New work (sort of):

Last fall, I was hired to do a logo redesign for Recovery Network of Programs--formally Regional Network of Programs. RNP (which is the acronym they go by) is a Fairfield County-based... well, network of programs to help people with addictions, homelessness, counseling, etc.

Unfortunately, as I've said before, sometimes jobs don't work out--and this was one of those times. It was a very different project for me, but I'm still proud of the work I presented.

One of the things that the people at RNP had spoken about at length was the name change--going from Regional to Recovery. They really wanted the focus to be on the recovery aspect, as that was their business. The idea behind the first logo is really spotlighting the R in recovery.




The second and third logos both use stairs as a design element--I can't imagine the hurdles that the people RNP help have to go through, but at times I would think it's like climbing an endless flight of stairs. I thought that tying RNP with the stairs would help illustrate that they are there to help you with that journey.






Logos 4 and 5 are similar, in that I was looking to use color as a way to differentiate between all of the different programs. I liked the thought of beams of light--RNP is the light that is going to guide you... something along those lines (note: for first round logos, very rarely do I present in color--I find it distracts people from the actual logo. If I present a blue logo, and the client doesn't like the color blue, they might not consider that logo, even though the color can be changed. I find that if I take the color out of the equation, clients can really get a feel for the actual logo itself. Obviously these 2 logos were the exception to that rule, as they require color to get the point across).





Finally, the north star--again, a guiding light, but in a completely different format.



We started to play with some color ideas, and they were loving the orange and slate blue combination. Unfortunately this was as far as I got before they decided to change direction and go with another designer.



And, just like with any unused logo, into the reserves--for future inspiration--these go!

Bookish:

It's no secret that I totally judge books by their covers. So of course when I saw these beautifully-designed covers for Less Than Zero, and Imperial Bedrooms, all I could think was, who is this Bret Easton Ellis guy? I have to get my hands on his books!

KIDDING.

Of course I know Bret Easton Ellis. But now I can't wait to reread Less Than Zero, American Psycho, and start reading the recently released Imperial Bedrooms. Iconic book designer Chip Kidd did these great covers to celebrate Less Than Zero's 25th anniversary.



Also of note: newly designed set of covers for Don DeLillo's books, by the super awesome Noma Bar. Love, love, love Noma Bar's simplistic, negative-space approach to everything he does, so it was no surprise that he had designed this:



You can check out the complete set of both author's books here at Creative Review.

So, if you're in my book club, and it's my turn to choose the book... don't be surprised if it's one of these classics.

Beautiful:

Blurry photography by Trever Hoehne.



I thought my favorite might be the Lines series, but after viewing the site, I can't decide--I love them all!

(found via my new BFF, Pinterest)

Love:

Amy Butler fabrics.

Remember, last week, how I was all, I don't sew, or anything of the sort? Well, because of that, I never have the need to purchase fabric. Like, never.

However, we have these dining room chairs, and the off-white fabric that they came upholstered in is no longer off-white (and a little sidebar here: Seriously? WHAT were we thinking, getting chairs with off-white fabric?? It's like we were brain dead the day we decided that off-white + kids was a good idea. OK, rant over)--actually, they kind of look a little Jackson Pollock-y, what with all the stains and spatters. But not in a cool Jackson Pollock-y way; more like a sad, dingy Jackson Pollock. So, you know, time to re-cover them and make them pretty and fresh.

So, hello Amy Butler.

Holy cow these fabrics are great! I want to learn how to quilt, just so I can make amazing patterns with all of these designs (OK, not really. But now I want to find a quilter and art direct quilts--because I'm sure that's not annoying). But seriously--how fun! I've got my eye on 5 different patterns--which, coincidentally, look pretty great together, if I do say so (without me having planned it, either. In picking them out, I knew I wanted yellow, orange, or gray, or some combination of those):



If they look as great in the swatches as they do online, I might just go ahead an upholster each chair in a different fabric. Because, OMG, LOVE.

Friday LOL:

Sad Etsy Boyfriends.

Fortunately--for Mattio--I don't knit, sew, or do any kind of clothing- or accessory-making. Which means that I don't sell the things I don't make on Etsy, and therefore, he doesn't have to model anything.

Unfortunately, for these poor guys, their significant others/friends do. And they seem pretty sad about it.

Lucky:

I spent an embarrassing amount of time last night looking for cute, green things to showcase today. Like, it was ridiculous.

I'm not Irish, so I've never been one to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. But, I figured, I'd go with a green blog post. You know, show all kinds of cute green things. Well, maybe the internet was broken last night, because I found so few cute, green things, that I just gave up. Dude. I even searched Pinterest. And that's like the bible of all things great and creative. And I got nothing.

I kept coming back to kate spade, though (like they were going to add a bunch of green items at 10:00 last night), and specifically, to this purse:



It's not green, but oh my, is it cute. And you know what? I think I'd consider myself pretty lucky if I got to carry such cuteness around.

So there you have it, internet friends: my St. Patrick's Day post. No green, but a very cute purse that I would be lucky to have.

I like:

I have sort of a designer-crush on Jessica Hische, because she's A) awesome at what she does; and B) beyond creative. She comes up with fabulous stuff like the Daily Drop Cap (see what I mean?), Should I Work for Free?, Mom, This is How Twitter Works, and now, Blurry Pictures of My Friends:



Because, when you see a blurry photo right after you take it, you're like, "Aw, crap. How is anybody supposed to tell that that's so-and-so in this picture?" But then you submit it to this website, and the photo--next to a bunch of other blurry photos--instantly takes on a different kind of beauty.

Monday:

So sleepy.

Between getting little sleep to begin with, and that silly little time change (oh, hello 5:30AM. I see you're dark AGAIN), I'm beat. If you need me, I'm just going to crawl into this lovely bed... with all these comfy pillows... in this fantastic charcoal room... See you in a few... Zzzzzz...



(image found on my new best friend Pinterest. Original image from Bright, Bold & Beautiful)

Friday LOL:

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

Cooking with color:

Coconut yumminess granola bars.



A few months back, Mattio tired of eating artificial flavor (a real ingredient) in his granola bars, and found a recipe so he could make his own. It called for things like dried fruit, and peanuts--both of which I like in a granola bar... but do you know what I like better? Coconut! It also happens that if there is one fruit (nut?) on the planet Mattio doesn't like... you guessed it. It's my coconut against his bacon (although, to be fair, he is not putting bacon in his granola bars. I know, shocker, right?).

So a few weeks ago, I hijacked the recipe and made my own coconut yumminess granola bars. And they were indeed, YUM.

You'll need:
2 cups of oats
1/4 cup ground flax (I use this in place of wheat germ--you can get it at Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup almonds (sliced or crushed. If you crush them, crush them good--those whole almonds are a bitch to cut through)
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used 2 tablespoons in my last batch, and it needed a little more sweetness, so I would say somewhere in between 1/4 and an 1/8 cup)
1/2 cup of honey
4 tablespoons of butter (again, I modified in my last batch--I think you'll need at least 2 tablespoons... and if you go light on the butter, go more on the honey)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 oz. coconut (BEWARE! A lot of coconut comes with added sugar. I get mine from either Whole Foods, or Mrs. Green's market--it's just coconut with no added sugar)
A few handfuls of dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread crushed almonds, oats, ground flax, sunflower seeds on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few.

Line a glass baking dish (we use Pyrex) with wax paper, and spray with non-stick oil (lightly).

Put brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla in saucepan and simmer, stirring constantly.

Mix liquid and nut/oat mixture in a bowl extremely well.

Sprinkle half of the dark chocolate chips on the bottom of the baking dish.

Put mix into lined baking dish and spread. Add the remaining chocolate chips. (Don't mix the chocolate chips into the mixture--it's hot and they'll melt)

Put another piece of wax paper over the mixture and press hard. Wait 2-3 hours to cool, then cut into bars and enjoy!

Beautiful:

Retired subway cars being thrown into the ocean.

This has made it's way through my twitter feed all week, but the images--and the concept--are so striking, I couldn't resist sharing.

For more than a decade, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has treated the Atlantic as its very own graveyard, tossing thousands of old subway cars off a barge to rust away on the ocean floor. An environmental crime? Hardly. The program creates habitats for marine life from Georgia to Jersey and gives New York’s aging subway cars a vibrant (and free!) retirement home.

Now I want to see photos of the marine life making use of all these old cars.

New obsession:

Pinterest.

Holy cow, you guys, this site is awesome. Seriously: new. Favoritest. Site. Ever.

What is it? Take a design/inspiration board, and introduce it to tumblr, and throw in a little Twitter while you're at it.

Basically, you see a photo you like on the interwebs (just one more reason to hate on the Flash sites, though--you can't use it with a flash-based site), and "pin" it to a board. Your boards are categorized; and you can follow other users and re-pin what they've already pinned.

In other words: awesome.

As my neighbor--who introduced me to it--predicted, I can't get enough of it. I want to scour the internet for pretty things, just to pin them and categorize them all in one place.

Just when you thought the internet was awesome as it is, something like this comes along.

Want:

This Scrabble set (that's been making it's way through my twitter feed the past week):



It's actually not available for purchase--but if you sign up on Andrew Capener's (the master behind this piece) website, the reality of fancy font Scrabble (Oh, how I would LOVE it if they called it that!) being put into production gets closer and closer.

I mean, really. Look at these tiles, and tell me this isn't automatically more fun than regular scrabble!

New work:

Peggy Garbus.

Peggy is a Wilton-based portrait photographer--her work is gorgeous. Sit with her for a few minutes, and you will be completely at ease--it's easy to see her subjects feeling the same way.

Anywho, Peggy had an identity already, and was originally looking to update it. After a round or two of updates, we decided to just start over (which was way more fun! :)

After I designed this version, it occurred to me that it looked like an eye. I totally mean that I had that in mind when I designed this version, not after! (nervous laughter).




One of the things that struck me on Peggy's old logo, was the descenders for the Gs and Y in Peggy. They were all very similar, and as a designer, I wanted to fix that. I had a lot of fun coming up with this font, and the swirlies. Oh, how I love the swirlies!




We had also talked about maybe incorporating an icon or something--something that could be used in maybe a pattern?




More fun shapes and swirlies. Actually, these swirlies began in a font called Brownstone (YUM)




Taking Peggy's initials, and making them into a bottle cap-like stamp:




And finally, playing with the P and the G:




Ultimately, Peggy chose version 5--but we went through a lot of different fonts before coming up with this, the final logo:



I love the thought of Peggy using the PG bottle cap icon as a watermark on her photos--I think this logo is so versatile, and so very HER. I can't wait to see it in action!

Sweet sixteen

My baby turned 16 today:



This photo was taken when she was mere days old. I don't even think we were out of the hospital yet. Sixteen seemed so far away then--the next week seemed so far away then! And yet here we are; embracing legal driving age (well, some of us are. Some of us parents, ahem, wouldn't exactly use the word "embracing").

Happy birthday to my super-awesome teenager.

Friday LOLs: They're so ca-yoote edition

I find myself in a funny position for this one: When parents text.

I am, after all, a parent to 3 girls; the oldest--the teenager--has a cell phone that acts as her third arm--she's never without it. Since she's had one (for about 4 or 5 years now), we've become increasingly proficient in texting--it was a necessity if we were to continue to communicate with her.

On the other hand, I have parents. Parents who know better than to text--umm... because they don't know how to (either that, or they can't see the buttons on their phones. Probably a healthy mix of both).

Anywho. When parents text; sometimes funny, sometimes adorable. Just ask my teenager.

Want:

Whoa.

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a blog called Chair Whore, which A) I love, and B) describes me rather well--if only because when I see a chair I love (which happens often), I HAVE SUCH A REACTION. It's almost like shoes--except I have a closet for shoes. If I started buying chairs the way I buy shoes... well, let's just say that it would put a strain on my marriage.

But a girl can drool; and drool I did when I found this gorgeousness over on design*sponge yesterday:



The Farmhouse chair, from Bend is beautiful. First of all, it comes in orange (everything should come in orange). If an item is available in orange, I immediately stop and look anyway. But holy cow. WANT.



The Lucy and Ethel chairs are lovely, as well--but the other chair on the Bend site that made me stop in my tracks is the Bunny.

The great thing about these chairs is that they're versatile, and can be used indoors and out. Well, and they come in orange.

Sing:

How awesome is Adele?

Adele |Adele Lyrics |Adele Unplugged |Unplugged

Seriously, her voice is incredible. Rolling in the Deep has been on heavy rotation for me the past few weeks, and I'm happily listening to the entire album--released stateside today--over on npr now. I think Adele is the perfect way to ease back into the work week.

New work!

What happens when your phone rings, and the potential client on the other end tells you that they need a logo and website for a super delish sandwich shop they're opening up?

Well, if you're me, you squeal with excitement.

What happens then, when they tell you that the name of said sandwich shop is Melt?

If you're me, you're already squealing, so maybe some excited dancing is in order.

Seriously, Kristin and Bill, the geniuses behind Melt, couldn't make a better sandwich. I'm going to let you go to their just-launched website--meltsandwich.com--to see how it all works (look at that menu and tell me you're not drooling).



Oh yeah, that's right... I said just-launched website. Brand spankin' new. Fresh, just like their food (OK, OK, I'll stop now).

I'm telling you guys, if you are remotely close to the White Plains area, you best be stopping at Melt for some serious deliciousness (it's like, 40 minutes from me, and I have been known to stop there for lunch. It's worth it. Trust me). And if you can't make it, you better hope somebody comes up with some edible internet soon.

To have and to HLD

Yummers.

Last week, twitter was all abuzz with anthropologie's new bridal shop: BHLDN, whose website was unveiled today. Did I mention yummers?

First of all, the shoes. MY GOD, the shoes:



I am aching for these yellow ones. My brother in law is getting married this fall, and I think I have found the perfect shoe for the wedding:



Then there's the dresses:



Gorgeous.

There's pretty hair accessories, to die for jewelry, belts, gloves, handbags... it's all stunning. Totally makes a girl want to get married all over again (to the same guy, of course!).

Happy Valentine's Day

From everybody's favorite 3 year old intern:




And her 7 year old sister:

Want:

These adorable neon-toed flats, from--where else?--the always awesome Kate Spade.



It's not quite Friday, it's still a little snowy, and it's fa-reezing out. I think a little neon-toed yumminess is needed to get through the day.

New work (sort of)

Sometimes, jobs just don't work out. It could be any number of reasons; and really, 9 times out of 10, it's nobody's fault. Design is a finicky business--everyone has different tastes, and what I like may be vastly different than what you like.

Harvest Home was one of those projects. I completely and totally believe in what they're doing: bringing farmer's markets to low-income areas in the 5 boroughs of NYC. Harvest Home gives people who might not have easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables, well, easier access to fresh fruits and vegetables. They accept food stamps, and really give people another option besides the corner bodega.

Round one, I tried merging a city with a field:



and in later rounds, tried giving it less city, more farm:



I had so much fun playing with different fonts and shapes for this round 1 version:



I also really liked the double H pitchfork, seen here in a round 2 idea:



IN round 3, I played with different "home" shapes--I definitely prefer the above version over this one:



Finally, I'm a sucker for type that looks stamped. Can't you see this stenciled on the side of a crate of vegetables?



Unfortunately, the city has it's share of farmer's markets with an apple incorporated into it. Let's try a rooster, instead:



Unfortunately, the project never panned out. But I'll keep these in my back pocket, along with tons of other rejected logos--maybe one day I'll get some inspiration from them.

Films en langue adorable

How completely adorable are these short films made for EF Language Schools?

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

While they all feature the same soundtrack (and roughly the same storyline), the films--tied together with some gorgeous typography--are great fun. I think Paris is my favorite, but you can see them all here.

Monday morning quarterbacking

So, as we all know, there was that big dumb football game yesterday, in which 2 teams in yellow pants played to see who was the best yellow pants team ever. But in between all the football, and yellow pants, was the most important part of the Super Bowl: no, not the Black Eyed Peas--although, huge props to them for A) actually singing; and B) being younger than a million years old. No, the best part of the Super Bowl is the ads!

OK, but not really this year.

Seriously, what up, ad agencies? This is it; your time to shine--these ads cost a bazillion dollars to air, and the best you can come up with is a kitchen remodel featuring Bud Light? Adrien Brody (Sidebar: yum) crooning for Stella Artois? People throwing Pepsi cans at each other? A guy sending flowers to his girlfriend, telling her in the card that he loves her enormous rack (but to be fair, it DID come from his heart)? A FACEBOOK-equipped car??? Disappointment, after disappointment, after disappointment.

The lone standout, in my opinion, was the VW commercial I posted on Friday. There were others that were clever: Audi's rich people in jail, Chevy's old folks home, Coke's border guards, and CarMax's flashback to the 50's, to name a few. But I was unimpressed with Eminem--both commercials--Diddy, Ozzy, Roseanne Barr... YAWN.

Did the yellow pants put you to sleep, like me? You can check out all you missed here at Brand Bowl 2011. Maybe next year, we'll have pants--and ads--with a little more variety.

Friday LOLs: Awwwwww, edition

I have such a soft spot in my heart for VW. The first non-used, brand new, "grown up" car I bought was a Jetta (man, that car was fun to drive)--actually, my first 2 grown up cars were Jettas, before I graduated to the super-grown up Passat Wagon (still fun to drive, but not nearly as fun as the Jetta). Nowadays I'm just another soccer mom in an SUV, but man, I fantasize about the day when we don't need that third row, and I can downsize back to a Jetta.

But I digress. VW has always had great advertisements (Fahrvergnügen, anyone?) and this one is no exception:



May the force be with you, VW.

The charmed life

I discovered the impossibly adorable Matchbook Magazine last week:



An e-zine that has branded itself as a "field guide to a charmed life," this look book is the brainchild of Katie Armour and Jane Lilly Warren. Adorable illustrations and fantastic photography are just part of the magazine's charm; inside you'll find everything from editors' wish lists, to Warby Parker (a fantastic online optical shop that not only sells glasses for $95, but also donates a pair of glasses when one is purchased. Words cannot express my disappointment in the fact that they do not sell bifocals. Sigh), to letterpress (YUM), to cover girl Lela Rose.

I feel like Matchbook is the type of magazine poised to take that spot in my magazine archives that Blueprint left behind. I am completely smitten.

Want:

This alphabet from Nathalie Nahas:



Yum, yummer, yummiest.

(originally seen on Bloesem)

Night & day

Last week I came across this pretty awesome photography challenge from Gizmodo: Using long exposures, users were asked to submit photos taken at night, that look like they were taken during the day.









In some of these shots, you can see the rotation of the earth in the stars... which I think adds to the cool factor. Sometimes, things aren't always what they seem.

Friday LOLs

Although I haven't been a faithful viewer in recent years, I do still enjoy the Office on occasion. Last night I tuned in, and while the episode was not the funniest (not the least funny, either), the opening was... brilliant (yet a little bittersweet as well).

Michael Scott, meet David Brent:



True to form, both Michael and David are completely insulting, yet manage to crack themselves up. The part when David throws Michael a "that's what she said?" Gold.

You can see the full episode here.

Snow day!

If you live in CT, or really anywhere in the northeast, you'll know...



...it's a snow day!

This is like, the billionth snow storm we've had this winter--we've surpassed the record for the most snowfall in a winter already, and it's still January.

But I'm not complaining (although, I do believe a snowblower might be in our future)--I'm psyched to go skiing this weekend on more fresh powder, and, while it's not pretty to shovel, all this snow sure is pretty to look at. It is a marshmallow world, indeed.

So, fellow northeasterners, instead of complaining about more snow, let's embrace it. Let's pull up our snow pants, put on our waterproof boots, and play out in the snow. After all, isn't that what a snow day is all about?

New work!

More! New! Fun! Work!

A little background: When I was about 14 or 15, my family and I went on vacation to Myrtle Beach. As it's a popular family vacation destination, there were like, a million other families there as well. I met and hung out with some other kids my age, but this one girl stood out. That is how I met Michelle.

Michelle was from (and still lives in) Kentucky, and on that vacation, we had formed such a connection, that we decided right then and there that we would be friends for life. Now, it's easy to be "friends" with someone nowadays... you check into Facebook and see that all is right with the world, maybe send an email every now and again... but this, my friends, this was BEFORE THE MAGIC OF THE INTERNET. We wrote letters to each other. Letters that were decorated with lyrics to songs, and doodles in the margin, sometimes half a page, sometimes going on for 5 pages (front and back)--and man, we were faithful in sending them.

Over the years, we would fall in and out of touch, but the magic that is the internet brought us together again. We keep up with each other through Facebook and Twitter (we're both Twitter geeks--yay!), and if I'm lucky, Michelle might be headed up north this spring for a reunion (well, really for work--but we're not going to let the opportunity pass us by).

So, recently, when my friend asked me to design a logo for her Twitter meet-up, called Let Them Tweet Cake, how could I say no?

Let's go over all the awesome that was in this request:

1. Doing work for a friend

2. Who wants a logo about Twitter

3. And cake.

SOLD! From her initial email, I had so many ideas buzzing, I couldn't get them down on paper fast enough.



One of my early-on ideas was to do something that would look like a sticker from a bakery you might find on a cake box. Something a little retro-y, a little fun (OK, all of the logos are fun, but work with me here)...




How about some piped frosting on a cake?




Historically, Marie Antoinette never said "Let them eat cake" (fun fact I did not know. See, awesomeness #4: I learned something), however, a lot of people think she did say that--and plus I had so much fun working with this silhouette.




And finally, back to the bakery label. This time with some cupcake lovin'.

And the winner is...



Cupcake lovin'!

I know I just blabbed on and on last week about a project that was so much fun, and this too was no exception. Twitter, cake and, most importantly, friends... what more could you want?

Cooking with color (literally!)

Late last week, Twitter was all a buzz with the sound of designers-slash-cookies-lovers (myself included) squealing with glee. Why? Pantone Cookies!



Um, yeah, that's right. Pantone chip cookies.

Designer/illustrator Kim Neil made these babies as a holiday gift for clients (complete with a rockin' Pantone tin). Says she:

Any good designer knows the way to a clients heart is through their stomach. So when deciding what kind of cookies to make for client gifts this year I thought, why make the usual chocolate chip cookies when I can make PANTONE CHIP cookies!

Love. Her.

She includes the recipe in the post--I bet next year we're going to see a lot more of these babies (hopefully in person rather than via the interwebs).

(originally seen on design*sponge)

Adorbs!

I can't think of a better way to wash away the Monday blues with this:



kate spade + color = love!

Friday LOLs

Ok, people. Let's talk about Shake Weight.

For men.

I first saw this commercial last week--and thought surely it's a parody. Right? Because, COME ON.

Dude, the guys is all breathy, and uttering complete nonsense: "Whoooo. That's it."

Or how about the uber-testosterone laden announcer? "Grrrrr. Manly-man. Grrrrr. KICK. YOUR. BUTT."

Or all those guys (the toughest guys they could find!), who upon trying it, are all breathlessly, "Oh, man, Whew!"

Or that it's Science Fact--not fiction.

There is so much ridiculous here (cue the Rocky music), it's got to be a parody, right?

No friends, I'm afraid it's for real. But to see a marginally SFW parody, check out this SNL commercial: the Shake Weight DVD.

Yup, right up there with Pajama Jeans, there is now Shake Weight.

New work: part II

Yesterday was the gorgeousness of the Stylesson logo, today let's talk about the blog itself (which just launched--HOLLA!).

This was a little more of a challenge to design--there were a lot of things to take into consideration:

• The blog was going to be a showcase of other design blogs
• So, that's a lot of design already on one page
• The Stylesson brand had to be prominent
• But complimentary to the other design blogs
• Lots of pictures!
• And lots of white space!
• But also room for advertising

Whew. I'm exhausted already.

After playing with a ton of different ideas and configurations, I presented a couple ideas to Marcy, and she chose the version that's live--not very many design edits at all!

My pal Tim, of Cooper Multimedia, developed the site in Wordpress, using Coolvetica from Typekit for the menu.

stylesson.com