Wisconsin love: Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum

Modern use of old-style type: layers and playful letterforms topped with white ink (fun!)

Friends, I have been on the email list for Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum for years. Once I realized we were going to be in town seeing their museum was on my "must" list! My peoples did not agree and spent the same hours at the laundromat and the library. Hee. I was happy to go by myself anyway.

A set of woodtype

This image is GIANT! Like 4 feet tall and it was carved in one huge piece of wood.

For someone like myself with a background in graphic design, an education in typography, an interest in history, and a delight in visual inspiration this place was a playground! I was so pleased to have time to wander and study at my leisure. The only thing that would have made it better was if the timing had been right for me to take part in one of their day-long workshops. I hope to make it to one someday!

This display gives you a rough idea how printing works.
There is a plate for each individual ink color. In this case, they are carved out of wood.
Printed one at a time on top of each other results in the final image.

Not only has the museum done an amazing job of showcasing, documenting, and preserving the history of Hamilton (check out the videos on YouTube!) but they've taken steps to be quite forward thinking as well. They host workshops, they have on-site artists and interns, and they continue to expand their collection of wood type as they accept and slowly organize enormous donations of wood type from other locations (one such donation was 6 semi-truck loads full!). There is some amazing work being done by some very passionate people.

I have multiple photos of these images displaying available border designs. I am a bit obsessed.
I can't wait to sit down with my sketchbook and play with these.

First off – the giant number 5! Awesome. Second, metallic ink – ooh la la!

a logo

My dad is newly retired and a recent Grandpa visit allowed me to crank through some serious design work for my dear sister's newest venture.

The name is a tribute to one of her cats and the paw print is that of one of her dogs. I am quite pleased with my choice of typeface. Usually I trend towards the more simple, modern sans serif fonts as being friendlier and cleaner. In this case, however, I think these serifs give an appropriate air of seriousness while still being soft and approachable.

The heart shape within the paw print was there naturally, which I quite love.

A to Z at the Grand Rapids Public Library!

I recently completed a very fun project at work: a new exhibit entitled The Grand Rapids Public Library Archives A – Z.

Every once in a while I get to design an exhibit that is curated by the staff of the Grand Rapids History and Special Collections Department. The staff did a spectacular job of picking and choosing all sorts of interesting bits out of our archives, one for each letter of the alphabet. I have always wanted to do an A to Z annual report but I think this was an equally fun project to work on.

The big boards will be on display at the Main Library through the end of this year. There is also a brochure version of the exhibit which is turning out to be a darn popular print piece.

Past exhibits I had the honor of designing include this one on the history of football in Grand Rapids (which was actually very interesting and I am seriously not an athlete or a sports fan!) and another on women in Grand Rapids.

GR Reads poster process

GR Reads is "summer reading all grown up." It is a summer-long series of programming developed around 10 books chosen by the smart people working at the library. The 10 books all revolve around a common theme. This year's theme is "you are here."

My original idea for the poster was a "quilt" of symbols, one for each of the books. This is in keeping with other solid flat color designs I usually use as part of our brand.

Then I thought I should try filling in the symbols using the book cover art and that led to experimenting with a collage of images. It's a little different from what I usually do and I absolutely love it. I am very pleased with how the final poster turned out.

Bonus reader challenge: See if you can spot the differences between this one, which is the chosen idea and the top one, which is the final version with several little tweaks to improve it.

A new logo is born!

I don't often take freelance work these days because I have a hard time getting it done. But I was excited at the opportunity to help a local business I love and care about – my daughter's dance studio! The client was fabulous to work with. Not only was there no real deadline (bonus!) but she has a sharp design eye herself and offered valuable critique that brought us together to this fabulous final product.

So, presenting for the first time on this blog: Over the Top Academy of Dance's  new logo!

We just ordered business cards so I am excited to see the logo "in action" for the very first time. I absolutely can't wait for the day when it gets placed on the building! I designed a special horizontal version for this very purpose.

Fresh book bags!

The front – one big logo

The back – medium logos

The side – small logos

I've been keeping this project a secret for a long time. I designed the bags and then there was the long gap where the bags were produced and then shipped on a slow boat from China (literally!). Then there was the long gap where we were using up the old bags (lime green fabric with the blue & white version of the logo, if you were curious) before we started giving these new bags to the public.

But then the other day I spied one in use! How I love to see my design work out there in the real world! So now I am able to officially share the beautiful library bags I designed. My freshly-minted 5-year-old agreed to model for me, appropriately enough, right before a trip to the library.

I actually really love the business of the repeated logos acting as patterns. I think it is kind of funky and in-your-face. Not a traditional, boring bag for us! While the design was just a work-in-progress I actually had several co-workers express their, ah, hesitancy, about the design. We forged ahead all the same. If nothing else, it is memorable!

Amazing illustrations and a magical story…

Are you sure this is an annual report?

Cover spread from GRPL 2012 Annual Report; illustration by Kate Wheeler

The Grand Rapids Public Library's 2012 annual report is ready for online viewing.

Thanks to the amazing illustrations by Kate Wheeler of Rat Girl Studios (she also happens to be on staff at the library!), we've published an annual report that really doesn't look much like an annual report at all. And I mean that as the very highest compliment!

Taking the barest of outlines as her starting point, Kate ran with it and developed rich concepts and lovely, magical illustrations that sweep the reader right into the drama.

"Branches" illustration by Kate Wheeler

I only give myself the barest of credit for laying out the type nicely. Kudos really belong to Kate for this one!

A taste of poster design

The library's biggest event of the year is happening in just a few days! Taste of Soul Sunday celebrates African American history and culture and is wildly popular year after year.

This is the poster design we used, which is very similar to years past:

As a creative experiment, I tried refreshing the design. The "8" represents the fact that this is the eighth annual event. I used some images from past events mixed with images of this year's performers and presenters. I think it gives you a sense of the flavor of the event more quickly than the tried and true design. However, because it is not as thorough and doesn't list every single presenter, the committee decided against using it.

I suppose in a perfect world I would have had enough time to attempt a blending of the best elements from each of the two designs. Part of me thinks that probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I think the strength of the experimental poster was the fact that there was less to digest.

Sweet & simple sign

Every now and then I experience a bit of graphic design inspiration while working on my most frequent chore, signs for displays.

The very best posters communicate with a minimum of words. I think this image does most of the work here. Using my 20-month-old daughter's new favorite word: "Niiiice."

love this logo

This logo for the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition was sent to me at work for use on a many-sponsored piece. I love it. I think it is really a great design, a beautiful and simple merging of letterforms and illustration. Very well-done. If anyone happens to know who designed it, please share in the comments. I would love to give credit where it is due.

Happy sigh – good design does make me smile!

one phrase two ways

One of my tasks at the library is to fulfill sign requests. The most frequent requests are signs for book displays. Sometimes the person putting up the display will clarify what the display is about. Other times I just make my best guess.

The request for "Carve out time to read" came in October so I took this sign in two very different directions and sent both along. It reminded me fondly of my days at the Kent Career Technical Center where we would start our days by sketching logo designs for a fictional business. Often enough you could take the name of the business in more than one direction.

"X" marks the spot

Nothing is graphically stronger than two intersecting lines. I prominently featured the new logo for the teen film festival in this simple poster design. For once I feel like I was able to leave the poster design as simple as it really deserves to be.

teen film festival logo

Another fun project for me! This festival has been running for several years but this is the first year my library is joining in as a partner. The time had come for a new name and a new logo that reflected the new partnership.

The design we ended up going with was actually one of my first ideas.

Here it is in black and white:

And here it is in color:

As you can see, I based the design on a stop light. Red (stop) with the exclamation point in the little speech bubble represents having  an idea and message to share. Yellow (slow down) with the film reel symbolizes taking the time to create your film. And green (go) with the eye references the actual festival where your film will be viewed by an audience.

Write Michigan logos

I recently had the honor of developing some logo options for a short story content. Here are the three designs that were presented to the committee.

 campfire, storytelling, myths, messages, memories, words leaping off page

ripples, water, remembering, land and place as inspiration, clouds, dreams

bold type, waves and water, the printed page, books

My favorite is the middle one so I will end showing it to you in color. I developed several color versions of each of these. The committee ended up choosing the final logo out of the above three choices.

I would love to hear which one resonates with you and why. Please leave a comment!

Traverse City: super-cute SugarKissed!

Mmmm... graphic design and ice cream. What could be yummier? Enjoy a delicious peek at Traverse City's newest sweet shop: SugarKissed (cute name!).

Cute logo:

Cute entry:

Cute signs:

Cute decor:

Cute bathroom:

Cute kids (I may be biased):

summer sign design

One of the things I routinely do is design book display signs for the library. At the Main Library there are multiple displays and they rotate on a monthly basis. Due to the sheer volume of sign requests, I simply cannot spend a ton of time on them.  So if I do come up with a graphic or illustration, it is generally something I can produce quickly. Like the simple lines that made up the grass in this sign. Doesn't it just say "summer" to you?

elegant invites with lovely lace

I had the honor and pleasure of designing invitations for my sister's August wedding. Her gown is creamy lace, which inspired both the lace pattern and the paper choice.

One of my favorite things to do as a designer is come up with the art I need in a unique and interesting way. In this case, I wedged a cardboard envelope inside a shirt with lace up near the collar, mashed it down in my scanner, and then went to town in Photoshop.

I am also quite happy with the typography. I think that is one of thing that sets apart a piece done by a graphic designer – a real attention to the type. Not only the font choice, but the size hierarchy and the arrangement. I used Bodoni, a dramatic and elegant classic.

And I really liked making everything a nice, matching set! Besides the invitations and enclosures, I designed the program and created table numbers and table tents and blank advice postcards to be used at the reception.

this campaign impressed me!

I saw this drunk driving campaign on a blog I read at work and was equally impressed with it. So, I know this is not much of a post, but I am going to direct you to check it out and read all the details (including the English translation of the copy). Simple, memorable, and effective – quality graphic design for sure.

sparkly fun summer reading t-shirts

 One of the favorite part of my jobs as the graphic designer for the Grand Rapids Public Library is designing the summer reading t-shirt. I get to place an order for thousands of them (isn't that amazing?) and, as the summer plays out, I have the pleasure of spotting them on enthusiastic young readers all over my city!

This year's theme is "Dream Big" for the kids and "Own the Night" for the teens. I always try to glean something out of the provided clip art and expand on that for our summer reading logo and t-shirt design. This year we used eyes peering out of the darkness. I was thrilled to find out that using a metallic silver ink wouldn't cost any more than white. Snazzy!

A note to my dear readers: I am so sorry for my recent blog negligence! I have been snapping photos, designing things, emailing myself with post ideas – but I just haven't made it to the computer. You know how summer weekends can be, packed with all the good stuff but only pit-stopping up at home. I am anticipating some "home days" in the near future so I hope to get blogging again. Happy summer and happy crafting, gardening, creating to all of you!

best darn database brochure

I am pleased to announce that the library has won several awards for our design work again. Our work was honored with 2 best in show awards. One was for the 2011 annual report, which I loved and adored. How very pleasing to have my personal opinion of my own work confirmed by professionals!

The other was for our databases brochure. Databases are fabulous and powerful things but they are a bit difficult to make pretty in a brochure. In fact, I couldn't find any examples that I loved. In the end I used the little square from our brand font and style to represent information. The words "Research Databases" filter the haphazard bits of information into something organized and accessible. Such lovely visual symbolism!

We also earned honorable mentions for our GR Reads materials, a book list, and our poster for Day of the Dead.