This Spring, I was a guest on The Artish Plunge Podcast.
Find details and the link below.
Category Archives: Graphic Design
Wit, Warmth & Delight
A bit about “Wit” in design.
Wit allows you to infuse a deeper level of brand personality into your packaging, collateral, or any touchpoint. It can give your customers a subtle *pang* of delight.
Finding small surprises can make your customers chuckle. And perhaps they’ll like you a little MORE. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
For the first time in a long while, I ironed a shirt! There, underneath the neck label,
I re-discovered a little bit of wit. It delights me every time. Thanks Old Navy!
When designing the packaging system for the John & Kira’s Ladybug & Bee collection, we included trivial factoids under the chocolates of the double platform boxes. This deeper level of conversation engages the user as they eat the chocolates. It makes their experience a little bit richer, and they might learn a fun fact or two!
A good friend of mine shared her love for Honey Mama’s with our monthly Zoom call last week. She recently discovered them and professed her love for their chocolate bars, as well as the branding & packaging. The package talks to you as you unwrap it.
It’s thoughtful, it’s witty, and it made me like Honey Mama’s before I even tasted the product. (Which is very good, BTW!)
If you need help with ways to infuse wit into your branding & packaging or anything else, shoot me a note and we can set up a call/strategy session.
Home Office – The Nickel Tour
In the spirit of sharing – It’s me, on a typical day — And I’m wearing matching socks! I feel very fortunate to have this space… surrounded by inspirational art, vintage objects, and wonderful natural light.
Here’s the Nickel Tour!
A: Silkscreen print I made while taking printmaking
classes at SVA in NYC. (2007-ish)
B: My child’s (now, 12!) art.
And more creations from awesome folks I admire.
C: I ditched the inkjet for an HP home-office
laser printer a few years ago, and I love it.
D: Saguaro Forms & Cactus Flowers Puzzle.
Part of a line of products I designed for Galison and The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
E: Pantone Books on a mid-century modern serving cart
(found curbside!)
Thanks for stopping by!
Love ALL Project | Community Table
Earlier this month, the Love ALL Project hosted its first “Community Table”. The event offers attendees the chance to join a small group dinner, listen to an incredible life story, engage in conversation, and learn.
The first dinner was also co-hosted by the Triangle Community Center, and Harbor Harvest Restaurant, both in Norwalk, Connecticut. Our guest speaker was Raven Matherne, a newly elected city representative in Stamford who is transgender.
Raven is wonderful human being; her story was incredibly heartwarming and inspiring. The dinner gave me a new-found compassion and understanding for the transgender community. Harbor Harvest was a charming setting for the intimate evening, and the food was amazing.
Our evening was featured on the front page of Norwalk’s The Hour Newspaper.
I’ve been working as a creative partner to the Love ALL Project since they began in early 2017. For the Community Table event, I created a new mark that stems from the original logo. Shown below are goodie bags that we put together for the event.
The next “Community Table” is scheduled for May 17th! View event page
Hooray for the Year of the Dog!
mixed media collage by Amy Gorrek
Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Dog. I was born in the year of the dog, so this is super exciting for me!
Chinese astrologer, Laura Lau sums it up on Refinery 29:
Lau says: “The Dog does his best to protect high-integrity people and support their cause.” In other words, this year of the Dog may see people fighting for the causes they believe in. This influence could manifest itself as large-scale political movements or something as simple as local community work and small acts of kindness.
Let’s hope this year brings forth some positive change on all levels.
Do you know your lunar symbol? How does it interact with your zodiac sign?
I’m a Leo born in the Year of the Dog.. I did a quick google search and found a pretty accurate description of the Leo/Dog combination. I guess this explains why I’ve always considered myself a dog AND cat person!
The collage above was created on chipboard with mixed media paper ephemera from my treasure trove(!) and gouache paints. To see more of my collage work, check out my instagram. ♥
How Do You Plan?
Welcome January! Time to jot down those goals..
Hey, How do you plan?
For me, it’s a simple paper agenda. Something to fill with my handwritten notes/scribbles. And probably always will be!
I prefer a simple monthly grid layout so I can see the whole month at one time. It must have squares roomy enough to list multiple items. And it must have good typography/design. Nothing fancy, just simple, clean and utilitarian.
My first choice has been the Monthly Agenda from Sugar Paper that I’ve picked up in Target. It’s lightweight, well-priced (around 10 bucks!), 8.5 x 11 in size, with large squares and simple, great design. But I just can’t get my hands on the 2018 version. 🙁
As a second option, I am using the kraft undated planner from Muji. Even though it’s about half the size of Sugar Paper’s – the design is great! And at $1.50, it’s hard not to stock up on these! In fact, I had just finished filling out January in my Muji undated planner — then saw this article in today’s New York Times highlighting paper planners. And Muji was one of their picks too!
Happy Pen-to-Paper Planning ♥
Have a Wonderful Christmas!
snow forest handmade collage, 2017
Wishing you all a Wonderful Holiday Season!
Sending lots of Warmth & Love! xoxo
Notes from Design Greats
l learned of design great, Paul Rand in 1998 when I enrolled in design school at The Portfolio Center (now Miami Ad School, Atlanta). Rand died in 1996 — leaving behind a legacy of incredible projects and ideals. He is a hero in the field of graphic design, and I am a huge fan of his work. Some excerpts from Paul-Rand.com:
He (Paul) almost singlehandedly convinced business that design was an effective tool. [. . .] Anyone designing in the 1950s and 1960s owed much to Rand, who largely made it possible for us to work. He more than anyone else made the profession reputable. We went from being commercial artists to being graphic designers largely on his merits.
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If ever there was a pleased client, it was indeed Steve Jobs: just prior to Rand’s death in 1996, his former client labeled him, simply, “the greatest living graphic designer.”
– – – – – – – –
His American Broadcasting Company trademark, created in 1962, epitomizes that ideal of minimalism while proving Rand’s point that a logo “cannot survive unless it is designed with the utmost simplicity and restraint.”
With my 18 years of working experience, I have learned, and firmly believe that a strong design foundation is essential for all avenues of marketing.
Paul Rand’s statement says it all. ♥
Book talk with Ellen & Paula
I’d like to curl up and hibernate in the Strand’s Rare Book Room for a while this winter.
I visited for the first time Tuesday evening for a cozy design talk with Ellen Lupton & Paula Scher — two inpiring women in design. It was a heartwarming and intimate chat about both of their recent books, Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton, and Paula Scher: Works – Unit Editions’ new book on the designer’s phenomenal career so far.
Ellen and Paula are wonderful role models — insightful, witty, warm and ever so humble — with (what it seems like ) an ongoing desire to keep doing good work.
Viva la Graphic Design! ♥
Love ALL Project – Let Love Rule!
I joined the “Love ALL Project” in early February, when the project began.
The Love ALL Project was founded as a response to a hateful act.
From Love ALL Project founder, Sharon Baanante:
“On February 6, 2017, white supremacist fliers were circulated throughout Norwalk, CT and a few surrounding towns in Connecticut. Covered in plastic sheets and filled with small pebbles to weigh them down, these were left in driveways and mailboxes. The fliers stated ‘We must secure the existence of our race and future for white children. Make America White Again’.”
“Just two days after reading about the hate fliers, I started a community movement in Norwalk called ‘Love ALL Project.’ Love ALL Project is a non-partisan volunteer organization whose mission is to support diversity and unite our community by fostering understanding and relationships between different cultures through inspiring sustainable collaborations.”
“Love ALL Project will provide ways for our community to link arms and work together to better support and understand one another. With the right resources and support, we can spread the love by sharing our community model with other towns and cities.”
I was immediately drawn to this project, and RSVP’d for the first meeting. I had been craving the goodness of something like this. I really didn’t know what I would do, but I was super eager to help. At the first meeting, Sharon outlined the needs and goals for Love ALL Project. One of the immediate needs was… a logo(!). Well, that was something I COULD do! So I jumped right in began my design process.
Regarding the name, I thought the word “Project” was equally as important as “Love ALL”. “Project” means “Progress” — Every small action can make a difference. Through my sketching & incubating, the idea of origami came into play. With just a square piece of paper — anyone, anywhere could make a paper heart to show their support. I envisioned people of all ages, congregating around tables, making hearts in support of the movement.
The logo shape mimicks a completed orgami heart. The squared edges also give it a badge-like appearance. When the heart is used in a repeat pattern — it represents strength in numbers.
The typography is confident and clean, and works with the shape of the heart. The color palette is made up red (awareness) and warm browns/beiges which represent the beautiful skin tones that make up our community. The stripes combined with heart shape provide versatility for many brand applications.
Its been only a couple of months since the project started and the Love ALL Project is growing… Meetings have been held to brainstorm on event topics — Car magnets were produced and distributed. In April, we hosted a booth at the “Growing Unity” event in Pikney Park. Local Mosques and churches are getting involved. Money is being raised to help fund this project. We are getting ready to distribute “business kits” to local Norwalk business to help promote/support this movement. We are going to develop a program for schools. We co-hosted a family event at the Norwalk Public Library on June 20th. Progress is happening.
My best work is done for companies and causes that inspire me. Love ALL Project has inspired me from day one. It’s been fun, enlightening and I’ve made some new friends along the way.
Let love rule!
#LoveALLProject #unitedagainsthate #designforgood
Select photos courtesy of Lauren Henry Photography (Thank you!)