Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

If you’re a creative professional and haven’t created your Behance profile, what are you waiting for?  (Ok, I shouldn’t be too bossy, I did just create mine last week.)  For those of you who haven’t heard of Behance before, Behance is an online network where creatives can post their resume, portfolio, and search job listings.  It connects with Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In as well.  There’s even a special widget that allows people to view your portfolio images on Linked In.  No longer do you need to anxiously hope that people will think that you are interesting enough to click through to your website.  Your talent is showcased right on your profile.

Below is a screenshot of my personal Behance profile.  Once you join, follow me!  I promise to follow you back.  I like new friends.

After you create your Behance profile on Behance.net, hop on over to Behance.com to find helpful articles and organization tools.

Tags: Tags: Behance, Business, graphic design, jobs, organization, portfolio, profile, resume,

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

It’s always exciting and affirming to hear words of praise from my clients.  This is what two of my recent clients had to say about their experience with me.  Thank you to both of you.  You are wonderful clients and I really enjoyed working with you.

“Allison created a logo for me, designed my business cards and designed and created my brochures for my new business. She did an amazing job. She is so creative and intuitive.  My logo is perfect. She took the time to research a color that represented my specialty area of dementia. She has been very professional and  timely. I am just so pleased and have had many compliments. Thanks Allison for a job well done.”

-Donna Dorans, Positive Dementia Care Services

“You only get one chance to make a first impression, and today that first impression is frequently a website , business card or brochure.  Allison’s creativity, passion for design and customer focus make her the ideal resource for all your marketing materials.  Allison takes the time to really get to know a client.  Where some web designers have a cookie-cutter,  “plug and play” approach,  Allison reflects a client’s individuality through true custom design.   I have had many compliments on the website Allison did for me and would highly recommend her!”

-Susan Kelley, MBA, EA

Tags: Tags: branding, graphic design, identity, logo, testemonials, website, western MA,

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Last year, around this time, I participated in my first American Cancer Society Relay for Life.  Cancer has touched practically every corner of my family, so this is a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart.  I hope to not only see a cure, but also more education on cancer prevention.

In 2010, our team was Lulu’s Pie Diner (a play on the movie Waitress, if you haven’t seen it).  We did a bake sale fundraiser, and with all of our efforts raised over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society.  For the upcoming event, we decided to change our team name to something that would have staying power, and wouldn’t be so dependent on a theme.  There were many painful hours of brainstorming, and some hilarious suggestions (Broccoli Walklie, anyone?). The final decision?  Drumroll please…

Creative Allies.

The name has dual meanings (we are no way excluding people who don’t think of themselves as creative!). So first the obvious; many of the people who are participating in our team are creative professionals and artists.  Beyond that- cancer is a destructive disease.  It breaks people down physically and emotionally.  Creation is the opposite of destruction.  We are walking to build people up.  On site we will have creation stations- with activities such as origami and drawing.

I created a logo for the team (you weren’t surprised, were you?)  The new logo will be featured on a vinyl banner and tshirts.  Keeping my fingers crossed, I want to win the tshirt contest this year!  (Last year my tshirt design was disqualified because it was so professional they thought it was a corporate sponsored team.  I don’t know whether to be upset or flettered.)

T shirts are available for $15 plus shipping, with a portion of the proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society.  If you’d like to order a Creative Allies T shirt, please contact me with your name, size, and mailing address.

If you’d like to donate directly to the American Cancer Society, click here to be brought to the Creative Allies team page.

Tags: Tags: American Cancer Society, branding, charity, fundraiser, graphic design, identity, logo, tshirt, western MA,

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

A short time ago, I finished up a project with Donna Dorans, the owner of Positive Dementia Care Services.  She very recently started this business, and hopes to help families dealing with a loved one that suffers from dementia.  Donna was a joy to work with, and I know that she will be able to help many people with her unique skills.

Because Donna was just starting out, we decided to begin at the beginning and develop a logo.  The word positive gave me many wonderful ideas.  Here’s a look at some of my original mock ups.

As you can see, at the very beginning I was all about the mathematical and scientific definitions of the word positive.  I liked the way that these looked, but felt like I wasn’t quite there yet.  Donna was looking for a look that was welcoming and comforting, and these concepts were a little too stark.  Back to the drawing board.  This is the result.

At the last second, I had divine inspiration.  I was glancing at the vision board I had created earlier this year, and in big print it says “Sunshine State of Mind”.  What a wonderful visual for positivity- sunshine!  Purple seemed to be the natural choice, as it is the ribbon color for Alzheimer’s awareness.

After the logo was created, we went on to create other brand materials, like this trifold brochure.  The inside features a photograph of Donna and her grandmother, taken by the fabulous Suzanne Larocque of Sleaque Images Photography.

Are you building a new business?  I love working with start ups.  Send me an email, and we’ll get this party started.

Tags: Tags: branding, brochure, graphic design, identity, logo, print, small business, trifold, western MA,

Friday, April 15th, 2011

On a roll with the graphic design humor.  This here is an example of what happens when a group of graphic designers have too much time on their hands.  Side note, I want to be their friends.

Tags: Tags: font, graphic design, humor, lady gaga, neutra face, video,

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

From TED.com:
Using animation, projections and her own moving shadow, Miwa Matreyek performs a gorgeous, meditative piece about inner and outer discovery. Take a quiet 10 minutes and dive in. With music from Anna Oxygen, Mirah, Caroline Lufkin and Mileece.

Tags: Tags: illustration, interactive, movement, multi media, Music, TED, video,

Monday, April 11th, 2011

I recently celebrated my 30th birthday with a Nerdy Thirty party (inspired by this book.)  We all rocked out our high waters and black glasses, while chowing down on Nerds (the famous Wonka candy!).  Being an obsessed graphic designer, I began a project for this party that I never finished, but I enjoyed too much to hide it.  I started creating nerdy stickers.  I am sharing them here.  Feel free to take them and use them at will.  They need a good home.

Tags: Tags: birthday, Design, humor, nerd, party, stickers,

Friday, April 8th, 2011

College Humor does it again.  If you liked Font Conference, you’ll like this one as well.

Tags: Tags: college humor, comic sans, font, funny, graphic design, video, wing dings,

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

After Google’s little Helvetica/Comic Sans April Fools stunt, I was reminded of how fun font humor could be.  This video and it’s sequel are brilliant.  I always knew fonts had their own personality, and now it has been proved.

Tags: Tags: college humor, comic sans, Design, font, funny,

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

Time flies.  My show (s), Inward and Upward, came and went, and you heard nothing.  Now that April is here, it’s time to change that.  Yes, the last show ended in February, so?  (shhh.)

Below are pictures from the shows I participated in this past December and January.  A few photos are courtesy of my dear friend, Sarah Mohajery.  The others were taken with my Iphone.

Our guests shared their personal memories with us.

Preserves. Construction paper hearts, photographs, and canning jars.
We can always hold a special place in our hearts for the people and things of our past, even if they aren’t in our present.

Unravelling. Many, many, many yards of yarn.
The harder you try to hold onto things, the faster they slip away.

Miniature Memories.  Tilt shifted photographs, music box mechanism (plays Raindrops Keep Falling).
In your head, events of the past seem so vivid, and tiny.

Intertwined. Maple tree, ribbon, string.
It seems like everything is connected, and often we cannot experience the good without the bad.

Tags: Tags: Art, Eastworks, gallery, growth, memory, opening, ribbon, trees, yarn,