I live in an old house and when I say, "old," I mean 140 years old! So, as you can imagine, there is a lot of work to be done. Our to-do list is pages and pages long. Our house is full of character and quirks and oddities. One piece of character that I like (or liked at first) is a built-in pass through china cabinet from the kitchen to the dining room. On the kitchen side is sliding doors at the top and on the dining room side is glass doors on top with drawers underneath. Since my current kitchen has a lack of cabinet space, I use this pass through as my pantry. Pretty handy. Except that when I'm sitting on my couch in the living room I can see the dining room side of the pass through and therefore all that I keep in the kitchen pantry. Not pretty. So for about $20 for material and curtain rods, I made some curtains for the inside of the glass doors. Here is the before and after. Excuse the quality of the pictures and the nasty, half-removed wallpaper. Don't worry, it's on our to-do list.
And a close-up of the material and curtain rod. I'm not in love with the material but this was a spur of the moment project.
It's funny how something as small as not having to look at all the stuff in your pantry can make you feel better about your space - no matter what shape the rest of the house is in! What are your simple fixes?
So in my last post I thought I was close to a final logo. Three weeks and three more logos later, I'm finally there! What a rookie mistake - ha! Of course, the client wanted to see more because she didn't really know what she wanted. This is not an uncommon quality in a client. It's the designer's job to educate the client as to what good design is. It's also the designer's job to have thick skin for when the client obliterates the logo and wants you to do something crazy. Not in this case but it can happen. :)
The client basically chose the third choice from the previous post but she had a few adjustments. She wanted to see "bookshop" as one word and she wanted the circle to stand out more and to be completely closed...
But after seeing that she realized that she liked the square and colors of the second previous choice and she wanted to combine them. So the winner is...
I can actually say that I finished my first paying freelance job – I've got the check to prove it. Okay, the bank does. It's exciting to be doing what I want to be doing and it's ok that it's still just in my spare time and not full time. That day will come. Now onto a Save-the-Date card, wedding invitation and photographer's logo! Yippee!!
So lately I've been feeling quite uninspired. I didn't start this blog so that I could whine out in cyber space (I've got my sister's facebook page for that). I've felt like my creative brain has been on pause or maybe completely turned off. I've looked at blogs and talked to other designers and creatives but no matter what I did I just couldn't get excited about design. Of course, I was basically doing all the same stuff - which tends to be pretty uninspiring when you've been doing that same stuff for eight years. Although, I'm very happy to have a job and work with some very nice people. :)But recently I had the opportunity to design a logo for O'Seven Eleven Creations. After a ton of concepts and a lot of self-doubt, I came up with two ideas that I was pretty proud of. The final logo was "LOVED" by my client! And last night I went to bed in full-on bliss. Now I remember why I do what I do. Now I remember the high I get from good design and making a client happy. I could barely go to sleep last night because I was so anxious to get to work on two other design projects that I have in the works! And, you know what, this is actually making my current hum-drum job seem more fun. Amazing how that works.
Check out the final design:
So, what makes you rediscover your bliss, if you've ever lost it?
I found this fun quiz at RealSimple.com. What is your color personality? This is mine:
Not exactly sure how accurate this is but it does say that people can be a combination of color categories. I know I also like reds and oranges. What color personality are you?
In an interview with Clare Owen, an illustrator that I admire, she was asked what advice she would give to women starting out in the illustration field. She answered with this quote by Sylvia Plath: "And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Clare went on to say, "For your best work, you have to be calm and confident. So try keep your head up and believe in what you do."
How do you get started when you're full of self-doubt or fear of failure or whatever you call it? I know I have my share of doubt and fear and excuses in general.
I found this illustration by Clare Owen and just had to share it! It's fantastic!
I really love the simplicity of the old-fashioned sewing machine and the feminine, limey green roses. The spool of pink thread is a nice touch. If only I lived in Australia I could afford to buy Frankie Magazine which featured this illustration as a pull out poster. But, alas, I live about a 24 hour plane ride away from Frankie so I think I will have to make due without this.
And a close-up of the material and curtain rod. I'm not in love with the material but this was a spur of the moment project.
It's funny how something as small as not having to look at all the stuff in your pantry can make you feel better about your space - no matter what shape the rest of the house is in! What are your simple fixes?
