Vale Design : Freelance Package Design & Branding

Schumacher Patterns

I could just swim around for days and days in all of these gorgeous fabrics, wallcoverings and patterns. Schumacher is out of New York and their patterns range from modern to luxurious. If I am ever creatively blocked on a packaging project, I like to start looking at patterns. Just looking at shapes, shape blocking, and how those shapes interact together, tends to get my brain moving in new and exciting directions. In my portfolio under the concepts section, the Anna solution on the right came about from a combination of 5 different types of vintage wallpaper patterns. This new vector image is very modern and completely unique, becoming a branding element that would pattern on shelf.

Orla Kiely at Target!

Imagine my absolute shock and surprise as I walked around the corner of an aisle in Target, hands full of laundry detergent and a new lamp, and right on the endcap was one of my favorite designers, Orla Kiely! I am all about color schemes and bold, graphic patterning. She is one of the best! I bought the tumber glass and mug below. I love the handle of the mug. Just big enough for a finger. Too cool! If you get a chance, check out her products in the home, kitchen type section. Made my rainy day!

CHEERS

Look what I just found!

I was flipping through the coupon section of the newspaper, doing my recession duties as a wife, when I turned the page and there they were! Three packaging products that I had worked on for Summit Brands and their logo which I had re-designed a while ago. Such a nice surprise when you stumble onto work you did a couple of years ago.

CHEERS [have a great weekend!]

Catch up

I have been a busy little creative bee today. I hurt my neck somehow yesterday and I did not get too much done. Today I have been playing catch up! First and foremost...

The wedding is not over yet folks! I am currently working on some wedding announcements and reception invitations for my brother. They are coming along quite nicely. I am also helping my sister-in-law choose the sweets for their wedding reception. She does not like cake so I BRAVELY volunteered to help out. You know, take one for the team. We are looking at having cupcakes instead of a traditional cake. Cupcakes are so much cuter! Except, I realized that I have planned this all wrong! We have a tasting scheduled for next week and I forgot I gave up candy and desserts for lent! No cupcake tasting for me! Now I am just the driver. Poor me. 

I stumbled onto this packaging while flipping through a magazine yesterday. It is the BitOLuv dog treats. I think they are so cute! I love the SKU colors and the illustrations. So simple. The website is just as darling. I have added this link over in Daisy's section as well.

 

I am going to be updating some of the "coming soon" sections on this site, well, soon! Along with being a package designer, I also have another creative love that I do in my spare time. I am thinking of working on this a bit more and sharing with you soon. I will let you know when/if that venture gets up and running.

CHEERS

Nerves

Today is the husband's interview and I am a bundle of nerves. I can not wrap my head around any of my own work this morning. I am trying desperately to focus on anything else, but my mind keeps wandering. Thank you for your continued love and support. We appreciate it. Hopefully the design revisions on this site will help all that energy funnel somewhere!

CHEERS

Movin' and Shakin'

Things are movin' and shakin' around here. Please hang in there with us as we do some spring cleaning and a design overhaul!

CHEERS

Changes to come

I have upgraded my account and I am already mentally designing the new look for my blog. I now officially have free design reign and I will be trying some new techniques and a new layout. I am very excited about the now blank canvas. Keep your eyes peeled. New look launching soon!

CHEERS

Web design references

Good morning everyone! Happy first day of Spring! Yeah. It finally made it. Does not quite feel like it outside just yet though. Pretty chilly.

Last night I went to a web design/tutorial/networking group for both front end and back end designers. It was very informative and I wanted to share some of the sites that we quickly touched upon. It is always nice to share! Please feel free to share any of your favorites and I will post them for everyone to have access to.

• SiteGrinder - Converts Photoshop designs into CSS webpages
• FlashDen - Royalty Free Flash code 
• Lynda.com - Online tutorials 
• SlideShowPro - Royalty Free Flash code for slideshow publishing  
• SoundDogs - Royalty Free soundbites 

Just passing on what was passed on to me! Have a great weekend!

CHEERS

Quick catch up

It is Friday and the sun is shining! I did fail to mention that it is 24 degrees out right now! I wanted to go out for a run this morning, but I think that will have to wait until this afternoon when it should be a balmy 42 degrees. I think we have finally turned the spring corner though. I am in the process of planning a spring lunch with the Ladies. So excited to catch up with them!

I had a quick packaging project yesterday that turned out pretty well. It was a fun one too. One of those projects with absolutely no restrictions and you can really flex your creative muscles. I love those. I push myself pretty hard. Yesterday was one of those days that helped me remember that I really love what I do. Somedays I wish for other talents, but yesterday was a day to sit back and thank God I am a designer!

Well, I am off to cross off my personal to do list this morning. I am having my family over for dinner this evening and I have some research to do on the brother's wedding announcements we will be designing. Yeah! Lots of prep work for both! I hope everyone has a wonderful relaxing weekend!

CHEERS

Great references for freelance designers

I have been spending a lot of my time lately revising the Vale Design look, portfolio, and supporting paperwork. I have been fortunate to stumble across some great reference material for freelance graphic designers. I thought I would share some of the ones that I have found invaluable to running my business for the past three years. The links below are from author Jeff Fisher's recommendations. I would love to hear about any of your favorites as well!

• The Savy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and Tactics or a Killer Career. Author Jeff Fisher [this book has been like a mini Bible to me. Great starting points and covers all the design business basics.]
• The Business of Graphic Design. Author Ed Gold 
• The Graphic Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating & Budgeting. Author Theo Stephan Williams
• The Business Side of Creativity. Author Cameron S. Foote   

I think sometimes it is hard for a designer to switch from right brain thinking to left brain thinking. To switch from logo design to an estimate. These books can and will help you figure anything from hourly rate, annual salary, estimates, invoicing, to just reminding you to charge what you know your work is worth. For most designers, the work comes naturally. It is our passion and sometimes we forget that we are offering a service. I hope Jeff Fisher's references help you out as much as they have helped me. He is so great to share all of his secrets. As one of my mentors used to say, "you must mentor younger designers to ensure that good design continues."

CHEERS

To make a long story short...I used to be a runner.

I used to be a runner. I can say that now looking at these shoes and back at my memories. My husband and I started running as a way to have something very special in common with my father-in-law. He is very shy and we love him to pieces. Plain and simple. He is a runner. That is his thing. He is in his 70's and in all my years of running with and against him...I have never beaten him. He is a phenomenon. My husband is a twin and the youngest of five boys. They are all runners. Running is an institution in this family. I wanted to have that in common with them.

I have always been an athletic person. Soccer and swimming were my passions growing up. Back then, I looked at running as some form of punishment. I took this mentality forward when I started running in Chicago with my husband. That quickly faded. At first, we decided we would only do a 5K [3.1 miles] with his dad. That goal was met and it quickly grew from there. One goal set. Race. One goal achieved. Next. This went on for years and many races at distances I never thought I would go on just my two little legs. The largest challenge for us was a Sprint Triathlon. [loved this training and race! would do it again in a heartbeat!] It was nice to be able to mix swimming and running. To be honest, I could have done without the biking. Although some days while we were training, I would ask aloud, when I could catch my breath, "Why couldn't your dad have been a biker?!"

You either are or are not a runner. I am not sure if there is a place in between. Your life changes when you are a runner. Work stops at a certain time. Bed time is set. You eat differently to maintain your ideal running weight. You head nod at strangers on any path because you are all part of the same wonderful, friendly, sweaty, smelly group. You know what they know. The feeling of dragging yourself out of bed early when everyone else in the world is sleeping because you have an hour an a half run ahead of you. You eat peanut butter on a bagel because you know it is the best for energy. You wear your freebie t-shirt all day after a successful race as a badge to say "look what I just did!" You know what it feels like to clear out the cobwebs with one trip up a hill. Your watch is not just for telling time. It marks your life in laps and intervals.

I used to be a runner and then we moved. I started focusing on yoga. I was getting pretty good and was getting into positions that I had never been able to do. That is when I stopped being a runner. One yoga move on one side. Wow! Never did that before. Next side...and in that instant, the instant where I pinched a nerve in my back and fell to the ground crying and was unable to move or push myself even into a plank position, I stopped being a runner. I stopped everything.

The cobwebs have formed and the hamstrings get tight from sitting too long, but today, I am going to be a runner again. I need something to help quiet my mind in these crazy days. My shoes, New Balance 765s, have been staring at me for a couple of days, almost silently begging to be put back on. My sports bra seems to have mysteriously swam to the top of my drawer and my Wigwam running socks, after years of being lost, were found. I have pulled out all the training cheat sheets I have made over the years. They contain terms like cross train, strides, total uphill time, pace intervals, speed intervals, 10 min tempo repeats. They have break downs of PI [pace] and SI [speed] interval times. I am going to Runners World to do a quick memory jog about how to safely start from scratch. I am unsure if I will ever be where I once was, but the sensation, the rhythm, the alone with nature and my mind, will be a new type of running for me.

One of my favorite writers, John Bingham, better known as the Penguin for anyone who reads Runners World magazine, has a mantra that I love and will adopt once again.

The miracle isn't that I finished.

The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

CHEERS

I will try to post some PDFs soon of my training guides we have always used. They are all based off of training guides from Runners World...I just made them look snazzy. I am a designer first after all!  :)

Gettin' stuff done!

There is nothing I like more than a crossed off to-do list. The feeling of working toward something and seeing the final result is so rewarding. I have been working all day on my online portfolio, prepping files, some Photoshop work, etc. I have put a sampling of my work online HERE or you can use the link off to the right. There is still a large amount that is under confidentiality. Out of respect for my clients, that art will not be posted until the job has cleared or closed. I hope everyone has had a chance to enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather today! I am about to take the Shiba for a walk. I will leave you with some illustrations I forgot I had done. So cute!

   

 

CHEERS

Sweet Treats

This weekend I visited one of my favorite places on earth. Naper Nuts and Sweets in downtown Naperville, Illinois. This is what a candy store should be. This place is a kid's [large kids too!] dream come true. The store is super small, but always packed. If you get a chance to stop in...DO IT! I have been known to SPRINT down the street with the husband and twin after dinner to make sure we make it there before it closes. Yeah, we're in our 30's.

Why did I give up sweets for Lent again?!

CHEERS [and toothaches!]