even more notes from the AIGA Y16 conference

Last weekend I geeked out with fellow graphic designers at the 16th annual AIGA Y Conference in San Diego. Here are some more notes I took during Raphael Grignani,  Lab Partners and Frank Chimero’s speeches.

map of the usa from a californian's perspective

USA map infographic by Haley Nahman 

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Twitter? I do. The tweeps over at Knock Knock shared a link to this map & it made me giggle all afternoon. I asked the illustrator, Haley Nahman, if she could tell us a little about it. She says,

“I love to doodle and play around with words, colors, and whitespace. One day, when reading an article about some unnamed mid-west state, I grew distinctly aware of the fact that I knew very little about some of my fellow states. I decided to draw the country, mapping out each state with common stereotypes in the eyes of Californians. I’m sure the map would look different from the perspective of a Colorado or New York native — but I suppose that’s why I found it funny, if not blatantly teasing our ignorance. Either way, it’s just for fun, and I promise not everyone in the state of Kansas is a serial killer.”

Haley is a senior at Cal Poly (which is on the central coast of California in San Luis Obispo, and is, apparantly, where the party is).

Just a reminder: you can click on just about any image on my blog to see it larger. 

more notes from the AIGA Y16 Conference

Last weekend I geeked out with fellow graphic designers at the 16th annual AIGA Y Conference in San Diego. Here are some notes I jotted down during Brian Boyl and Jen Bilik’s speeches. 

notes from the AIGA Y16 conference

Last weekend I geeked out with fellow graphic designers at the 16th annual AIGA Y Conference in San Diego. This week I’ll share some notes I jotted down in my trusty notebook. These are from Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co.

week in review: march 1 - 25, 2011

It’s been a strange month, hasn’t it? The tragedies in Japan have weighed heavy in my heart. My entire family came down with the flu. For the first time in 11 years of living in Southern California the weather was not predictible (it actually hailed here). Deadlines have been piling up, exciting contracts have been signed, and I decided to travel to the National Stationery Show after all (and am co-hosting a NSS Meetup). Oh, and I started a new blog with fellow North County Graphic Designers (it’s not quite ready for public view yet, but I promise I’ll share soon).

I feel busier than ever (did I mention our studio is hiring design interns??). I’m slightly overwhelmed, but it’s mostly good stuff. I figured it is time for a fresh start, so I redesigned this blog’s logo and updated the layout a bit. What do you think?

Today I’m hoping my flu disappears completely so I can properly enjoy the Y Conference. This weekend I’ll be geeking out with fellow graphic designers and live tweeting from the Y Conference. 

free vector icons for designers

How cute are these vector icons? When I’m designing a site for a client the last thing I feel like spending loads of time on is designing icons. Usually I’m too busy tracking down content from the client ; ) So I was really excited to get an email from Tehkseven letting me know that they’ve released 475 free vector icons! This is going to save me so much time. 

They have several sizes available, as well as the .svg files, so you can adjust the size and edit the art if you’d like something other than their standard sizes. The best part is they’re FREE! Visit Tehkseven.net to download the files. 

artist: jesse lefkowitz

Illustration by Jesse Lefkowitz for Washington Post

Because I occasionally outsource illustration (for Delphine stationery and for graphic design projects for clients) I am on a bunch of illustrators’ eblast lists. I consider it one of the best perks of being a graphic designer! Lots of interesting pieces of art end up in my in box each week. It’s super inspiring, and a welcome break from pharma spam and “you’ve just won one billion euros from the Italian lotto” notices.

I just have to share these awesome illustrations Jesse Lefkowitz sent me; he illustrated the chipmunk/turtle/toad one for a story about how and why animals hibernate for the Washington Post, and the money pyramid illustration for Money Magazine.

Illustration by Jesse Lefkowitz for Money Magazine/Making Money in 2011

Sidenote: I love Jesse’s bio. You should read it. And then you should hire him. Clipart: booooooo. Real illustrations by real people: yaaaaaay! 

national stationery show meetup 2011

I’m coming out of hibernation (deadlines, deadlines, deadlines are killing me!) to let you know that the 7th annual National Stationery Show (NSS) meetup is happening Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 in New York, so please save the date. This year I’m organizing the meetup with Brooklyn Bride, Cat Seto, and Paper + Cup. I’m so looking forward to catching up with everyone in New York for Design Week 2011! Details will follow soon … we’re still trying to find the most perfect location. 

taking a break

photo: Erika Firm

There have been some great things happening at the Delphine studio lately. We signed a new contract, which I can’t wait to tell you all about. We’re working on a few new branding projects, and, of course, making lots & lots of wedding invitations and party favors. (By the way, yellow and turquoise are still leading as far as color trends this year!). We’re also finalists in the LOUIE Awards! Yay! We’re super busy, I have so many deadlines my head is spinning … and I am simply exhausted. On top of it all, the news from Japan is breaking my heart.

I’m taking a little break from the blogosphere so that I can take care of business and myself: head back to the pool/gym/playground/beach/a good book/dinner with friends, and enjoy “real” life for a bit. I’ll catch up with you in about a week or so. 

Meanwhile, we are still acceping applications for interns, so please get in touch if you’d love to work with us. Have a great week, friends!

north county graphic design: design decline & movie night meetup thursday march 31, 2011

I do hope you’ll join us for our next North County Graphic Designer MOVIE NIGHT, which will also be our very first DESIGN DECLINE show. We’ll meet Thursday, March 31, 2011 / 6pm at Clients & Profits in Oceanside.

Here’s the scoop: print and bring a rejected logo (or other project) that was rejected by your client, but you secretly loved, along with the design the client eventually approved. (If the logo was a rebrand, bring the original if you’d like). In addition, write a brief blurb about the brand you were designing for (i.e. industry, audience, etc.) to put the design in context. The designs will be voted on and the winner will get a prize! 

FYI: no need for fancy formatting, mounting or anything crazy. We’ll just tack up copies on the whiteboard.

Oh, and we’ll also watch a short film about graphic designers and have a good chat.

Many thanks to our friends Mark and Chris of Clients & Profits for generously hosting movie nights! We’ll have snacks and cocktails, so RSVP via email, leave a comment here on the blog, or on our LinkedIn Group, so we can be sure to have enough to go around. Looking for our LinkedIn Group? Do a LinkedIn “group” search for “North County Graphic Designers.”

Hope to see you there! All creatives welcome. This is a free event. NCGD co-founded by Delphine and KMG. Artwork by Kerry Layton. Thanks, Kerry!!

logo crush: domestica

I first spied Domestica’s fabulous logo via a Tweet. It’s difficult to make a little 50 pixel square stand out, but they’ve done it for sure! After I saw their avatar I HAD to click through to their website. It was love at first sight, and their logo has been sitting in my inspiration folder on my desktop for about a year now. I love the color palette, the use of transparency, the perfect font choice. So fresh and retro at the same time. 

I emailed the shop owner, Chrissy Jensen, for a little more info about the logo and was surprised to hear that she came up with the concept herself. It looks like it was commissioned by a fancypants agency, right?!? Here’s what she said: 

The logo was inspired by the 60’s artwork for a chemical. I didn’t really think about using a bird til I noticed that the symbol looked like a two sides of a heart overlapping. I loved that it was a heart if you put it back together. The colors just happened to be the colors I wanted, too. I turned it on its side  (if you look at my logo sideways, you might see where I was going) and added a bird head and beak.  You Work For Them had just posted a few new fonts, including Lodge - it was perfect, so I bought it.

That was it.  I thought it was pretty good, but wanted to run it by my friend, Joe Williams. His wife, Danelle, and I were originally going to open Domestica together and we spent SO much time coming up with the name + had spent hours looking at logos and I just trusted their judgement. Joe said it was a good start, but thought if I left him with it for a few, he’d if he couldn’t refine it a bit. He designs a ton of stuff, including a lot of the flyers for Craft Saturday, a craft show they run here in Des Moines, so I totally wanted his help.  What he sent back is the logo we have today. 

I owe him so much thanks because I really believe that our logo opened a lot of doors and gave people a lot of confidence in us when we were nothing more than an idea and a signature on a storefront lease. People comment on it all the time and I love how it looks on the store window. Some people call it the Partridge Family bird, but I like to think it would fit in your hand like a Dove. For Christmas, Joe designed a wreath sticker for us using a repeat of the bird.  It was beautiful.

Photos courtesy Domestica

ADORE what Chrissy said about the logo opening doors for her new business. I whole heartedly agree that a good logo inspires confidence and helps get a new venture off the ground. This is something I’m constantly telling my clients.

Needless to say, I have a huge crush on the Domestica logo. Isn’t it lovely? Don’t you wish you lived in Des Moines so you could go visit in person? If that’s not convenient, you can shop online for modern home décor, paper goods, art and gifts. Check out their cool blog, too, for some fun inspiration. 

i hate talking on the phone

Pictured above: my preferred form of communication circa 1988 and present day. {I had a red phone just like this one in the 1980s; I WISH I had an iPad today}

I have an iphone, which is nearly always turned off, out of batteries, in the car (while I am elsewhere) or lost in the depths of a tote bag (with the ringer turned off). If you are a close friend or family member and haven’t heard from me in the past year (or 5) you’re not alone. Confession: I positively hate calling people and only tolerate chatting on the phone when they call me. I will close-to-never pick up the phone to call you. If you want to talk to me, you must call me at the studio. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve come to accept it about myself. For many years I’ve been wracked with guilt for not keeping in better touch with friends & family (me, with a warehouse worth of cards sitting around. Shameful, I KNOW. I know.). I’m not anti-social (really) — it’s just that I prefer face to face communication (I love catching up over coffee), or written communication (I love emails and Twitter). Miss me? I miss you, too. Thinking of me? I’m thinking of you, too. Lets make a date and hang out. Email me & we’ll schedule it.

Here’s the thing … I used up all of my lets chat on the phone for hours energy in the late 1980s/early1990s. Now that I think about it, the only two people I talk to on the phone regularly are the same two people I stayed up past bedtime with in 1988 talking about boys.

color palette: bright and bejeweled inspired by gwyneth paltrow's oscar 2011 look

I missed most of the Academy Awards this year because I was working on a deadline. But I did manage to catch a glimpse here and there, and I loved Gwyneth Paltrow’s dress and brooch. The stark silvery white background, with an unexpected pop of bright color is such a happy color palette. 

No. 1 Gwyneth Paltrow’s dress at the Oscars 2011 inspired this colorful palette (photo by Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com)    No. 2. I love using the Kendra Scott color bar — I created these colorful earrings to mimic the look of Gwyneth’s jeweled brooch   No. 3 A fun fondue set from Crate & Barrel — would be fun for a screening party   No. 4 White couch with bright chairs by Roche Bobois   No. 5 Gwyneth Paltrow’s brooch at the Oscars 2011   No. 6. Delphine’s Ava and Amelie wedding invitations — our most popular invitation designs have been printed in just about any color combo you can imagine. I especially like them in bright colors like yellow and pink   No. 7 Alice in Wonderland — love the colors in this Walt Disney cartoon classic  No. 8 Pink and Orange china by William Yeoward from Michael C. Fina — I think they’d look fabulous as a mix and match set. 

At the Pantone color trend seminar I attended last month, “black and white with pops of bright colors” was one of the color palettes discussed as being important for 2011 and 2012 product design. I like what I see so far!

we're hiring design, marketing and photography interns

Delphine is a stationery and gift company, as well as a graphic design studio. We’re looking for a few awesome Spring and Summer interns to assist with design & product development; advertising & marketing; and photography.

If you love paper, are into design, like blogs, know how to work a mac/illustrator/photoshop, know the difference between stationery and stationary, would like to learn about running a small biz/marketing/pr/letterpress, and can commit to 8 hours per week for ten weeks, then please visit our website for more details on specific internship opportunities at the Delphine studio.

We’re located in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Applicants must have transportation to/from Rancho Santa Fe. All internships are unpaid, but we promise you’ll learn a ton (and will pick up some sweet stationery along the way). Many of our former interns come back to do freelance work for us after completing their internship. 

We have three basic internships available: GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN, ADVERTISING & MARKETING INTERN, and PHOTOGRAPHY INTERN. 

For more information and to apply, please visit the Internship page on our website.

from the intern desk: repeat patterns

Learning about patterns: One day at Delphine, Erika gave us a demonstration on creating repeating patterns. Here is a hand-drawn flower pattern I created after the demo. So much fun! — Jessica