tchoupitoulas is...
Yards from the Mississippi river, and curving along its bends, Tchoupitoulas Street is a gritty bustling road of commerce and industry, famous for jazz clubs and classic New Orleans food, like Emeril’s, Mother’s, and Hansen’s Snoballs. Tchopshop Media was based in a legendary 70’s jazz club, Rosy’s Jazz Hall, several blocks from the even more famous “Tipitina’s”. Our name derives from this street, where we set up shop in 2001.
chop = logo
A “chop” is an ancient Chinese word for a brand or seal. Long before Europe had crests or coats of arms, the Chinese had “chops” as marks of individuals and institutions. It is, essentially, the origin of the modern logo and one of the reasons we use it as a symbol of our firm.
sharpen your knife
We strive to chisel away the visual clutter, to lay bare the most compelling essence of a message.
We like shiny new tools, and sharpening our vision and our minds on new creative projects.
About Us
TCHOPSHOP Media was founded by Elena Walker, an art director and graphic designer with over 30 years experience in markets as diverse as Seattle, Santa Fe, New York City, Washington D.C., and London, England. The company was founded in 2001 in her hometown of New Orleans, LA.
Tchopshop Media has always sought to provide a concept-driven solution to our clients, including copywriting, print design, identity, strategic consulting, advertising design and websites. Most importantly, we do not focus on mere technology — we specialize in what our clients need. Starting with a clear and unique identity, extending that identity into ad campaigns, a print publication, sales collateral, or web presence — we believe it's important to wear many hats. These various channels of communication mutually inform each other, making sure that the brand stays consistent without fracturing through all channels.
Through the years, Tchopshop Media has employed a number of exceptionally talented designers, writers, developers and salespeople including Theo Erasmus, Kerry Tully, Kenneth Robin, TJ Pitre, Daryl Pfeif, Melanie Crout, Katrina Andry, Chesley Adler and many others. More recently, Elena has shifted to serving a small number of hand-picked clients.
Our technical chops have evolved. After years of building large custom web applications for clients in PHP, Ruby on Rails, and Drupal, Tchopshop Media now does not take on large custom built web applications, preferring to focus on the front end design. We leave the back-end admin design and hosting updates to larger companies, like Squarespace, to maintain and that makes the continuous upgrade of websites more sustainable and affordable for clients.