Up in Lights

It's fun seeing my work up in lights! I designed the signage, seating cards, etc. for the B'nai B'rith International, Distinquished Humanitarian Award Dinner. Here's a sneak peek, more images to come.

Pinsperation

I have a confession to make. I am in love with my pins. Below is a peek at my Pinterest "Art :: Shape" board. Click on it to view more, and follow me for goodness sake!

 

source: Susan Joy Designs on Pinterest

Scandinavian Art

One of the things I love about Pinterest is discovering new artists (new to me, that is). I came across an extremely unique calder-esque carved wood & bone necklace and had to find out more about the artist. It was by Swedish jewelry designer Torun Bülow-Hübe circa 1950. While researching Torun, I found many other fantastic Scandinavian artists. This painting in particular by Danish artist Henning Gjedde struck me. The colors: a stunning combination of coral, pinks, black & white. The shapes: abstract, geometric, simple forms. The composition: collage-like bold but light-weight elements in a purposeful simplified chaos.

re-pin this: Henning Gjedde, 1958

re-pin this: Torun Bülow-Hübe, Sweden. Early 1950's

The Graphic Impulse

I came across the online portfolio of art director & graphic designer Brigitta Bungard today. She is part of the design team at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. One piece in her portfolio that really stood out was the title wall for a German Expressionism exhibit that she created along with her MOMA teammates Julia Hoffmann (creative direction), Jesse Reed (design), Paulette Giguere (production artist). They won several awards for the design including Communication Arts: Design Annual 52, 2012; Type Directors Club: Typography Annual 33, 2012; Global SEGD Design Awards: Merit 2012; and Print Magazine Regional Design Awards, 2012.

About the exhibition via segd.com:

German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse was an exhibition of more than 250 prints, drawings, paintings, sculptures, illustrated books, and periodicals drawn from MoMA’s collection of 3,000 pieces from this period. The vast amount of work inspired the idea of transforming the galleries into a time capsule of sorts—prompting visitors to feel as if they were walking into a cumulative presentation of this unique movement of art’s many works.
The title wall was clearly legible as visitors exited the elevators to enter the 6th floor Special Exhibition Gallery, but as they approached the entrance, they discovered the shift between the walls, which cut the title in two. This cut, emphasized by the red wall color, also symbolized World War I, a pivotal point for the German Expressionist movement and artists. Inside the exhibition, visitors could see this motif repeated in the layout and color of the gallery walls. The in-house design team used letters from an old wood type alphabet, which at huge scale emphasized the imperfection of prints, yet still felt bold and contemporary. A closer look revealed how the black letters were painted with the texture of an enlarged woodcut, alluding to the texture of many of the prints in the exhibition.

The challenge of utilizing a large gallery space for the title of an exhibition is choosing the appropriate proportion and scale, and the team was able to capitalize on the exhibition’s long title to create an atmosphere that might not have been possible under other circumstances.

via segd.com

View the rest of Brigitta's portfolio here: http://www.brigittabungard.com/


source: brigittabungard.com
photo credit: Martin Seck

Weaved Inspiration

Re-Pin This: http://pinterest.com/pin/173318285631453139/ 

WOVEN WALL PANELS  by JUSTINE ASHBEE

source: patternity.co.uk

Packaging Ideas

The holidays are right around the corner. I know, I can't believe it either. I just found this really great blog with a great compilation of unique packaging ideas that I thought I would share. Think outside the box this holiday season and get creative with your wrapping. It doesn't have to be time consuming or expensive. Check out these great ideas below and for more ideas visit: www.ohhellofriendblog.com








sources and diy instructions: sunday suppers, parcel post, whipper berry, decor8, project wedding

Many Facets

I love this jacquard loom woven afghan by graphic artist turned functional object designer Matt W. Moore. His new company CORE DECO makes coasters, shelving, and jacquard afghans all adorned with his signature graphic patterns. The video is a little much with the sexy music but it does help you see how soft and comfy the 100% cotton geometric patterned throw is. Needless to say, I want one!!!

The "Crystal" afghan features a faceted triangulation array

source: mocoloco.com

Elementary

When the Paper Source catalog arrived in the mail yesterday, I was as giddy as a 3rd grader. While browsing through the colorful & whimsical pages of things that I don't NEED, I had a flashback of elementary school and HAVING to have these crazy pens and pencils in my desktop pencil box and how exciting it was when I would get to go to the mall and buy a new one. You remember the ones I am talking about right? I'm sure I had a pencil printed with pastries and sweets and a slice 'o cake eraser on top. Well, when I saw the file folders with the vintage typewriter illustration on front in the Paper Source catalog, for a split second I thought to myself - "that is so cute, I have to have that." But then reason kicked in (something you don't have as a kid) and I realized that I am a 33 year old woman and I DON'T need them, nor do I really WANT them. But much like the actual store, the Paper Source catalog is just so much fun to look at and really inspires creativity and if something brings you back to your inner child, that can only be a good thing.

I love these striped paper straws - $6.95 for a box of 144

Gorgeous Giftwrap

This is really cool. When Portuguese beer maker Sagres released a chocolate flavored beer, they decided to celebrate by making their website entirely out of chocolate. What? I was confused at first too. I figured that their website was simply illustrated to look like it was chocolate. Nope. Master chocolatier, Victor Nunes, known for his chocolate sculptures, actually created each component of the interface design - buttons, boxes, text, backgrounds, logo - out of real chocolate, photographed each of the parts and pieces and then their web design firm created a flash website with a stop motion-esque look and feel. Check it out for yourself here (fyi you must be 18+ to view the site since it is for a beer and it is in portuguese, so click the button on the left that says "sim" which means "yes" - you are over 18).

Check out the video of the whole process below:

 

source: odditycentral.com

Long Time Comin'

My lovely clients have kept me so busy for the last 2 years that I haven't had the chance to work on my own website! But an update seriously had to be done, so I've been workin' overtime the last few weeks and I am so excited to launch my new and improved graphic design portfolio site, which will be done hopefully within the next week or so. I have so much new work to share! I'm loving the super cool expand and contract full-screen slideshow I have integrated onto the homepage. I am using a jquery script that shrinks and enlarges my images according to the browser size of the viewer. Here is a sneak peek:

Doing My Part

It is surprising to see that there are still some people using a browser more than 10 years old: Internet Explorer 6. I do understand though as many years ago I was an AOL user and I just couldn't let go - it was what I knew and change is scary. But when I did finally make the change - wow - what a difference. Being free from the confines of the AOL interface opened me up to a true view of the world wide web. My next big step: moving from Internet Explorer to Firefox. Now that was liberating! But I digress :)

There are many browser types (ie, firefox, chrome, safari, etc.) and each browser type has many a'browser version and each one has different coding requirements. Web developers, such as myself have to format accordingly for each browser and each browser version for each-and-every website that we build. IE6 is one of the most outdated browsers that is still in use. As of today though less than 1% of the United States is using IE6 and 6.3% worldwide.

I'm writing today to do my part in helping bring that number down to less than 1% worldwide and hopefully bring it to extinction in the USA. Click here to see if you are using IE6 (if you are, you will see an orange banner at the top of the page) and if so, upgrade your browser today!!! 

Why move off of Internet Explorer 6?

There are many benefits of upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer – improved speed, tabbed browsing, and better privacy settings to name a few.

The web has changed significantly over the past 10 years. The browser has evolved to adapt to new web technologies, and the latest versions of Internet Explorer help protect you from new attacks and threats.

We recommend that Internet Explorer 6 users upgrade to a newer version of Internet Explorer for a safer browsing experience. 

(Source: ie6countdown.com)

History of Glitter

Cute short about the history of glitter from etsy. It is true that glitter makes people happy, just by looking at it! Enjoy! What is your favorite use for glitter?

Ink&Paper Documentary

Great student film about the oldest paper shop & print shop in Los Angeles.

ink&paper from witspictures on Vimeo.

The French do it Better.

I found this great blog from France that simply posts signage found in France and other European countries, Jules Vernacular. I love how so many signs are handmade or painted directly onto the buildings.

Back in November I did graphics for an independent short film which will be submitted to Sundance Film Festival. I wanted to post some stills from the set of my work in action :) Take a peek and let me know what you think!

Logo Design for Fictitious Company / Company Logo Signage - 3x4 foot, full color banner

 



ID Cards for Office Scene

 



Custom Logo for Ficticious Company / Faux screensaver with movement created via Flash




Faux Bills / Props for Characters in the Film



Faux Bills / Props for Characters in the Film



Vegan Yum Yum

My new favorite website is http://www.veganyumyum.com/. This blog-esque site reminds me of America's Test Kitchen; for the vegan. The author, Lolo of Boston is extremely knowledgeable. She takes you step by step through classic recipes and shows you how to convert them to be vegan. Her recipes are lovely and each step is broken down with beautiful magazine worthy photographs. She just completed her first cook book that I am defintely going to pick up. I think you should too. You can check out the book here: Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday

MyWeddings.com Mention!

I am very excited to have been mentioned on MyWeddings.com! The article features an interview with Alissa & Rich who I had the pleasure of working with this past summer. I designed all of the papergoods for their "Vintage Rustic Chic" wedding including the Ceremony Programs, CD favors, Signage, and Itineraries. Check out the article!

• MyWeddings.com Article
• My papergoods website: www.KraftandKind.com

Resurrecting an old love.

Once upon a time photography was my passion. If I was seen without my camera people would ask if something was wrong. I documented every thing, every event. It was even my major in college. But as time went on the cost of buying film and printing photos became burdensome. I also realized that I wasn't experiencing moments, just trying to capture them on film. So I shelved my cameras and they began collecting dust somewhere deep in my closet.

When digital cameras came onto the scene, like most photographers, I was against them staying true to the tradition of film cameras. Well, it's been about eight years now since digital became mainstream and I finally made the big leap!

I can now combine my love of digital art with my personal photography! How exciting!

Here are some images that I captured over the past week, would love to hear your thoughts!

More to come!

New Ventures

Ideas become sketches, sketches become prototypes, a plethora of business names are brainstormed, dot com's are purchased. This is how it usually happens, starting a new business that is. Over the past few weeks I have been cooking up some new ideas with some very talented friends of mine. I am very excited about these new ventures and know you will be too!

They are: Modern Nostalgia - Handcrafted Accoutrements and Kraft & Kind - Paper Goods.

It all started with my best friend's wedding.
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Modern Nostalgia - http://www.modernnostalgiala.com/
I collaborated with the bride and another friend to create all of her bridal accoutrement's from her headpiece/hat/veil to her bustle & petticoat - all with a fabulous Vintage Rustic Chic theme. We took a simple white wedding dress and created what was probably the most beautiful and unique couture wedding gown I have ever seen (if I do say so myself) (detail photos below). So great in fact that the photos will soon be published in magazines thanks to the genius photographer / photojournalist Laura Grier of Beautiful Day Photography. The three of us, with our entrepreneurial spirit just couldn't stop there and have thus created a line of custom one of a kind accoutrement's: Modern Nostalgia. We have been busy making headbands, clips, hats, pins, belts, bustles, and shrugs all with a vintage modern flare. We will have a large bridal selection as well as everyday pieces. Until our website is up and running we will be selling exclusively on Etsy. Stay tuned as we will officially launch within the next week or so.

Kraft and Kind - www.KraftandKind.com

I was so excited and honored to do the design for all of the paper goods used in the wedding. This included the rehearsal dinner & bridal shower invitations, directions card, ceremony programs, cd & cover design (which was the favor given out at the wedding), all signage, and the info booklet for out of town guests.

The wedding was 9 miles up a mountain at a farmhouse in the Santa Ynez Valley. This fantastic location with vast mountain vista views and an ostrich farm in tow was the inspiration for the Vintage Rustic Chic theme. I had free reign design-wise which is always fun and I was finally able to use my new favorite country font; Rosewood, and rock it with an elegant script giving it a modern spin.

It was such a great experience creating these items for such a wonderful occasion! So to keep the fun going, I have since created a line of paper goods called Kraft and Kind. The site is being created as I write. I will offer custom invitation design as well as greeting cards, gift tags, labels & stickers, and all things paper related for all occasions. Stay tuned...