It’s back! The second installment of Iterative Inspiration: a collaboration between myself and Rashi of Bucket of Squash. This week we chose this photo of a deconstructed salad to inspire our outcome, found via Oh Joy!, in this issue of Sweet Paul.

What struck me first about this photo was both the transparency of the items in the photo as well as the spectacular light. I knew that I wanted to experiment with these two aspects for this project. Instead of working through with a mind map this time around, I did the first thing that came to my mind. I grabbed all the transparent items I could find around my apartment, held them up to a lit window and started snapping away in hopes of something striking. Annnnd, that totally happened.

At first I thought I was going to grab sections from the different colored transparent areas and make some kind of abstract collage. As I got to my sixth or so item, something pretty neat happened. In the hand-soap bottle I was photographing, suddenly there was the view from my window, abstracted and colorful and turned upside down. I know we’ve all done this with our spoons, but it was really neat to see this new view from my apartment window.

I started to look at what else I could photograph through this soap bottle. After a few rounds,  nothing seemed to match the quality of the photograph from out of my window. I realized that having the light from the window was necessary to get that crisp and beautiful upside-down reflection. So I went to the different doors and windows in my apartment and started to capture those different views. I ended up with three photographs that I thought captured the bright and beautiful essence of that first shot.

A couple of months ago I won this giveaway on Design Improvised, and I still had a couple frames left over that I was waiting to fill. This project was the perfect chance for me to use the frames—and if I got bored of them, I could simply change out the photos with new ones easily due to the awesome design of these frames. I’m pretty obsessed with how I’ve been able to use these all over my apartment and not have that fear that I’m permanently committing to something I might not like on my walls in a couple weeks. So, I went ahead and cropped the photos to a composition I was happy with, printed them, cut them out, and filled the frames. Easy peasy.

With crazy high ceilings here, I’ve been so weird with how to decorate. Now that I’m graduating in less than a month it’s a little too late to really figure out what to do about this, but it hasn’t stopped me from hanging art and trying to make it as cozy as possible for the rest of my time here. These photos made the perfect addition to the space above my desk. Best of all, wherever I’m off to next, I’ll be able to take little pieces of my experience here with me. I’m not the most sentimental person, but when I do take the time to make note of particular experiences, I’m always glad I did. I love that these bring in some bright color to my space, and will remind me to keep thinking and experimenting in different ways to keep those creative juices flowing.

Head on over to Bucket of Squash to see how Rashi was inspired and to see her project.

So I’m a little obsessed with this feature today—Pinegate Road has it’s first fashion designer feature! I’d like to welcome Liz Riden, fashion designer, blogger, and fellow Savannian. Liz and I first became acquainted when we were working for ban.do as a couple of their brand ambassadors this past fall. While we have yet to catch up in real life—weird—I love following her via instagram to take peeks into her fashion lifestyle and day-to-day inspirations. I feel like fashion is one of those things I like to dabble in, but Liz lives and breathes this stuff. It’s pretty inspiring! I hope you enjoy taking a look behind the scenes of fashion designer Liz Riden.

LIZ: I’m currently a junior fashion design major at SCAD, and working on developing my first full collection. I’m keeping myself busy with my job at the school’s art museum, planning my wedding, and illustrating on the side! I blog about fashion and art on The Modern Mademoiselle, and work as a Fashion Associate for Re: Magazine.

What gets you jazzed?

I really thrive when I’m around other creative people! There is something so inspiring and refreshing about being able to have a dialogue about art and design, and then infusing that into my own work.

Where do you go to find inspiration, and what are you inspired by?

When I’m truly stuck and can’t seem to get inspired, the first thing I do is turn off my computer and get out and do something. I find myself getting stuck in the rut of only getting inspiration online, and that isn’t always good. I love vintage hunting to look at design details and textiles, a good iced Americano, and digging through art and photography books.

When it comes to fashion, I’m always inspired by the 1950’s and very feminine styles. Right now, I can’t get enough of florals, both in my apartment and in prints.

Tell me a little about this project and how it was inspired:

I’m currently working on two different projects (three if you count planning a wedding…which I certainly do!). The first project is my new illustration Instagram, liz draws. My fiancé was the creative mastermind behind this idea, encouraging me to do sketches on my ipad that I could quickly share. As I’ve been sketching on my ipad, I’ve really been inspired by Irving Penn’s flower still life photography, and hope to develop my sketches into prints and notecards soon!

My second project is the beginning stages of developing my own apparel line! For my first collection, I really want to focus on color and texture and make each piece a statement of it’s own. For this, I drew a heavy amount of inspiration from Frida Kahlo and her work, especially focusing on bold color and floral details.

How has blogging effected your creative life, and vice versa?

I have found that it’s such a great outlet for me to share inspiration, thoughts on fashion/design, and have a voice. The best thing about blogging is that it’s like a creative journal for me to go back and see what I did, what inspired me, or how much I have grown since then. It also has been so essential and beneficial for networking within the fashion industry.

If you could give one tip to the rest of us, what would that be?

As a kid, my parents always told me “don’t be afraid of being awesome”, and that is something that has always stuck with me. No matter what field of study or career, it is so easy to get discouraged by what people may think, or what people are already successfully doing before you. This simple reminder has kept me motivated to make my own mark in the fashion industry, and keep striving to be my personal best.

Big thanks to Liz Riden for sharing a look into her creative life today! Check out more on Liz at The Modern Mademoiselle.

Happy Monday everyone. 

I guess it’s just launch season! Introducing the new blog design and logo for finance blog, Money Matters. Blogger Emily contacted me a while back to give a fresh new look to this finance blog run through Mid American Credit Union. They have Emily writing about her life as a recent graduate and twenty-something navigating the new waters of personal finance. With a fun and modern vibe, and a little vintage aesthetic thrown in there with the color palette, we created a design scheme that nods towards the physical elements you might use to manage your own personal finances. The logo actually draws elements from the dollar bill with the decorated border—this is why I love design research!

I hope you can head over to Money Matters, take a look, and leave Emily some love! She is a terrific girl, and she brings a really great light to this sector of our lives that many of us could probably use a bit of a freshening up with.

On a side note, I am taking on new clients starting around June for blog designs, logo designs, look books, whatever! If you have a fun new design project and you think we might be a match, contact me and we can work together now to hit the ground running come June.

Have an excellent Thursday everyone!

So where did this week go, huh? I’ve spent almost every day this week working deeper and deeper into my visual thesis, and reading a ton on interactive design, our brains (yeah!), and even some on creative processes. The written part is all figured out as to structure and topics and found quotes, but a couple pages still need to be written. I can’t believe how I went from a panic a couple weeks ago, to kind of smooth sailing. There will be some road bumps ahead, I’m sure, but for now it’s more about being able to truck along than anything. It’s always nice when you find those last couple things that seem to tie up all those loose ends. If you’re in to reading what I’m reading, check it out:

Learning to See—A great post on how we learn as graphic designers.  There was a great part in this post about the difference between knowing typography and being an expert in typography that had me all ‘yes yes yes!’—then more of those moments happened. Just read it.

Designing with the Mind in Mind—I’m only a bit through this one, but if you’re into web design or UX design, this is a great one. It shows you how our brain works, and how to design interactive elements based on how we think as humans. I’m way into it. Hah.

How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer—A look into famous graphic designers and their creative processes. Two words: Stephan. Sagmeister.

Other than thesis, I’ve spent a lot of time blowing my nose and sneezing and taking allergy medicine. I think half of my week is spent trying to figure out how to act like a normal human that isn’t terribly allergic to the outside right now. I really need to get my hands on some local honey, stat.

I hope you have a lovely weekend everyone. I’m off to craft and read and to generally fill my brain with knowledge. Oh, and these happened again. Snacks galore.

Background by Pheobe Wahl // Foreground by Megan Cignoli

After my last giveaway for the Lentement Project, I had the wonderful opportunity to hand-deliver a shadowbox to one of the winners—she happened to be living just down the street from me! After that weird coincidence, I headed over to meet up with EMK over at Rethink Design Studio to get a look at the place and deliver the prize. What I loved about this experience—beyond getting to know a new local friend here—was how versatile this local design studio really is. They focus mainly on interior design, but they go way beyond that. Recently, they have launched a line of powder-coated kitchen utensils in their shop that have my kitchen yearning for some color! Luck for you, they’re giving away this gorgeous pink whisk to one lucky reader.

There are five opportunities to win! Just click through below to follow Rethink Design Studio and Pinegate Road on twitter and Facebook, and leave a comment below letting us know what holiday treats you’re hoping to whip up with this season. Remember to comment separately for each entry—the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will be open until Wednesday, December 5th at Midnight.

Best of luck, and remember to check out Rethink Design Studio, their blog, and their shop!

So did I ever tell you the story about the time I started drawing a fake tattoo on a friend’s arm and she went home, her aunt saw it, and I then had a new client? Well, that happened, and it just goes to show you that when you love what you do, and you do it often, it really does pay off! Here is some of the branding work that I’ve created for an up-and-coming interior design resource company, Arbor House Designs. The ladies that I worked with were too fun, and I was so excited to give them exactly what they were looking for — a hand-drawn, classic, and eclectic identity.

Not only are these just darling inspiration from my favorite era, they also are reminding me deeply of my time living in the land of Italia. It seems like that was just yesterday, but I’ve lived about eight different places since then, so it obviously was not.

All of the advertisements are done by Giovanni Pintori for Olivetti. I love how when looking at these you can get a serious sense of movement in the graphics. Such eye candy, Giovanni!

SOURCE

A little look into the new re-brand for the blog. Things have been changing a lot lately, both here and in my personal life. I don’t really know if I’m ready. With this quarter ahead, I guess all I can do is hold on tight and hope for the best.

*sigh*

I’m in lust with this identity created for Centraal Museum in Utrecht. The colors and the application make something so incredibly simple stand out as something spectacular. Let’s all take a field trip, shall we?

(found via Brand New)

This is some of the best tea packaging I have seen in quite some time. Lovely colors, shapes, and designs. Makes me want to make a cup right now and energize my day. Created by Proud Design in the Netherlands. The photo styling is so spot on too, love the juxtaposition of the cups and the product.

(via Lovely Package)