How I love it when my business intersects with my personal interests/life in the most natural way – like when an inquiry from Airstream Brands popped into my inbox. My parents are avid Airstreamers, and my husband and I are hot on the trail of our first one (once we get the backyard to park it in), so it was a natural fit. The Airstream brand has a wonderfully rich American heritage and beautiful design is baked into everything they do – I've long admired their elegant logo, not to mention, you know, the trailers. I also got the pleasure of sifting through their library of jaw-droppingly gorgeous photos. I don't mean to say that these site banners and hangtags designed themselves, but...
A HOPPY LITTLE LOGO
I got a fun request from a long-standing client this holiday season – design a beer logo that was a play on words of one of the companies in their portfolio. And thus, Utility API became... Utility IPA! Rick planned on creating beer labels and surprising his co-founder and business parter for the holiday. Good man to be in business with, I say.
I do love it when my job involves researching what hops look like (answer: like a little green artichoke) and warming up long-dormant Illustrator skills (and learning some new tricks). I got bonus points for hiding the Better Ventures logo in there, Where's Waldo-style... can you find it?
I look forward to raising a glass of Utility IPA (samples, for my portfolio, of course) to Rick and Wes and the great work they do at Better Ventures. Cheers!
NEW DIGS, FRESH OUTLOOK
While I love running my own business, and don't miss my former corporate job for much, I really do miss the people. A team. The hum of creativity going on around me – sometimes it directly inspires, and sometimes it just makes me feel good. Which also inspires, no? With that in mind, I was more than a little interested when I heard that Alison of Alison Event Planning & Design had a part-time desk opening up in her Potrero studio.
The space is lovely – check out this article for more beautiful photos – sunny and filled with eclectic artifacts that make it feel lived-in, yet also inspirational to a potential client (I mean, I'd hire her to do my wedding after seeing this space alone). The spice mixing company downstairs makes it smell like heaven, to boot!
I'm loving it – the change has rearranged my days and how work fits into them in such a wonderful, creativity-juicing way. No more sitting alone in my front room listening to jackhammers and the dog barking at the mailman while I think about how the dishwasher needs to be emptied. From my morning walk for coffee, to the office chatter about chair rentals, floral chandeliers, and strollers (Alison is a new mama), I'm pretty sure I'm right where I belong.
Needless to say, I'm recharged and ready for amazing new projects... so send them my way!
