happy new year!

In honor of long, long ago and happy days gone by, this typography poster design represents the neighborhood many of my friends and I grew up in. Each entry is the name of a street that one or more of us lived on as we attended elementary through high school together. This poster is dedicated to those of us who graduated from Hiram Johnson High School, Class of 78 and still enjoy getting together from time to time. Some still live within a 20 minute drive of this hallowed neighborhood and have raised families here. Others, like me, live hundreds of miles away, but make a trip back home every so often just to reconnect. To all I take a cup ‘o kindness yet, for auld lang syne. Happy new year!

merry christmas

Had a ton o’ fun taking these photos of our new kitten, Cloud. He was abandoned outside of a local vet’s office back in October. A friend of my son’s from high school who works at the vet surprised us with an introduction to this little 6-7 week old guy. We fell in love with him immediately and watched as he quickly made himself right at home. He is now a permanent family member. Cloud’s favorite perch and napping spot is atop a chair inside a brown fluffy blanket. This is the e-card I sent out to clients and friends.

win a $1500 destination vacation!

The Gresham High School Concert Choir is heading to Orlando, Florida this spring to compete in the 2012 Heritage Music Festival! Students are selling raffle tickets to raise $$$ to go. Two lucky raffle ticket holders will win 7 Days & 7 Nights at the World Mark resort of choice! For each raffle ticket purchased 100% goes into the student trip account. No limit to how many tickets one can buy!

Choir students will use this flyer to inspire, excite and inform their audience as they each raise money to participate in this special musical experience. While creating this, I remembered my own high school travels, one in which our whole senior class flew to LA to spend the entire night [11pm-7am] in Disneyland. The park was filled with pending high school grads from all over the country exclusively. Good times! I was happy to donate my time and skills in creating this flyer for such a worthy and exciting cause.

graduation announcements : university of oregon

 

Oregon, our Alma Mater, we will guard thee on and on…such is the sentiment of the 2011 University of Oregon graduates. This year I had the privilege of creating personalized graduation announcements for one of UO’s Lundquist College of Business grads, Lenny Pichette. Lenny requested a dark green cardstock for the cover so I chose Beckett Cambric Greenbrier. For the interior card panel I went with Mohawk Solutions Ivory Linen with matching No. 10 envelopes. Lenny’s submitted photo was processed in sepia tone as a complementary nod to his BA degree color of brown. The handcut photo window zooms in on our grad while a nice scenic surprise delivers insight to this grad’s career destination. Once opened, a two-sided tasselled medallion with a UO seal hangs taughtly from slick golden thread as the honorary UO emblem of choice. The ivory linen envelopes made for a cohesive and polished delivery. This impressive graduate has a career position in Seattle waiting for him — congratulations Lenny! Go duck go, keep winning duck win!

event image design : cinema under the stars

Summer is coming, summer is coming! Grab your blankets and lawn chairs and treat yourself and/or your family and friends to Free Family Movies After Dark with Cinema Under the Stars. Select schools and parks within the Gresham and Portland, OR metro area will be showing free movies throughout July and August as a way to reach out and bring neighbors and families together in a positive, entertaining environment.

Below is a portion of the sponsorship brochure I had the privilege of designing for two amazing volunteers (Richard and Cathy) who are spearheading this event. They dictated yellow and black as their colors of choice.With this 11×17 2-sided, 2-color brochure I used the bright yellow to grab its deserving attention and the black to inform and encourage its excited audience. This piece will NOT blend in or get lost in any paper shuffle!

If you would like more information on how to become a sponsor or be a vendor at the event contact Richard Kiely at Home Run Graphics or Cathy Sherick at GGAPP. Click here for movie schedule.

wedding invitations

Going to the chapel and their gonna get married… These small wedding invitations are for a small private ceremony that was held in a small chapel in a very small town. Only 30 names are on the guest list. A larger reception was held at a later date. Announcements hit the mail the week following the ceremony. Bridal showers, bachelorette/bachelor parties and a lovely honeymoon were also on the calendar of spring and summer events for this couple. The monogram I designed along with the complete wedding invitation package are a gift to my daughter and her fiancée.

Jillian had a lot of say in how she would like their stationery to look. She chose blue with a pop of pink as her wedding colors, but decided to use only blue for her wedding stationery. We worked together selecting the wording, typefaces, paper and designs. We combined two type families for the script (it took awhile to find just the right  J, C, and M) and used a sans serif for the non-script. Can you name which three fonts were used?

Below are the announcements which were sent out with a photo two weeks after the ceremony. Photo credit goes to Glass River Photography — Aaron did a great job capturing the essence of beauty, simplicity and fun of our happy bride and groom. To see the wedding ceremony photo collage I designed for Jillian and Matt, click here.

choir program : gresham high school

Congratulations to the Gresham High School Concert Choir for being chosen to perform at MENC : The National Association for Music Education Northwest Division Conference in Seattle this month! Here are a few of the pages from the printed program I designed for the audience members of this event :

After meeting with Janine Kirstein, the Choral Director for GHS I set to work on the design and production of this small handout. She indicated the following attributes : clean, classic and simple using Gresham High’s color blue. Given the importance of receiving this honorary invitation for the choir to perform in Seattle, we talked about how the design should complement the talent, training, support and personality of the students and the GHS community. During the development of the concept, I was inspired to explore the possibility of using an image of the school building for the cover. Seemed a befitting tie-in as we described the skills, experiences and attributes that are built daily inside these walls. Grabbing my Canon Powershot SX130 I took a few photos then worked the final cut in Photoshop trying to enhance the blues in adherence to the color theme throughout. I used InDesign for type, page layout and print readiness … voilà!

Special thanks to our local sponsors : Lillian’s Natural Marketplace, Vintage Station, Dr. Perry Stevenson, and Frenzi, our newest Yo Cream shop in downtown Gresham. Their logos were printed on the back page. Above is the center spread photo of our illustrious concert choir — photo credit goes to Gene Takalo.

sketch : ad design

To sketch or not to sketch — that is the question when design projects begin and deadlines loom. For instance, taking a new ad concept and putting it on paper (or chalkboard, wipe/erase board, napkin, etc.) before working it on the computer is a crucial part of the design process.  Some graphic designers — myself included at times, skip the manual sketch and jump right into designing on the computer. We consider our computer comps to be our electronic sketches. There are pros and cons to both techniques and designers are more than ready to debate their chosen modus operandi.

If I had to choose a side, my alliance would be with sketchers. And I do not consider myself a great sketch artist. But when I sketch first, it does help me see my vision in less time, with less effort, less distraction and I can be free to create more options. At times, it’s through sketching that I also come to the finer details earlier on which can ultimately save time and money.

Above is my sketch for a photo developing ad concept and its final outcome, a 3cx18″ ROP ad. I used the buyer’s ad list to sketch and collect props and product. When directing the photo shoot, this sketch helped me communicate my idea clearly and easily. I was still able to move things around and play creatively, but ultimately the photographer and I got in there, made good use of our time and ended with great photos that worked well for the ad. I produced this particular advertisement a while ago .. but I can still picture it!

happy new year!

Ringing in the New Year playing with typefaces Blindfold and Gotham. Background color is that which now covers the walls in my office. Looking forward to 2011 filled with exciting design projects!

doily snowflake design

I’ve been saving this photo to use for something wintery and/or Christmas-like. It’s my grandmother’s doily and the photo reminds me of a snowflake. Certainly something wintery — perhaps a Christmas or New Year’s greeting would be most befitting.

During a recent photoshoot, I grabbed this doily to use as a possible element in one of our food shots. We decided not to use it, but a friend of mine laid it out neatly on the light table and took a few pictures. As I watched her excitement about the images she captured, I reflected back on my earlier days of laying items on the glass of a scanner and playing with textures and shapes. This doily’s finer features turned out beautifully on the light table.

I took the original image (top left) into Photoshop and experimented with different filters. Using PS filters such as photocopy and watercolor I was able to create rather diverse renderings and found the two above (right) to be the most appealing.

Below are two designs I’ve started with my new snowflake design in Illustrator for Christmas cards. Which design might you prefer and why?

Thank you to all who commented here on my blog, Facebook and via email. Below is the traditional version of my final design…

high school play program design

Hot off the GBSD press! “Seussical The Musical” play programs are now printed and ready to distribute during each performance. Budget dictated black and white only with colored stock for the cover. I enjoyed designing this 32-page tall and skinny formatted momento and was happy to be a part of the publicity team for Gresham High School as their Performing Arts Department presents “Seussical The Musical”.

Hats off to Crystal Carlson who designed the art and the posters which hung in Gresham business windows everywhere. Many kudos to Julie Melton of The Right Type who designed bookmarks, postcards and really hustled in ad sales, typesetting most of those in the program. Of course, once you cruise through the program’s cast, crew and credit information you’ll see many, many more names of all those who put in incredible hours sharing their talent, skills and support in order to bring you seven wonderful performances of “Seussical The Musical” …enjoy!

After the play : Here is a momento I put together for my mom — she really enjoyed collecting autographs after Seussical and had a great time watching all of the students, including her grandson, Kevin as The Grinch perform.

marketing : business boo!

This little advertising piece is part of a marketing plan to create more awareness about a few local businesses here in Gresham. Each person featured on this promotional handout (we call it a business bookmark brochure) will hand deliver these colorful, informative, interactive bookmarks while making a connection with someone who may need one or more of our services listed. Click here to see it open!

It’s interesting to watch people interact with this type of piece. First they want to flip the pages, then suddenly realize it’s a slide and fan out process. This little surprise produces a smile that is occasionally accompanied by an ‘ooh’ or ‘aww’! Someone asked if this were five business cards in one — and yes, it is. It’s an expanded version of the standard business card — it holds more information and promotes several businesses cohesively while maintaining the individuality of each.

This is part of my business boo project. It’s halloween this weekend and a good time to assemble and distribute these promotional marketing bundles which will include something sweet. My sweet of choice is Andes Mints and Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Squares. A clear cello bag will hold the bookmark and candy quite nicely. The plan is to boo several neighborhood businesses just prior to halloween night. This business bookmark brochure will last long after the halloween treats it comes with are gone!

Many thanks to Home Run Graphics for such great service and printing!

logo design : lillian’s

Took this quick pic from my cell phone (my camera got soaked during our vacation at the coast and died). So exciting to see my most recent logo design transformed into a large exterior sign that sits prestigiously atop its new home. Biggest reward: Lillian is very happy! Her store is coming along beautifully. Grand Opening : August 12. I’ve made my shopping list already!

This outdoor signage reaffirms good reason to address sizing criteria early on when designing a logo. Will it work 1 inch in size? 10 ft.? How well will it scale up and down? How will the colors live in different environments? This sign is approximately 8-10 feet wide. Nice fit. Green is one of the four colors in Lillian’s color palette. And, I am particularly pleased to see the logo’s subtitle, Natural Marketplace fit so neatly and cohesively within the rim of the awning as prescribed. Many kudos to Security Signs for its share of inspiration, quality production and install!

The logo design also carries over into Lillian’s business stationary consisting of colorful and informative business cards, letterhead and envelopes. When I presented Lillian with my various ideas for her business card design she chose her favorite elements out of each and combined them to create her own look for the final. Below are the final letterhead, envelope and business card designs.

grad announcement for two

This grad announcement is very special…it’s for my nieces. As sisters, they wanted to do a shared announcement and celebrate their accomplishments together. Both smart and sweet. Saves on cost, time and mailing while they celebrate each other’s successes as well as their own. With one finishing her university studies and the other graduating from high school, this was a great opportunity to design a graduation announcement for two. I was pleased to see that the girls’ school colors worked well together side by side — as did their two beautiful smiles. Carpe diem!

Click here for more information on how I can create a unique, personalized and professional invitation or announcement for you.

local. organic. sustainable. coming soon!

It’s almost here! Gresham’s new locally owned natural marketplace will open this summer! I am excited to have the opportunity to work on the teaser promotions for Lillian’s Natural Marketplace. I enjoy designing for the grocery retail industry and am happy to be back in the food of things. In this case — local, organic, sustainable, natural foods!

The image above is one in a series of several — I say several since the original three, soon became four, then five and…well, you get the idea. All have the same message and design, each with a different rendition of the same color palette. Each help conjure up excitement and anticipation for local food shoppers of Gresham, Portland, Sandy, Troutdale, Fairview and beyond. Font used : Myriad. Window posters, local ads and direct mail pieces are part of this promotional project.

Look for more information about Lillian’s Natural Marketplace on Facebook as it prepares to open its doors and reveal its many local, organic, sustainable treasures — all for you…soon!

which poster(s) would you choose?survey software

beauty of the unripened

These beautiful, unripened strawberries are nestled comfortably in a homemade garden box in my back yard, anxiously awaiting heavier doses of sunshine. Here in Gresham, the constant cloud cover and incessant rain have lingered months beyond their welcome. The lack of sun, not to mention overdose of slugs, has severely stunted the growth of our berry youngin’s. However, in their prolonged toddler stages, these strawberries are still quite gorgeous to look at. Can’t wait for their plump, red, sweet transformation. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

graduation announcement : UO

In honor of my daughter’s college graduation this year, I designed and produced this graduation announcement for family and friends. The bonus for the recipient is that he/she can remove the color photo and put it in a frame or wallet while a nice black and white image remains in its place keeping the announcement in tact. The University of Oregon’s collegiate colors of green and yellow honor UO, while the color photo and information honor our very proud and happy graduate in true keepsake form.

Click here for more information on how I can create a unique, personalized and professional invitation or announcement for you.

Graduate Photo Credit  : Lenny Pichette

delicious dessert design

Strawberries are a seasonal favorite of mine and often, I prefer them dipped in chocolate. White, dark or milk chocolate — whatever I happen to have on hand. Sometimes I make them fancy, today I made them a bit rustic and added a sprinkling of powdered cocoa. I used Wilton’s Candy Melts for the white chocolate and followed their microwave instructions…super easy and delish!

These juicy berry beauties were shot on my kitchen counter with a three-year-old Canon Powershot. I explored color editing options in Photoshop — more lessons are needed to keep me interested in that scenario. I added a vignette and liked the effect this time around. I added a shadow to the type and played with its size and structure to give the heading a juxtaposed balance. Diavlo was the font of choice — it seems to relate well to the tips of the strawberry leaves.

Our family has a rocky road recipe that was passed on to my hub, Brian from his mom and he loves making it. The kids love eating it. Family and friends enjoy it and several have asked for the recipe. In this photo, I added another vignette and used the typeface Smile. It’s sharp, yet harmless edges seem to echo that of the rocky road. When cut into bite size pieces this chocolatey, marshmallowy, nutty confection becomes a means towards instant gratification.

happy mother’s day

This Mother’s Day I received a dozen roses along with a beautiful orchid, a precious coin purse and, best of all, dedicated time with my hub and kids. The days’ design began with beautiful sunshine and a phone call with my mom in California. Activities were that of a game of croquet, a hearty bbq and a most delicious ice cream cake. It ended with a family-friendly tennis match and movie.

The warm, sunny day was perfect.

I plucked the rose in this picture out of the dozen I received from my son (and husband). I took just a few photos with my husband’s digital point and shoot and experimented with vignettes in Bridge. Vignettes are nice, but this raw photo (with just a tad of touchup on one petal within Photoshop) had such a nice, light feel to it that I wanted to keep it raw. Vignettes are great for drama, depth and enhancement, but I was not in the mood for such heaviness.

The natural beauty of this rose was perfect.

flyer fax : garage doors

It was a quick turnaround flyer project for Windsor Door — had less than an hour, no images other than logos supplied (which I cleaned up a bit). I received text via email with no instructions other than “I need this today, if possible”. Final distribution to vendors via fax only, thus no grayscale allowed. I chose to do a strong, yet limited use of black (to save toner) while still adding a bit of pop. Kept it simple, quick and easy to read using the font Myriad…here ya go, WRD! (pricing confidential — dealers only)