After the devastating attacks of 9/11/2001, Santoriello Studios was asked to lend their skills toward an effort to rebuild The World Trade Towers, we quickly and proudly accepted.

Santoriello Studios was grateful to be a part of and contribute to the New York Soaring Towers Coalition. The morning of September 11th 2001, Tom and Michelle were living in Hoboken, NJ, just across the river from lower Manhattan. Living in Hoboken feels like living in a mini-NYC, and with the visual backdrop of NYC everywhere, one starts to think they are a part of the city. While on the phone, Tom saw the 2nd plane flying very low and loud, a few seconds after the plane flew out of view, their apartment complex reverberated and shook from the explosion. The World Trade Center was part of Tom & Michelle’s 7th floor balcony view, and as the Towers fell, the smoke enveloped lower Manhattan and onto the surface of the Hudson river.

As we marched through the painful days to follow, some thought we might not rebuild the city, some of these people asked Our Studio to get involved and help the movement to rebuild the World Trade Center site, and we proudly volunteered our time.

Starting in February, 2002, we started meeting with the members and submitting sketches for an iconic image, we took our time to choose wisely. Once we decided on the skyline concept, we did exhausted research to simulate the NYC skyline accurately and to scale. Once we created the photo montage from dozens of sources, we started recreating the skyline. We traced the montage by hand, point by point, with mathematical vectors using Adobe Illustrator. After hours of research and illustration, we added the typography and colors to the final logo design. We still feel highly attached, and proud of the results.

When the logo design was agreed upon, we started to create the numerous supportive materials the logo was design to work with, including: Letterhead, Business Cards, T-Shirts, Buttons, and the Website. Although the Website is no longer online, we believe the designs for this project stand the test of time, and helped the NYSTC gain media traction and local support for their cause. That cause ended successfully, with the commitment of rebuilding, and the process of contributing to that was memorable and very meaningful to us.