The kids and I spent some time the other day practicing our painting / mess-making skills (but that comes naturally, right?). What a photo opportunity! And when I loaded this on the computer I immediately had an idea for a little design. My kids tend to have that effect

I thought this would also make an excellent Facebook Cover so I rearranged a little and created this panoramic. I’m glad Facebook integrated this feature into the user profiles. It allows for a little more self expression (or promotion) space and I do really enjoy panoramic designs.

I found an interesting tutorial and was inspired to try it on my own as a basis for a page in the kids’ baby books. I did this one for Caleb’s book and I am brainstorming what to do for Cece’s. My process was a bit different from the tutorial (as I tend to do) as I wanted the text to be editable and not mess with making all those unneeded brushes. I left the text layers as vector and grouped them. I then set the face image to a clipping mask and applied the invert mask over that layer. Anyways, enough technical talk – here’s the image. It will be for a 12×12 book. Really excited to print this one up!

I love the result.

Bright, fun colors and flowers are on order for this little one’s first birthday party invitation! I love how it turned out and my family and I are looking forward to attending the party…

In other news, I’m now using CS 5.5 and looking forward to downloading my copy of CS6 next week!

Various Logo Designs from the past several years.

One of the most detailed but most enjoyable projects I have worked on to date. I wasn’t too particular about many of the details pertaining to my “Big Day” but I wasn’t going to settle for store bought invites – I am a Graphic Designer, after all!

First came the Save The Date magnets which set the theme and colors up perfectly (we also had a co-worker of mine at the time take the photos). The recipients loved that we sent them a calendar for the whole year and many still have the magnets on their fridge to this day. Our wedding date was highlighted both in the calendar layout and in the sub-heading.

The Invitation Kit was the most detailed piece but is the most important when it comes to this type of event. I had these nice photos and thought it would be a great thing to somehow give my family and friends a photo of us together as a keepsake. I determined a 5×7 would be a good size and would fit well into the silver envelopes I subsequently ordered. The outside gate fold served as the actual invitation with all the details of the ceremony. The inside gate fold was the tear-off RSVP card which was perforated for easy tearing and self stamped so my invitees could simply fill it out and drop it back to me in the mail. This worked fantastically and eliminated the need for a second envelope and the postage required for that. I ensured the RSVP portion would fit under the USPS guidelines for postcard pricing. The perforation cost was minimal in comparison to the extra postage and paper fees. I also wanted to not have this piece fold equally down the middle since the RSVP card needed to be smaller and the information side larger. The wax seal (while tricky at first to implement) gave it a perfectly off-centered accent and special feel.

The programs are simply a tri-fold 8.5×11 piece. Printed on matte 80# paper, they are simple in layout but not in the design. These carry over the same elements from the other pieces to complete the theme. This was a great way to not only guide our guests through the ceremony but also give a little background about our wedding party and give a thank you on the back.

I also created a small website that contained information about the wedding such as hotels in the area, the reception menu, and vendors we used, a page about how we met, and a photo gallery where I uploaded photos both from the wedding and from our childhood.

Real Estate Marketing Postcard Series. Originally designed to be a 12 month campaign, the client expanded to over 15 months because of the positive feedback he was getting from the postcards. The back advertised photos of featured monthly listings along with their list price. This was an effective way to include snapshot useful information along with the eye-catching graphic and message on the front of the card.

Identity Branding for Real Estate Agent. Client had come with a logo already in place and wanted to use his established theme across his marketing products. Business Cards, Note Cards, Labels, and Stationary were designed for print. Client also used Post Card and Property Brochure templates that were uploaded to a web-to-print store for him to edit and order as needed.

Logo and Identity Brand for Real Estate Agent. Client wanted something clean and professional with a logo that would reference a badge or pin. Bronze gradients and 3D bevels help to achieve this effect.  Logo, Business Cards, and Postcard campaign were developed.

Identity Branding for Real Estate Agent, Paul Carlson. Custom layout and theme designed for business card, note card, stationary, and marketing materials. Feature Sheet, Box Flyer, and Post Card were designed as templates with placeholder text and images. This design proved very effective as the vibrant green used is not as common in Real Estate marketing, but still maintains a professional look when accented with the navy blue and primary red.