Type Monday

Looking for new fonts is my second favorite thing to do, ever (second only to buying new shoes, DUH). So new logo projects mean that I'm scouring the font shops, looking for the perfect, shiny new font.

So guess who has a new logo project?

And guess who found the prettiest, shiniest, newest font EVER? Ladies and gentlemen, meet Brownstone:



After immediately falling in love, I looked to see who was the brilliant designer behind this gorgeousness. Surprise, surprise, it's Alejandro Paul--one of my favorites.

Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Friday LOLs

Baby carrots. Have you not seen this? Because it's baby carrots. And it's a riot.

Baby carrots (like, the mini, 2 bites and your done carrots) are being marketed like junk food. Extreme graphics, sex, loud music, and of course, a great sense of humor, are making baby carrots the go-to snack.

Baby carrots ("Eat 'em like junk food"), people.

Love it.

PS You can even follow them on Twitter (of course you can! They're baby carrots!).

I'm like, a winner

Some days, life is great. Others? Well, other days you have a crap night's sleep, which results in tiredness and crankiness most the day. Other days you have a raging headache and Advil is taking it's sweet ole' time working. Other days can leave you tired, stressed, and broken.

I thought today was one of those "other" days.

Then I got the mail.

American Graphic Design Awards in the H O U S E ! That's right, if anything wakes me up, takes my headache away, and calms me down, it's winning an award (or 2).

I'm so happy (and awake, and feeling good, and not stressed) to announce that 2 of my logos just picked up 2010 American Graphic Design Awards. Holla!

First up, Objects (which, if you're keeping track, has already won a CT Art Director's Club Award of Excellence):



And the Hey Fairfield logo won as well!



I'm so psyched--this has made my day--no wait, my week!

Paint swatch awesome for your feet

Oh Converse, how I heart you.

Chuck Taylor and I have had a thing going for quite some time. Plaid, flannel, velvet, or just plain black canvas (the current pick); Chuck Taylor All Stars have been in my life for years and years and years. We love them so much that it's become back to school tradition for the children all to get a new pair of Chucks in September. I love the teenager's pick:



But when buying them, I came across these (PRODUCT) RED paint swatch shoes that I love, love, love:



The hi-tops also come in red, and the lo-tops come in green. It's hard to find a pair of Converse that I don't like; but these? These are pretty awesome.

Un-Labor Day

This weekend, like the rest of the country, Mattio and I celebrated working by taking time off. It was wonderful.

Friday night we celebrated by going out to dinner (and cocktails) with friends we don't see nearly as often as I would like. Saturday night brought dinner (and more cocktails!) with friends that I'm glad we get to see as often as we do. Sunday afternoon brought an last-minute dinner invitation from another set of friends. And yes, there were cocktails.

Because both we both work from home, it's really, really hard to take time off--if only because the computer is always there. We live in a digital society where 9-5--in our case--isn't the norm. We put in our daily hours, but more often than not, after the kids are in bed, there's another couple of hours spent working. And very rarely does a weekend go by without us putting in a little more time at "the office." It doesn't really interrupt our lives too much (Saturday nights--remember, we have kids--and Sunday mornings are great times to knock out a few things)--but it's there, the work on the weekends.

We're both very fortunate in that we enjoy what we do for a living, so working "after hours" doesn't really bring too many complaints. But sometimes, you need to step away. Sometimes, you have to take the weekend off. Sometimes, you have to un-labor.

And that's just what we did this weekend. And it felt good.

Friday LOLs

There's a horse in the Apple Store: Frank Chimero's hysterical take on... well, a small pony in an Apple store. And like, nobody's noticing it:

I think, “Why?” What is the villain here that blinds all of these people to this situation? Am I nuts for thinking this is exceptional? Does anyone else see this? Did I accidentally drop acid and not realize? I must take a photo. I must verify later, when I’m not potentially tripping balls.

I think, “Would they notice if it were a tiger?” Or a lamb? Or an anaconda? What would it take to shake the haze from around their eyes? A sale sign? A new iPod Touch? Would they notice a new iPod Touch?

Are they just divinely focused? Are they meditating in a retail environment? Are they distracted by something shiny? There is so much shiny in the Apple Store. Is it enough to distract everyone from the little tiny horse that is at the Genius Bar?

Happy Friday, friends--and happy long weekend!

5 years old

It's been a busy week here at traciedesigns HQ: all interns headed back to school today, so this week was crazy with back to school shopping for the right shoes, clothes, and--oh yes--school supplies. Routine has finally come back into our lives, and we are embracing it fully.

But the other big thing about this week is that it is my 5 year anniversary. Five years ago this week, I left the comfort of a full-time job, a steady paycheck, an office with other people in it; and started my freelance career.

In the 5 years I have been on my own, I have:

--found some pretty cool new friends and clients;

--worked on projects the I might not have had the opportunity to, had I stayed working for someone else;

--won some pretty cool awards working on those projects;

--did I mention meet some pretty cool new friends and clients?

--had another baby

--worked in my dining room, my bedroom, back to the dining room, my parent's house, back to my bedroom, and finally (finally!), after 5 years, just last week I got my own office;

--had 2 different computers;

--never once stolen office supplies from myself;

--had 3 different interns (alright, full disclosure: there's a bit of nepotism going on here at traciedesigns. I don't know if you noticed, but I only hire my children as interns);

--the cool friends and clients (hey, they're worth mentioning a bunch, since they're the reason I'm still doing this flying solo thing)

I'm so happy to be doing what I love to do, work with people I love to work with. Here's to 5 more years of awesomeness!

Brushes with fame (and 2 degrees from Simon LeBon!)

You guys, sit down: I had a total brush with fame this weekend.

See, there's this band that I'm starting to love, love, love--the Limousines. Their first release, Very Busy People--love it. It's totally catchy and what I thought was a good song to work out to. Well, hold the phone, because their next release? Might just be my favorite song EVER right now: Internet Killed the Video Star. It's catchy, jumpy, totally makes me want to dance. So naturally I downloaded it off the ole' iTunes, and proceeded to jump around my kitchen whilst doing the dishes (which makes the doing the dishes WAY more fun. Also, note to self: get some sort of curtain for kitchen window. Hello, embarrassing). I love this song so much, that I tweeted about it.

And you guys, the guy from the Limousines tweeted back.



Since it's a 2-man band, technically half the band tweeted me back. SQUEAL!

Of course, at first I'm like, this is a total robot response--so I check out his twitter feed. Um, no--this guy is tweeting all over the place. He actually responded to my tweet!

So, of course that makes me super way happy, and since I love, love, love their music anyway, I went and bought their album.

Oh, and hello? According to Wikipedia (and when are they not right? Oh--nevermind...), the Limousines opened for DURAN DURAN.

You guys, that is like, TWO DEGREES from Simon LeBon.

Inspirations

So I just came home from an AIGA-sponsored breakfast event with the very funny, very charming Alexander Isley. Alex is an incredibly talented and accomplished graphic designer (and youth soccer coach. But "he is a better designer than he is a youth soccer coach." Amazing what you find out in people's online bios) out of Ridgefield, and today he spoke about what inspires him. His great talk was peppered with things like his mother's copywriting portfolio, Spy Magazine (which he was the art director for), books, posters, and awesome advice ("be terrified."). It was awesome AND inspiring.

It led to a discussion in which people talked about what inspired them, and what inspired them to be who and what they are today. My friend Donna talked about a book report cover that she designed in grade school (that was thoroughly rejected by her teacher), another attendee spoke about the path that led him to photography.

My path to graphic design wasn't a simple, oh, today I'll be a graphic designer. Did I want to go into the arts? Absolutely. Was graphic design an option? Not for me. But due to a financial decision, I ended up in Greenwich (it was SO NOT that kind of Greenwich financial decision. Ironic that I ended up there, though), at a school where my classes were chosen for me, and at the end of the program I would be a graphic designer. The appeal was all of the fine arts classes; originally, I wanted to go into fine art and be this starving (but not really), tortured artist who lived in a loft and wore a lot of black and was just FABULOUS. The program started with drawing, painting, a ton of figure study--everything that appealed to my starving (but not really), tortured artist. Towards the end of the program, the computer was introduced; and I realized what a great medium it was (and is), and how much I enjoyed creating on it.

This morning, at the breakfast, someone asked my friend about her book cover: perhaps the teacher's rejection of the book cover is what led her down the path to graphic design. Some days I wonder what my career would be like if I had majored in fine art like I intended. Would I still have found my way into graphic design?

Night and Day

I was trying to come up with something clever to say about Pixar's decision to publish the animated short Night and Day as a book, but then I realized that Khoi Vinn said it much better than I ever could.

So, yeah. What he said.

Photoshopping: Good vs. evil

Like many other graphic designers, I use Photoshop. And I do LOVE me some Photoshop--it's a completely and totally amazing program. I started using it probably about 15 years ago--in it's infancy--and it's amazing to see how far it's come, and all of the awesome things that you can do with it.

Problem is, Photoshop is not just used for good (I KNOW. What is up with that?). Sure, you want to correct the lighting on a model's face? No problem. Photoshop has many nifty tools for that. But what happens when you stop correcting the lighting, and say, take 10 pounds off the model instead? What happens when you smooth wrinkles, clone out beauty marks, whiten eyes and teeth, lighten hair color, and take the cellulite off a model's thigh? How much Photoshop is too much?

There's a site I read fairly often: Jezebel. It bills itself as Celebrity. Sex. Fashion. And the site does a fair job of covering all three topics. But one of the features I love most (and what really keeps me coming back) is what the writers tag Photoshop of Horrors.

Yup, before and after Photoshop pics.

Apparently last week there was a kerfluffle regarding some unretouched Jennifer Aniston pics, which prompted a post from the Jezebel editor in chief titled, Why You Must See Unretouched Images, And Why You Must See Them Repeatedly.

Agreed. Agreed. Agreed.

Because who hasn't looked at the cover of Insert Fashion Magazine Here--especially while waiting on line at the market in sweats and flip flops, hair pulled back under a baseball cap so no one can see your 1" long and growing roots, and of course makeup-less face--and thought, Gee, Unrealistically Photoshopped Celebrity looks slammin'. And I... well, I'm bloated. And I have super dark circles under my eyes. And... on and on and on (insert 10 pints of Ben & Jerry's here).

I love that Jezebel takes a stand against all the evil Photoshoppers out there by showing before and afters. I think the world--especially women--NEED these reminders. Because until science comes up with real-life Photoshop (um, sign me up for that take 10 pounds off part), we're all... normal in comparison.

But we're the best kind of normal there is--unretouched, REAL normal.

Boo-boos and Band-Aids

We are people with children--3 to be exact. Which means that we always have Band-Aids on hand.

Always.

But, being that these 3 children are girls, we don't have Band-Aids of the flesh-colored, or even clear variety. No, we have Scooby Doo, Littlest Pet Shop, Hello Kitty... I could go on, but you get the picture: if it's pink and has some sort of popular character on it, we have it. One time Mattio had to actually go to the drugstore to pick up plain, flesh-colored Band-Aids because (and who could blame him?) he wouldn't put a Barbie Band-Aid on his cut (I almost typed boo-boo. See what these children are doing to me?).

I doubt very much that Mattio would use these super-awesome, adult AND child-oriented Band-Aids, but I know I would:



Cynthia Rowley Band-Aids? I will gladly put you on my boo-boos.

Friday LOLs

I have gushed many a time about how wonderful the internet is. Just when I think I've found the awesomest of awesome, the internet goes and pulls something out of a back pocket I didn't even know it had. Stumbling on these little treasures is both a blessing (duh) and a curse (I'm usually about 7-10 topics/websites away from what I was originally looking for. And that original topic/website has been long forgotten about by now).

So last night, I came across yet another internet awesome: Pinup RDJ.

Says the site:

Vintage pinups are the pinnacle of art. Robert Downey Jr is the pinnacle of sexy. It's not rocket science.

Rocket science it is not. Hysterical? Um, yes. Times two.



The site is peppered with these morphed images of Robert Downey Jr, and, well, 50s-era pinups. In between that awesomeness are answered reader questions (for example, How do you not explode from your awesomeness? Answer: oh believe me, I suck at plenty of things to keep it balanced.)

Thank you, internet, for the gift of awesomeness that just keeps on giving.

From the intern

What up traciedesigns readers??!

It's the intern here. Checking out what my paren--ahem, bosses--mean when they talk about "blogging." I still don't get it, but Momm--er, the bosslady--tells me to keep typing. Like I don't do enough around here.

So what exactly have I been doing all week? Well, lucky for you, I kept a photo diary of a day in the life of the intern. Read on...

We start out with the best intentions; working of course:



But it's much more fun to just press all the keys on the keyboard and play around with the mouse (Of course, it totally helps throw the boss off of any suspicious activity if you look real cute and smile. Like, A LOT):



After all that exhausting work, I need to relax a bit:



Since we're on a whole technology "theme" at the office, it's super fun to play Robot. How do you play? You just throw a shopping bag over your head and talk in a monotone voice. I made this game up. I know, I am SO ahead of my time.



All this playing wears me out though. I hear much work gets done while I'm napping; but for all I know, the boss is sleeping, too.



PLAYTIME! Nothing sparks my creativity like the swings.



Finally, lots of days at traciedesigns end with ice cream. Today was one of them.



As I am known to say: "Yummy, yummy in my tummy."

More books--again!

One of my most favorite bloggers out there is Oh Joy. I love her sense of style; she has a great eye for design, fashion and decorating. So when I heard that she wrote a book on freelancing (with fellow freelancer Meg Mateo Ilasco), of course I bought it.

Creative, Inc. arrived a few weeks ago, and so far it's been a great read. Like me, Joy started her freelance business 5 years ago, and says: "This is the book I wish I had when I started my freelance business..." Amen, sistah.

To promote the book, the ladies made the most adorable stop motion short:



And--squeal!--they're doing a 3 city book tour that just happens to stop in NYC. I'll totally be there.

In the meantime, if you're currently freelancing, or even thinking about it, put Creative, Inc at the top of your to-be-read list.

More intern

For quite some time, I have been whining about getting an intern. Someone to help with the day to day at traciedesigns, another set of hands (and eyes).

What I got was definitely another set of hands (and eyes), just not quite what I was hoping for in the help department.

Folks, my almost 3 year old intern is back.

So the eyes aren't for bouncing ideas off of, so much as scouting Nickelodeon for good shows. The hands? Well they actually need *my* help with changing all the dolls' clothes.

But don't get me wrong, this intern has her benefits: she's pretty instrumental in not letting my ego get too big. She forces me to take work breaks and do fun stuff (see above re: dolls' clothes. Have you ever played dolls with an almost 3 year old?). And all that fun stuff? Well, it gets the creative juices flowing in ways that a 5 minutes outdoor "break" has yet to do.

So while I'm completely thankful for the help I have throughout the year, those times when the intern gets to stay home and "help" is a blessing as well.

Oh, and PS: The intern has been talking non-stop about guest blogging this week. Stay tuned...

Scenes from a dinner

So in the year that I have owned it, my iPhone has come through for me in big ways. Like, HA-YUGE ways. Sure, that whole email/internet/phone thing comes in handy, but I'm talking necessity here. Necessity--like, I brought all three children out to dinner, and I have nothing to amuse them. Come on, I know all you parents out there are going, OMG. WHAT was she thinking??!

Cue the phone.

Because not only do I have game and amusement apps ready to go, the phone also comes equipped with a camera. For any budding photographers. Such as the 7 year old.

Take, her Self Portrait, for instance:



Waiting for a Table:



Portrait of Chocolate Milk:



Elbow:



It amuses me to no end to find these "secret" photos on my phone; and she knows it. So... well played, middle child. And, well, thanks, Apple.

Not so new office, not so great floors, and the intern

So today I was going to blog about my new office. I was going to tell you guys all about how I was finally going to have a space of my own, maybe even post a few pictures.

So notice in the above sentence I used past tense: I WAS going to blog about my new office.

Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication; and our floors--well, they didn't turn out as expected. So here I sit, at my desk in the temporary digs, still waiting on my office. The good news is that the painters are there today, painting it all up nicey-nice. The bad news is that whole floor thing.

Hopefully it will be fixed soon, because all week long, I have an intern all excited to go and help me move. OK, she probably won't be much help, but she'll certainly make it more fun.

Friday LOLs

While I'm not a fan of violent movies, I really loved Fight Club (and not just because of Brad Pitt). That said, I would totally go and see Jane Austen's Fight Club. Totally.

In miniature

Love, love, love tilt-shift photography.

Love, love, love NYC.

Love, love, love this tilt-shift video of NYC.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Lovely.

(Thanks to Twitter friend Meg Mateo Ilasco for the link!)

Friday LOLs

OK, don't judge, but one of my favorite-ist websites ever is Go Fug Yourself. It's HILARIOUS. The entire premise is photos of celebrities--sometimes A-list, sometimes Z-list; they don't discriminate--wearing their worst. But the Fug Girls, as they are known, are not super mean about it; it's fun--definitely not Mean Girls.

So while I share the Fug Girls' taste in fashion (and Diet Coke, and old-school Brenda Walsh, for that matter [I said, DON'T JUDGE]), I am not of the same level of knowledge as they are about Jennifer Love Hewitt. Or Lifetime movies, apparently.

Did you know that, a few weeks ago, Jennifer Love Hewitt was in a made-for-Lifetime movie called the Client List? Did you know it was NOT based on a John Grisham novel? It is actually a movie about a woman FORCED into prostitution--not because she's held captive by terrorists or anything, but because her husband has a bum knee.

I'll just sit here while you re-read the above sentence.

The Fug Girls knew this, and reviewed the movie. People of the internet, they told us there was a Dashboard Angel of Judgment. They used the term "kind touching" in lieu of prostituting. There are lessons learned:

This is the first lesson of the movie: Totally Let a Dude Look Down Your Shirt If You Think It Will Help.

And this is the second lesson of the movie: If You Say You're Trained In Shiatsu And Your Prospective Massage-Therapist Boss Looks At You Like, "Whoa, She's Into Dogs? Ooookay," Do Not Think Anything Of It; She Probably Just Misheard You And Is Totally Not A Secret Prostitute.

This is the third lesson of the movie: Kind Touching Is Totally Okay If Your Husband's Bum Knee Basically Forces You To Do It, Because Really, Then It's Sort Of His Fault.

OMG, the review of this movie--which, a-duh, was truly awful from the start--is freaking HILARIOUS. Seriously. Take 15 minutes and read this review. Because it is peppered with things like this:

Have you ever wondered what it looks like when you decide to Kind Touch your way to salvation?

Yes, this is 15 minutes of your life that you will never, ever get back; but my God will you laugh. Plus, think of the 2 hours that the Fug Girls had to spend actually watching this thing.

Magic shoes + quick fixes

Ladies, I wish that toning your thighs and butt were as easy as popping on a pair of "magic shoes" (LOVE that) and doing normal daily activities--don't we all? If it were that easy, I'd own 10 pairs of Fit Flops, Sketchers, Reeboks, and more. I would be the queen of magic shoes!

However, seeing as they're being referred to as magic shoes and all, I just can't bring myself to buy a pair. Which I think is OK by Nike, who does not make a pair of magic shoes. Instead, they make sneakers. Plain old, non-magic, sneakers. And in their ads, they come right out and say it: This shoe works if you do.



Gotta love the honesty, right?

(Read the full article on Ad Freak)

Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce awesomeness

Like millions of other people, I love, love, LURVE Mad Men. The writing is amazing, the characters so well-developed; and that Don Draper... well, let's just say SWOON.

Season 4 is only two episodes in, and while I am love, love, LURVING it, I am absolutely love, love, LURVING the set design the most--specifically, the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce offices. 60's Modern? I'll take 2.

Seriously, those sofas! The tables! Forget the fact that last week they had no conference table at all, or that there's non-existent second floor offices, I want the room that Peggy's always working in--the one that doesn't seem to be her office (or is it?). The one with the Helvetica poster in it (awwww, yeah).



You can check out more of the SCDP office photos here. And in case you feel like surrounding yourself with Mad Men-esque furnishings, head on over to Knoll for more drool-worthy stuff. Yummy.

Oh, one more thing: can we talk for a second here, about how fantastic Peggy's hair is this season? Holy cow, girlfriend looks good!

More books!

I swear, you guys, this is not becoming a literary site. However, in doing a little purse research (coincidentally, my friend Becky prompted said purse research, and she is a ferocious reader), I came across this:



Kate Spade is all literary clutch crazy, with new bags depicting awesomely-designed covers of Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and the Importance of Being Earnest.

Adorable? Yes, please.

Also, in case you're interested, Becky also let me know that the entire Penguin Hardcover Classics line of books is available at their site. Read on!

Friday LOLs

Today's LOLs are brought to you by:

Awkward Stock Photos: How is it that when I am looking for an image of say, a toaster, it's next to impossible to find. Yet a lovely photo of a frozen chicken posing seductively with an egg exists. Huh?

Photoshop Disasters: "Clone out her bellybutton. It's completely useless, and nobody will miss it!" Other disasters include exaggerated body parts, missing body parts and 50 foot women.

Clients from Hell: I hope that some of these stories are made up. They have to be made up. People don't make these requests, right? Right??!

Yummy books

Can we just stop for a second and talk about how much I love, love, love Anthopologie's line of classic books?

Literature's great works ditch their stuffy dust jackets for smartly embossed canvas covers.

Because I don't think I'd ever pick up Great Expectations on my own. However, with this cover? Um, I'll take 2.



And you guys--they've got a ton of them: Sense and Sensibility, Wuthering Heights, Lady Chatterly's Lover... there has to be 15 or so titles. And they are ADORABLE. Seriously. I totally judge books by their covers; and these look great.

Thanks to the always awesome Justin and Mary for keeping me in the know!

Inspire me, Main Street

Last week I was in Westport, doing the very important task of buying make up. In and around Main Street, there was all kinds of crazy inspiration:

Ann Taylor: First of all? Yes, AT, a sale is a girl's best friend. Second, how much do I love these colors? Something about the bright yellow, coupled with the bluish teal dress on the far right (of course the photo isn't doing the color justice at all. You all simply must run down to AT to view it in person. And, perhaps pick yourself up something nice while you're there). These colors scream summer to me. Well played, AT.



Lulu Lemon: There's something wonderfully playful about the handmade letters--especially since LL is a chain, and lord knows how the chains love their helvetica (yeah, I'm talking to you, Gap).



Coach: OK, the only reason I went into Coach is because they sent me a 25% off coupon. And who doesn't love 25% off? Or Coach, for that matter? Or, the colors on this bag?

Seriously, while I don't think I would buy this bag for myself, I do love the pattern, and the colors. I'm a sucker for all things silver and shiny, and the pewter/purple/yellow is just lovely for fall.



J. Crew: J. Crew, on the other hand, did not send me a coupon, but I went in anyways (because that's how much I love J. Crew). More hand cut letter love: the woman in the photo was cutting those letters out as she was hanging them--adorable. What the picture doesn't show all that well is that quite a few letters were cut out of patterned paper. Love. It.



PS. Coach's website says it's time for new fall shoes. Um, OK. If you guys insist...

Political madness

Tuesday, August 10 is primary day here in CT. Since the spring, we've been inundated with political ads on TV and the radio, as well as direct mail, and most offensive--the political phone call. I get the political phone call, I really do. However, as good telemarketers do, they never call at a convenient time. As a matter of fact, if they're not calling at dinner, they're calling at the kids' bedtime. We've had them call after 9, which in my book, is just plain wrong. Is nothing safe from the telemarketer?

But that's not what this post is about. This post is about the political lawn sign. They're not everywhere--yet; but they're out there. And as usual for political lawn signs, they're pretty blah. Or are they?

Rick Torres: As far as political signs go, this one is pretty unoffensive. Sure, you've got your red, white and blue; but the size is not typical, and the lowercase letters feel more relaxed. Also, white space? Yes please. Points taken off, however, for no website--because the url is ricktorres2010.com--not ricktorres.com, as one might think.



Nitzy Cohen: Nitzy has tried to distinguish herself using not red, white or blue, but purple! If anything, it makes her stand out in a sea of political colors. Everything else? Yeah, notsomuch. The atrocious line spacing, fonts... ugh.



Dan Debicella: Again, with the no website! What is up with that? And the shooting star? Ugh. Definitely not my favorite.



Rob Merkle: Rob's got a good thing going with his last name here. Tasteful font, decent layout. I could do without the star and stripes, but whatever. It's not terrible, which is setting the bar pretty high as far as lawn signs go.



Tom Foley: OK, say it with me, people: If your name is not your url--yea, I'm talking to you, Tom Foley--your website should be on your lawn sign. Trust me, it helps. Plus, you've got the room. Like, really--you have the room. This one to me just blends into the background.



Just one more pet peeve to wrap the whole thing up: political candidates--all of you--get a consistent graphic designer, for the love! For every bad lawn sign, there's a somewhat decent website--and vice versa. There's all kinds of font inconsistencies (hint: Futura is not Helvetica--yeah, I'm talking to you, Rob Merkle), it's just painful to look at.

Book fair!

This weekend was the annual Pequot Library Book Fair--all year long, the library takes book donations, and then twice a year, sells them under a tent in a big, book fair extravaganza. I took the teenager, who is a ferocious reader; and while I didn't find much (she found some books that very well might be in our cellar), I had a great time snapping photos of the good, the bad, and the just plain odd.

This series, The Bibleot, was full of poetry and prose, published in 1901. I love the gothic spines all together like this.



Hours at Home: This was a handy reference guide to... pretty much everything. I guess if you had hours at home, you read this series.



In the "Old and Interesting" section, Jim Norton's Happy Endings. I would imagine this falls under the "interesting" heading.



Also in "Old and Interesting" (and definitely a little bit of both). I love the design of the cover; the colors and layout are great. The quote at the top? I could probably do without (I could definitely do without all those em dashes):

Dig you must—this fascinating excursion under the sidewalks of New York—where you will find wires and sewers, stores and subways, men, mains, and even alligators—

Missouri Life: Love the typography on this one:



Love the vintage, retro-y feel of this. Hate the scary scratchboard half face in the upper left:



Record album covers! One of my favorite sections of the book fair! Here we have the good...



...the bad...



...and the ugly. See why I love this section?



Finally, I took a photo of this one because I thought it was interesting, if anything: an unedited copy of Emily's Reasons Why Not. I though the back FPOs were amusing (National Print Advertising! 25-City Radio Campaign!). Sadly, Emily and her (ticking) biological clock did not make it home with me.

Seven years later...

7 years ago today, Madeline decided to grace us with her presence. Happy birthday to the coolest 7 year old I know!

Friday LOLs

I don't get many jokes via email these days. I'm not sure the reason (are people still doing that? Or do we now just tweet the funny stuff?), but my email is looking pretty serious these days, what with projects, and clients, and actual WORK.

However, my mom changed all that last night--she forwarded me a list of "Comments made in the year 1955." The thing that struck me as funny is the way this email is worded. It's title--Comments made in the year 1955--suggests that it might be famous quotations or something along those lines. However, it's much more in the vain of "I walked to school 10 miles everyday, uphill both ways, in the snow, even in August." In other words, 1955 was very culturally different than nowadays, let's all have a laugh. An example:

I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.

It's interesting to read how different things were way back when, but what cracks me up the most is the manner in which they're written. I wonder if Don Draper has ever uttered these words:

I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $10.00.

Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $1,000.00 will only buy a used one.

If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. 20 cents a pack is ridiculous.

Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter?

When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage [note: if only we did leave the car in the garage!]

I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it [This one may just be my favorite]

I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.

It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet [Scratch that--this one's my favorite]

I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.

The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.

No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $15.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for my blood.

If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a hair cut, forget it.

I can't wait to watch the season premiere of Mad Men Sunday night--for many reasons, but one of which will be if anyone on the show actually says these things.

Lights out!

So if you live in or around the NYC/Fairfield County area, you know that this summer--this week particularly--we've had 2 types of weather: incredibly, unbearably, hot, humid and sticky; or torrential rain, thunder, lightning and tornado warnings. Seriously, there's no in between. Either or, take your pick.

As I mentioned, this week has been particularly bad. Monday night the rain/thunder/lightning combo was so crazy, we ended up losing power for a few hours. No biggie; unlike some of our neighbors, we had ordered take out that night, so dinner wasn't half made; there was enough natural light that we went on doing our normal evening activities--sans electricity of course (OK, almost all of us continued our normal evening activities--the teenager had to suffer through a few hours of no internet access). Power was restored by 9 and all was fine.

Tuesday and Wednesday was a return to hot, humid and disgusting, and then last night, the biblical rain came again--resulting in power outage #2 for the week. Dinner was already made, so again, no problems there, however... the power did not come on a few hours later. 9:00 came and went, and there was no light. No nothing. The worst part is that apparently we live at the very edge of our power grid, because the street next to us and behind us had power--a dirty little tease: "Look at all our lights!"

Fortunately there's no shortage of laptops in our house, so we popped a movie in the one with the most battery life and watched it until the battery ran out. At that point, it was late, and we settled into bed, only to be woken up a few minutes later by every light in our house turning on (along with TVs, radios, appliances... I always forget to turn stuff off in a power outage, so it's always a funny reminder of what we were doing when the lights went out, when they come back on). Ahhh, electricity.

Oh, but the story doesn't end there. We woke up this morning to a cable outage--which means no cable, internet, or landline. Since both Mattio and I work from home... well, the electricity may as well have gone out again. Sigh.

I remain hopeful--today's weather couldn't be more gorgeous: the rain left, and took the humidity with it. It's hot, but not unbearable. Hopefully this is the start of summer weather that I could really get used to. And also the end of the power outages.

Friday LOLs

I love this new feature: Friday LOLs. I think this might become a weekly thing.

So this clip of Louis CK is awesome--I'm sure I've posted it before. It's entirely appropriate for today, because of 2 reasons:

Mattio scored some great seats to see Louis CK in September--he's truly one of our favorites.

The second reason, is that, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I'm not having a great email day. I can't send email, AT&T is basically being dumb (shocker), and so now I am forced to use webmail. I hate webmail.

So I'm whining a little bit about it, while trying to find a clip of Louis CK to cheer myself up. And what is the first clip that comes up? Everything's amazing... and nobody's happy. Oh, the irony.

Here I am, whining about my poor life and the extra 30 seconds it's going to take me to use webmail... and I come across a clip that reminds me of how awesome it is that I actually have webmail, never mind email.

Sara + David

So, those of you that are following along at home know that my BFF is getting married this summer--in less than 2 weeks! As part of my gift to her, I designed her wedding invitations. However, I've been holding off on posting them--well, because our camera battery died. And I couldn't find the charger.

But never fear, faithful readers! Amazon to the rescue--new battery charger arrived the other day, so let the invitation goodness commence!

Sara is easily the most laid back bride EVER. She had no requests. No colors. Seriously. I am the maid of honor--or what I have rebranded as BFF, because, I'm sorry, maid--and even worse--matron of honor sounds old. Am I right ladies? Anywho, I am the BFF, and she told me to wear whatever I was comfortable in. Like, pretty much pick a dress. Seriously, she's the anti-bridezilla.

So when it came to designing the invitations, there were no guidelines. I wanted to do something wonderfully simple and classy. A few days earlier, she had found some orchids that she really liked and was thinking about using in her bouquet. Finally! A detail I could use!



Her wedding is at a marina in Old Saybrook, right on the water. The orchids she liked were purple, so it made sense to use the combination of blue and purple. The perfect shade of blue paper was found at Kate's Paperie (of course).



Detail of the invitation, directions, and envelope.




Response card and envelope.




The whole shebang.

I'm also going to use this theme for her seating cards, and hopefully a menu or program. I seriously cannot WAIT for this wedding--I am beyond excited for my BFF and so happy that I got to contribute to what will be an awesome day!

Friday LOLs

I don't think Friday likes me very much; as a matter of fact, I'm starting to get a complex about it. Last week, the intern managed to be sick 90% of the long weekend--it started (not well, mind you) on Friday. Today, coincidentally another Friday, the 6 year old gets sick, and I get a flat tire. What up, Friday??

I'm hoping that laughter is a good cure for all this Friday negativity. I've accumulated a bunch of great links that hopefully will make you LOL. I know I did--and I needed it.

I'm Comic Sans, Asshole:
[I know, I know, this one's been floating around the internet for a month now--which is like, FOREVER. But it's funny and it makes me laugh every time I read it, and it will totally make you laugh again, too]

You don't like that your coworker used me on that note about stealing her yogurt from the break room fridge? You don't like that I'm all over your sister-in-law's blog? You don't like that I'm on the sign for that new Thai place? You think I'm pedestrian and tacky? Guess the fuck what, Picasso. We don't all have seventy-three weights of stick-up-my-ass Helvetica sitting on our seventeen-inch MacBook Pros. Sorry the entire world can't all be done in stark Eurotrash Swiss type. Sorry some people like to have fun. Sorry I'm standing in the way of your minimalist Bauhaus-esque fascist snoozefest. Maybe sometime you should take off your black turtleneck, stop compulsively adjusting your Tumblr theme, and lighten the fuck up for once.

Lost Cat:
[This guy cracks me up. I guarantee that you will spend a sickening amount of time on his site, because it's so ridiculous. I'm sorry in advance that I wasted half your Friday with this link]

Dear Shannon,

That is shocking news. Luckily I was sitting down when I read your email and not half way up a ladder or tree. How are you holding up? I am surprised you managed to attend work at all what with thinking about Missy out there cold, frightened and alone... possibly lying on the side of the road, her back legs squashed by a vehicle, calling out "Shannon, where are you?"
Although I have two clients expecting completed work this afternoon, I will, of course, drop everything and do whatever it takes to facilitate the speedy return of Missy.

Regards, David.

The Friend Bar
[I love Apple products, and I think I love things that poke fun at Apple products just as much. See also: What it's like to own an Apple product]

...The Friend Bar is staffed by Apple employees specially trained to carry on lengthy conversations about even the most arcane Apple-related topics...