field guide

July 6, 2010 inspire

inspired by . Sea and Sky

My first exposure to Casey Gunschel’s stunning textile designs was through an article earlier this year in House Beautiful. It highlighted her Palace Papers herringbone pattern created from the delicate textures of fern fronds. I was absolutely inspired by the subtle surprise of the fern leaves awaiting a closer look at the traditional menswear texture.

When I was choosing the “grey” wall color for my office, I looked again at the Palace Papers line for inspiration. Ms. Gunschel’s intricate depictions of ravens and fish (sea and sky) in the “Nevermore” and “Coy” patterns took my breath away. I couldn’t resist the sophisticated neutrals and aquas as well as the vibrant rhythm of the shapes. It’s easy to see the inspiration Ms. Gunschel took from her Cape Cod roots. Enjoy!

July 5, 2010 in the studio

Sketchy Ideas

My friends Jennifer and Juliette deserve “thank you” notes. These two fabulous women, whom I most often connect with via Facebook, were kind enough to send me special “happies” last week to celebrate the move to my new home office. Sweets and jewelry–two of a girl’s best friends. The gifts have served to confirm for me the power of acknowledgement, even in the business world. I’ll save the soap box for another post, but the common courtesies we learned from our mothers and grandmothers are just as important for doing business as they were for sweet 16 parties and high school graduations. The fact is; “please” and “thank you” are solid marketing strategies–perhaps even more so in today’s digital age than ever before.

To that end, I decided some custom Small Pond notecards were in order based on a few sketchy ideas. Literally. I think I’ve mentioned that I have been weeding through files (and piles) over the last few weeks. It’s an integral part of moving offices. Sadly, it hasn’t been an integral part of my organizational routine, so the process of late has netted some crazy stuff.

I keep most of my sketches for design projects, especially those “doodles” used in developing logo designs. The sketches are kind of like visual brainstorming sessions with overlapping images and notes, little dots or boxes representing where the text might go, and the occasional note about reference material. These doodles sometimes segue into drawings on tracing paper (or bumwad, as I learned in architecture school) destined to be scanned. Being the design pack-rat that I am, I keep almost all these wrinkled pages. You just never know when they might come in handy.

As you can imagine, I found a considerable set of sketchy blissdom when weeding through my office piles, and dutifully filed them away in drawer #2 of the red filing cabinet. I decided they would make nice visuals for the inaugural “Sketch Paper” series of Small Pond notecards. I may subject you to more of the sketches and their stories here at Plop! as time goes on. Meanwhile, you are the first to have a peek at the notecard designs, and I plan to enlist the USPS in firing off a couple to Jennifer and Juliette this week. Saying “thank you” is important, even if the “look” is a little sketchy. Come to think of it, YOU deserve a “thank you” for reading these Pond ramblings. So, message me your address and I’ll fire off one for you too!

June 24, 2010 in the studio

In Context

Context is so important in what I do. As a designer, my task often swings between responding to context and creating context. Logos, brochures, websites and Facebook posts don’t stand alone. Like all marketing efforts, they exist within a context–some kind of framework. To be successful, good design work and good marketing practices must not only communicate, but even persuade within the context where they are used. What good is a poster if those seeing it can’t relate to it? What good is a logo if it works in the context of a billboard, but not in the context of a business card? Determining context is an integral part of an effective design process.

It’s not that different with people. As I’ve been explaining my move out into the Small Pond to friends, colleagues and clients, one of the first things they wonder about is context. Will you have an office? Can we still meet with you if we want to? Where are you going to work? I asked myself all those same questions when I began the leap into small business ownership. I’ve realized how important the “backdrop” of my work is to me–how much it colors the creative process.

I’m happy to share that I do indeed have an office. It’s a converted space at my home that will afford me just enough privacy and just enough access to the refrigerator to make my work days productive and worthwhile. A separate entrance will give clients a quick way to sample my Pond and a seating and meeting space will facilitate great idea-sharing. I posted last week that my wall color of choice was Sherwin Williams 6078 “Realist Beige.” Six thousand boxes, sundry office supplies, a few cans of spray paint and several kid masterpieces later, the office is hopping into shape.

It’s a work in progress, but I hope you’ll enjoy this first look! Stop by after July 1st to see it in action (and maybe wall art). Welcome to my Pond!

June 15, 2010 inspire

inspired by . Beige Walls

I love color. I really do. I culled through some of my “nature” photo files the other day–a lot of culling going on these days with switching offices. I was amazed again by the commonalities and subtle differences we see all around us every day. It’s quite inspiring, so I thought I’d inspire you with some of the floral color similarities I found in my collection.

The news around the Pond is that my new office is being painted today! Those of you who know me (and certainly those who’ve glanced at the website) know that I really am a color gal. I love bright colors. I enjoy vibrance. So, what color did I choose for my office walls?

“Realist Beige” — Sherwin Williams 6078

Yep. It’s beige. Or charitably, a warm grey. I know. I couldn’t believe it either. I’ve seen some spectacular examples of grey tones paired with other colors lately (which I’ll share soon), and I suppose it’s convinced me of how inspiring grey can really be. The good thing about the grey/beige walls is that they will serve as a wonderful grounding for the many moods of my creativity. They will easily play well with the multitude of books, scraps of paper and Sonic wacky pack toys that are likely to line my shelves. They will readily co-exist with whatever bright-minded office supplies and bins I choose. They will welcome almost any pattern that strikes my momentary fancy.

The fact is, I need that neutrality. I need something that frees me to pursue whichever path my creativity takes–kind of like a staging area for inspiration.

Inspiration. It seems like we’re constantly looking for it. It’s one reason why I decided to begin writing a blog as part of my launch of Small Pond Graphics. I’m kind of an information-junkie and certainly a web-junkie, so I love finding creative ideas from all the fields of design, the arts and culture that can impact my work or just give me a breath of fresh creative air.

Inspiration and I sometimes have a love-hate relationship, however. As a design professional, I’m required to call on my creativity and design sensibilities on a daily basis — usually in a way that meets specific goals and deadlines. For my entire adult life, I’ve needed to be creative every day. And, before that, my foray into architecture and art school certainly was no different. Whew! That can be quite a drain on the inspiration quotient. But, it’s a joy nonetheless. I’m betting that whatever endeavor my clients and readers are pursuing ALSO requires at least a modicum of creativity, usually a healthy dose. That’s just how life is in the small pond. Creativity and ingenuity are needed no matter what you’re doing.

You never know where you might find inspiration to fuel that ingenuity. Part of my goal with Plop! is to provide frequent updates on what is inspiring my pursuit of creativity and pushing me toward a more well-designed and well-lived life. And, I hope to call on some of my creative and industrious friends to share what inspires their creativity, too. Maybe it will offer you the added inspiration to create that well-designed life in your own pond!

So, what’s inspiring you today? Like beige, what’s that thing freeing your creativity that you never thought could? I’d love to hear about it! Maybe it will inspire the rest of us too!

June 6, 2010 in the studio

Prince Potential

Frogs and princes. I’ve always loved that story — the one where the girl isn’t afraid to pick up the slimy, croaking, web-toed frog and give him a big ol’ kiss. There must have been something inspiring in that little toad, something that made the girl see the prince potential in those multi-colored, eye slits. That’s kind of how I see great design work. It’s potential is there in all kinds of shapes and forms and patterns and sounds and budgets. Sometimes, it just requires a little extra attention to the details to bring it out. That’s kind of how I see ideas, too. The tiny, warty ones can turn big and spectacular when the right person applies a little love and attention (and great design) to them.

Many of you may know that I have worked as the Art Director of Dux D’Lux Advertising for the past 16 years. Recently, the Queen of Dux took to calling me the company “creative wizard.” Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to spread my creative wings quite often and tackle many types of projects and client accounts — corporations and start-ups, non-profit and for profit, big and small. I’ve done a lot of frog-kissing, you might say. And, sure enough, I found a lot of princes.

I’ve worked with countless small businesses through the years. I’ve just never started one. Until now. Since the Queen is retiring and Dux D’Lux is closing its doors for design and agency services, I’ve decided to hop out on my own with a new company — Small Pond Graphics.

Why the small pond? Well, I AM a small girl in a small town, but we all live in a small world. The pond is getting smaller and smaller by the day. I’m ready to embrace all the uniqueness that small pond provides. The truth is; I like small ponds. As I wrote for my website, small ponds are where most of us begin our unique circle of impact. Small ponds are places where individualism and an individual approach to marketing and services can be most beneficial. They are places where the same old formulas don’t necessarily apply, where those ways of doing things can actually get you lost in the sea of competition. I like the idea of finding the unique aspects in frogs of all persuasions and offering that individual attention that helps the prince shine through. This small world we swim in needs a relationship-focused approach to service and solutions. I like the sound of that.

Since, I’ve never done this small business thing and since I’m sold on this individual, relationship-based approach, I’ve decided to launch a blog as part of my Small Pond “ecosystem.” I hope it will help clients get to know me better and learn about my design sensibilities. If you’ve read EyeJunkie, my personal blog, you know I’m prone to long-windedness, but I hope this foray will offer a little more eyecandy and inspiration to seek and recognize the prince potential all around us. The small pond is teeming with life well-designed, well-read, well-done and well-lived. I’m calling the Small Pond Graphics blogging adventure Plop! and I plan to use it to chronicle my foray into entrepreneurship and offer up some (hopefully) daily design inspiration.

Thanks for reading the inaugural Plop! post and for indulging me in a little meandering on the art of launching a new design company. Stay tuned for more pond pursuits!