Breakup:

Dearest Halloween Candy:

I love you--I do! But I just can't do this anymore: Halloween Candy, we have to break up.

Truth be told, I don't even want to be friends with you anymore. Don't get me wrong, you're attractive (you look good enough to EAT!), and let's face it, you have a good personality, too (it's even in your name: Fun Size!). But you have a dark side, Halloween Candy, and I'm not just talking about the dark chocolate.

It's just--well, sometimes, Halloween Candy, you make me feel bad about myself. And you do it VERY subtly. It's never in moderation, Halloween Candy. Never, I'll just do it this one time. No, it's 20 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and a stomachache (although, let's be fair, you know I'm putty once you break out the chocolate-peanut butter combination). Then, I just think constantly of all of the spin classes I'll have to take to get you off of me; until I'm in the midst of spin, thinking, I'm exercising, surely I can enjoy just ONE piece of Halloween Candy.

You see where this vicious cycle is leading me, don't you?

I'm sorry Halloween Candy, I really am. I hope you find happiness. I mean, I know you will. You're great! Just not for me. I hope you understand.

Love, Sincerely,
Tracie

Shoesies II:

It's cloudy, rainy, yucky and all around gross outside today. I think lime green shoes (with a hot pink heel) are in order:

Oh look at that! Kate Spade happens to have a pair right here. I know I just bought a fab pair of shoes... but a girl can never have too many, right?

New work:

About a month ago, I posted a little sneak peek of a project I was working on... and now I'm ready to pull the cover off that sucker and do the big reveal:

Over the summer, I was asked by fellow CT-based graphic designer Patti Murphy if I would be interested in designing posters for a group show at a gallery in New London. Um... Hells yeah?

The guidelines the artists were given were loose: the show was in October, the posters had to be 12 x 18", and the theme was positivity. That's it. Photographic, typographic, illustrative... the medium was entirely left up to the artist. 

Holy cow, this project was beyond fun; and I wish I had more time to devote to designing even more posters! It was incredibly therapeutic for me to design with so few limits, using the graphic design method of my choice. 

Opening night, Mattio and I took a ride up to New London, and it was so awesome to see everybody's work (leading up to opening night, it was nausea-inducing. Seriously, my work was hung amongst some pretty big deals in the graphic design/illustration community, and... uh, I was a little nervous). It was so exciting to see my work hanging in a gallery (squeeee!), and incredibly honored that it was hanging in such great company.

Here I am, all famous in a gallery! See that teeny picture on the left? That's me!

If you guys are up that way, I highly suggest you go and check out the Hang in There poster show at the Hygienic in New London (now through 11/12).

Shoesies:

I love Tory Burch (especially the shoes. My God, the shoes!), I love a good sale, and most of all, I love a good sale on Tory Burch shoes. So last Thursday, when facebook notified me that Tory Burch had a special offer just for TB facebook fans, I was sold. And, just my luck, they happened to be having a sale on the shoes I had been coveting ever since my friend Marcy featured them on her blog (proving even further that we might be twins separated at birth--at least fashion-wise--we unknowingly bought the same exact pair of shoes). They were half off, so there was no way I was NOT buying them.

Fast forward to yesterday, when UPS delivered the goods. Have you guys ever gotten a package that was just so... pretty? And fun to open? Because I am a packaging nerd, getting the shoes themselves wasn't enough--can I just say: squeeee! Packaging!

It was like my birthday, all over again. I've ordered my fair share of shoes online, and I've never been so excited to open a package (and not because of what's inside). Fun orange wrapping paper, with an embossed gold sticker, holding a note from Tory herself (OK, not Tory herself, but still. Fun).

Um, yes, Tory... I did find what I was looking for, and I DO love them!

Even the receipt/return shipping ugliness came packaged all nice in this pretty little envelope. The back says, "We love this envelope--it's a great place to keep all those lists, receipts and unframed photos."

I love this envelope, too; but not because of it's usefulness (although, bonus points). Packing receipts are rarely pretty, and return shipping labels are just downright ugly. But all of that yuckiness was contained in a pretty cute sleeve.

Oh, and the shoes?

Bright red penny loafers? Yes, please!

LOVE them.

Candy:

Hey--I'm back! Apologies for the hiatus, internet friends--things here at traciedesigns HQ were busy, busy, busy... and, well, something had to give. But I didn't stray far, and now I'm back, posting with my (somewhat) usual regularity, so never fear.

So, let's get down to it: candy corn. Basically solidified corn syrup, right? But--sweet Jesus--how awesome is it? Well, let me clarify that: how awesome is the orange/yellow/white combination (none of this pumpkin shaped baloney; or worse--the imposter "Autumn selection" consisting of yellow/orange/brown)? I have basically been living off of it the past few days--seriously, it's become a whole separate food group at this point. And just when I thought I couldn't eat any more, the intern came home with a whole jar full (for coming closest to guessing the correct amount in the jar, at a party--go intern!). Naturally that did not stop me, and I ate so much of her candy corn, I felt bad and bought replacement candy corn. Which, I have basically finished. It is a downward spiral, friends; one that I am going down faster and faster. Won't Halloween just hurry up and get here so all this candy corn will disappear (that way I won't have to make it disappear myself, and/or check myself into some sort of candy corn rehab)?

Do you guys like candy corn? I heard not too long ago that it is the number 1 most-hated candy. Like, people like black licorice better. Huh? I can't even comprehend that.

Wedding week:

My brother in law is getting married Friday night, and through all of the preparations going on this week, I found these save the dates I designed for them:



They didn't end up using these (actually, I'm not even sure I presented these, as they never sent out save the dates), but I came across it last night and there's something about it that I really love. Maybe it's the fact that they chose a more traditional wedding invite (which I'll feature later on this week), or maybe it's the fun, block-y font. Either way, I'm putting this in my back pocket and keeping it around for a while...

Thank you, Steve:

Richard Dreyfuss did the voice over for the one they actually aired on TV; but this here? This one's all Jobs.

Happy/sad:

Today is my birthday. As birthdays go, it was a good day: I worked, hung with the kids, had dinner at Shake Shack, and thought my night would end with a cupcake, and a little more work.

Instead, I had a cupcake, and read the news of Steve Job's passing.

I am heartbroken. I didn't know Steve Jobs personally, but my God. He has had such a huge impact on my life, it's hard not to feel the emptiness, now that he is no longer with us. Because of Steve Jobs' vision, I have a career. When Apple forced Jobs out, the company began a slow and steady decline, almost to the point of bankruptcy. Hired back in 1996, Jobs began changing the way the world operates; first by introducing the revolutionary iMac (from which I am writing this on, and from which I work every day), then the iPod, iphone, iPad...

Without his ingenuity, his genius, I wouldn't have a machine to work on. Sure, I could clunk around on a PC, but I guarantee that the field of design would not be the same if not for Steve Jobs and the way he brought Apple back to life. And he took it and ran, introducing the world to a new way of listening to music, a new way of communicating with one another, a new way of computing.

His great mind will be missed. I think my friend BJ put it best when he said that we are lucky to have lived in the Steve Jobs era.

Very lucky indeed.

Sneak peek:

Just a little side project I'm having loads of fun with... I'll have more details soon, but for now, you guys will just have to live with this little taste.

Life:

It's been a busy couple of days here at traciedesigns HQ. I have enough work to keep me going, but the kind of busy I'm talking about is life.

Last year at this time, I was the HBIC of the PTA at the 8 year old's school. It was not an easy job, and looking back, I see exactly how much of my time it took up (A LOT). But I enjoy volunteering at the school, I've met lots of great people and I can't even begin to tell you how rewarding it is (seriously. If you're feeling down, go have lunch with your kid at school. Watch their face light up and I guarantee that you will feel light years better). The 8 year old took great pride in my role as president (getting so frustrated with me if I couldn't answer her questions; "You're the PRESIDENT. Don't you know EVERYTHING??!" I wish).

But this year, I'm not the HBIC. Somebody else is running the show, and I'm OK with that. I enjoy having my time back, doing things with my kids, and not constantly checking my email to approve email blasts and flyers (OK, I still constantly check my email, but not for things like that). I enjoy letting the kids play on the playground after school gets out, and not having to run home to... yep, check email. I enjoy coming downstairs in the morning to a clean kitchen, instead of last night's dishes still in the sink. Most of all, I enjoy the sense of order I am restoring to my life.

So this past week, I've been doing just that. I've got work that I'm doing, but I'm really concentrating on a healthy work-life balance. And so far, it seems to be working.

Winning:

When you work from home--alone, for the most part--sometimes simple things like getting the mail is exciting (don't be all envious of my thrilling life). I don't know why I look forward to it day after day, as it's mostly bills and junk (let's play how many credit card offers will we get today!); but every once in a while, you get a pleasant surprise thrown in.

Like, yesterday, for example.

Yesterday was a pretty standard 5:1 junk to bills ratio (I guess it's good that it's not the other way around), with the exception of one Big Envelope. And that Big Envelope had a GD USA return address on it. Which could only mean one thing:

American Graphic Design Awards came in the mail!

The American Graphic Design Awards is a design competition that "spotlights areas of excellence and opportunity for creative professionals... It honors outstanding work across all media." This year's awards attracted 8,000 entries, with a select 15% winning.

There seems to be some sort of mistake on one (2 entries are listed--does that mean they're both winners?), so I may have won 5 total--Wheeeeeeeeeeee! And the winners are:

Melt Sandwich Shop website

Objects blog

Stylesson blog

The award with 2 entries listed:

art + interiors website redesign

Mari the Studio website

I'll find out later this week what the mix up was, but in the meantime, let's start pouring the bubbly and celebrating!

Monogram this:

Fun with monograms? Yes, please!



I'd never be able to pull it off (because I have children who ask questions), but I love the idea of a WTF monogram. Hee hee (or, should I say, LOL?)!

Fresh:

The (powerful) message is clear here: from the great stop motion animation, to the completely appropriate use of Coldplay's The Scientist (chillingly redone by Willie Nelson), this might be my new favorite commercial.

Chipotle, I'm yours.

(via Fast Co. Design)

Friday LOL (nostalgia edition):

This one's not so much funny ha-ha, but funny like, awwww, we used to work on that machine!

Shrine of Apple:


Awesome photos and videos of every Apple product, ever.

Remember the Lisa? Maybe you have a little ipod nostalgia--it's all here (and if it's not, the site says it's coming).

Fun to go through and see how very, VERY far we've come!

Type:

It's a good thing these are on the internet--I'm afraid my drool would ruin them if I had the real deal. Ladies and gentlemen, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map TYpography:



Holy cow, the typography on these maps is CRAZY gorgeous. I could look at them all day. As a matter of fact, if you need me, that's where I'll be...

(via kottke.org)

Inbox zero:

Yeah, I've pretty much come to terms with that never, ever happening.

Like, ever.

How do people do it? How on earth do people stay so organized--so ON TOP of their email--that they can claim inbox 0??!

I try so hard to be good--deleting Twitter notifications as they come in... OK, that's about as good as I get. I mean, I have client folders. I have etc folders. I'm not sure what prevents me from taking the extra 2 seconds to place an email into one of said folders.

This madness has got to stop--I have got to get on top of this email disaster! Internet, how do you keep your inboxes from becoming such a mess, that they end up looking like, well, mine?

Six:

This always slips my mind, because this time of year I am in full-on back to school mode, but--you guys, this week traciedesigns is 6!

Now, traditionally, the 6th anniversary gift is iron. Boooo-ring. The modern gift is a wood object. I'm sure if I went through my bookmarks, or scoured the internet I'd probably find at least 20 wood objects. But do you know what the traditional UK gift is?

Sugar.

Ah yes, sugar. The stuff my dreams cupcakes are made from. Mmmmmmm, cupcakes. The perfect 6th business anniversary present, ever.

Friday LOL (baseball edition):

More Alec Baldwin/John Krasinski funnies.

"Call 912! Call 912!"

"What is 912?"

"911 for rich people!"

Shop:

Well I guess now I HAVE to shop at Saks to get one of these fun bags:



Designed by Pentagram, the new bags encourage shoppers to follow Saks on Twitter. The custom @ symbol has been integrated into their print campaign, and will be seen in an upcoming catalog. Read and see more here.

Type:

Cape Cod is one of my favorite places; it's got nothing but charm, everything is SO laid back, and--most of all--ice cream. Lots of ice cream. Like, I'm seriously going through withdrawl now, there was so much ice cream.

Besides ice cream, the other thing the Cape has in abundance is hand-lettered signs. Because you're hard-pressed to find a lot of chain stores (save for Subway and Dunkin Donuts, at least in our neck of the woods), most of the stores are mom and pops, complete with hand-lettered signage.


Mmmmm, fudge. In addition to ice cream, there's no shortage to fudge on the Cape, either. I know. Too bad, right? Love the "mouthwatering fudge" lettering. Oh, and the fact that THEY MAIL CANDY.



I think I drove by this book store about 20 times a day, as it was right around the corner from where we stayed. It is the cutest little bookshop I have ever seen, and made me want to not order from Amazon and stay there and browse all day. True story. Love the flourishes.



Love the Agro Dolce--not so much the hologram effect, but the lettering is nice.



The first time I saw this sign, I swear I almost crashed my car, craning my neck to see it. Flourishes, script, gold detail... I loved it so much that I went WAY out of my way to snap this pic.



What can I say? I'm a sucker for Bodoni poster, even more so for hand-lettered Bodoni poster.



Come on, it wouldn't be a trip to the Cape without a weathered lobster sign!



Finally, I snapped this at the Brewster General Store. It's not hand-lettered, but Oh. Em. Gee. I love it.