Projects, Projects!

After Christmas I didn't have much going on in terms of design work, and with planning a move and all of the other things we had going on, I'm sort of glad that I had a break. Now I'm back at it with all types of work. Some projects have been self-initiated, which are usually my favorite ones, and some are for clients, which really puts the pressure on!

This is a little project that is a gift for my cousin who just had a baby earlier this month. It's one of my favorite birth announcement designs so far, and it happened to match her nursery really well.

These pictures were taken at night so the lighting in my apartment wasn't great!! I'm definitely going to take better pictures for my design portfolio.

This next project was self-initiated because I want to better my web design skills, and my mom is a florist who doesn't have a website. It's so important to have a website as a business owner, and my mom doesn't really understand that or value that, so I'm taking control of it and just doing it for her! I've been using Webydo to create the site, and so far I've had a decent experience. There are some kinks that have slowed me down but it's like any software that you've never worked with before- you just have to get used to it. I'll probably write more about my experience when Im all done!

So this is the new logo and color scheme that I've dreamed up that works with the colors that my mom already has going on in her shop. I plan on expanding the whole brand into new business cards for her that will include her new website address.

So far I only have a few pages that are "done" and the rest of it will be slow moving because I have to take pictures to use as content for each of the pages. Hopefully I can get most of the content I need to get it running within the next month, and then I'll be able to add things as I go and as the seasons pass and my mom puts out more work.

The next thing that I have in the works is a baby shower invitation for my cousin Cathy, who is expecting a baby boy in April. I'm just waiting to hear that the details are definite and also a count of how many to print.

Cathy has baby bedding from Carter's that is based on the animals that John Lennon drew in his book for his son (fun fact: John Lennon's son's name is Julian!). She bought it when she worked there ten years ago and has saved it all this time. Cathy and Darren (who is my second cousin) are huge Beatles fans, so the bedding is really special to them. I wanted to include something that was very them in the design for the invitations, so I recreated the animals in the bedding to put in the banner at the top of the invitation. I can't wait to get these printed! They're one of my favorite invitations that I've done so far!

This next project was proposed by an old friend who I met at my first job. She wants to start a tea beverage business and came to me asking for a little bit of branding work. So I got to work right away drawing up a logo and thinking of the color scheme. I can't wait to show her what I've come up with so far! 

The challenge here is going to be translating my handwritten logo into something digital. I've started to draw it on my computer and it's not perfect yet. It'll take lots of work to get it looking the way it need to look. Here are the colors I'm thinking so far, and a little pattern that could be used somehow.

I can't wait to see how it pans out!

This last thing was something I did in my spare time last week while I was still without wifi. I plan to have it printed (although I haven' decided what size) and framed for Julian's room. I originally planned to make a huge print of it but since I have the painted fox in there now that I want to be the focal point, this guy might be a little smaller, but equally as important of course.

This guy is so graphic and awesome. I want one for my room! I love art like this because it's so interpretive and the types of colors you include really communicate the personality of the character that you create. This fox is really sassy and really has his own set of rules, which is exactly how Julian is. Sassy and headstrong!

When I'm looking back at all of these projects I can't believe how many different things I'm doing right now. Babies, tea branding, foxes, flowers... holy cow! I love how each project is so different than the next. Some are more in depth and complicated, some are completed and some are a work in progress. I love having work to do. It motivates me to be creative and productive, especially at night, when Julian has gone to bed and all I feel like doing is watching Treehouse Masters. Yeah, totally my new favorite show. I'm serious.

I hope to be able to add all of these things to my portfolio soon! Thank you to everyone who supports my talents and my dreams and my crazy obsessions. Every new thing I take on is an opportunity to learn something new.