Top-Notch Type #04

Head over to Emmadime and check out this week's Top-Notch Type, Muncie!

Past Week

This past week my family was out visiting for graduation. For me, graduation has been long overdue and didn't feel as big of an accomplishment as it could have been. I had finished all my design classes last year and have only had a few general classes left over the past year, so when it came, the achievement felt a little passed -- but having my family out for the week got me excited! We did a lot of tourist type things and took them to our favorite restaurants and beaches -- Ryan even took my dad out surfing!). Here are a few snapshots from the week. 

Le Bisou Sweets : Launch

I'm excited to share with you the launch of the Le Bisou Sweets branding and website that I've been working on recently. This project was so much fun -- Kaya and Margaux, the lovely ladies behind Le Bisou have killer style and had a lot of amazing ideas for their brand, which makes for a fun job! 

I want to give a shout out to my developer, Breanna Rose, who seriously kicked it. I've tackled development before but I decided I would rather focus my time and energy on the design aspect. So I asked Bre if she'd work with me. And man, am I happy to have handed it off. Thanks Bre!

Top-Notch Type: #03

Head over to Emmadime and check out the newest Top-Notch Type -- this week, I made a fictitious logo to show off this free killer font.

*Image by Herriott Grace

Spaces // Jen Peters

I'd like to introduce the personal workspace of the very talented, graphic designer, Jen Peters! I featured Jen's "Hoot A Day" project a while back and have since been admiring the rest of her work. Especially some of the amazing work she does for her job at Mattson Creative. Although she works at Mattson, I asked her to share her personal workspace with us this time, while she shares a little about herself -- (maybe a second feature?!). Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself as a creative.

I am a graphic designer and illustrator and I currently work for Mattson Creative. I feel very lucky to be able to do what I love for a living! I like to make things that put a smile on people's face. 

Describe your creative journey.

I have always loved to create things. My favorite part about elementary school was when we got to illustrate books we had written. In college I discovered graphic design and fell in love. 

Share a little bit about your space.

When I work from home my workspace is in my bedroom. I currently live in an apartment, so my space is not a very big, but it is cozy and it works.   

What's your favorite thing about your space?

All of the art prints and cards I have around my room done by various artists I admire. They make me happy and bring life to the white walls. 

What's one thing you think every creative needs in their space?

Little things that make the space feel like your own and inspire creativity. 

Photos by Jen Peters

Thanks Jen!

Website | Twitter

Top-Notch #02

Be sure to head over to Emmadime today to check out my newest Top-Notch Type!

Today's phrase, 'Slow Down and Take A Break' is always an important thing to remember -- life can get so busy, but it's always good to get away.

Spaces // Victoria Vu

Yet again, I'm honored to share with you another oh so creative individual, Victoria Vu. Victoria is a Graphic Designer and Architect! She runs the amazing shop, Paper & Type, (my two favorite things!) and creates and most beautifully designed pieces for her shop -- plus, her workspace is equally excellent. Her space doubles as her living area, but the two flow together flawlessly. After you learn a little about her and her workspace in this week's Spaces, head over and check out her work!

Tell us about yourself as a creative.

I run Paper & Type, a petite graphic design company. I create custom projects (invitations, mainly) as well as readymade stationery. These days I also work at a boutique architecture firm. We design small-scale buildings and spaces for creatives in east LA.

Describe your creative journey.

My love of paper goods developed early on. My dad opened a print shop when I was seven and I spent some of my childhood there helping out (often while on roller skates). I was certain I would one day take over the print shop, but I started to lean towards interior design, and it was architecture that piqued my interest when time came to apply for college. I loved it and stuck to it, but it had always been the visual presentation aspect of architecture - the graphic organization of boards and portfolios - that I enjoyed the most. Throughout the years I kept on with hand-making cards, and I had a chance to create invitations for some marrying friends. It wasn't until the switch to a part-time architecture schedule did I decide to make my interest in stationery official, and Paper & Type was born in the spring of 2008.

Share a little bit about your space.

At the moment I rent a room of a house in Los Angeles.  It is a light minty blue, and furnished with bits of red and with pieces collected over time, thrifted or inherited from friends.  The room explodes in card stock and craft supplies whenever it gets to production time for projects and fairs, but for the moments in between I am fairly meticulous about filing things away and keeping the inspiration on my walls and desktop refreshed.

What's your favorite thing about your space?

It is east-facing, so the morning light makes waking wonderful and creates a very pleasant space to work.

What's one thing you think every creative needs in their space?

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Thanks Victoria!

*Photos by Victoria Vu

Website | Shop | Twitter

Introducing : Top - Notch Type on Emmadime

I'm so excited to share my new feature on Emmadime launching today, TOP - NOTCH TYPE.

We're going to be featuring awesome FREE fonts you can download online and showing them off in fun typographical ways. 

Typography is one of my favorite parts of design -- so this is going to be a blast. 

I already had a bit too much fun with our first post. 

Be sure to follow along to start your own collection of fonts. 

Pop over to Emmadime and see more!

Castelbel & Trumpet

Here's peak into a recent project for Plum Pretty Sugar.
Plum Pretty Sugar released a new line, Castelbel & Trumpet -- for the project, we worked together to create a logo for the new line as well as various promotional and marketing materials.

My favorite part of the line is the perfectly vintage silhouettes.

Check it out!

Carmen Vela

Check out these beautiful Paradise Patterns by Carmen Vela -- they're so perfectly vintage and summery.

Grassroots

I'm excited to share a project I worked on recently. 

Grassroots Pantry is a Hong Kong based cafe and private kitchen that focus' on sustainable and healthy eating. 

These are logos from our first board. 

The final logo is the top one, with the final color being more golden. Check it out here.