Red and Cyan Baby Shower Invitations
Yep, another friend having a baby. Fun for me because I got to do another round of cute baby shower invitations. I’m planning the shower with a friend, and couldn’t help but use a graphic of an umbrella {Not that it hasn’t been done before, but I thought it would be fun}. I drew an outline of an umbrella in Photoshop, and purchased different patterns from istockphoto to place in each part of the umbrella. The shower’s guest of honor, Nicki, is a great quilter and scrapbooker, so I knew this would capture her style. Plus who doesn’t like the throwback feel of red and cyan?
Check out the wording… probably my favorite part of creating invitations!
After finishing up the design in Illustrator, I printed them out, four to a page. I used my newly acquired Xyron to adhere them to the cardstock. However, my newest LOVE is Avery’s 8.5″x11″ labels. I have found a zillion uses for these things, and they are such good quality. If you don’t have a Xyron, I would recommend using these labels to adhere invitations to card stock. The paper stock and envelopes I used were on clearance from Paper Source – they have TONS of great colors and patterns at their stores, and I rounded the corners of the paper with my corner punch. And lastly, I used that same umbrella graphic and the Avery Labels to make everyone’s address labels on the front of the envelope.
LOVE making invitations…
Megan Furth Academy Website
Not a prize winning portfolio piece, but just what the client ordered.
Meganfurthacadamy.com is a project I’ve been working on over the last few weeks. The whole site was built on WordPress so the client can make changes as needed without paying excessive fees for a custom content management system.
Check it off the list!
From 60 to 17
Yesterday could have been one of the most bizarre days I’ve had in a long time. My 9-to-5 company did a major layoff – HALF the company. So today I am part of, what I can count, a 17-person advertising agency. When I was hired, almost 2 years ago, there were some 60 employees. I was finishing up my digital graphics degree, my husband and I living with my mom until we could figure out what to do with our house 2 hours away that wasn’t selling.
Prior to that, I was working in Berkeley as a graphic designer for a boutique real estate firm. I had a lot of fun at this company – great food in the area, fun coworkers, and SHOPPING just one block down the road on hip little College Avenue. My ONLY complaint at this job was Berkeley’s biggest weakness: PARKING. I had to move my car every 2 hours, which made for 3 aggrivating trips to circle the block, wipe off chalk, and a hike back to the office. One day, despite my best efforts, I received a parking ticket {my SEVENTH parking ticket}. In my stupor of frustration, I jumped on Craigslist to see if there was another graphic design job that could offer me the courtesy of a parking lot at the least. I replied to one ad, interviewed the next day, and before processing what had actually happened, I had landed my current job.
I have never looked back. I get to do fun web design and programming – both challenging and exciting, and I get to work with creative people all day. I have unfortunately watched my friends at work, one-by-one, leave or get laid off. I am grateful for my job today and the friends I have made on this interesting ride from 60 to 17…
Recent Logos: Update in the Graphic Design side of things
Recently I had the opportunity to design logos for two real estate services comapnies. Here’s how they turned out:
I always seem to be drawn to real estate. I’ve worked on home decorating shows, at a boutique real estate firm, at a marketing firm specializing in new home builders, and I even wanted to get my real estate license about a year ago. As much as I’m interested in it, it also seems to be drawn to me!
These were fun projects, and I hope they help these companies find success!
You can see more of my graphic design work at www.brookehalldesign.com.
Web Design for Tattoo Shop
Ink Dragon is a tattoo shop in Safford, Arizona, my husband’s hometown. They are staffed with amazing artists including the owner, Ryan and his brother Jesse. I am helping them gain a web presence to showcase the unique work that comes out of his shop.
So far I’ve put together two different layouts for them to choose from and then we work from there. They have already chosen their preferred layout, which would you choose?
Design Direction 1
Design Direction 2
Simple is Better
I couldn’t take it any longer. My website was grating on me. I decided I wanted it to be easier to update, otherwise my portfolio section would continue to be stale because it took too much effort (I work on websites all day and all night, and I have little motivation to work on my own).
I illiminated the fine art section, because I don’t draw for anybody but myself, and I hardly even do that. I also thought it would be fun to have everything all on one page, so it is easy to navigate, and straight to the point. This isn’t a great solution for SEO, but I’m not concerned with that. 100% of my clients come from networking and referrals.
So here it is. A little less information, but hopefully more powerful. I used my new favorite program, Viewbook, to host my portfolio images. This is such a great resource for putting images on the web, and easily organizing and publishing photos. You can create your own website on Viewbook, or create an image gallery to embed on your existing website. This is a new resource that I’m using for my clients who want to be able to upload their own images on their website without having to call me. Viewbook has free and monthly-billed options. Some websites that I have used Viewbook on include: Shannon Kaye and Delford West Flowers.
New Blogspot Template
In an effort to share more of the graphic design side of projects I have been working on, I am going to be showing more of my freelance and marketing work.
Last night I updated my friend Shannon’s blog. The objectives: hip, fun, chic, greens, blacks, and trendy. Shannon loves fashion, interior design, and it would definitely be hard to capture her in one word. I do my best, however, to capture her in a template!
