Had to Share

This is Frank Lloyd Wright's personal letterhead. Isn't it neat? It's like a piece of art! Wouldn't it be such a treat to get a letter on a piece of paper like this?

Source: Letterheady.

Interesting Quote

[Good question + good answer...]

How do you know when it's done?

Of course, it's not done. It's never done.

That's not the right question.

The question is: when is it good enough?

Good enough, for those that seek perfection, is what we call it when it's sufficient to surpass the standards we've set. Anything beyond good enough is called stalling and a waste of time.

If you don't like your definition of 'good enough', then feel free to change that, but the goal before shipping is merely that. Not perfect.

- Seth Godin

__________________

Someone recommended Seth Godin's blog to me last summer, and I just recently remembered it when I saw part of this quote posted on another blog. I had stopped reading it because, well... Seth Godin is very smart and sometimes (many times) his posts went completely over my head.

But I'm thinking I might start reading it because he does have some interesting things to say, mostly about marketing. His writing is excellent - concise and to the point, but possessing a distinctive style as well.

I certainly can't agree with everything he says, but this post is one that I can give assent to. I can relate to the concept of "good enough" with my design work (and really almost everything I do). Often I'll notice something I could have changed after something is already done. But perfection is an unrealistic goal, not only because it's a waste of time, but ultimately because we can't achieve it. Our world is fallen, we are finite, and only God is perfect.

One Dozen Converse

I love Converse shoes, and I thought I'd feature 12 pair as part of my One Dozen series. All the different styles are so fun. I'd love to know which ones you like!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Song Poster

I really like this song by Hillsong, and so I made a poster of it. I tried a different style of typography so it's a little funky. It was a fun thing to try though. :)

I'd love to know what you think!

If you want to download the poster, you can do that here.

P.S. I added sharing buttons at the bottom of my blog posts - so use them if you like. :)

Suzuki Method Re-Branding

I finished up my Suzuki Method project that I started here. I ended up changing the font on the basic logo a little. I like the slightly rounded font of Segoe. Besides that, the colors and whirly-gig thing are the same.

My two big goals for this were to make a more updated, fun logo for Suzuki, and to re-design the book covers so they are both more appealing and more useful. With that in mind, I made the numbers huge and added "violin school" in a noticeable place. The same type of design would be used for the rest of the violin books, repeating the same colors, as well as for books for the other instruments.

Here are the front covers for the first four violin volumes:

I thought I'd just show you one back cover since they're all the same, just different colors. The logo is at the bottom of the back cover, along with the date.

I would love to hear what you all think of this project! I think it will be a fun addition to my portfolio and I enjoyed coming up with it.

New Business Card

I designed this business card to match my website and to include in my portfolio. I haven't printed it yet since I want to use up all the (many) old ones I have left, but I thought I'd share the design for you all to see.

Front

Back

I wanted it to be clean and simple like my website, and I used the same fonts that I did on the website (Colaborate Light and Calibri). I used lots of white space, especially on the back, but I actually like that... I think sometimes it can be good not to fill up all the space. What do you all think of my design?

A Great Ad

I saw this ad and looooooved it. It's so cool. I actually refreshed the page I was on many many times to see if the other version (which is even better) would come up. But it didn't. So I'll have to use this one. :)

I love two things about this:

The colors. White is always a great, striking choice, and with the other two (red and gray) I love how they are muted versions of their extremes. The red is very red, yet it's not plain restaurant crayon red but a slightly more interesting version. The gray is dark - almost black, but not quite. It gives a slightly different feeling than black would.

The typography. Wow! The logo itself is really great, and the two typefaces paired with it are great. The way the letters in "sale" are arranged is so creative and eye-catching, and I love the sans serif font... Futura, maybe? The all caps style is great for grabbing people's attention, and yet it's not too in your face; it still looks classy.

What do you think of this ad?

Friday Finds: Cool Lamp

This lamp is really neat. Another cool way to use book pages!

Google Reader Tip

Definitely looking forward to trying THIS tip to make it easier to use Google Reader, which I already like. Wanted to share it for any fellow Google Reader users. :)

Personal Update

I just realized that I pretty much never talk about what's going on in my life on my blog, and while on the one hand I think that's good (I mean, do you all really care what I ate for dinner yesterday?), I figured it might be fun to do an update every once in a while. Because after all, I am a person who actually lives a real life, not just a blogging designer robot on the other side of the computer. :)

So what have I been up to lately? Well, I've been enjoying summer and gearing up for lots going on the rest of the summer. I have a vacation planned and a church retreat, as well as two kids' camps I'm helping with. Over the summer and also this coming fall, I'll also be finalizing (and in some cases expanding) both my writing and art portfolios. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited about adding to my collection of work. Oh, and I've been recovering from getting my wisdom teeth out. That was sure an adventure.

That's a little of what I've been doing lately. What have you all been up to?

Two Little Books

I just got these two graphic design books, and I really like them.

Buy here.

Buy here.

They are helpful tools, and the cover is even designed nicely! I like the simplicity, colors, sans serif font, and the way the text is arranged in creative shapes. Some of the examples in the books are a little dated because they're not brand new, but other examples are really great - these books are pretty comprehensive about their topics and truly give a variety of ideas about layout and about "graphic effects and typographic treatments."

I enjoyed flipping through them and I'm sure I'll look at and reference them again in the future. I would also love to see this one and this one by the same author.

A Good Song

A song based on 1 Thessalonians 5:2-10. A good reminder of the fact that there is a Day coming when Jesus will return. Here's part of it, and you can see all the lyrics here.

Two Neat Things

I found two things online lately that are really cool, so I wanted to share them with you. First up is the blog Design Seeds. It has really neat color ideas based on photos, and the design and presentation of the posts is really neat, too.

Here's one of their images - isn't this so happy and fun?

HT: PunkProjects.

Another thing I found is Photoshop's online editor. I didn't even know this existed, and it's pretty neat! It's not that much like the actual software, but I like that Adobe has created a free, online version. The adjustments are pretty basic, but it would be a good tool for simple editing.


HT: How About Orange

Here's a before and after of a beach photo I edited with this online tool:

Before

After

I hope you'll check out one or both of these cool sites!

Color & Type

Red + White + Cursive

That remind you of anything?

I think it equals Coca-Cola.

I love the Coca-Cola logo (which I know I've blogged about before), and I was looking through my photos and ran across these pictures I took at Disney World several months ago of vintage Coca-Cola items. I love them.

I love the way these antiques combine red, white, and cursive (and a little bit of turquoise, too). I thought I'd take the same elements and make a design item inspired by the "equation" for Coca-Cola design: Red + White + Cursive.

Since I'm in a summery mood, I thought a fun freebie might be a summer party invitation in these colors.

If you're having a party this summer, please download and use it! :) You an print it out and write in the information, or if you insert the image into a Word document, you can use text boxes to type in the information before you print. Another option would be printing it as a photo, since it's sized to 4x6. You can write the info. on top of the photo with a permanent marker. I hope you enjoy this! Personal use only please. :)

On a Roll

Re-designing the about page made me want to re-design some other pages too! Check out the FAQ, prices, testimonials, and contact page for the updated versions!

I Like

This identity for the Design Museum Boston is quite creative. I love how it's a simple concept, but detailed at the same time.

The dots make for a cohesive, one-idea logo that is still interesting and unique. It also works well with the typeface as one identity. See more ways it is applied here at Brand New. I think my favorite expression of the logo is the exploding D image here, though:

I think this perfectly captures the fact that this museum is "nomadic" - it doesn't have its own building, and apparently moves around to different galleries. I also like how the D still remains recognizable even in the last version which is really spread out.

The color combination for this logo is also really great. Orange could have ended up being a very obnoxious choice in my opinion, but I think it works well and strikes a good balance between fun creativity and professionalism.

What do you think of this logo?

P.S. Please respond to my Kuler post if you're interested!

News!

I re-designed my about page with new info and a new look! Check it out here!

Friday Finds: Helvetica Mug

I loved this so much I had to do two Friday Finds posts today. Get it here.

Friday Finds: Friendship Bracelets

I pretty much forgot about how much fun friendship bracelets can be for summer. Then I saw this tutorial and I remembered! I thought this bracelet looked unique... maybe I'll see if I can figure out how to make it. :)

Kuler Project

I have an idea. I like Adobe Kuler quite a bit. It's a site that chronicles lots of pretty color schemes created by users, and it's a great source of color inspiration. I like using its built in features in my Adobe programs when I'm picking colors for projects.

So I thought I'd have a little contest having to do with Kuler. Here's how it works:

1. You go on www.kuler.adobe.com and look around for a theme you like.
2. When you find a theme that you like, click on it, and click the words that say "more info" in the right middle area of the screen.
3. Then copy the link that comes up underneath the theme called "theme link." 
4. Paste it into the comments section here for me to see!
5. If you're confused about how to do this, the picture above might help, or you can email me at carrie[at]carrieannedesign[dot]com.

What's the point of all this? Well, based on your submissions, I will pick my three favorite themes, and create quote posters based on those themes! I love doing quote posters, and I thought this would be a fun way to get you involved. :) I'll do a post once I have the posters done with the themes, who picked them, and links to download the 3 posters.

Let the comments begin! You can comment until this Tuesday, June 21st.

Stock Photo Art

I've been enjoying playing with more stock photos from MorgueFile, and here's one I edited and added text to. I really like the photo art on the blog Smrvl, so I was inspired by that to create this.

I also made one with another stock photo that is quite different...

What do you all think of these designs? I'd love your thoughts on them!

New Typefaces

I downloaded a few free typefaces from FontSquirrel, and I thought you might like seeing which ones I got! Here are the ones that caught my eye... I put descriptions and links in the captions.

This sans serif is nice and simple. It comes in different versions which is nice. Download here.

I like Lobster 1, so I thought I would get its successor, too. This is a fun, retro looking cursive font. Download here.

Another nice sans serif font. I like the width of this one. A little narrow, but not squished looking. Download here.

This is a neat, all-caps font that I like. It comes in different styles. Download here.

I thought this vintage, beachy font was fun! Download here.

Typewriter fonts are always great! Download here.

What do you all think of these? Do you have a favorite of the ones I posted, or another font you've been enjoying lately?

Getting Started

 

...on a re-branding project for my portfolio. I'm seeking to re-design the logo and book covers for the Suzuki Method International, a method of teaching and learning classical music. They've already re-designed their books once. The original and newer covers are above.

This whole idea started with a conversation with my violin teacher about the new editions of the Suzuki books and how hard it is to tell what volume you're looking at. You'll notice how tiny the "volume 2" is above. So part of the reason I wanted to re-design the Suzuki identity was to make the books more user friendly. I also wanted to create a logo that was more updated and more reflective of the fun, innovative (if not new) approach the Suzuki method takes to violin education.

Progress and building on what you've learned is big in Suzuki, but there's also a sense of a cycle... even advanced students participate in concerts and "play-in's" where they end up playing easy repertoire. The idea is that, while you may have learned Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star when you were four, there's nothing to keep you from playing it when you're fourteen because you'll play it much better ten years later.

That's just what I've gathered from my experience as a Suzuki student. So I tried to keep those things in mind when designing the new logo. Here's what I have so far. It's not done, and I haven't applied it to books yet, but it's my basic idea. It's not set in stone though so I could come up with something different later on. :)

The color version would be incorporated on book covers, and the black and white version would be used for anytime the logo needed to be printed inside the books. I'd love to know what you think of my take on this logo!

Poster Project

I designed this poster using some stock photos from MorgueFile, a website that lets you download photos for free. I had never designed with stock photos before, but since MorgueFile is free, I thought I would try it. I like how this idea turned out. It's always so fun to see how backgrounds look when you layer multiple photos together. I used three night sky type photos in this poster, and then put text over it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this project! Also, you can download the poster for free right HERE. Please just use it for personal purposes. :) It's sized to 13x16, but you could make it smaller if you wanted to print it from home.

Titus

Just went through the book of Titus in my quiet times... these two passages are my favorite. I'm putting the one from chapter 3 first:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7

I love how this passage emphasizes grace - God saved us because of his "goodness and loving kindness," not because of anything we've done.

Then here's a passage from chapter 2:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14

So even though we are saved by God's grace alone and no good work we could ever do could add anything to our salvation, that grace actually works in us to produce good works, not because we're earning our salvation, but because we've been "brought salvation."

I love how Titus spurs us on to good works, but in light of the fact that ultimately our works never add to our salvation, but overflow from it.

Friday Finds: Pantone Wallpaper

Lots more here!

Gray

Theme from Kuler here.

I've had a thing for the color gray lately. I used to not like it at all, and I'd never wear gray of my own free will. Now I love it for design and for clothes... at least four of the things I've bought lately have been gray. I like how flexible gray is. There are SO many shades of it, and it is a good color for white/blank space. It looks calm and quiet... whereas, while black and white certainly have their places and I use them often, they can be challenging for backgrounds because they're so stark.

So gray is my new friend. :) Are you a fan of gray, too?

Humble Masterpieces

I recently got this book, and while I can't recommend it 100% because of a few inappropriate pages, I love the concept of appreciating beautiful design in everyday items. Here are a few images of the book I found online. Just the photography in it is quite stunning! It really makes simple things like pencils or bubble wrap look interesting and unique.

Post it notes.

The page on bubble wrap.

Pencils.