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.

Our Wedding Album

We all know that I love lists, so it probably comes as no surprise that I have a long list of things to-do before baby girl arrives. The tasks range from the mundane (organizing the filing cabinet) to the major (you know... finding a house.) A few weeks ago, I decided to knock one of the larger projects off that list: our wedding album.

Chris and I have been married for nearly three years and up until now, I had yet to do anything with our photos... they're not even up on Facebook! Honestly, I was a little overwhelmed. Our photographer (the talented and wonderful Amanda Fales Photography) had given us over 4,000 images of the big day, and sorting through them was a major task in itself (a task that I had started two years ago, in hopes of giving the album to Chris as a first anniversary present... ahem.)

Once we had all the photos narrowed down to our favorites, I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to design the actual book. In the end, I decided to keep things simple and let the photos shine. Every now and then, I used typography as a design element and pulled special lyrics from our wedding soundtrack (that's right, we had a soundtrack) for a little something extra. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

For printing, I decided to go with a tried and true favorite, Blurb. The whole process was super simple: I used one of their templates for InDesign, saved my final file as a print-quality PDF, and uploaded it to their website. Three weeks later, I receive the book in the mail, easy peasy. I highly recommend Blurb if you're ever in the market for a photo book (plus they have coupon deals running all the time -- I used a 25% off coupon!) I also upgraded to the ImageWrap hardcover and the premium matte paper. I've never used their basic stock paper so I can't compare the quality, but I think the matte paper looks great. It has a nice weight and a subtle shine without being too glossy.

Now that I have the actual album in hand (all 134 pages!) I can't believe it took me so long to finish it. Having a hard copy of the photos is so much nicer than the digital files. It's such a great keepsake of our wedding that we'll cherish for years to come, and I know our daughter (and future babies) will love seeing her parents on their wedding day.

Summer To-Do

Happy Friday! It's actually hard to believe that it's only Friday... I've been living it up this week on a mini summer vacation since the fourth. This means sleeping in, lots of reading and getting a ton of work done around the house. I've also had some time to finish up some freelance work and a few personal projects. I just completed one of my projects for the summer... an illustrated summer to-do list:

1. Stargaze. When Christopher and I first started dating, we did a lot of stargazing. There was this empty field across from his apartment in college, and we would trek out there with a blanket and some Arizona teas. We talked about everything and looked for shooting starts, and I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. I think I will always love stargazing because of this.
2. Go canoeing. There is nothing more peaceful than a summer canoe ride down a river. The way the golden sunlight filters through the overhanging tree branches is my favorite. I didn't get a chance to canoe last summer, so I really hope we can fit it in this year.
3. Eat lots of ice cream. I think this is one pretty self-explanatory. 
4. Read ten books. I haven't finished formulating my summer reading list, but at the top of it is the Hunger Games trilogy and Just My Type by Simon Garfield. I'll probably thrown in a Jane Austen novel for old times sake, too. Does you have any other suggestions?
5. Take a road trip around Michigan. I'm not sure when this will actually happen (August maybe?) but I'm really looking forward to visiting some great Michigan cities that I've never been to: Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Mackinac and Detroit, to name a few.
6. Spend a weekend camping. You know, I've never actually been camping. Growing up, my family was always more museumsy than outdoorsy. Chris and I have a trip planned with a few friends for the end of this month that I'm really looking forward too. We'll see how I feel about it once I have to pee in the woods, though...
7. Fly a kite. The last time the mister and I flew a kite, it involved running through sprinklers, an angry janitor, and three policemen. Hopefully history won't repeat itself this time around. 
8. Swim once a week. So far, we've actually kept up with this goal. Living on a lake, having in-laws that live on a river, and having a sister-in-law with a pool makes it pretty easy. 
9. Campfires. Lots of them. Which of course includes lots of hotdogs and s'mores.
10. Treasure hunt at garage sales. I went to a couple this morning but they were pretty disappointing. I think it has something to do with the heat, but hopefully I'll find some great stuff this season. I tend to gravitate towards vintage linens and nicknacks. I am my mother's daughter.

And there you have it, my summer to-dos. I'm going to print out this little illustration and hang it on the bulletin board above our desk to help remind me to live it up this summer. I really enjoyed working on this design. Who knows, maybe I'll make one for each season. Do you have any summer to-dos? I'd love to hear them!

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be crossing anything off the list this weekend (aside from swimming and ice cream) because of this crazy 100+ degree heatwave in the midwest. We've taken to hiding out indoors... tonight we're are off to see Moonrise Kingdom (which has finally arrived in southern Michigan!) and eat some wings. SUMMER!!! Have a great weekend, friends.

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!

Groceries: An Illustrated List

As I listed in my Twelve by 2012 post, I'm attempting to sketch more often and (to keep myself accountable) share my illustrations here. Part of my problem with keeping a sketch journal is never knowing what exactly to sketch. To get back into the habit of drawing regularly, I've decided to illustrate my weekly grocery list. Here's last weeks:

I know it's important as an artist to keep a daily/weekly sketchbook, but it's something I have always struggled with. I had one particular professor in college who required a sketchbook journal. He would check our progress every week and a half or so, and I always ended up putting off the assignment until 2 am the night before it was due. Which kind of defeats the purpose of a daily sketchbook. Now that I'm a responsible grown-up, perhaps I'll be better at staying on task. Maybe. Hopefully.

By the way, does anyone have tips for scanning artwork? I feel like I've lost some detail with this piece. And what are your thoughts on digital coloring?

Nine to Five

Man what a week! Between starting a new job, finishing up another, working on an intense freelance project, and life in general, I haven't had time to catch my breath. Finally, it's Friday with a long, relaxing holiday weekend ahead. Chris and I will be spending Sunday at the beach, and in between I plan on working in the garden, finishing up Bossypants, hitting up some garage sales, and spending as much time outside as I possibly can.

"Under the Apple Tree" print by Irene Suchocki

As I briefly mentioned last week, I received and accepted a job offer (!!!) for a full-time graphic design position at Bethel College. With it comes fantastic benefits, vacation time, and my own office, not to mention a great Marketing and Communication team. I've been in training for the past two weeks and I'm so excited to begin full time on Tuesday.

For those of you who don't know, I've been working at Ave Maria Press for over a year now. Ave is a great little publishing house owned by the University of Notre Dame, and I started right after college as a summer intern. After my wedding, I was hired on as a part time designer and have been working there ever since.

Today is my final day at Ave, which is kind of surreal. I knew I wasn't going to be here forever (or even an entire year, for that matter) but it's still sad to leave my co-workers and the friends I've made here. Not to mention the experience I've gained... aside from my daily marketing designs, I've had the opportunity to design logos, conference materials, and even a book (which will be out in November.) An actual BOOK... the kind you'll be able to pick up in Barnes and Noble. I just found it on Amazon!! Whaaat! Biggest design accomplishment in my life thus far. Mini freakout aside, I've learned so much about publishing, marketing, corporate design, and have strengthened my skills and portfolio tenfold. Ave has been such a great experience and although I'm sad to leave, I'm excited to move on to the next phase of my life.

I'll keep you updated on the new job, and I apologize in advance for any sparse posting in the next couple of weeks as I settle in. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

The Dog Days Are Over

Is it really Monday again? Last week was as stressful as it was awesome, filled with car problems, a second job interview and a sequential job offer (!!!), a day trip to Illinois to visit my dear friends Abby and Sarah, some tasty BBQ ribs on Father's Day, and not enough sleep.

Since I received the job offer on Thursday, I've been playing "Dog Days Are Over" on repeat. I suppose you could call it my full time employment ballad. And who can resist a song with handclaps? Not me, that's for sure.  

Did you watch the video? Interesting, right? Not exactly what I'd expect from Florence + the Machine... but I love the song, regardless. It makes me happy.

The Creative Itch

As an artist, I've noticed in the past couple of years that every spring I get an unexplainable, irresistible feeling... like my senses are begging me to stretch my artistic bones after a long winter's nap. A creative itch, if you will. Something about the new life popping up everywhere after the dead of winter stirs my creative spirit. I'm so inspired by nature anyway... I really shouldn't be surprised.

A little reminder from Please Be Still

Being graphic designer, I'm lucky that I have a consistent, "creative" job. However, working for a commercial book publisher limits my creativity in some aspects. I get to design the occasional book cover... but since I'm so low on the totem pole, much of my time is spent on marketing mailers, poster and book reprint changes. It can be draining at times, too, which leaves me little inspiration or motivation for my own projects.

A Holiday at the Sea, 2010, pencil and ink on wood

This self-portrait is one of the most recent large-scale pieces I've made... and it's over a year old! It's part of a series I did for a solo art show before I graduated college. I'd love to show you the others but I don't have quality photos of them (I'm working on it though.)

My dear friend Keitha is getting married next year, and she has commissioned me to do a piece of her & her fiance in a similar style. I've been brainstorming and sketching like mad... I'll try to document my process along the way. I'm so excited to get to work on some real art again!