Now what [else]?

It’s an unusual time, but I can’t lie - I am enjoying my time at home. I think about all those tedious projects that I never had to the time to complete (in one sitting), all the new skills I wanted to learn and all the times I have prayed to have a few hours to make some art. POOF! Here it is brought to you by our quarantine. The safest place right now is to be at home and I am taking full advantage of this time.

One of my clients and I discussed a new work project regarding helping employee’s with their patentable inventions. Originally this was to be a series of printed advertisements, but the idea evolved (as is often the case in design). After being inspired by the impact and entertainment value of gifs in personal colleague-to-colleague communications, I decided to add this element to this project.

Now more than ever our world is very dependent on the visual as we all work within our own little virtual spaces. I want to connect the idea of being isolated to the idea of being creative (or this case inventive). Below is the first inventor profile of this new series!

Making art...

Lately, I have been looking into new avenues of creativity, thought-processes [yes really just HOW to THINK] and where does this fit into who I am as a designer? Listening to podcasts on my commutes allows me some extra thinking and reflecting time. One podcast in particular “On Purpose” by Jay Shetty (<3) interviews different people each week as they discuss their journeys, frustrations, their triumphs and most importantly life-lessons.

I’ve learned a lot by reading, researching, buying books and studying new methods and playing with new ideas.. Currently, I’m listening to an interview with Tom Bilyeu and some words are really sticking. This idea that “the mind is pliable” [I keep repeating this phrase in my mind] and that you are able to influence your thinking by your mind-set staring with your body?! What an interesting concept that you body can influence the mind… I envision my brain inside a container of Play-Doh® and all the wonderful shapes and sculptures that I can make with it.. [I love that smell btw?!) Any time I hit a creative wall or I encounter a frustration in life, I keep repeating this idea to myself. https://jayshetty.me/tom-bilyeu-on-breaking-negative-thought-patterns-stop-being-lazy-about-your-growth/

I want to try and carve out some me time to just be creative. That’s the end goal, creativity. I remember in college when I was able to sit in my studio for hours and just gooooooo! I miss that creativeness, where I was allowed to explore and play and explore some more. I feel this is important as a designer to do this.

Animation and video

This year I have been researching new projects that bring me joy! In the world of video and animation, I may have found that perfect space where I can join my love of color, typography, drawing, 3-d modeling, and photography in one little nutshell.

Last December I created my little video "Peppermints Collide" and I was bit by the bug. Somehow, my mind works like a movie and the transition from graphics to a moving picture seemed effortless. Of course there is much to learn in the world of video and the task of creating a good video (or animation) is tremendous. This little project pushed me into the video and animation hemisphere and I like it.

Since my FCP (Final Cut Pro 10.4) dabbling I have taken classes to explore its new (and improved) color adjustments. I find that the possibilities are just as amazing and endless as Adobe's Photoshop. There are infinite combinations to alter the temperatures, change the lighting (night shot to a day shot), mess with shadows and skin tones. I am in awe and I will definitely continue on this path. In FCP 10.4 you can now import various types of footage from different cameras –including your iPhone– and import them! I am thinking of making my own short. TBD.

Animation is also something that intrigues me. I worked on tutorials with 2D character animation (Animate CC) and it was a blast. I can imagine drawing my own characters and bringing them to life on the big screen. After speaking with a colleague and exchanging information, I have been introduced to Blender Animation ("Blender[.org] is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.")

I am "adding to my little bag of tricks" (as my former Texan college design professor used to say). Good things to come ya'll!

Working on FCP: Sound, jump cuts, effects, transitions, titles.

Sketches for character animations

I get to paint at work?!

This project was a series of five posters with purposely chosen subject matter for each. I collaborated with our social media person and it was wonderful project! It not often that in my 9-to-5 I get an opportunity to use watercolor and paint. That's why I stretched the entire process over four months. I really wanted to make sure that I gave myself ample time to translate what I pictured in my mind and do the subject matter justice. This was a new process for me and I wasn't quite sure how I would develop the artwork. With each poster I completed, I learned more and more during the process. By the time I was half-way through creating the fifth poster I had solidified my method.

I began collecting images from our photo database to use in my layouts. In some cases a collage of photos were used. Once I was satisfied with the layouts, I created sketches of each idea. Sometimes the sketches were created with a piece of paper overlapping the photo on the light box. In the final poster since no exact image of what I needed was availabIe, I created my own drawing using my imagination. I made sure not to be too precise as I wanted a sketchy look that would overlap my image.

Initially I used these pencil sketches and then continued to paint on top of them with my watercolors. I took those pencil sketches and then painted with watercolor over them. Later in my process I discovered that I could redraw the pencil sketches with a micron pen and save my pencil drawing. Afterwards I made extremely light photocopies of my sketches (multiples of my drawing) and then use this as a base for my watercolors. This way I didn't have to erase pencil lines or muck-up my watercolor (which can be a finicky medium to use). I knew that my watercolor would give my final image a human-hand element that you just cannot achieve with any kind of computer generated artwork.

The final images were composed using Adobe Illustrator and the Layers palette. I was able to control the opacity of each layer to get the texture exact that I was seeking. It was a long process, but I feel like I am a pro now! (Who needs another poster? Maybe I'll make some artwork for my walls at home....)

The complete series is the five posters and the style was inspired by the NASA Space Tourism posters [https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galleries/space-tourism-posters].

Below are some video links that document some of my process (created on my phone), which I shared with my small Instagram audience. What a creative journey and a great project!

https://youtu.be/Qo4RkDS0GgU

https://youtu.be/SLae3_Gl2cs

https://youtu.be/JGXNq8F1EqA

https://youtu.be/emVRgVsBdv4

https://youtu.be/AEwY7n-v2Ms

Final poster for Tevatron and g-2

Final Bubble Chamber poster

Wedding INVITE design

I designed my own wedding invites with a Vatican and Roman theme. Wedding planning is ridiculously expensive and full of a million ridiculous decision-making opportunities that you would never think you'd have to make: chair covers or bows, hair up or down, DJ or band? This list goes on.... Beyond the stress involved in planning a wedding, luckily I am knowledgeable in the printing process and so creating this design allowed me alleviate this particular stress.

My wedding designs + invites (top) fresh from the printer!

Completed invite 'sealed' with a strip of textured white damask paper

Freedom

Beyond the many implications this title has (and keeping my blog politics-FREE) I would just like to post a so-spot-on wrist tattoo. I can't help but really admire the cleverness of what this artist did with the typography! Simple, meaningful and a great font choice.

Social Media explained... in donuts

I am a big fan of the LinkedIN social network. I think I have been apart of this community since its inception (my college days). There are interesting articles, tips, discussions and advice from my connections (shout out to my connections!!).

This little nugget was found during one of those visits. I'm sorry to say that I did not note the original creator (my apologies). The whiteboard cleverly delineates the diverse social media outlets via interaction with a "donut".

For me, the doughnut is the baked-matcha-green-tea kind (that my good friend Doreen made for me), but you'll get a good understanding on differences (and purposes) between social media outlets no matter which doughnut you decide you need! ; )

Cugini Campout 2013

Every year, my husband and I like to take a day and have all our nephews camp out and hang out at our home. This really gives us a chance to interact with each other and experience some good old fashion outdoor activities and fun games (electronics are checked at the door the moment they arrive at our house)! We started this yearly event in 2013 and the kids (AND US!) really look forward to it.

For the first year I created a t-shirt design and had them sized and numbered for each nephew (1 through 8). They loved it!

The Calla Lilly "designed"

I love flowers! One of my most favorite in the bunch is the Calla Lilly. I feel that if I were to design my very own flower, this would be it.

Its simple and organic lines along with the hearty stem, makes this an amazing composition (as far as flowers go).

I love this flower so much, that it was my obvious choice for my wedding bouquet. (Photo: Hitch & Sparrow, http://hitchandsparrow.com/)

Here's a link if you'd like to read into the meaning of the Calla Lilly flower: http://www.flowermeaning.com/calla-lily-meaning/

Amazing Vatican square!!

Rome is by far one of my MOST favorite cities in the world. Granted I have not been everywhere, but during every single visit this city manages to keep me engaged and amazed!

The image below is from my wedding reception. It's a closeup view of a display that contains a collection of 'fake' Polaroids pictures. My fiancé (now husband) proposed to me here in Rome (in front of the Vatican actually) and so I decided to run with this theme and use the 'essence' of Rome for my reception decor. The "Polaroids" document our journey from that day. There is a certain magic here that is only matched by the beauty, art and design of this great city.

Simply breathtaking.

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A day in the life... ROMA!!