My New Site!

Happy 2011! One of my goals for last year was to (finally) redesign my web site and get a lot of my more recent work up. Now it's up, so please check it out and subscribe to the RSS feed on my blog through my new site. I won't be updating my Blogspot blog anymore now that I have the new site to show my work.

I've also uploaded my Etsy shop with my modern homesteading cards if you would like a set.

Cheers! :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I hope you all are having a peaceful holiday today with family and friends. Another year has flown by and 2011 is right around the corner! It's hard to believe this was the fourth year of being my own boss and running my own business. I've met some really great people and gotten to work on some fun projects over this past year. Last summer I met Willi Galloway from one of my favorite gardening/food blogs DigginFood. She asked me I was interested in partnering with her on a project we could both share on our blogs—desktop wallpapers with a calendar for each month of 2011. I happily agreed and starting thinking about themes, imagery and eventually landed on the idea of modern homesteading. It works with the things she blogs about plus I thought chickens and goats would be fun to draw.

So here is my gift to you, my loyal blog readers (hi Dad) and anyone looking to brighten their desktop with some colorful images. January starts off with little birds at the feeder which I enjoy seeing in my own backyard every day. There are three sizes to choose from—just select which one fits your monitor and click on the link to automatically download the file.

1024 x 768

1600 x 1200

1920 x 1200

I decided to take the images I created for the desktop wallpaper and create a set of 12 notecards with envelopes and stickers. I'm really happy with how they turned out! If you would like to purchase a set which comes in a cute cotton drawstring bag, please visit my Etsy shop.

Happy Holidays!

I've been crafting up some winter decorations, trying to only use things from my garden and neighbors' yards rather than buying them. In case this is the last blog entry I get to for 2010, happy holidays everyone!

2011 Sneak Peek

I've been working really hard on my 2011 mailer which is something I send out to my clients as a thank you and also to folks I would love to partner with in the coming year. This mailer is a little bit different than the calendars I've done over the past two years. Here's a sneak peek of one of the images that hopefully will boost your holiday spirit. I love making wreaths and decorations with things found in my yard—it's so much cheaper and just as pretty than store bought. Happy holidays!

Branding for Tilia Natural Health

Wow, I've been away from my blog for sometime now! The end of the summer and fall is always a busy time for me as my clients try to wrap projects up before the end of the year. I've been working on the fall magazine and annual report for the Museum of Science in Boston, some fun projects for LaLicious including package design for a new scent, redesigned the newsletter for The Meridian School and many other miscellaneous things. I've been working hard on my 2011 mailer which will be a little different than the past couple of years—more details to come!

Besides all of that, one big project I'm really happy to share is the identity and branding I developed for Tilia Natural Health, a new naturopathic clinic in Seattle that opened it's doors in October. In the information gathering phase, I put together some image boards (see previous entry) which helped drive the look and feel of the branding. Some of the key words the brand needed to convey were: caring, professional, sustainable, creative, modern, bold, confident, friendly, attentive and approachable.

Tilia is a type of tree whose flowers and leaves are used medicinally—if you visit the office you will be welcomed with a hot cup of Tilia tea. I knew that the plant should be heavily featured in the branding while keeping it fresh and modern. I drew all of the pieces of the plant by hand and used them create the pattern which is used on the back of the business card, letterhead footer, notecard and postcards.

The application of the Tilia brand was applied to the new space (which was a complete remodel) by the talented Laura Zeck of Zinc Interior Concepts. She did a great job taking the brand elements and translating it to a warm, welcoming and modern space that totally matched my vision.