Designer’s Blog

A different medium

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:46:42 -0400

Anyone who knows me in person knows that I cannot keep my fingernails clean. Even just walking from the house to the studio, I constantly have my fingers in the dirt: weeding, nibbling a fresh strawberry (if I can keep the voles away from them), or deadheading the flowers.   My current garden obsession is how to combine typography and gardening. Aside from the obvious use of beautiful plant ID tags and signage, the links above will take you to some folks who have taken the combination of gardens and graphic design to whole new lengths. Inspiring!

The growth of a city

Tue, 1 May 2012 08:18:00 -0400

One of my favorite design challenges in art school was creating a pop-up illustration of a scene from Alice in Wonderland. I like to think that I’m not *too* obsessed with staying within the lines, but in paper engineering – the technical term for the construction (vs. illustration) part of creating a pop-up book – you can’t have random pieces that stick outside of the book’s margins once it’s closed, or they’ll surely get knocked off. Try it sometime; it’s a lot harder than you think (and I have to admit: my illustration was successful, minus two little feathers on the helmet of one of the card guards. Sooo close!) 
So anyway, I just stumbled upon a pop-up book that shows how urban development happens, page by page. A church pops up, followed by a few houses, followed by, well...growth. Popville, by Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud just made it to the top of my list of books to buy. Love the bright, bold palette, retro graphics, and the whole concept. Consider me charmed.

I have a designer girl-crush

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:06:13 -0400

Even when I was a teenager (when it wouldn’t have been creepy to do so), I was never the kind to hang photos of my celebrity crush on the wall. I wish I could say that I had posters by Paul Rand or Paula Scher in my bedroom, but I’ll take comfort in the fact that I veered more towards Picasso or Van Gogh reproductions, rather than Johnny Depp or Antonio Banderas.  That said, I am considering buying a poster of Jessica Hische’s work for the studio. Ithink I might have a designer crush on this extraordinarily talented Brooklyn-based designer and typographer. Her clean design sense and *impressive* client roster has put her up on a (well-designed) pedestal in my mind.  Be sure to check out her very clever use of the URL when you look at her site!  http://jessicahische.is/awesome/

It’s a good thing when you’re just too busy to blog, right?!

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 20:36:22 -0500

There’s a family story about a one-and-a-half year-old me, sitting in my high chair with a crayon in my chubby little fist, doodling intricate circles and swirls for an hour at a time.

Although I am still capable of drawing intricate, neat little swirls, too often my sketches these days are about explaining a concept to a client, capturing a moment, or getting down an idea before the light changes, the person moves, or the animal wakes up.

This might partially explain my recent fascination with
Winsor McCay, the early 20th century illustrator and animator who not only created extraordinarily intricate worlds in his comics, but also influenced two of my favorite illustrators of all time: Maurice Sendak and Bill Watterson (yes, *that* Bill Watterson...I will arm wrestle anyone who tells me that Calvin and Hobbes wasn’t pure genius).

Follow the link to read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay

Another reason why Stefan Sagmeister  is my hero.

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:01:53 -0500

Given the fact that I’ve been too busy lately to even update my blog, this particular post seems particularly appropriate.

I’ve successfully run my business for over two and a half years now, and I’m loving every minute of it. But lately, I’m feeling the pull of a little time off to recharge. And I don’t mean my quick, semi-annual trips to Colorado to soak up family time (and soon, to meet my new nephew!). I mean the kind of time off that lets your brain relax...or expand. That introduces you to new ways of living and new kinds of people. Basically, I’m talking about getting outta Dodge. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll tell you right now, dear friends: come mid-February, I will not be in my studio. I will be somewhere, experiencing the power of time off.

Designer’s Blog

A different medium

The growth of a city

I have a designer girl-crush

It’s a good thing when you’re just too busy to blog, right?!

Another reason why Stefan Sagmeister is my hero.

Another reason why Stefan Sagmeister  is my hero.