I *heart* poster design

{I'm finishing up some more book interior design sample shots (I realized I didn't even cover the gamut of my book interior design on my current samples shown on the site, so I'm adding more!) so I'm going to skip book interiors for the moment and move on to one of my favorite creative outlets.}

I *heart* designing posters. I've got inspiration posters hanging up around my office, almost covering one wall. (If I got my act together and actually tidied up the rest of my office I could hang some more and fill one half of the room with them.) I admit it wholeheartedly — I'm a poster junkie. I dreamily walk into Hatch Show Print in downtown Nashville and could spend hours in there perusing through their posters (much to my husband's chagrin.) I love this series of posters created at a Nashville design studio that a friend of mine worked at, and still love seeing how they are growing this line into new national prints and regionally focused new prints. I'm currently working on my own series idea celebrating the history of the schools in my own town of Lebanon, Ohio.

Most of my own poster samples you’ll see showcased in my portfolio is work that I’ve done since moving to Lebanon in 2003 for their local theatre company. You see, I was a thriving thespian in high school and immensely enjoyed the time I got to spend on stage and off (yes, stage production rocked it in high school, too!) I thought about rekindling my love of being on stage by trying out for actual acting parts when we moved back, but I am not sure I am confident enough to do that in my own appearance just yet, so what better way to be behind the scenes than to design the posters, I thought. I have gotten to design so many great posters for so many great shows. I’m celebrating my eighth year of designing posters for them, man how time flies by. You can see my favorite samples of my poster designs here. And below is the one I just finished up last week for their upcoming show, 12 Angry Jurors. Instantly a favorite among the theatre company directors and myself!

DIY Wedding Projects

One of the best parts of photographing weddings (if not for witnessing love alone) is to see how each couple chooses to decorate at their wedding. At the December wedding of Brad + Lauren, I was in love with their centerpieces on the table created by the groom’s mom, Cindy, where they utilized childhood photographs and plain white frames and bold table numbers to solidify the bolds and solids of their surroundings at the CAC Cincinnati. I am especially in love with this idea because it gives me hope that all these photos I’m taking of my own children can someday be used in a great avenue like this for their own wedding!

For other craft DIY wedding ideas check out this blog post I found today over at the Austin Wedding Blog.

Happy Love Day

A holiday that celebrates the very thing that MB a*d*p likes to capture behind a lens? Well, I’ll celebrate that! Here is a photo I took today of a very budding rose in my daughter’s room, and a little quote I found about love and art, that I loved.

Crafting for 3rd graders

I’ve known that I had to do the 3rd grade Valentine treat bags for some time now. Last week I finally got it all together and figured out with my 3rd grader (they were for her class) what we'd like to do extra special and crafty to go along with the bags. We thought about cute little stuffies (all that sewing made my fingers throb just thinking about it, because every design she picked had a lot of hand sewing, and I would have to make 25!) We thought about just quick sewn hearts (maybe next year.) But the cute craft that caught both of our eyes were these felt fortune cookies picked up via Craft Gossip via Martha Stewart. We had fun looking up (googling) the sayings, she collaborated that yes, her classmates would like them—and we set out yesterday to get all 25 completed.

Anxiously awaiting her arrival home today to see how they were received! We did five sayings five different times, all cute and relevant to 3rd graders, I think. They were: A special admirer will soon send you a wish. Love is for the lucky and the brave. Love and be lovable. The one you love is closer than you think. The time is right to make new friends.

I *heart* art direction

Along with book cover design, that I blogged about loving first and foremost, art direction is another thing that I love about what I do. Art direction and design go hand in hand, but in book design it is especially important that they hold hands all throughout the process of designing the book. For the particular books I have designed most of my career (craft how-to books,) art directing the photographs that are used in the books to showcase projects you can make, or artwork of the authors showing you their technique, is the key to making a successful book that the reader enjoys. Without excellent photographic art direction, these books just skim the surface of how-to and give the reader “some” of what they want to learn about the craft, but not all.

Of course, all design that I've done in the past involve some semblance of art direction (for instance, working with illustrators on children’s books, picking art from stock sites for covers or catalogs or brochures) but working one-on-one with a team of people that includes the designer, photographers and the stylists chosen for a book has become one of those things I am thankful for have gotten the opportunity to do, and am always excited about when I begin a new project that involves art directing the photography for a book.

I think this focus on the details aspect of design and showcasing them in an effective way is what has boosted me as a photographer as well, but more on that later when I talk about how I *heart* photography. Below are a few of my favorite photographs I've art directed from books that I've also designed, or had a part in designing. Some use props, some use models—but all came from a creative process of myself (the art director), a wardrobe stylist, makeup/hair stylist and/or set stylist, and the photographer. Some were done in-studio, some were done on location, all things the art director has to decide on that would be best for the book.

A chapter opener for Kelly Rae Robert’s book, Taking Flight:

A project shot for the book All Dolled Up, projects for girls and their 18-inch dolls (think American Girl dolls):

Cover and project shot for Fashion Geek, a book with projects that use sewing and technology hand in hand. This particular project has the connection that plugs in to your iPod and has headphones in the hat.