Blog #1 (GRD4020)

The stationery that I created for Botany Bay Florist in the spring of 2009 was one of my favorite pieces. The color scheme brought a spark of modernity and youth into the florist that had been in business for over 30 years, and I feel as though the logo's playfulness attracts a new type of crowd. I am happy to say that they also bought this stationery package along with other little bits of print that summer.


This set of three ads for Botany Bay Florist shows a whimsical side of the florist industry that invites viewers to "live in color" by purchasing flowers from them. I love these pieces because the creation of them was so impulsive. I splashed different watercolor pigments onto paper and drew on top of them with an ink pen to give an inviting, non-rigid way of business out to potential customers.


The stationery I created for Urban Cottage was another one of my favorites. I loved the natural color scheme that I created without feeling too "hippy-ish". It was important to me that the colors used felt classy and modern without feeling sloppy. I wanted the type to sit calmly on the paper with little to no hierarchy and all lowercase letters to imitate the casual, homemade comfort that Urban Cottage exudes when entering its doors. Lastly, it was important for me that the logo felt handmade and organic, and creating my own letter 'g' for the word 'cottage' was a new territory that I only dipped my toes in.


This t-shirt that I created for typography class in the spring of 2010 was exciting for me. We chose a famous quote from a celebrity and had to use only type to give the feeling of that celebrity. I also enjoyed writing my story of how the Univers typeface was the perfect choice for typesetting a Kermit the Frog quote.


This was a brochure project to send out to potential patrons for a fundraiser. My client was the Imagine It! Children's Museum. It was important to me that the "power of play" was illustrated in the brochure to make even the eldest of patrons feel young again while reading it. This screen capture shows the brochure lying flat, but it folds up into one of those paper fortunes that kids make in school all the time. Because so much type was needed on the brochure, it was important to establish a repetitive way of showcasing information for unification's sake, and hierarchy was needed to let the eye flow easily across the pages (which I used through color changes and type weights.)

menu!

This is a project for typography where we had to design a menu based on a famous graphic designer's work. I chose Paula Scher for my designer, and one of her posters advertising a play as my inspiration. This is only two panels of the four that will make it up... it is still missing the drink menu, the desserts, and the front cover. Let me know what you think!

(click to see larger.)

p.s., this is the poster designed by Paula Scher that serves as the inspiration piece:

initial thoughts for specialty item

For my specialty item, i am creating an herb growing kit that urban cottage can sell. the brand will be called "urban herbs / by urban cottage" and will include a set of three different herbs, the types of which have not been finalized yet. depending on how i treat the type, i may end up with cilantro, mint and basil, simply because there are no descenders in the names and would be easier to work with as a set. however, a part of me wants to use sage, rosemary and thyme just because there is a song about them. not relevant. i digress...

anyways, the kit would include a small 4 panel brochure (about 3" by 2.5") explaining the care and maintenance of that specific herb, a small tag for the plant once it is in a pot, and a seed packet containing all the seeds necessary to grow the herb.

essentially, the idea of the kit is to show that you can have an herb garden anywhere, even if you live in a 400 sq.ft studio apartment 20 stories from the ground. urban herbs can be grown anywhere, as long as you give them a little sun and a little attention. :)

here's a screen shot of the front of the brochure for now, which is still at a very beginning stage. it will mimic the sticker on the front of the kit pretty similarly once it is finished:



these are the three colors of green that will represent each herb that i choose:


and this is my general color scheme. the light tan isn't quite what it will look like printed, as i am printing on that tan-ish colored recycled paper that i used for my stationery.

for mackensy

here is a screen shot of your business cards in progress. let me know what you think.

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this is what my ads looked like mounted on my board, before critique suggestions:
(click to see full size)

oops.

realized i have not updated this in quite a while.

this is what my mailer for urban cottage looks like mounted on the board. as soon as i can get pictures of the mailer actually made, i will add those to this post.

work week vol. 3

at the beginning of spring break, i had 1 piece in my "final portfolio pieces" folder on my desktop.

now i have 10.

i am extremely pleased with my progress the past week in reworking a lot of pieces and getting ideas for the pieces to come. :)

now it's time to get feedback on all of them and start all over again...

logo vol. 2

i fixed the shape of the logo itself a little, as well as reorganizing the shape of the words.

i've also been working a lot on my mailer for GRD3200, but i don't think it's put together enough for pictures here yet. perhaps today? :)

work week, vol.1

Each day of Spring Break, I am dedicated to working on a different piece for my portfolio. Yesterday was my personal logo. Here's what I've got thus far:

The type below the icon needs work but i am pretty happy with the mark itself. it is supposed to represent the letters S, A and D for sarah adams design. and of course it's purple because all of my logos are purple...and well, why change that now?

After having a total of 4 different personal logos since I took GRD3000 in the fall of 2008, I think I am finally happy with one.

Regardless....thoughts?

new stationery board

changes to letterhead, envelope, and the back of the business card.