Purging

It's cool and kind of fun! Not in the eating disorder kind of way, but in the event of when you are moving and deciding what stays and what goes. I always feel really good after I let something go that has been burdening me for a long time. When the stuff begins to relieve the clutter in my home there is more space and room to breathe. Purging is great with junk food and carb filled cabinets, overfilled "storage" spaces, "friends" lists, hard drives, and you guess it design!

Sometimes due to our clients' demands or our own faults, design and layouts become cluttered and overworked. Once you start removing the extraneous "fluff", designers have more space to stand out and become more modern and sophisticated. Helping clients and ourselves see that will a little room that their/our message can really stand apart (loud and clear!)

Design Trends: Glitter

Glitter, Glitter everywhere. 

I might have said 'tis the season, but this trend has been going on for months. It is not just graphic design that is getting the sparkle effect. This past Halloween do you remember all the glitter pumpkins and decor that were filling the shelves? Glitter is big with big clunky jewelry that women are accessorizing with. The sparkle is fun trend and easy to do. Add it to your designs and too your wardrobe and sparkle this holiday season!

 

Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday  is coming up with weekend. In a effort to boost local business American Express is helping small businesses get its own day between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Small businesses provide the most jobs in the United States, so do some good business and support your favorite local shop. Wichita has a lot of great shops to support this weekend:

• Bluebird Arthouse: a LARGE selection of artist supplies that you can't get anywhere else in Wichita. 

• Avivo: delicious brick oven pizzas.

• Kanai: my favorite sushi place in Wichita.

• Coca Dolce: delicious chocolates as well as gelato.

• Wichita Art Museum gift shop: they sell art from local artists at a variety of prices  It is free to visit the museum on Saturdays, so why not look around, get inspired, and buy a gift.

•  Sedgwick County Zoo: It may be a little cool, but I love to walk through the zoo and see all the animals.

Shopping season has begun, so why not spend your dollars in the community. What are your favorite local spots?

Sketch

I knew there was a reason that my year of design fundamentals included 2 semesters of drawing and my major required another semester of developing my drawing skills. Computes are fast pace and the programs more sophisticated. Sketching is becoming less common for a starting point. It had been grilled into us at school that all projects begin with a design brief and then beginning with sketches that fit the needs outlined in the brief. I have a plethora of sketch books filled with minute sketches.

One of our early projects in Visual Communications was the task to create symbols. The first day we had to do 400 sketches and 400 more each day after that. This grilled into us that sketching was essential, because it is not always your first one that is best. As i began professional work I used to sketch more often, but as months have gone by i find I am sketching less. I am not sure why, since sketching has a lot of benefits:

• It's Fast! Faster than "computer sketching. You can quickly see if a layout will work rather than wasting time building something a computer that may not work. 

• Sketching is not biased. When you work on the computer it is to tempting to add color and make work more complicated even before the layout is realized.

• It activates a different part of the brain, and can re-inveterate your creative juices.

• Rest for your eyes. Even if you don't sketch it is a good idea to take a break from the computer screen and give your eyes rest from those little lights.

Getting Inspired

My motivation has flown out the window lately, and I have been trying to get inspired:

• Mehmet Goetlik: minimalism

• Square One Design : Joe Coffee

• Pearlfisher: Jamie Oliver

• True Fruits

• Number Logos