Summertime Magic

This weekend felt like pure summertime magic. Nice and long with 90 degree days, a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo, grilled hot dogs, hand-dipped ice cream, a day spent in the pool, staying up and sleeping in. I know it's still technically spring for another 22 days, but Memorial Day weekend is pretty much the unofficial official start to summer. Everything is warm and green and alive and smells like sunscreen and happiness.

Christopher and I have been planning out all our summertime adventures for the year, starting next weekend with A Taste of Ann Arbor. One of my goals this year is to make the most of summertime weather, and I'd say we're off to a pretty fantastic start.

Photo by Alex Paradis

Bugs on Book Covers

How beautiful is this series of painted book covers by artist Rose Sanderson? I think the center one is my favorite because of the detail on the spine. I know bugs can tend to make people squeamish, but something about the color and detail in these paintings really captures my attention.

Plus, they remind me of summertime, and I really love summertime.

via Unruly Things.

Somebody That I Used To Know

This song. On repeat in my head. All day long.

Wedding Invitations: The Lawrence

I think I've probably complained enough about being busy... it's time I share a little of what I've been up to! Early in March, my dear friend Keitha asked me to design her wedding invitations and I jumped at the chance. Invitation designs are some of my favorite projects. I don't have to worry about conveying a message or properly representing a business... the design is all about a party, and everyone loves parties.

The invitation, response card, and custom map in purple, gray and small pops of yellow

I'll be honest, coming up with a design for Keitha was pretty challenging. She isn't having a themed wedding, per se, and told me to design whatever I felt like in her wedding colors (purple and gray.) Sometimes having no direction on a project lets my mind run free... other times, like this, I run into a bad case of designers block. I had to sketch and draft several designs before coming up with the free-form leaf/petal design that you see here.

This was also challenging because Keitha wanted to typeset the entire invitation in a script font. I usually use 2-3 fonts in most of my work, so I had to figure out a way to use color and scale for emphasis in this design. And do we even need to talk about how difficult it is to find a unique and legible script font? They're hard to come by. After seeing a few options, Keitha decided on Lavanderia for her font and I think it's perfect. It's an elegant font without being too stuffy, and has a slightly retro feel. I could seriously write an entire post on this font alone... I'm such a typography nerd.

I love the new trend for designers to style and photograph their work in the printed form. This was my first attempt at styling one of my designs, and I've found that it's much more difficult than simply uploading a JPEG of the design, but I really love the sense of space it creates. To add a little interest to these photos, I grabbed an old key from my stash and plucked some purple flowers from my backyard (by the way, does anyone know what these flowers are called? They're fairly tiny and grow in clusters behind our shed, covering the patch of grass in a purple blanket.)

Working with Keitha was a dream, of course. She's a good friend and has been incredibly easy-going about her wedding (or at least her invitations, haha.) If you can't tell from the invite, her wedding is actually this Saturday! I have the honor of standing up with her as a bridesmaid (and will be wearing this fantastic dress from Ruche) and am so excited to celebrate with her. I'll have to share some pictures of the party next week. Hooray!

Sometimes...

Sometimes, you spend way too much time on the computer. Sometimes, you let 800 unread items sit in your Google reader until you can't stand it and hit "mark all as read." Sometimes, you overbook yourself on freelance projects and when you finally finish the very last one, you decide not to take on any more projects stress for a while. Sometimes you get caught up in future plans instead of living in the moment.

Sometimes, you just need to unplug from all things technological and spend time outside at the botanic gardens with your best friend.

And that's exactly what I did.