Board Member Retirement Gift

Photo of a custom silk-wrapped case for retiring board member; designed by Carolyn Porter of Porterfolio, Inc. and printed/constructed by Kent Aldrich of The Nomadic Press.

When Travelers Insurance contacted Carolyn to design a one-of-a-kind gift for a retiring board member, she immediately knew who she wanted to collaborate with: Kent Aldrich of The Nomadic Press.

Travelers’ request was to give the retiring board member a gift he would be proud to display for the rest of his life —but they didn’t know what they wanted the gift to look like or what they wanted it to say. Carolyn presented a number of detailed concept sketches to the Travelers Corporate Communications team. Once a design direction was approved, Carolyn and Kent selected materials, then Kent began the construction process while Carolyn worked with the client to refine content.

The result was a museum-quality piece comprised of a silk-wrapped case, a letterpress printed proclamation embossed with the corporate seal, and a hard-cover book that outlined notable milestones during the board member’s 17-year tenure. The proclamation, book, and case were crafted of the highest quality materials: hand-marbled paper, silk, leather, and aluminum.

Fun fact: The team at Travelers reached out to Carolyn because Carolyn and Kent had collaborated years earlier on a similar type of bespoke proclamation. That proclamation had been presented to Nelson Mandela on behalf of a coalition of Minnesota businesses.

Click to see another project Carolyn designed for Travelers.