what I do as "work"

A lot of people ask what I do for Que Sera, a small interior design firm out of Excelsior. The answer? A host of different things. While most of it is website content management for Que's sister store Oh Baby!, I often get the opportunity to do design work for promotional pieces for both stores. Here are a few of my favorite banners I've done for Oh Baby's homepage.

These are by far my favorite things to do for work, since I have the freedom to be as creative as I please. The following is our flier for Que Sera's grand opening in Excelsior (they've been in the new place for just a few months now). Hope you enjoy!

branding & identity revisit

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. I'm making more of a transition into a tumblr account where I showcase more of my work, less about how I got there. I've also been pretty busy with work, but in my free time I've managed to pump out some new designs. This post will show a few revisits I did to previous work I've done. I think it's good to go back and see how you can improve or make changes.

Here's the business card my friend Bri & I decided on for her massage studio. Still working on a back to it, and hopefully we can get a website going for her!

I also reworked a previous logo/identity design for Coin Laundry in Minneapolis. I used a different texture background, and added Minneapolis to the mix.

The third that I'm posting isn't a revisit, but some logo design I worked on with my graphic designer mother for a client of hers. I love any excuse to get creative.

I'm hoping to have more excuses to do projects like these in the future. It's these things that remind me of my passion for design. Stay tuned for more posts soon, as I try to keep up with all the things on my enormous list of to-dos. 

Quick and Easy Wall Art

Happy Valentine's Day to all! I've found some free time lately to do some crafts and things. Here is a cute, easy way to make some wall art. Using some paint, a canvas, and a stencil, I made my sister this for her birthday. The "You are my sunshine" song brings back great memories of our childhood!

I found this awesome canvas at a thrift store for next to nothing. Score!

It actually looks kind of neat with just the stencil.

Viola! Britta loved it. I will have more posts later, so stay tuned. XOXO

Crafty Christmas (long overdue)

Well friends, it's been a few months since we last spoke. There is a legitimate reason for this! This girl got a job. And instead of quitting my other jobs to focus on the new one, I just kept all three. This really limited my free time, you could say.

What I enjoy about the new job is the amount of craftiness that goes into the products they sell and displays. I have taken it upon myself to be crafty for Christmas, on one of my only full days off of work. Here's what I accomplished.

1. Fancy Garland. I got this one from my work. They took regular strings of lights and made them interesting with some strips of different fabrics tied on. From the fabric store, I bought a few different fleeces in varying textures, as well as some satin for some variety, and went to town. I cut the strips up and tied them on randomly and viola! Beautiful lighted garland. I love it.

2. Personalized Stockings. I found adorable little stockings at Target that I wanted to personalize, since two of them are the same color (they were the last three left). I got some yarn for super cheap at Arc's Valley Village (score!) and braided them together, then gluing it to the stocking. Turned out lovely.

3. Binky Bib. I also saw this one at my work's sister store Oh Baby! Since my nephew Henry isn't very good at keeping his pacifier in, I took matters into my own hand and crafted a bib myself. He loves it, and he's stinkin' cute. Merrrry Christmas :)

Isn't he darling! Anyway, expect more posts sooner, I promise it won't be another two months and I have scheduled craft days coming up! Happy New Year to all.

Branding & Identity

My roommate Brianna went to school for massage therapy, and has been graduated since May. She's expressed how she wants to have business cards and a website, so I thought I could help her out. Like most of my designs, I start out with basic sketches. I did these a long, long time ago, and I finally showed them to Bri. With her approval, I started to digitalize them.

I can't decide which I like best, or what colors might work. I love the W that I created, but it has to work for Bri. I like having the feedback of a client. 

Once we lock down a design, I'll be posting further with business cards and (fingers crossed) a website! Ahh, design. So satisfying.

Silly Photoshop-age

Let me preface this post by declaring how difficult it is to get anything done on the computer with a cat on your lap. I apologize in advance for any spelling errors. Luckily, Huey did not join me until the end of my work on this wonderful Friday night.

I found this great jpg on ffffound a long while ago, that showed all the United States Presidents, but only the outline of their haircut. This was quite hilarious, especially some of the earliest presidents. I had an idea long. long ago to photoshop my roommates faces into those haircuts in an attempt to put some more art on our walls. Well, I finally did just that tonight. While the roommates have not yet seen these (neither have the few extra friends I added), but I intend on printing and framing them for our house. Yes, they are silly, but also so fun.

Have a great weekend, and happy 11.11.11 !!

Building a Design Portfolio

Ahh, it's nice to get back to digital design work. In attempts to build a design portfolio, I've jumped on a new idea, to rebrand the Twin Cities. I live to believe that everyone deserves good design, whether they can afford it or not. This idea was sparked by Nicole Meyer, who's doing a "Branding 10,000 Lakes" project, where each day she designs one logo per Minnesota lake. Neat, right?

I'm doing something similar, but for the small businesses in the Cities. My first is the City Coin laundromats scattered around Minneapolis. I wish I understood why I am so drawn to it (I shot the lackluster building for a photography class), but there's just something about them! So they are my guinea pig of this idea. I don't think I'll be able to do one each day, but one a week would be ideal. It builds on my knowledge of the Adobe Suites, and is a fun challenge.

We'll see where this project takes me (my ambitions are out of control). If you have a love for a local place that could use a little design work, I could use suggestions!