All About You in 2 x 3-1/2 Inches

Business Cards So Tiny and Powerful

There are so many avenues in the field of graphic design, from brand identity, brochures and posters to motion graphics and video. The one piece of printed graphic design that has always fascinated me is, and always will, is the business card. It is your first impression, your calling card as they say. In a small, usually 2 x 3-1/2 inch space, it has to give someone all your pertinent information, but also be stunning and eye-catching in its design. 

Think about it, your name, tag line, company, phone, fax, address, website etc.; it’s a lot of information in such a small space. The design, color and logo have to be clear and clever. Back in the day, (and I’m referring to the 80’s) there was on occasion, the opportunity to use both sides and multiple colors when the budget allowed. You could even sometimes use a custom die cut shape, but more times than not, this was too expensive. Most of the time it was just one or two colors on a single side, but with some good design skills, it could be gorgeous. 

Some Favorite Horizontal Designs I Have Saved Over the Years

With today’s technology and social media, you can have a very simple card with just a website link and email. I've heard some people say they don’t even use business cards anymore. Are they a dying art form? When I started out in design there was no internet, email was just beginning and we didn’t have social media. The business card was everything.

In my early days after graduating from college, I loved designing logos and creating simple identities for clients. Usually, it consisted of just a business card, letterhead, envelope and shipping label. Today a business’s branding can range from these important basic items to huge identity programs including brochures, packaging, signage, media webites and more. Having your identity, look consistent and cohesive across all platforms, printed materials and media is what “branding” is. The fact that  graphic design has moved more into digital media and less printed material does not change the fact that whatever it is you are using for your branding identity, it has to be good basic design.

I will always love business card design. I have been collecting them wherever I go since college, whether they’re from restaurants, shops or even a doctors office. I am always amazed when I see a layout or some typography that is fresh and new. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time, sometimes you can use an existing design and add a new spin on it. It’s also easier today to print in multiple colors and use both sides at little or no extra cost these days. But you have to be careful not to over design with those options. Sometimes just a simple one sided, 2 color design is all you need.

Some Favorite Vertical Designs I Have Saved Over the Years

Good design is about taking the clients needs, being inspired by existing and vintage work as well current and popular trends, and then creating something that is unique from that. I know these days anyone can create their own business cards from templates on websites like Vistprint or Zazzle. It’s a great DIY for the average person who needs a quick calling card with little experience and a low budget. But a really good, distinctive design stands out from the rest when it is created from scratch and the designer took the time to explore and develop an identity. 

As a designer, I feel the business card is a place to showcase your skills in logo design, layout, color and typography all at the same time in the smallest of spaces. I feel if you can master that, you could design anything! Hopefully the art of beautiful business card design is not becomming extinct in the digital age.

ROYGBV and the Rainbow of Colors

Which Ones Move you?

ROYGBV, we all know it... red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Are those still the names you use today? Are you a simple color person or do you see them with a deeper expressive passion. My rainbow would be scarlet, tangerine, banana, jade, sapphire and orchid; or crimson, pumpkin, pineapple, emerald, azure and amethyst; or, well you get the point. 

People are drawn to different colors. Some see the millions of shades of a color while others just see the simple pure color. There is a whole psychology to color theory. For example, purples are associated with royalty and creativity while reds are associated with passion and romanticism. Some people love the color orange and others can’t stand it. There’s no rhyme or reason, different personalities are drawn to different shades of the rainbow. 

What are your favorite colors? What do they say about you? How do they make you feel? Mine are purple, teal and coral; but I have to say I really love the whole spectrum at different times for different purposes. You may love certain colors for your home amd others for clothes. I am personally drawn more to soft muted colors over bright and bold when it comes to decor. And, although I love when I see a bright turquoise or dark chocolate brown on someone’s wall, I don’t think I could be that striking in my own space. I’d like to think I could be that brave, but I always fall back on soft, neutral colors. They give me a sense of serenity, peacefulness and quiet that I like to live in. When it comes to fashion, I will definitely pick up a scarlet red sweater or a lime green necklace because they are fun and I don’t have to live in them everyday. 

“Color is only color when it's next to color” was another quote I learned from a teacher back in the day. A particular shade of red will look different depending on what color it is next to or surrounded by. It wil also appear differently in different light. Color changes, color is subjective, color is beautiful, color makes a statement or can evoke a feeling. Color changes with light as well. It’s not just ROYGBV, it’s millions of colors. Nutritionists say eat your colors everyday, I say live them!

Random Acts of Pattern

Kaleidomatic App

There is an app that I absolutely love called Kaleidomatic. I used to use it all the time to create patterns from my artwork. When IOS11 came out, it stopped working but I refused to delete it in hopes that the developer would update it. Finally a year later and onto IOS12, they have. I was so excited to start playing with it again. 

It allows me to choose an image from my photos and create amazing random patterns using the artwork. I purchased the "in-app" pattern and color packs to have more flexibility. The collage image above started with the flower artwork in the center of the grid. By choosing different options I was able to create the other eight patterns. By twisting two fingers on the screen, you create a moving kaleidoscope image that you can take screen snapshots at various points. The patterns are infinite. And you don't have to use artwork, you can use any photo either from your albums or taken within the app itself.

One thing I am not sure of the quality and resolution of the saved image if I was to try and use it to produce an actual product. I will have to experiment with it and see and maybe write to the developer. 

Here are a few more examples. It's amazing to see your artwork in a new way that you couldn't have imagined.

You Win Some and You Lose Some

10 Years and It's all Good...

Last month I entered a cover contest for Uppercase Magazine. It was for their 10th-anniversary issue and the theme was "the tools we use". This was the first time they had a cover contest and there were over 300 submissions. I found out yesterday that I did not win, but it's all good. I was happy just to participate and I love the piece of artwork I created because of the opportunity.

If you are a creative person and haven't heard of Uppercase, go pick yourself up a copy, you will love it, I promise. It is a wonderful inspirational quarterly designed and printed in Canada. It is, as it says on their cover, "for the creative and curious". Each quarter has a theme and is filled with artwork and stories from creatives from all over. Uppercase is also an independent magazine so there is no advertising, just lots of amazing print, craft and artwork. When the new issue arrives every three months, I can't wait to open the package. It's not just for the content, but I absolutely love the way the magazine smells. Paper and ink, print shop fresh, reminding of my graphic design days when I used to go on press runs for clients. 

Anyway, back to my submission. I wanted to show you the progression of the idea to the finished artwork. I knew immediately it would be a watercolor mandala in my doodle style. 

It started with a quick pen sketch. I then arranged "the tools I use" in a circle and created another sketch from that. Once I had a sketch I was happy with, I traced the image with an ink pen onto vellum paper and did a quick color wash. Then I did something I have never done before, instead of redrawing or tracing the image directly onto watercolor paper, I scanned the vellum into my computer and printed it out on watercolor paper made for an inkjet printer. It worked out nicely, but I think I prefer painting onto good quality watercolor paper instead of the inkjet version.

The finished piece looks like this...

And the submission I sent to them to show them how it would look on their cover looked like this...

So even though I didn't win the cover contest, I won because I really enjoyed creating this piece. And coincidentally, 2018 is actually my 10th year in business, so it's my anniversary too. I think I will frame it and hang it in my studio.

For the Love of Print

Because They Speak to Me...

Cleaning through my closet the other day, I realized I had a number of pieces of clothing that weren’t exactly my style of dress or cut of blouse, and I wondered why I bought them? Then it hit me, it was the print. I was blinded by its color and pattern. (I am a sucker for that.) Patterns literally jump out and speak to me when I am shopping. I have to be very careful as I walk into a store not to be wooed by the floral, geometric and organic images that are clearly calling my name.

And it doesn’t stop at clothes. I have notebooks, bowls, placemats and other home decor covered in beautiful textiles which are all the culprits of my weakness. (I guess I could have worse vices.) Lately I’ve been taking pictures with my iPhone for inspiration while the little voice inside me says, “You don’t need that, yes it's so pretty, walk away.” I am drawn to the intricate repeat of shapes and unusual color combinations I find. I also love how so many vintage patterns have recycled themselves into today’s fashion and decor. 

What speaks to you when you walk past it? For me it will always be pattern and I will forever be a textile junky. Over the last few years I have dappled in designing my own and have taken some amazing online classes with textile rock stars like Rachael Taylor and Jessica Swift. I’ve learned how digitize my artwork and create repeats for designing textiles. Maybe that’s a path I will explore further down the road, we will see. 

Organized Chaos, The Art of Still Life

One of the nicest things I often hear is “your house is such a home, so warm and friendly”. I truly love my house, I sit in my kitchen or living room, look around at everything I see, and it makes me happy. That’s basically my decorating philosophy, collecting objects that I fall in love with. Some people may feel it’s cluttered, but I call it “organized chaos”. Every piece I find at either a garage sale or a store, is something that speaks to me. When I come home with my little treasures I find a place for them in some existing grouping, still life or I create a new one. When I walk into someones home that is clean, crisp, and minimalistic, I really do love and appreciate it, but I couldn’t live it... I need that mixed up, boho style... I guess I would call that my brand of eclectic.

One of my mantras is a quote by Jonathon Adler, “Don’t worry about so-called rules. If you love it, it will work.” If you fall in love with an old vintage chair, a shabby chic buffet, or an ultra cool modern piece of decor, but your house isn’t really that style, you can make it work. That’s basically what eclectic is to me. Piecing together all different styles, patterns, colors and vibes. I believe if it’s something you love, it will go with all the other things you love. Simple as that!

I have mini groupings all over my house, collections of sea shells, pottery, candles, etc. I remember once, we had friends come visit who hadn’t been to our home in years. As they pulled up, they realized they didn’t remember the house number. Just as they were about to call, my friend says to her husband, “Oh that’s Ilene’s house, look in the bay window.” She knew as soon as she saw the grouping of glass sculptures that she was at the right place.

I also have had people come into my house who have been there a million times say to me, “Is that new?”. And I say no I just rearranged the furniture...AGAIN! I do it all the time. I move pieces around the house constantly. It makes my family a little crazy at times. There are days that I may bring home one small vase from a garage sale and it’s like a domino effect... I find the perfect spot, which in turn starts a redesign of some sort. 

I used the same styling philosophy when I worked on display cases for a small jewelry shop and also when setting up my booths at craft shows. No two shows were ever alike. Each show was unique and called for different types of setups, different types of “still life's”. Below is a link from my website that shows displays and booth set ups from various craft shows I have done and some shots of my studio space. 
http://ilenepricedesign.com/art-spaces.html

Decorating with color, texture and miscellaneous objects that have character, inspire me. Some people may call this clutter, but to me, it’s beautiful organized chaos, and I love it!