Changes, part I

Do you ever reach a season in life where you realize you're too comfortable? You have a daily routine, you wear the same pair of shoes every day, eat the same old rotation of standby meals. Alarm set for 6:15, standard black flats, Taco Tuesdays. Day in, day out. 

I remember hearing about a study on NPR that suggested taking the same route to work every day actually dulled the neurons in your brain. By sticking to something repetitive, even as simple as your morning commute, certain parts of your brain become weaker.

Change is a good thing. It sparks creativity, leads to personal discovery, expands your boundaries, and apparently strengthens your brain.

Since I haven't been blogging regularly in the past, oh, year or so, I thought I'd slowly ease back into the swing of things with a series of posts about changes. I've had quite a few of them happening in my life lately.  

Recent cover design (in progress) for a book about the Hail Mary

So. I have a new job! A new-old job, I supposed, as a book designer for the publisher I interned at right out of college. Things have come full circle. It's everything my old job was and more -- benefits, hours, workspace, creativity. I'm surrounded by books all day! Living the dream. If I could take my old coworkers (who I miss greatly) and plant them here, I would be all set.

Sometimes I miss the comforts of my old job at Bethel. I had been there long enough that my work was second nature to me -- I had the Pantone swatches memorized, pulled from a folder of all my favorite images, worked within the brand's font family. My department was overworked but in a way it was easy. I instinctively knew what to do, how to make something look "Bethel." I could generate a branded piece in a day, tops, without it looking last-minute.

But that's the problem -- I wasn't thinking critically or creatively with a lot of my work. I wasn't being challenged. I was essentially a design robot, inputting images and text and spitting out a design. It was time for a change.

This new position is so exciting but it is hard, harder than I imagined. It's a Catholic publisher, so all the material I'm working on has a distinctively Catholic twist. I'm familiar with some aspects of Catholicism, but as I'm learning... not nearly as much as I thought. So every new assignment for me takes a ton of verbal and visual research. And now that I'm not working within a set selection of brand fonts and colors, I'm a little overwhelmed with the options I now have. Good problems though, I'm definitely stretching some design muscles that have been dormant since college.

And that's the thing with change, it's different and uncomfortable and scary. But that's exactly what I want. Research and problem solving, stretching and growth. There are times when I feel like the new kid on the first day of school (especially at office potlucks) but I know this change is a step in the right direction.

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!

February Instagram Challenge

 My view today: working on a little layout design at work...

When I read about Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge on Diapers and Skinny Jeans a few weeks ago, I knew I had to participate. Take a picture every day (following a prompt) for the month of February... simple enough, right? I think it's a great creative exercise and I hope I can keep up with it every day.

I'll be occasionally sharing my Instagrams here, but if you want to follow along, my Instagram username is "katherinejoy" (or visit me on Instagrid.)

Anyone else participating? Let me know so I can follow you!

The Four Icon Challenge

Things have been so busy at work lately... Bethel's students have officially moved to campus and the back-to-school rush of last minute projects is hitting our department full-force. Whew.

I'm currently working on promotional material for the Theatre Department's upcoming production of The Hobbit (which I'm excited to see since it's one of my favorite books), and while doing a little visual research, I ran across this image:

The Hobbit, iconized. The limited color palette, the strong lines and distinct shapes, the pop culture meets Tolkein aspect... amazing. After a bit more googling, I found that it was the work of graphic designer Kyle Tezak.

Tezak actually has an entire series of movies-as-icons called the Four Icon Challenge, an ongoing project in which Tezak takes his favorite movies and books and tries "to reduce them to a few icons." Solid, simple, effective design.

It's always nice to see work that isn't crammed with information or treated with grunge Photoshop effects. Smart and simple design gets me every time. My favorite icon is the dagger and poison for Romeo and Juliet. Clever representation, Tezak, clever.

Tezak has prints of The Big Lebowski and The Life Aquatic available for purchase online, and for more information visit his online portfolio.

Art & Copy

Somehow, even in the 90-95 degree weather we've been having lately, I caught a cold. A sniffly, sneezy, sore throat, nasty cold. And summer colds are the worst. It's so warm and sunny outside, but all I want is to curl up in a blanket and drink tea. For dinner last night, I made Chris eat grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup with me. Yeah. It's that bad.

 Photo by Kate at Diapers and Skinny Jeans

So I spent yesterday at home, tissues by my side. Between naps, crafting, and random bouts of housework, I was able to knock two movies off my Netflix queue. One of them I've had in my queue for a good year now: Art & Copy, a documentary about creativity and the world of advertising. Have you seen it? I don't know why it took me so long to watch it... I really enjoyed it. One of my favorite quotes, from the opening scene: 

"The frightening and most difficult thing about being what somebody calls a creative person is that you have absolutely no idea where any of your thoughts come from, really. And especially, you don't have any idea about where they're going to come from tomorrow."

-Hal Riney

You said it, Hal. The film explored a few real-life Mad Men (and women) and focused on their efforts during the 60s, 70s and 80s to bring advertising to life as a form of creativity and art. I enjoyed hearing a few interviews from the creators of campaigns for Volkswagen, Nike, Apple and other huge companies. Although I wouldn't consider myself in the "advertising" business, I really enjoyed this film as a designer and a creative. It was a good reminder to constantly strive for creativity, beauty and innovation in my work. Thank you, PBS, for your inspirational films. Definitely check it out if you have a little free time.

Missy Austin Design

I was perusing the fantastic free fonts at Lost Type Co-op this morning when I ran across the work of Missy Austin. Missy designed "Nelma" a wonderful, flourished typeface. It's a pretty elaborate font that I may never actually use... but I still love it. It would be perfect for a rustic wedding suite or possibly a poster.

 Nelma. EPS file available for free here

After viewing the font, I was curious to see her other work so I followed the link to her website. So glad I did. Austin, who "appreciates simplicity as long as it's compelling," has a very inspiring portfolio. I really enjoy her playful use of color and texture, as well as the modern-meets-mid century vibe that a lot of her pieces have. 

Web design for the National Park Service -- this entire branding suite is great

 A selection of Austin's logo designs

Austin graduated in 2010 from the University of Minnesota and lives and works in Minneapolis. For being so young, she already has developed a great design philosophy and is definitely one to watch. I really like this little blurb from her biography:

I don't think branding (or anything for that matter) should ever compromise character and I believe quirkiness, a sense of humor & experimentation will always beat out the safe choice.

Amen to that. Like Austin, I try to use interesting typography treatments and meaningful shapes in my work as much as possible. But I've noticed lately that I tend to use the same colors: mustard, teal, and salmon.... I really should try using more orange and green, and take a cue from Austin and incorporate more texture in my work.

I hope you're inspired by Austin's work as much as I am. Added bonus: she has a great set of found typography on her Flickr!