A nod to Roy Lichtenstein

Here I go again, messing around... This time, I took a photo of a good friend of mine, and did a little illustrator/photoshop work to it, inspired by Sir Roy Lichtenstein.



Model : Zui
Photographer: joshbender

A Whole New "ME"

The spring is most defiantly a time for growth, and rebirth. I have been trying to re-define myself as a graphic designer. In efforts of the continued graphic design job hunt, I am going to be re-working my website/identity to fit my personality better. Don't get me wrong, I love love love my last site, but my aesthetic changes so frequently, that it's not "ME" any longer. Stay tuned for a whole new "ME" identity!!!

Happy Easter!

It's yet another holiday, time for more inspiration! The flowers are in bloom, pastel colors, the spring breeze, and finally some beautiful weather! I decided to do an easter greeting card cover for fun. Here is what it came to be!

Inspiration vol.3 Saul Bass

Saul Bass is everywhere. He is the definition of a graphic designer. When I explain to people what graphic design is, I describe it as everything that you see, packages, logos, signs, posters. everything. That simple logo you see everyday was once someone's brain child. It had to come from from somewhere. Weather it was a group of 20 people, or the thought process of 1 person. Saul Bass as been around for years. This man has created hundreds of well recognized logos, movie posters, branding, everything. He is a one man 'brand' when it comes to his work.

He's an inspiration solely based on his work ethic. Like I said, He has done hundreds of things that have stuck around for years and years. Which means that its so good that no one has had to re design most of his work to update it. His work is timeless, clean, and flawless.

Spring, Sprang, Sprung!

Last night and today, I walked around my lovely neighborhood, and took my new best friend, my camera with me! I captured some awesome photos, I thought I would share!

My cat, My inspiration

So here goes the first few photo shoots. What better muse/model then my lovely cat? His name is Toby, a 6 year old kitten. haha. I adopted him through City Kitty's out side of Rittenhouse Pet Supplies 6 short years ago. Then, he was a lanky little guy, his ears were way too big for his head. Now, he's grown into a handsome gentleman. He follows me around like a puppy, he talks, a LOT, and loves to snuggle. His favorite thing to do is sit on the window sill and watch for birds, catch flies and lay out in the sun light. He's defiantly a delight, Here are the first few photos I have taken with my new camera! Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

I couldn't be more excited then what I am right now!!! It's my 25th birthday, my mom asked me what I wanted... undeceive me told her that I would get back to her. I asked my boyfriend, Josh what I should do... he knows me all too well and mentions that I have been wanting a professional camera forever. Thats it! We did some research, and we found that the Nikon D3100 was best for me. He is a photographer, so he will be able to teach me the proper techniques as to how to use it. Sure enough, with the efforts of my mom, dad and josh, I got my new amazing camera! Josh's mom and sister pitched in for an amazing camera bag- its fashionable and comfortable. I couldn't ask for more! Taking my own professional photos will also be very useful for future design projects, as well as learning the proper ways to edit photos. I will defiantly be posting photos on this blog, so stay tuned!

Inspiration vol.2 Paula Scher // Pentagram NYC

When I was in school, I had a class called Art Direction. The teacher had asked if we knew of any professional Graphic Designers. The class sat in silence. She then gave us the names of top of the line, award winning designers to research and do a presentation on the next week. The name I got was Paula Scher. It was a name that will forever change my view on design as I knew it.

Paula Scher has developed identities, packaging for a broad range of clients that includes, among others, The New York Times Magazine, Perry Ellis, Bloomberg, Target, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the New 42nd Street, the New York Botanical Garden, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. In 1996 Scher’s widely imitated identity for the Public Theater won the coveted Beacon Award for integrated corporate design strategy. She serves on the board of The Public Theater, and is a frequent design contributor to The New York Times, GQ and other publications.

The reason I adore her so much is that she is clever with her ideas and design. While in class, I read she was sitting in on a meeting for a concept development for a new branding of a bank that was associated with travelers. The bank name was citi bank. while doodling on a napkin. she cleverly drew an arc beginning from each dot in the i's, so that way the 't' was the base of an 'umbrella'





As soon as i learned how fast she came up with the idea, how it was just sort of 'natural' i was super impressed, and thought to my self, thats the kind of designer that I want to be. She then stated that being a good, clever designer will not happen over night. It will not happen in a week, or a year. It will happen over time, with lot's of hard work, up's and downs, and most of all, life experience. Instead of doing research and learning about a product, book, clothing designer, immerse yourself in everything you possibly can, so when the day comes that you have to do a branding identity for that clothing designer, you will already have the experience necessary, so it just comes naturally.

She not only changed my view of just how hard you need to work to get worldly recognition, she also taught me to take life by the horns and become well versed, well cultured, and your own encyclopedia. Who knows, maybe I could one day create an effortless, clever and creative logo.


Here are more of her well known pieces that I adore:













http://www.pentagram.com
http://www.aiga.org

Inspiration vol.1 Jessica Hische

While at the Art Institute, we had to find an inspiring graphic designer to talk about in class. I am always interested in alumni from the Philadelphia area. I came across a Tyler Art School graduate named Jessica Hische. Not only was she cool because she had the same name as me (haha) but she also created the most beautiful, imaginative artwork that I had seen. She specializes in Type Design, but also does whimsical illustrations. She's now based in NYC working as a freelancer. Before that she was a senior designer at Louise Fili Ltd. working with tons of amazing clients such as Tiffany & Co, Forbes, New York Magazine, Target, Bath & Bodyworks, and many, many others. Her work inspires me simply because she makes lettering, words and images beautiful. It doenst take you all but 5 seconds to decide weather you like it or not. It's her obvious passion of designing that is very intriguing, You can tell shes an eat, sleep and design kinda gal. She's everything I ever hope to be.

Here are a few of my favorite selected works by her. Followed by her website link. It's highly recommended that you check back and follow up on what new things shes doing. It just keeps getting better and better...


http://jessicahische.com

Christmas Time Is Here...

Christmas is my absolute FAVORITE time of the year. The decorations, wrapping paper, christmas cards makes me jump for joy. The new innovative designs that come out every year are extremely inspirational. This year I have began to brainstorm christmas card designs, maybe even wrapping paper designs. I have started with a simple word, NOEL. This is what I have came up with so far.


I have also been really inspired by christmas lights. This is still a work in progress, but am very excited as to how it's going to turn out.

Candy canes are my favorite holiday candy, so I was playing around with patterns and making 3D objects. Here is my version of a candy cane sick. It's going to take lot's of playing around to get the perfect candy cane arch.

I hope to finish these, and work on more projects through out the holidays. I would LOVE to get a press to start printing my very own cards. *hint hint wink wink, santa ;-)