The Client
Jessica Helfand is a designer, writer, and co-founder of Design Observer. Her book Scrapbooks: An American History made the case that the scrapbook — domestic, vernacular, dismissed as mere ephemera — is one of the richest documents of American cultural history we have. The Daily Scrapbook extends that argument into an ongoing practice: a site dedicated to surfacing the images, clippings, and fragments that most archives don't think to keep.

The Challenge
The project didn't need RubyStudio's design eye — Helfand's own sensibility shaped the site, and that was exactly right. What it needed was a technical home and a reliable editorial partner. A site built around the logic of accumulation — daily posts, a growing archive, content that rewards browsing as much as searching — needs infrastructure that stays out of the way and keeps working.

Our Approach
RubyStudio built and hosted The Daily Scrapbook on SmallBlock CMS and has managed the site since its launch. Betsy Vardell contributed to content management, helping maintain the consistency and pace that a daily publication demands. The work here was not about making something — it was about making sure something kept going.

The Outcome
The Daily Scrapbook is still running. Ephemera accumulates — which was always the point.