple solutions to the problems of their complex lives. When one of those readers rhapsodizes about why she loves Real Simple, invariably “New Uses for Old Things” is the first thing she mentions. “You know,” a loyal reader will exclaim, “that section where you take things and turn them into something else!” In this age of reduce-reuse-recycle, “New Uses for Old Things” is the original green idea.

Approach: In celebration of Real Simple’s 10th anniversary, we published a book of the best “New Uses.” Photographer James Wojcik turned his sharp graphic eye and offbeat wit to the everyday items featured (a sock, a cork, a button). He photographed them on a cascading palette of the color wheel: yellows to oranges to reds to blues to greens. Illustrator Kate Francis contributed simple line drawings to illustrate items not photographed and designer Eva Spring pulled the whole project together with her simple, classic format, inspired by the dictionary and info graphics. Inside the book are ideas for everything in your home, from accordion folders to zippered plastic bags—A to Z.

A beautiful and sensitive integration of type, both macro and micro, photography, color and illustration.