Back into my Illustration Groove

Good morning!

It's a short and tiny tree but it will do for our first married Christmas 

We most definitely put up our Christmas tree last night! We decided to just put the lights on it because we might be moving it to the top of our staircase since Andy has a tree that we still need to pick up from his parents house. Nevertheless, it was still super exciting to see the tree all lit up in our living room! I'll share another picture when we get the ornaments up!

The red cups are back!

Let's back up a little now. Yesterday afternoon was spent sipping coffee at Starbucks with Krystine while working on a project for work. We just learned earlier this week that we will be doing a collaboration design for our annual holiday gift for our clients. Each of the designers chose a month on Friday and then will design a calendar header for that particular month.

The end result will look something like this:

(source)

She chose October, while I went with the month of September, since it's my favorite month of them all. After chatting away while designing from opposite ends of the table, I came up with this. I'm still working on refining my tree and will add more leaves and branches, but this is the just of it! 

The apples/leaves signify Fall, while the cut-out letters reference the whole "back to school" craze that ensues the month of September. Do you think the picnic table needs something on top of it? Krystine and I were stumped by this and couldn't come up with a logical object to place on top. It's too early for pumpkins, and if I put a picnic basket, then I would need to add people to the scene.

Thoughts/suggestions are welcome!

While we were plugging away on our MacBooks, I mentioned to Krystine that sometimes I forget that I really enjoy design. I sit at my computer 40 hours a week designing all sorts of things but it is easy to forget what made you love it in the first place. For me, illustration is what gets me excited, inspired, and motivated and getting back into the groove of it all was a great reminder of this!

Alright, I'm off to wrap up some loose ends before hopefully heading over to the gym before 10am! Here's to being productive!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Do you get excited for the red holiday cups at Starbucks? 
Is your Christmas tree usually real or artificial? 
Favorite holiday drink at Starbucks? I love the gingerbread one, only coming in second to the Pumpkin Spice latte!

Reader Request: The Facts of Freelance

Recently I received an email containing questions relating to freelance design. After reading through the message, I realized that others might have similar questions, so I thought I'd put together a blog post about it to cover the basics.

Without further ado, here we go!

First and foremost, identity design is not something that I specialize in. Sure, I'll do it, but it is not my favorite thing in the world. These are some old logos that I've designed and haven't done any recently. Once in awhile I'll design one for a client at work, but other than that, I do more with illustration, photography, image editing, layout, advertising / marketing materials, etc.

However, identity is something I'd like to add to my portfolio, so if you are in need of a logo, please don't hesitate to contact me: lauralikesdesign@gmail.com.

How can I gain more experience with identity design? 
Practice, practice, practice! Research branding and corporate identity. Read about what makes or breaks a brand's image and then try it out for yourself. Don't have freelance clients yet? Make them up.

Create a "company" and then create a logo and other complimentary pieces to go with it. A website mockup, brochures, business cards, signage, etc. Also, if you do something like this and bring it to an interview, you'll score major props for being a self-motivater.

Another word of advice is to rebrand an existing company or product. Once in awhile when I'm bored, I'll dig through my pantry or closet and find something that has greater potential than what is being portrayed and I'll rebrand it with a fresh, new look. You aren't making money, but you are getting an experience paycheck.

I'm lost when it comes to pricing--how do you decide what is an average / fair price for your work?


Research is key. Some of the factors to consider are:

• Your location
• Your demand (are you super busy or are you desperate for experience at the moment?)
• AIGA's designer's salary report
• Type of project
• Your experience level

Anything web-related, I instantly jack up my prices because I know things always take longer with web. Print materials can be whipped out in no time, but web requires browser checks, extra formatting, and coding.

If a client is looking for a lot of things, such as a complete identity package, I'll do a project rate. However, if you have an on-going item you'd like designed (i.e. editing photos on a regular basis, website updates, etc.), I'll charge an hourly rate. If you are in need of the initial site and then updates, I'll charge a flat rate for the site creation, and then an hourly rate for the updates. I keep things personalized and tailored for different projects and clients, yet my prices are pretty static.

Once in awhile, if I've done a ton of work for a client i.e. complete identity package plus a large brochure, sometimes I'll throw in a complimentary service such as an envelope design or a banner as a perk.

Keeping your clients happy is key! If you don't satisfy their needs, they will go somewhere else and find it!

I like to use the flat fee whenever possible because it encourages me to work as fast as possible while keeping my prices down which results in keeping my clients up.

What are your top 5 questions to ask a client when designing a logo for them?


1. What defines your brand / what is the image of your brand that you would like to portray? (Words, colors, emotions, etc.) 

Some examples could be:

• Strong
• Confident
• Modern
• Fresh
• Simple
• Whimsical
• Flashy
• Corporate
• Playful
• Reliable

2. What are some of the goals that you have in mind for your logo? Or, what do you want your logo to do for you? 

(Increase sales? Develop your brand? Introduce a new tier of your company?) You really can't design a logo without a goal in mind. You might craft up the best logo design ever, but if it does not meet the needs of your company, what good is it? Kind of like an amazing book cover with boring content--as soon as a client gets past the first look and dives deeper, they will be disappointed.

3. Can you share with me some things that you like in terms of design? 

(Organic shapes? Rigid and structured? A formal / corporate feel or more of a causal, laid back look? etc.) Ask them to show you examples because I have found that working with clients that are not familiar with the aspects of design have a hard time putting things into words. Also, examples work well because what means "original and funky" to you, might mean something completely different to them.

4. What is your tentative timeline for this project? Also, could you provide me with a ballpark budget?

Allow for enough time to brainstorm, sketch, create concepts, and go through rounds of revisions for the ultimate quality. Also, regular check-ins with your client keep you both on the same page--resulting in a happy client! On this same note, stay within their budget and if something comes up where you might be going over--be sure to check in them before you do it. No one likes a surprise invoice.

An easy way to say this is to put it back on them. Something along the lines of, "If you decide you want to take this another direction, we'll head back to the drawing board together and rework this until you love it. However, if you're really set on that particular typeface, the price is going to increase. I can proceed with that or I can offer you a selection of comparable fonts if you're set on staying on track with your budget." Focus on the positive and provide options -- customer service is key!

5. What types of media do you foresee your logo being a part of? 

Brochures, web, huge signs, small business cards, etc. By knowing the big picture in the beginning, this will allow you to be aware of all the different ways it will be used. This is key while you're designing it because you don't want to have to go back and say "well, since this is going to be shrunk down really small on your business cards, we're going to have to rework your design that you already love..." You don't want to take things away from an already happy client.


Possible Interest:

• One of my favorite articles about branding is Blood Sweat and Tiers over on AIGA.org. Head on over for a great read on developing brands and sub brands.
• AIGA.org is your best friend. Their website offers so many great resources for aspiring designers of all types!
• FreelanceFolder.com

There you be! Hopefully that answered your questions and cleared things up. Let me know if you have any other questions--I'd be happy to help!

What are some brands that you love?
What inspires you?
Do you have any questions about design that I can answer?
Any stories about a surprise invoice, bill, or fee?

Please Oh Please, R.S.V.P.

Good morning!

Yesterday I prefaced the fact that we would be printing our wedding invitations, and I am happy to report that we successfully accomplished that task. We headed over to my in-law's for the day to set up shop and print over 150 double-sided invitations and R.S.V.P. cards to send out to our guests.

We made a great team with Andy as print coordinator, my father-in-law as the trimmer, and myself rounding the corners of each invitation.

Andy picked up a great tool for rounding the corners--a little paper punch that makes all of the corners rounded in a uniform manner.

After awhile, I noticed that the punch looked like it had a little face when flipped upside down. See the ears and mouth? It just needs a little nose and some eyes! Or maybe the ink fumes were starting to get to my head at this point...?

The only downside was that the paper puncher left these little clippings all over the place. With all that clipping, they reminded me of "invitation toenails..."

A sign that you're a picky eater: you bring your own lunch with you when you go to someone's house for a lunch date. I also snacked on some of those delicious Apple Straws while en route to Andy's parent's house.

Our invitation process took most of the day, and while Andy was configuring printer settings, I camped out on the couch--eating ten thousand grapes and looking through his baby books for slideshow pictures. I've looked through these albums before, but it is always so fun going back in time to see your fiance as a kid. So cute!

We finally closed up shop around 11pm and arrived back at my place by midnight. It was a long day but we were so happy with how much we accomplished! We're one step closer to getting married!

Other wedding to-dos:

• Bridesmaid shoes
• My wedding shoes
• Find a place to live
• Ceremony schedule
• Put wedding website online
• Reception slideshow
• Table decorations

Upcoming events

I'm headed down to my parent's next weekend for a family party at my Aunt's house and plan on spending the weekend in that area to accomplish more wedding tasks with my mom, sister, cousins, and aunt! Stay tuned for another wedding recap next weekend. 

Don't worry, I'll have regular posting this week as well. I'm so excited for tomorrow--my friend Krystine has an interview at the design company that I work for! She is applying for a production artist / copywriter position and I really hope she gets the job--we'd be coworkers! 

Happy Birthday, Allie! 

I can't close this post without a shout out to one of my best friends, Allie! It is her birthday today and even though we are miles apart, I want to wish her the best birthday ever!

Allie and I have been friends for over 9 years and I can honestly say that she is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She has been such a great friend to me and is such an inspirational, passionate, and hilarious person and I'm so glad she's a part of my life.

Ever since I met her back in 8th grade, she has always been talking about becoming a dolphin trainer. Right now she is stationed in Florida--chasing after her dream as she works with dolphins on a regular basis. It is so inspiring to see her reaching her dream! I can't wait to see her in October when she flies back to be a bridesmaid in my wedding!

Our first half marathon together

It is also my friend, Bre's birthday! And Dana's birthday! Go wish her a happy day! Apparently July 24th is a popular day to be born!

Alright, on that note, I'm signing off... heading to the kitchen to make some rush iced coffee using Courtney's method, and then hitting up the gym for a sweat session before some friends come over tonight for a little deck party get-together.

How did you meet your best friend? 
Who is the biggest inspiration in your life? 
What do you like in your iced coffee? For me, just strong black coffee, ice, and a splash of 1/2 + 1/2

Catching Up on Life Lately

Hello all!

Breakfast on the go

Things have been crazy lately! All of the sudden, I've been slammed with a bunch of deadlines for work and have been pulling a few really long days in order to get things done. Hopefully those days will be over soon as things go off to print!

Designing @ Starbucks for a change of pace

However, one of the perks of busy days is that my boss has agreed to let me work from home when things get crazy. It's so nice to switch things up with a different environment and be able to listen to music while I work. (Our office doesn't allow headphones...)

In case you've been crazy busy as well and missed my guest post, you may check out my crafty little tutorial over on Laura's blog.

Tuesday night, after another of our pre-marital counseling sessions with our awesome pastor, Andy introduced me to a new restaurant called Tavern on France. He had been there a few weeks ago with some friends and knew I would love it too! 

They had a bunch of notepads on each table that allowed you to "check off" and build your own meal. Build your own salad?! Sign me up. Andy went with the build your own pizza route and I may or may not have snuck of a few squares of it. So delicious! We will definitely be going back there in the future.

Also, this past weekend my sister came up for the day and we went shopping for bridesmaid dresses. She only had to try on 3 dresses before we found the perfect one. It's a simple, classy tea-length black dress with straps. We decided to go the tea-length route rather than knee length since the majority of my bridesmaids are quite tall!

Other than that, I've just been trying to stay cool in the middle of this heat wave! Hope you guys are, too! 

What have you been up to lately? I'm behind in the blog world! 

Top 3 favorite salad toppings?

Do you eat in your car? If so, what are you common meals on the go?

Lazy Day at the Lake

Good morning!

I'm popping in to finish up my cabin weekend recap for you!

A PERFECT day!

Picking up from where I left off yesterday...I ended up sleeping in much later than I usually do and was surprised to see 8:20am on the clock next to me. Normally I'm up in the wee hours of the morning so it felt good to get some much needed sleep.

I ate breakfast out on the deck with Kaaren as we hoped to see some more deer. However, we had no such luck that morning. After awhile, I declared I was going to head out for a run before the gray skies filled with rain. After lacing up my shoes and downing a few sips of gatorade, I was off.

My run started out smooth and slow--gradually building up to a quicker pace as covered more ground. The scenery around me was beautiful and all of the roads were surrounded by trees and cabins. Not many people were out and about since the skies were looking dark and it was still quite early in the morning.

However, the further I ran, the darker it got and I ended up turning around much sooner than I had anticipated. A few sprinkles started to hit my legs as I ran and it actually felt good despite the muggy summer air. Eventually those sprinkles turned into a steady rain and then a downpour. Lighting flashed and the thunder was cracking in the sky! I immediately tossed my iPod into my running backpack and started an even sprint for the remainder of the journey back.

At this point the water was collecting on the roads and I was drenched so much that when my foot hit the pavement, water sloshed out of my shoes. I would have called Kaaren to come and pick me up but I was afraid to use my phone in fear that the rain would ruin it. I had that happen to a previous phone of mine, but I'll save that story for another day...

Looking glamourous for my run

I kept running as hard as I could--dodging puddles and trying to see out of raindrop-filled glasses. After awhile, I saw the headlights of a familiar car: Kaaren had saved the day by heading out in the storm to rescue me! I immediately started laughing as I got into her car and she handed me a towel. We rushed back to the cabin where I took a nice long shower and got dried off! I just don't seem to have the best of luck with running...

After changing into some warm, dry clothes, I laid down and refueled with an apple while reading more of my book. I read 1.5 books this weekend and it felt great to get some reading in since I've been neglecting that hobby of mine for awhile.

As soon as the storm passed through, the skies opened up and the sun came out--revealing a perfect day. Rather than waste time inside, we rushed out to the lake to take the paddle boat out for a spin! We had to kill about 8 spiders in the boat before we could head out--and you all know how much I love those little arachnids...

Towards the shore, there were lily pads everywhere!

We paddled around the lake--soaking up the sun on our last day at the cabin. It was great to kick back and relax right in the middle of the lake without anyone else around.

When the sun got too hot, we headed inside to start cleaning and packing up before heading home. We wanted to get on the road by 4 in attempt to make it back in time to unpack and get ready for the upcoming work week. We ended up meeting our goal as we made it out the door promptly at 3:50pm!

Our favorite snack of the weekend were all-natural Apple Straws! Seriously--best things ever!

We hit the road in pursuit of her parent's house to pick up her little dog, Wally. Along the way, I was amused with the strange-looking traffic lights that they had in Wisconsin. In Minnesota, our traffic lights run vertically rather than horizontally. 

Represent!

Kaaren promised me that we could stop at a Cenex gas station on the way home and I had been looking forward to it all weekend! This may seem like a petty thing, but it was a huge deal for me since I design a lot of the corporate and advertising materials for the Cenex and Cabela's brands!

One of my big projects for the month of April at work

Naturally, I grabbed one of each of the brochures on the counter! My gift card holder was also on display, but the cashier already thought I was nuts for being so excited over credit card application brochures, so I refrained from taking a picture of it in the store. Here's a sample of what it looks like before it goes in the gift card display holder:

(source)

After grabbing a milkshake for Kaaren and a twisty cone for me, we were back on the road! Towards the end of the drive, we started getting antsy and snacky: 

Hooray for new flavors! 

Pull-n-peel provides roadtrip entertainment

The weekend at the cabin was great and I miss it already! We kept talking about how we wished we could have stayed for a few more days--especially since the weather was perfect for being out on the lake. However, the job thing gets in the way of vacationing all week long! 

Speaking of which...it's time head into work--I'm getting an early start today to prep some concepts for a meeting with a client later this morning. I need to finish mocking up a logo, 2 web banners, and a postcard all before 11am--wish me luck!

Friday Eve

It's just been one of those weeks...

Tell me one thing you love about your job

Actually, what is your job? 

Favorite day of the week?

Room for Creativity (Office Tour)

Good morning!

Today, as promised, I'm going to share with you my home office space where all of my creativity takes place. This is my work space at home--I'll tell you more about my desk at work in an upcoming post. This is a temporary setup as I will be moving this fall when we get married!

The door to my office holds a little "L" ornament that my mom gave me one year for Christmas. 

This is my workspace. I have another desk in my bedroom (I'll save that for another post) and tend to move around the condo depending on what I'm working on or if I just need a new location. I have always worked best in clean, simple environments without a lot of clutter. I think this stemmed out of being homeschooled...

On my desk, I have the Mac Attack, Magic Mouse, a lamp from my childhood bedroom, my name carved out of wood, and a vase filled with stones and daisies for a pop of color.

Don't you love the mismatched carpet? So chic...

To the right of my desk, we have a bookcase filled with a collection of design reference books and art supplies.

My comfy desk chair for working at the computer.

My camera. Dana just got one of these, too! I use this camera for artsy stuff (photoshoots, scenic things, trips, etc.) and use my little Sony Cybershot for everyday stuff such as the blog since it is easier to throw into my purse.

Art supplies atop my filing cabinet in the corner

Design reference books

A fan to keep me cool

Once in awhile, I'll pack things up and head to a coffee shop to work on the computer, but most of the time, I prefer to work at home. I find that it is more convenient since I have my own clean bathroom, plenty of outlets to plug the computer into, and have everything I need (notebooks, snacks, etc.) Plus, there's nothing worse than sitting down at a coffee shop only to realize you left your laptop charger cord at home...

Time to jump in the shower and head to work! Catch you later!

Name 3 things you keep on your desk.

Are you a Mac or PC fan?

What kind of camera do you use?