Interns!

So unfortunately, this week, my intern was back. Most people don't refer to an intern as unfortunate, but in my situation, my intern is 2. And this week, she had a stomach bug. That's a whole lot of unfortunate.

Oh, she tried to make it look like she was working...



But she always had her eye out for me,



And whenever she thought I wasn't looking, this would happen:



See, nobody told her that that is NOT graphic designer Barbie, so she made no contribution whatsoever to my workload this week.

However, I can happily report that the intern is feeling much, MUCH better and will report back to her day job tomorrow. So starting tomorrow, I will be intern-less.

And, she tells me, she'll be taking her Barbies with her.

Literally running for life

This year I'm so excited to be participating in my first Relay for Life. For those not in the know, Relay for Life is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society:

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

I know both survivors, and people who--unfortunately--have succumbed to this terrible disease; including both of my grandmothers. It's scary for me to think that we've come so far in modern medicine, however, we have yet to find a cure for a disease that takes so many lives each year. I'm not one to use my blog/social media to go around asking for money--but I feel really strongly about this cause.

Won't you please support my efforts in Relay for Life? Make a donation to my team here.

Thank you so much; not just from me, but from every person touched by cancer.

Panic! At the Design Studio

You know how sometimes, you wake up in the morning, and you're all OH. EM. GEE. I AM SO STRESSED OUT. And then the stress just gets to you, and it builds. Like, a lot. And by 10AM you've convinced yourself that you are completely insane for running your own business, and what on earth are you going to do there is so much stuff to be done, and my God you are a fool for not working at all last night.

Then, you start with the little things on your list. Knock a couple of those off. Then maybe you get a medium sized thing just about done before 5:00 rolls around. Then you realize it's Friday, and your to do list is looking significantly less intimidating, and oh yeah, you have a date with your husband in a few hours.

Maybe then you'll plan to work for a few hours this weekend, get a jump start on next week.

And then you'll realize that your clients are not all running for the hills. Things aren't so bad. In fact, things are actually pretty good. Then you smile to yourself and think, Man, I am so LUCKY to have my own business.

Because this is exactly how I felt on Friday.

Anyone else? Bueller?

What Not to Wear: traciedesigns edition

OK, let's face it: I've always been into art and fashion. At one time in my life--in grade school--these paths crossed, and I spent most of recess not running around like the other kids, but sitting outside with my back against the wall designing outfits. I had a whole composition book filled with them (God, I wish I had kept that!).

Of course, that phase didn't last much past the 5th grade. And while I'm not designing my own clothes, I still have a big interest in fashion--I think, for a work at home mom, I can be pretty stylish (if I do say so myself).

Well that thought lasted up until about yesterday at 2:00.

Because yesterday, I had a meeting with a potential new client--a fashion designer who is looking to get back into the biz--and let me tell you, yesterday, in my J. Crew cargo pants, what I thought was a great shirt, and what I thought were even better sparkly sandals (sidebar: I love me some sparkly shoes these days!), I have never felt less fashionable in my life.

Because remember Laura Bennett, from Project Runway? She may as well have opened the door to greet me the other day. Black symmetrical flow-y, awesome top, black leggings, black loafers that I could sell to put one of the kids through college. Thrown together fabulousness.

I, on the other hand, felt like a prime candidate for What Not to Wear: Work at Home mom edition.

Don't get me wrong, the potential new client said or did NOTHING to make me feel like that (well, except for being fabulous); and also, I am SUPER WAY EXCITED to work on this project because she showed me some sketches and fabric samples yesterday, and one word comes to mind: drool.

Definitely not work at home mom apparel. But definitely apparel that work at home moms can wear when they go out for a night on the town and want others--men and women alike--to drool over them.

So, note to self when meeting this woman again: less J. Crew, more Barneys. I wonder if this is becoming a write-off...

Friday Fun

I'd like to end the week with not the usual wrap up (cause you all know what I did this week), but rather, on a very light note: Jon Stewart--who, the more I watch, the more he is becoming my hero--taking on Apple.

As you head towards the weekend, I'll leave you with this awesome quote:

"Microsoft was supposed to be the evil one. But now you guys are busting down doors in Palo Alto, while Commandant Gates is ridding the world of mosquitos! What the f*ck is going on??!"

3-2-1-GO!

The bad news: it's been a while.

The good news: It's been a while, because I've been super busy!

I've been working incredibly hard on a new site, and I'm happy to say that it LAUNCHED YESTERDAY! Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mindy's Meals on Heels.

Mindy knows how to throw a party--looking H-O-T, by the by--and came to me this winter looking for a small website to go with her lifestyle and entertaining company (and hopefully soon to be published book!). Recipes, party menus, entertaining tips... Mindy has got it going on. Her recipes are to die for--seriously, I like to bake, but I've never baked a cake that wasn't from a box. Mindy's recipe totally rocked.

Plus, hello? Meals on HEELS??! If this website wasn't speaking to me, well, I don't know what would.

So go check out Mindy's Meals on Heels--but, don't say I didn't warn you: Don't do it on an empty stomach.

Weekly wrap up

This was like, week of excitement, people. So many good + exciting news/projects, it's nearly killing me. If you follow me on Twitter (and if not, hello?? Why not??), you'll know that a few weeks ago, one of my BFFs got engaged, and another had a baby. Well, this week several friends and clients are following their lead: one friend/client announced her engagement, and 2 friends announced they have babies on the way.

And if that's not enough excitement, a totally separate friend/client has some may-jah business news that will come to fruition in June. And I couldn't be happier for her.

And all that excitement is all just on a personal level.

Let's dive into work now, shall we?



This is a little tease of a website that I'm currently working on. Hello? There are shoes in that there image. 'Nuff said.

Also, one of my first clients, ever--who also happens to be a friend (notice how I refer to all my clients as my friends. Tells you something about the people I work with) is working on updating her website in a HUGE way. I feel a bit like my baby is growing up!

Keeping with the excitement theme, let's get to the construction update. Folks, it's been a while since I've updated on this front, but the house construction is moving along quite nicely.



As you can see, the outside of the house looks finished (oh, but come inside and see how we fool everyone). I'm so psyched about the roof, the siding, the windows... pretty much everything that keeps the weather OUT of the house.

But let's get down to the most exciting thing of all:



SHOES. WILL. HAVE. HOME. SOON.

Talk about excitement.

If the shoe fits...

Now we all know that I love me some shoes. But I loathe (loathe, loathe, loathe!) shoeboxes. I don't have the space to store my shoes in the boxes they come in; so because I have major environmental guilt, I have turned our cellar into a shoebox land fill--until we actually needed the space. But Puma? Puma wants to see my cellar (and, alright, the rest of the world) freed from shoeboxes:

The bag uses 65% less cardboard than the typical shoebox. Created out of non-woven mesh, the recyclable material requires less work and creates less waste. It has no laminated printing and no tissue paper, it takes up less space than boxes and also weighs less when shipping. It can also can serve as a replacement to the retail bag. According to fuseproject, all of this will result in Puma's reduction in water, energy and diesel consumption from manufacturing by more than 60% a year.

Love it. Shoe companies? Are you listening?

(via Creativity)

I really am alive. No, for real.

Let me tell you, taking just about a week off to lay around and watch soap operas all day can really take a toll on a girl's business, nevermind her blog.

So as seen by my post THIRTEEN DAYS AGO, I did not exactly take an almost week off to watch soap operas. I was forced to take an almost week off due to an ugly case of strep throat; the soaps were just something to distract me from feeling like total crap (it did not work).

Upon feeling better, I had quite the backup of work. So apologies again, dear readers (if there are even any of you left) for the lack of updates, but my goodness, April has not been good to me thus far.

I am digging myself out of the strep hole quite nicely, thankyouverymuch, but it has definitely taken longer than expected. But I hope to be back up and running at full speed by next week at the latest.

So please stay tuned, I promise all sorts of Tracie and design and traciedesigns goodness to come next week.

Ugh. And ugh.

So as if I wasn't stressed out enough with all this construction, and rain (which, by the by, don't mix well. I know--who knew?), Monday morning I got completely knocked over on my butt by what looks and most definitely feels like the flu.

Fabulous.

So apologies to readers and clients alike--hopefully I'll be back to 100% brain function sooner rather than later.

Sketch it out

Originally, when going to college, I was going to be a bad-ass fine arts major. Cause that's what I did, I was an artist: I drew (a lot), and sometimes painted. I wore black. I wrote poetry and watched foreign films--because that's what artists did (right?).

Of course, I was all, forget THAT once somebody handed me a mouse (and keep in mind, we're going back a ways--this all took place when Photoshop 3.0 was out (yeah, it was rad. See below if you don't believe me). There was maybe 10 tools. Now there's stuff like this awesomeness. Nowadays I wish I had more time to draw--like really draw, draw--not just sketch something out. But I digress.




I do like to sketch things out--specifically logos (and a friend just recently recommended I sketch out websites before I design them, too. How did I not think of this on my own??!). Actually--especially in recent years--I won't even think about using a computer to design a logo until I've got a few pages worth of ideas down on paper, with pencil (pen, crayon... heck, sometimes it's marker on a napkin. Hey, I'm still an artist).

So it was with great interest and excitement that I stumbled upon Rohdesign's SXSWi sketchnotes:



Guys, you have to go check out his entire sketchbook from SXSWi--it's so awesome, so inspiring. There's notes, ideas, quotes, and--my personal favorite--fonts as shoes. Also? Guac and chips. Ladies and gentlemen, this cannot be argued with.

In all seriousness, this is so great; and in many ways, more effective than page after page of handwritten--or typed--notes.

Completely awesome, whether you're an artist or not.

(Thanks to the also-awesome Brandflakes for Breakfast for this one)

I heart you, Internet

OK, first let me say that the Internet? It's pretty awesome.

Why, you ask? Because ladies and gentlemen, I am stressed. Stressed to the max. Construction, work, lack of sleep... it's not a good combination. It's not a productive combination. It just downright sucks.

But the internet cheers me up almost instantly. OK, well maybe not the internet--but stuff on the internet. Take Ben Folds (who I think is awesome) and add ChatRoulette (which I think is kind of creepy) and you get 5 minutes of pure wait-what-just-happened-here? Then you watch it again, because, hello? Dude is on ChatRoulette while performing a concert (in Charlotte). Then you realize that the title of the video is Ode to Merton, and you're all who-the-heck-is-Merton? And come to find out it's a dude on his piano, who logs onto ChatRoulette and sings to people.

The Ben Folds version, for your viewing pleasure:



And that totally whacked-out scenario made me forget my stress for about 15 minutes. So thank you Ben Folds. Thank you Merton. And most of all, thank you Internet, for making this all possible.

Weekly wrap up

Well, well, well. Ladies and gentlemen, I am VERY pleased to announce the return of CONSTRUCTION UPDATE to the WWU! That's right--today's wrap up is going to be pretty construction heavy, because , well, it was a construction heavy week.


Day 1: The roof is coming off.


End of Day 1: No roof--but plenty of rain, wind... and as a result: a tarp.


Day 2: Builder and co. hard at work. Love them!


Day 4: Walls!


Day 5: Walls! Floors! And a tarp just in case!

So not only did we have construction excitement (!!!!!!!), but there was a bit of publishing excitement as well: THE BEST OF BUSINESS CARD DESIGN 9 CAME. Dear readers, my work has been published in a book for the SECOND TIME THIS YEAR. Mari the Studio and Glow Gluten Free both are representin' in BoBCD9.

I think I might burst with all of the excitement.

In between excitement, I did do actual work. Lots of stock illustration research for a website I'm working on, and color development for a logo. I met with the super awesome color client today, and she was thrilled with her choices. The perfect way to end the week.

With more excitement.

This weekend I think I might have to tone it down; I'd love to go skiing--God, I love me some spring skiing--but I don't think that's in the cards. We'll see, she says, with a glimmer of--what's that? Oh right--excitement in her eye.

Aprés storm

During the day this past Saturday, and into the night, our little corner of the world experienced quite a storm: torrential rains, screaming winds--it was madness. We ended up losing power for a few hours Saturday night--but we were lucky; many had lost it right through Sunday evening.

Sunday I drove around in the mist documenting some of the fallen trees--it was insane the amount of roads that were blocked. Every road I turned down there was a detour of some sort. Here's some of what I found:


A tangle of police tape, branches and wires.






I love the texture on this fallen tree trunk.






Brookside Drive, Fairfield.






A tangle of fallen wire.



The owner of this house--to add insult to injury--was having his basement pumped as I shot this one. "The lesser of the two problems," he said to me.






In all the destruction, a sign of spring.

Letterpress Love

Yesterday a friend posted this link on my Facebook wall, and then--completely unrelated--I caught Mattio watching the short movie last night (and um, he tweeted that he was completely fascinated by the letterpress machine. Sorry to get all mushy on you guys, but I just fell in love all over again! That's like me saying to him that I was fascinated by NHibernate--and even if I knew what that is, I can guarantee that I will not be fascinated by it [sorry dear]).

Colosseo: Reimagining the Roman Coliseum with type (Canon 7D) from Cameron Moll on Vimeo.

You guys, I have to have this poster. The passion that went into not only designing it, but printing it? It's priceless.

...the artwork was handcrafted character by character, totaling roughly 250 hours of work from start to finish. Characters from the Goudy Trajan and Bembo Pro typefaces form the Coliseum (or Colosseum), also known as today as Colosseo (Italian) and originally known as Amphitheatrum Flavium (Latin).

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Let's get happy

After a week of stress, computer problems, and stressful computer problems, I needed a pick me up. Although this video came out last week (old news!) it still makes me smile--as do most of OK Go's videos.

How could this not make you just a little bit happier?



The Rube Goldberg Machine (or, as we refer to it, big game of Mousetrap) was built by Syyn Labs:

When the rock band OK Go, famous for their viral videos including the spectacular and award winning "treadmills video", wanted to feature a 4-minute long Rube Goldberg Machine in an upcoming video, they tapped Syyn Labs to build it. The requirements were that it had to be interesting, not "overbuilt" or too technology-heavy, and easy to follow. The machine also had to be built on a shoestring budget, synchronize with beats and lyrics in the music and end on time over a 3.5 minute song, play a part of the song, and be filmed in one shot. To make things more challenging still, the space chosen was divided into two floors and the machine would use both.

We had our work cut out for us; every facet of Syyn Labs' expertise was required to meet this tremendous challenge. See the results of this remarkable effort in the video embedded above.

Want more OK Go happiness? Check out the original video for This Too Shall Pass, featuring the Notre Dame marching band... and, oh yeah, filmed live.

Or, watch the video that started it all: Here it Goes Again.

Please stand by...

So you'll notice that last week there was no weekly wrap up. It you're really keen and paying attention, you'll notice there was no nothing on Friday.

After weeks of my computer acting all wonky and buggy, I finally called Mike the Mac Doc and had him come diagnose all the wonkiness and bugginess. Turns out, it was a hard drive issue; as in, I needed a new one.

24 hours and a trip to the Apple Store later, my computer came back, definitely less wonky and buggy, but still not 100% right. Reinstalling, reconfiguring, redoing... Wonky computers take up a lot of time; but once-wonky-now-fixed computers take up even more.

So, here I am, digging out from the mess of a messed up computer. Sorry for the lack of post, and hoping that my machine is finally on the mend...

Day of awesomeness, twitter and fame

Yesterday, I was famous.

Twice.

I know, right? I'm still buzzing about it.

So here's the thing: a few weeks back, I made a new Twitter friend (yep, this is another Twitter post. Sorry, haters. Well, no. Not really). Meg Robustelli, of Fairfield County Child, started following me on Twitter, and liked what I had to say enough that she asked me to be her MomCrush of the month. What's a MomCrush, you ask?

I meet so many cool, inspirational moms here in Fairfield County. Every time I meet a woman who dreams big and puts words into action, I admit it, I develop a little girlcrush. I want to know everything about her and what lead to her success. So I decided to feature one mom a month (my Momcrush) on FCC so that I can spread the word about the cool things she's doing. She might be an entrepreneur, an athlete, an inventor or someone who donates ther valuable time to the less fortunate.

My answer was along the lines of, HELL YEAH! So yesterday my MomCrush post went live on Fairfield County Child, and now I'm sort of famous.

But wait. There's more.

Yesterday I also stumbled upon this super awesome mini film from Oliver Peoples eyewear. It was so adorable, I had to share. So I blogged about it, and then came up with some clever little tweet with a link back to my blog.

You guys, OLIVER PEOPLES RETWEETED MY BLOG LINK.

So, just to recap how totally AWESOME twitter is (and, let's face it, my day yesterday):

Woman with a thriving blog devoted to Fairfield County parents sees my tweets and features me on said blog--not only that but hello? She's got a crush on me.

AND Oliver Peoples exposed my blog to 1500 people that may or may not have ever seen it, because I liked their film enough to tweet the link to my blog, where I wrote about it.

Awe. Some. Ness.

Update: Oh, right. This wouldn't be a proper Twitter post without mentioning everyone's handles: Follow Fairfield County Child, Oliver Peoples, or yours truly.

The children are bored on Sundays

My second or third "design" job out of college was laying out a trade magazine for eyewear. Like any other job, it had it's ups: high fashion photo shoots (that made me feel oh-so-important), MAJOR discounts on glasses; and it's downs: a LOT of grunt work, especially on said photo shoots. But I got some great experience, got to meet and work with some really cool people, and above all, got to see just how much the world of eyewear had to offer.

One of the more fun brands I was exposed to was Oliver Peoples. Recently, Oliver Peoples signed on Elijah Wood and Shirley Manson (of Garbage fame) as the faces of OP. Even more recently, I stumbled upon this 2 1/2 minute OP promo movie starring the two: Les Enfants S'ennuient le Dimanche (The children are bored on Sundays). Filmed by Autumn De Wilde, and set to Just You and Me, by Zee Avi, the movie is quirky, fun and adorable--a great burst of inspiration which immediately brought me right back to my days at the magazine.

Which, in turn, made me feel younger (Thank you, Oliver Peoples).

Weekly wrap up

Whew--this week was a blur. Between the rotten weather (cold rain and snow took over the latter half of the week), and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, this week flew by. Let's get to it.



This week I worked on some logo revisions. The client is looking to keep things simple without the use of an icon; however, I came up with the above icon in our first round--which the client liked but decided against. I, on the other hand, fall in love with it a little more every time I see it--and now I need to use it SOMEWHERE. Hmmm, I'm going to keep thinking about that one...

I also did a lot of image/artist research for a web site I'm working on. I'm so excited--it's a little on the girly side, and let's face it; I am a girly girl. Perfect fit.

Tuesday night my pal Ed Kuyluk (of Right Mind Marketing and Hey Fairfield fame) and my new friend Amy DeLardi (of Infinite Web Design fame) threw an awesome tweet up, called Infinite Mind Share. Those who know me know that I love my social media--especially Twitter. It was so much fun to go out and meet--face to face--friends that I've been chatting with for months via social media. Some really great connections were made; I can't wait for the next one! (March 30th, at the Smart Car Dealership in Fairfield, in case you're wondering. You should stop by and say hi!)



Here I am with Twitter friend Marcy Michaud, and new friend (and artist) Dave Pressler.

I was supposed to have a meeting this AM with a client regarding naming their business, but unfortunately mother nature had other plans. Rescheduled for Monday. I have a bunch of ideas that I'm really excited about to present, so it should be fun.

This weekend I'm going to take advantage of the new snow and go skiing; I'll probably end up doing a little bit of work as well. Monday is my oldest's birthday--she'll be (GASP!) 15. She's a great kid--and I'm not just saying that because I know she reads this (Hi Ash. And Molly)--but I just can't digest that she is 15. She is a middle teenager. I don't even want to know what that makes me.

Next week is the big naming presentation, website design, logo revisions, and the beginning of a logo design project for my friend, and long-time blog reader, Sara with no H. Sara, I am going to rockstar the heck out of your logo.

Happy weekend all!

Photoshop v. Patrick Star

One of my Christmas presents this year was this awesome set of Adobe Creative Suite Coasters (Should you care to own a set of your own, you can order them here). However, in an extra twist of creativity, our 6 year old has renamed them. So Ps doesn't stand for Photoshop, it stands for Patrick Star (from Spongebob).

The entire set, as follows:

PS (Photoshop): Patrick Star

AI (Adobe Illustrator): Ashlee Igloo (Ashlee--our oldest--will be 15 next week. I think the "igloo" part of the name was born from her younger sister just plain trying to annoy her)

ID (InDesign): Ay Dios Mio (Have I mentioned that our 6 year old came up with these?)

DW (Dreamweaver): Daddy Wow

AE (After Effects): Ashlee Elizabeth (which is our oldest's actual name)

Fairfield Ludlowe (Flash): Where Ashlee Igloo (or Elizabeth) goes to school

The coasters are no longer referred to as AI, or PS; but as Ashlee Igloo, and Patrick Star--by the entire family. Actually, when I open up something in Illustrator, I giggle to myself as I think of Ashlee Igloo.

Something tells me that the 6 year old could have a future using these icons as their native applications.

Blogiversary!

3 years ago, on February 19th, the traciedesigns blog came to life (alright, I'm a few days late in celebrating, but let's not get all technical here).

In celebrating my 3 year blogiversary, I thought it would be interesting to see what the traditional 3 year anniversary gift is.

You guys, it's leather (or crystal, or glass. But roll with me here, guys--I can always use a new handbag or shoes. Glass? Notsomuch).





So, if my blog could pick out it's own leather gift, I'm pretty sure it would love these shoes, and this handbag. However, since my blog can't actually wear either of these, I'd happily oblige. Just sayin'.

Bacon: an awesome customer service story

For those not in the know, I am not a fan of bacon. Actually, I'm probably the anti-fan. It's gross. It smells. It's pig fat, people.

Unfortunately, my husband loves the stuff. He's one of bacon's BIGGEST fans.

We've managed to make our biggest difference work--he cooks it when I'm not home; then promptly burns every candle we have while keeping all the windows open. Yes, even in the dead of winter--that stuff smells!

In turn, I buy him bacon, and bacon related products every once in a while. Case in point: his birthday was a few weeks ago, and that called for some bacon. From a site called Bac'n.

Actually, the one thing I did NOT buy from Bac'n was actual bacon. There was some fun novelty stuff (bacon bandages, toothpicks, and a Baconista t-shirt), but no bacon. Until I got a call the day after I placed the order.

You guys, Bac'n called me.

Long story short, something happened to damage my original package, and something in the original order was out of stock and would hold up the order for a few days. As a result, Bac'n was offering me a gift. "Pick something out," they said, "free of charge."

Awesome. If you like bacon. Also awesome if the gift recipient isn't standing 2 feet away. Neither of which applied to me.

The poor guy on the other line. I said, "Why don't you just surprise me?"

To which he replied, "How about some bacon?" (of course)

"Sure," I said.

Then, he asked what kind. Hold the phone--bacon comes in FLAVORS??!

Oh this poor guy--all he wanted to know was what flavor of bacon he could give me, and between my utter ignorance, and the fact that Mattio's ears have completely perked, I could give him nothing. He threw a flavor out there, and I quickly agreed.

So the Bac'n came today. And Mattio was thrilled.



To the Bac'n guy I talked to? I'm so sorry I'm a total bacon flake. Your generosity is much appreciated--especially by my better half, bacon's (and now Bac'n's) biggest fan.

Wednesday Wrap up

Wait--wha? What happened to weekly?

Sorry for the curveball, folks--it's been a while since my last post, and I never properly wrapped up last week. Plus, this Friday I'm sneaking off to the slopes--Shhhh. Don't tell.

Last week was actually pretty uneventful; I worked on a website that I thought was going to go live, but I still have a few eensie changes to make to it. If not the end of this week, then I'm really hoping for next week. It's been a while in the making, and I love the client to death and want her to have a proper website, not just a placeholder. Plus, you know, I kind of like it.

This week: Monday was a great day, because I got stuff done like nobody's business. It was actually a bunch of little things, but they were taking up way too much room on my Teux Deux list. Monday night I went to the inaugural New Media Haven event--it was... interesting. I actually met my friend Koleen there, as well as my pals from Elements. The event was billed as:

...the first ever New Media Haven at Black Bear Saloon! The event is the first of its kind in the New Haven area and will bring all techies, creative’s, entrepreneurs and anyone who is interested in the digital space together, someplace other than Twitter!

It was really a networking event (good) with the 2 guys who put it together doing short presentations on their companies (not so good). I had a good time with my friends, got a few new business cards (and handed mine out as well), connected with some other social media friends, and ended the night enjoying some hummus (not the bacon variety) with Koleen at Claire's Corner Copia.

Yesterday I had a good first round logo presentation for a home accessories curator/interior designer. I got some good, solid feedback and am currently working on round two refinements. I also... got a new client!

Which leads me to today: today I was all city-chic, meeting said new client in the West Village (where I have never felt more suburban in my life!). The project is a website/blog design... and it has to do with... are you ready? FOOD. AND. SHOES. Seriously. I'm not too sure there's a more perfect match up out there.

Tomorrow brings more networking in the AM, then some website refinements before I close up shop for a bit of a long weekend. Tomorrow is also my version of Friday. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Don't go breakin' my heart

So, truth be told, I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day. It's just another day, in my book. However, there are millions of people that choose to spend obscene amounts of money keeping the greeting card/chocolate/flower industries in business celebrate their love for one another; so my friends, this post is for you.

First up: If I'm going to send an e-greeting, it's definitely going to be one of these adorable ones courtesy of kate spade.



Next: Normally, I'm not about posting Republican rantings on the blog, but this made me giggle: GOP e-Valentines (which I will not be sending). They're so lame, they're laughable. Example: "You won't see this Valentine's Day card on C-SPAN." Oooooh, way to insult.

Also? Nice font, Republicans.

Finally: Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit of Under Consideration/Brand New fame, have been given the task of redesigning Valentine's Day. Now see? This is a Valentine's Day project I can get behind. New icon, less cheese, and we get to keep the chocolate. I'm all about keeping the chocolate.



I hope that your Valentine's Day, should you celebrate it, is full of beautiful design, love and chocolate.

And if you could, save some chocolate for me.

Not so Super at Mario Brothers

Yesterday was a snow day--for the children. Unfortunately, when your office doubles as your home, you can't exactly say you're not going to risk life and limb on snowy roads to come into work--people just don't buy that.

The problem with yesterday being a snow day for the children is that our house is roughly half the size it used to be, due to our impending construction. So there wasn't a lot of places they could go. Which would be fine if there wasn't 2 adults trying to work. Once our 2 year old got up from her nap, I just gave up--she clearly had other plans and they involved her mother not working.

Her latest fixation? Watching someone play the Wii. Her latest Wii fixation? Super Mario Brothers.

So yesterday afternoon, I got to play "Mario Brothers"--as she refers to it. And she sat on one side of me, and our 6 year old sat on the other side, and they were in their glory:

2 year old: "Watch out for those guys, mommy!"

6 year old: "Mom, I can't believe you died again. Maybe you should go to an easier level. Or just skip this one.

2 year old: "Watch out for those guys, mommy!"

6 year old: "Mom, there's got to be an easier way for you to get to the castle. You should try the easier way."

And so it went, for a little while anyway. I have to admit, as frustrating as the game is--and if you couldn't tell, I'm not that good--it's a good way to release stress.

Especially since my desk--piled with all the work I wasn't doing--was 3 feet away.

Smorgasboard

Stuff I found floating around the internets today...

"Refreshed" MTV logo: "Music Television" tagline was dropped.



Apparently, after years of non-music programming, their logo has finally caught up to the station itself. Also? Now they can customize it with Jersey Shore cast members.



In other things of note: if I had a barcode, I would definitely want this one:



Vanity barcodes? Yeah, they rock.

And finally, I. NEED. This. Chair:



Seen at anthropologie. Soon to be seen somewhere at traciedesigns HQ.

(MTV logo news via HOWblog. Vanity Barcodes via SwissMiss)

Oh, right. This.

There are 2 things that I love about the Super Bowl: every SB Sunday we go skiing. Everyone else is home, watching 20 hours of pregame, making wings, or doing whatever it is that one does to prepare for such a monumental game. So it's great because there are virtually no lift lines, and the mountain is pretty empty. Thank you, football.

The second great thing? The ads.

The standouts (in my opinion):



While I don't necessarily think that a Snickers bar is the way to go if you're looking for energy, the commercial is great. Plus, really: Betty White and Abe Vigoda? Awesome.




Nobody really needs an ad to tell us what Google does; however, the execution of this one was great. The only other way I think they could have done it was to say, "We help you find stuff online. Duh."




I have a special place in my heart for VW; their advertising has always been a little quirky, and I like that. While I did like the Das Auto ads, I think I'm going to enjoy the Punch Dub campaign just as much. Also? We still play the punchbuggy game in my car. It's pretty much a rule.


I actually didn't see all the ads--I grew pretty bored with all that football stuff in between commercials--but from what I saw, those were definitely my faves.

My least favorites? Well, I think a very special BOO! goes out to Sketchers (really, Sketchers? You spent all that money, and that's the best that you can do?) and GoDaddy (Yes, GoDaddy, sex sells. We get it. Perhaps next time, though, you don't have to be so sleazy about it).

Wanna see more SB ads? Check out YouTube's AdBlitz.

Weekly wrap up

Not much to wrap up this week, I'm afraid. Spent a lot of time working on a food logo (my favorite), a little bit of time working on a brochure, and a decent amount of time being a Wordpress superstar (let's just say we're using the term "superstar" very loosely here).

Construction updates are being discontinued until there's actual construction to be updated on. Unfortunately--and I knew this would happen--builders aren't very partial to working in the snow and rain. So Mother Nature--and I can't believe I'm quoting Dr. Evil here--can you throw me a frickin' bone?

This weekend will be spent catching up on some little nagging things, and skiing on Sunday.

Happy weekend, all!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Government Printing Office

Yesterday was budget day (!); the day when the President Obama releases his proposed spending plan to Congress. Quite frankly, I can't imagine that it is an interesting read... (oh come on, it's numbers. And a lot of them) but I do find it interesting how the budget came together. No, not how Obama put the budget together... how the *printer* put the budget together (hint: it's not done at Kinkos).

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Robert Tapella, the "public printer of the United States" (um, cool job title? check). In these 4 short videos, Robert explains how the Government Printing Office (motto: Keeping America Informed) works, how the budget is put together, how sometimes there actually is a need to go to Kinkos, and how nobody gets their mitts on the budget before it's released.

Huh, I wonder if the government ever does any spot varnishing?

Weekly wrap up

Wow. This week was dizzying.

Construction update: We have lumber. That's something, right? Right??!

Work update: Lots going on: 2 brochures; 1 which is going to print first thing next week. Lots of website updates (not mine. Insert whining here). Fantastic logo approval--yay! Round 2 logo designs + meeting for a completely separate logo. Oh, and a new business meeting at--are you ready for this?--a BROWNIE factory.

It was pretty much what I envisioned heaven to be like.

To do: This weekend, it is not only Mattio's birthday (Whee!), but it's also both my parents' as well. So there's going to be lots of cake (insert lots of happiness here). Tonight we are dining with zoesmom and friends, tomorrow night is birthday madness, and Sunday could be ski day, if it's not too, too cold.

Enjoy your weekend!

Want.

365 Typefaces, from 180 designers and foundries, in 30 countries, for 2010.

Yes, I need to order the Typodarium font calendar before it gets any later in the year.

New work!

Late last year, I was referred to a local real estate team who were looking for a logo. We met, they threw a bunch of adjectives at me--the most consistent being "Barney's. We want to look like Barney's." and I left that meeting with a new project.

Challenge accepted.

First rounds:


Normally I'm not a big helvetica fan in logos, but here it just worked. Plus I was showing them like, 6 other logos that weren't helvetica.



It wasn't easy coming up with variations on their initials with out it reading MD, as in doctor. But I think this mark worked.



The ladies are Westport-based, so I thought I would try adding something Westport-y: the Saugatuck bridge railings.



When I first got this project, I was all kinds of excited about the endless ampersand possibilities. I quickly became overwhelmed by said endless ampersand possibilities.



A door-type icon, that, well, opened up so many doors...



Fancy-pants ampersand incorporation #1...



...and #2.


Each woman liked different logos, for different reasons. the one they agreed on? Version 1. A little tweaking and color, and voila! A logo is born:



It's kind of hard to see online, but the last m in Miriam and the d in Dee are a shade darker than the rest of the letters; which lends itself nicely to the icon:



As I said earlier, while I love, love, love helvetica, I don't always love it in logo form; but here, it works. I think this gives them the fresh, modern yet timeless--and most important--overall Barney's look that they were going for.

Next up: working on incorporating the new logo into their website and print materials, as well as developing a fun, fresh color palette.

I love projects like this!

Weekly wrap up

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that this week (well, Wednesday, anyway) stuff. Got. Done. Let's get to it:

Construction update: None. Sigh.

Work update: THISclose to finalizing a math website I'm working on. Yeah, that's right. I said math. Look, I'm not doing the actual math, just designing the site for those who choose to do it. Don't go all freaking out.

Also: had a great first round critique of some logos I worked on for a sandwich-type place. Got some great feedback, and I'm really excited to get going on some revisions so they are client-ready. I built a website, which should be going live next week (actually, if all goes as planned, I'm hoping to have 3--that's right, three--websites go live next week). I'm also juggling 2 brochures for Hospital for Special Surgery. I expect any moment to get my honorary degree in either hips or knees.

This weekend, I'll actually be working most of tomorrow. But don't worry, I'll be playing slope-side all day Sunday to make up for it. In the meantime, this week has taken it's toll on me; I'm very much looking forward to spinning away my stresses tonight, followed by dinner and drinks with Mattio and friends. He needs it just as much as I do.

Looks Good to Me, Too

I happened upon a new blog this week: Looks Good to Me (tagline: Things that look good, sound good, feel good & taste good). I really like it--it's very fashion-focused, but not in a severe-Vogue kind of way.



But I think the thing I like best about it are the quirky watercolors that adorn each post. It's one thing to have a fashion-y blog, it's quite another to really personalize it with these adorable paintings.

Bonus points: Blog author Caroline actually sells her prints. I'm thinking about getting one, because they're so darn cute. Bet you can't guess which one I've got my eye on?

I heart Crayola

Have I ever told you that I love crayons? Ok, well, technically, I'm a crayon snob because really? I only love Crayolas (the original Binney & Smith, thankyouverymuch). Down to the smell (A Yale University study found that the smell of Crayola crayons is one of the most recognizable scents for adults, ranking at number 18, trailing coffee and peanut butter that were number one and two respectively, but beating out cheese and bleach which placed at 19 and 20." Thank you, Wikipedia), there is nothing I don't love about a Crayola crayon.

So since this was all over Twitter the other day, and since I'm a sucker for Crayola crayons and all, I had to share:



The number of Crayola colors doubles every 28 years.

Bonus: in the original Weathersealed post, the author talks about feeling like a dinosaur. Which made for a nice segue from yesterday, don't you think?

Guess what? You're old.

Today a colleague called me old.

Allow me to explain: We were talking about the word fresh. Fresh as in, "These vegetables are really fresh." However, growing up, I remember my mother and grandmother using the word fresh to describe a smart mouth. As in, "Don't you get fresh with me." This colleague very nicely tried to explain that fresh meaning naughty was an older term, and kids today (which should have been my first clue) might not get it. When he couldn't come up with the right words, he finally looked at me and said, "we're old."

Then, this afternoon, I came across this: Timeline Twins, Music and Movies. The teaser really grabbed me:

If Back to the Future were made today, Marty would have travelled back in time to 1980.

Boy, talk about making a girl feel old.

Listening to Michael Jackson's Thriller today is equivalent to listening to Elvis Presley's first album (1956) at the time of Thriller's release in 1982.

Say what??!

I'm not going to go spilling my age (there's just no need for that), but let's just say I'm old enough to remember listening to Thriller when it came out.

I'm not sure of the point of this post, except that misery loves company. Read the rest of Timeline Twins, and feel a little older with me.

Weekly wrap up

This week began and ended with illness; with some illness thrown in the middle for good measure. A nasty little stomach bug took 3 out of 5 of us down this week, in addition to one annoying head cold. But, fair readers, illness could try and stop us, but it can't keep us down. Here's the traciedesigns weekly wrap up:

Construction update: Sadly, none. Builder stopped by earlier this week (hopefully avoiding all the germs) and said perhaps next Monday, weather permitting, of course. So you can be absolutely sure that it is going to snow like a mother out there 1 week from Monday. You heard it here first. Also? Sorry 'bout that.

Work update: Logo for CFO approved! Yay! Onto business cards. Also worked on a dental logo, saw a fair amount of crappy dental sites (dentists: call me), did some research for another food logo--my favorite--and worked on some hospital materials.

Cool work update: Guys, brace yourselves: I'm a little more famous than I was before. I am a published woman! I found out that 2 of my logos were published in Basic Logos. I found this out via email, letting me know that because my logos are in the book, I got a free copy.

But I had to pay for shipping.

Which was 20 Euros.

But totally worth it. The 2 logos?


Saturnia (Which sadly, I found out recently, is no longer in business)


and Mari the Studio (Which is still very much in business. And if you are looking for a rockin' cut and color, you'd best see her)

So that is definitely reason to celebrate. But unfortunately, we won't be celebrating tonight, as this stomach bug insists on hanging around.

Next week on the to do list: Food logos--and lots of 'em (oh, and celebrating my fame. Duh). Happy weekend!

Stuff I love

I love this new graphic print from Coach. Not sure how I feel about it on the purse (your welcome, Mattio), but the print itself makes my day.

Remember this?

With the much-anticipated Apple Tablet unveiling at the end of the month, there's been much hoopla over what exactly the tablet is going to be. Is it going to be like a mini-MacBook? Or a large iPhone?

Then I read an interesting article that points out that Apple does not take what they already have and improvs on it; they reinvent it. Revolutionize it.

Buried in the comments was a link to the unveiling of the iPod, 9 years ago. It's pretty amazing to see how far we've come in just 9 short years.



"The biggest thing about the iPod is that it holds a THOUSAND songs." Remember when that was a lot? :)