365 ?

I'm toying with an idea. The whole 365 ... create something everyday craze is all around on the blogosphere. Does that mean I should do it, too? Or does that mean I shouldn't do it? I think it sounds like a great challenge and a great way to learn new techniques and find new inspiration. I am getting myself wrapped up in a product before I have even really learned about who I am as a designer. Maybe by putting my marketing plan on hold, I can just create, experiment, and be crazy for a year, and see where I end up? Ideas: pattern, font (cool letters), color palettes, photos of pattern in nature... maybe a combination of them?! I think I may need to think about this for a bit. I'm on Spring Break and I have a bit of time before my next class takes off.

This pattern is one I created for a contest for Spoonflower.com. It was great because I was confined to the contest theme "Daffodils." It is amazing how much you can pull out when you least expect it. The idea of working toward a goal which has some theme, or confining rules, gets me very excited and I know this will bring a lot of surprises. Sometimes you never know what will come of it! Hmm.

Vintage Camera? How much do you see?

Who doesn't love a vintage Polaroid? I created this image for my final project for DCG. I learned a lot about observation and of course, the gradient mesh tool. I have never studied a picture in such detail before. It is amazing how much we miss going through life... until you need to create shadows, imperfections and match color. I really don't think we pay that much attention! There is so much behind all of the objects in our lives... take a moment and pick up one of your favorite objects and study it. Why do you love it? What is it brings that such emotion out of you? Is it the color, the texture, the way the light shines on it? Is it beautiful, unique, empowering? Do you carry it in your pocket so it is always with you? Or do you display it on your mantle to share it with others?
Though I now see people and objects in shapes and gradients, which can be a little distracting, I have learned a lot about how to see objects on a new level. Go observe something. You may be surprised!

Let's hear it for the Punk Rock Girls!

I had to design a gig poster for a punk-rock girl band called Radar Bizarre... they love neon colors and had to have a ray gun & sparkles in their name. I totally want to play bass in their band, if only I knew how! Rock on.

Self Portrait

My Self-Portrait. I had to use illustrator to make a monochromatic likeness of myself for my Designing Computer Graphics class. It was a challenge and I learned a lot!

Design Meditation

Finding myself back! Sigh. It is late and of course it is the time when I decide to redo my blog. I am such a night owl. Good thing I have some good music and some raspberry filled chocolate to get me through!

I have decided through my creative journey to get a Graphic Design Degree through Full Sail University: www.FullSail.edu. I am in class number #2: Designing Computer Graphics and I am having a blast! Who knew school could be so fabulous? Okay, so I am kind of a school-lover, but don't tell anybody.

I would love to be able to use this blogging medium to breathe a little everyday perspective into my life. So many creative ventures, so many projects, so many choices, it can be overwhelming at times. Exciting, but I can go a little overboard. I can organize and discuss and theorize til my heart is satisfied. This will be my design meditation.

Fabric collection almost done!

I am very excited to have the patterns almost complete! I have used a color pallette that reminds me of my gramma Helen... I miss her so much! These warm colors remind me of all the great things gramma's are: warm, loving, sweet, and caring. I can almost taste her chocolate chip cookies I have made the patterns a little more modern than she might have had in her closet... but it is such a fun expression of pattern I think she would like today!

http://www.spoonflower.com/collections/2489

After I finish one more design, I am going to do a line based on my gramma Betty's fabulous scandinavian design. I am so excited about this... I am not sure if I'll be able to keep the line to just 12 designs!!

Once I get these completed, I will be able to start adding these great designs into the Sketchbook. Which design will be able to grace the cover? You will have to follow my creative journey!

Gramma's Closet

I have decided to write about my Sketchbook project. I am hoping that the task of keeping up with my progress will give me energy and creativity abound... this project is so different and challenging than anything I have done before. There is no boundry to the scope of this project. And, what's more, it is something I am challenging myself to do. I am my own critic.

I am so used to things being black & white, right or wrong, recognized as clinical recommendations approved by scientific study. For me, the creative process feels like I am solving a problem that isn't even a problem. It is a new way of thinking for me... and it is so invigorating.

Filling up the sketchbook, for me, is a way to tell a story. It is my first real attempt to bring emotion and thinking to a piece of art. I must take Jackets, Blankets, and Sheets and let it mean something. Grandma's Closet represents many things for me. It will be a great way to play with texture and pattern. But most importantly, it will be a story of comfort, history, love, design, and family.

This picture is the beginning of the cover (not finished yet...) I have made a stamp using lino and block stamped using white to represent painted paneling. Fresh modern take on a vintage idea. I have glued pages together inside to make them thicker and give them more of a wrinkled, worn look. I can't wait to pull some of my fabric and paper designs for the "interior" of the closet.

I have many ideas... but the challenge is going for it. I don't want to make any mistakes. I just need to try things out and roll with the process!