Voice & Tone

Voice & Tone is website that serves as the brand guidelines for writing copy for MailChimp. The MailChimp website always has cute witty banter on it, and it’s really interesting to see the public examples and guidelines for their actual employees.

Little Printer

Little Printer is a exactly that. It connects to an app in your phone and “publishes” relevant information or summaries from any sources you choose. The sample video shows printout summaries from news headlines, Foursquare, Instagram, a Word of the Day, and may more. It seems like your own personalized mini newspaper, and a great way to catch up on the important things while still taking a break from the glowing screen.

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This is one of two ads that I created for A Very GK! Holiday that are running in Alternative Press this month.

I got an email today from a fellow football fan on Flickr asking if he could use my Giants wallpaper design to print a t-shirt. I sent him the files, and by the end of the day, he already had a screen made!

He is a sweetheart and offered to send me one when he’s done. Can’t wait!

UPDATE: Dan sent me another picture today of the printed shirt. I LOVE IT. Check out his online shop, BQTshirts.com.

Client Overview

Jeff is the owner of Killer Cool Entertainment and books underground music concerts at multiple venues in upstate New York and Connecticut. He approached me about creating a promotional website for an annual music festival he puts on at holiday time. High school kids (their primary audience) would be able to see the lineup of bands playing, purchase tickets, and get other information about the festival. Jeff would also be taking out a couple of ads in Alternative Press magazine and wanted those designed along with some other promotional flyers.
The event is sponsored in part by Glamour Kills, a crazy trendy fashion company, hence the name “A Very GK! Holiday”.

Initial Thoughts

My background in web design actually goes back to high school for me, when I started teaching myself HTML to create websites for my friends who were in metal and hardcore bands. 10 years later, I hadn’t done any design work in the music industry since then. I was excited to tackle this new industry and imagined I’d be able to have a lot more fun than working on some of the more corporate projects that had been filling my schedule.

The Brief

Jeff already had an initial idea for the website. It all stemmed from those tree-shaped air fresheners you see everywhere. He had purchased a costume and would have someone wear it at the event and hand out prizes. He hoped the design would continue on with this theme, maybe using the title of the festival to create the tree.

I expressed my initial concern right off the bat. Use of that air freshener symbol is actually trademarked. I contacted the company attorney to ask for permission to use the shape of the tree, something they encourage on their website, but was still denied permission. Time for Plan B.

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I get so many emails about my sewn fabric resume, usually found on Flickr, that I figured I’d make a post and brief instructions on how to make your own.

I initially made this resume during my senior year in college. I wanted it to really represent not only my design skills, but my affection for sewing and including handmade elements in my design work for a more intimate feel. That and, well, I suppose it would be harder to throw away a resume like this. And yes, I got the first job I applied for out of college.

The briefest of tutorials:

1) Print your resume on t-shirt transfer paper (remember to flip the design before you print it)

2) Iron that bad boy onto white or light colored fabric. I chose plain white woven cotton.

3) Sew your new fabric resume to a colorful fabric backing of your choice.

That’s it! In this version, I embroidered a small MW at the top. Get creative!

Everyday, I rely on a number of tools and applications to keep my business organized and running smoothly. I’ve been doing the freelance thing for about a year and a half now, and after trying out what feels like hundreds of different applications, these are the ones that have made it this far.

GIMME BAR

Gimme Bar allows you to grab images, text, or even a whole website screenshot off any website. You can organize your items into groups, tag them, and write descriptions. I use Gimme Bar a ton during my research phase of a project. I can browse the web and when I see something that I’d like to reference to a client or use as inspiration, I can quickly add it to my group. The best thing is that each group of items (Collections) have their own public links and can be shared with anyone you want.

UPDATE: Gimme Bar now provides the capability to backup your tweets, instagrams, and more. It is content aware and can save recipes, articles (and more), not just whole website shots. The best new feature is the ability to collaborate with others on a collection so that the specified people can all contribute to one collection. This has endless possibilities when working with other designers or even clients.

WORKFLOWY

I have tried at least 20 different project management apps. Seriously. I love it because it’s like a simple to-do list on crack. One list is never enough for me, and elaborate apps usually have too much functionality and end up getting in the way. With WorkFlowy, you can nest as many lists inside of each other as you’d like, and all list are collapsible, so you can focus on whatever area you need to without being overwhelmed. Hashtags also allow you to just focus on “#today” or “#emails”.

TEUXDEUX

I have a love/hate relationship with TeuxDeux. It’s a tad too simple for me, but I keep returning to it when other to-do lists or project management software just get too overwhelming. It’s gorgeous, at the very least.

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Needed a 15 minute break from client work today, and this is what happened.
Download it for your iPhone here!

Lots resource-collecting today for a new website I’m creating for a bird store!

Holly Hox

Rambo (aka Meatloaf, Ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong, Rambito)

I’ve been inspired to eat a little healthier, thanks to the absolutely terrible eating habits of Jesse and I when we travel (Sour Patch Kids and Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn, all the way!).

Somehow, I’ve never cooked Salmon before and decided to give a go on a whim.

I didn’t feel like cooking a complicated meal, and kept the seasoning as simple as salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I baked it in the oven, and even roasted some asparagus on the same pan (separated by a little tin foil barrier!). They both went in the oven together for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees and came out absolutely scrumptious. Over some brown rice, this was the healthiest meal I’ve had in a while, and completely delicious too.

This honestly only took about 20 minutes from start to finish, and I’ll definitely be making it a bajillion more times.