Stay tuned...

I've been a little negligent when it comes to updating my blog, but trust me I'm not slacking off—I'm just busy with work! Currently I'm partnering with a design firm on the East Coast which has been keeping me busy with an 70 page anthology and a 36 page magazine. Hope to have those wrapped up in the next couple of months so I can share them. Also, I'm happy to say that the signage system I designed for Bertschi School will be installed any day now—so once it's in, I'll photograph the results and blog about that fun project. More to come...

Green Your Halloween!

It's hard to believe but October is right around the corner—the grey skies and changing leaves guarantee it. So if you're like me, you're already thinking about carving pumpkins and getting visits by cute (and sometimes spooky) trick-or-treaters. Green Halloween, a local organization and a program of Treeswing, is thinking about it too and wants you to consider giving out other fun stuff instead of candy. I know how crazy that sounds, being someone who is mildly obsessed (ok, majorly obsessed with chocolate), but trust me—your kids and their parents will thank you! Last year we went with the the Green Halloween plan and handed out stickers, play-doh and temporary tatoos and the kids were thrilled. I recently designed this Green Halloween action kit which is full of ideas, recipes and other fun stuff to get your family on-board. Hope you have a happy (and healthy) Halloween!

KCSARC: End the silence

Mark your calendars for another worthy cause on the horizon for 2009: KCSARC's annual 'Kids Are Our Business' breakfast on Tuesday, February 24th. This one is their 20th anniversary and will be an opportunity to hear moving testimonies of how they have helped many sexual assault victims in the King County area. This is the second year that I've designed their event materials and again, the artwork is created by one of the children they have helped. For more information, visit their website here.

Treeswing

Did you know that 1 in 3 children is overweight? Or that obesity will soon top tobacco as the most preventable cause of death? Scary news, isn't it? That's why a local non-profit is doing everything it can to get the message out that eating healthy and being active are crucial to the lives of our children.

I recently partnered with Treeswing to develop and design their new donor materials. Their existing brand was extended to the gatefold brochure along with new images that convey the spirit and energy of the organization's mission: to help kids lead healthy, active lives. We printed the piece on an environmentally friendly stock, Mohawk Via pc cool white which is 100% post consumer waste paper manufactured using wind-generated electricity.

Upcycling cuteness

What do you do when you've created something you really like, but the client doesn't? Use it for something else to make something new or as some folks would say: upcycle it! I took an illustration I recently created for a client and used it for my favorite one-year-old's birthday card.