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04/02

Before & After: Gatehouse No.1

I recently recorded my class for Creating an Identity over at nicole’s classes. It made me go through my portfolio, and it made me realize how little I have shared here on this little blog about my recent work the past year and half. (Let’s be honest, the las year and a half has been a doozy, and I have yet to get out my birth announcements for my one year old.. They are sitting on my counter all printed for 8 months now. yikes)

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. I have decided to show a before & after…Sometimes I have a client who has a lot of brand recognition, because they have been around awhile, but they need a fresh look to their logo. Their current logo is dated, old, and not drawing enough attention. This is one of the best work projects for me, because I get to strip away what is really awesome about their logo, and make it shine!

So here is some recent work to show what I mean: Gatehouse No. 1, is an awesome interior design shop and design service. Their products and services are fresh, modern, and professional… but their logo really didn’t reflect that. By really stripping away a lot of their “extras” and fixing the kerning, cleaning up the type, we were left with a simple, strong logo.

preview of gatehouse before and after

Here is a screenshot of their old blog:

old gatehouse website

By bringing in their new strong identity, complete with new fresh patterns and a new color palette, we were able to create a new image that was strong and simple.. and really carried their brand so much farther.

Here is their new site here:

preview of website

preview of site

One of the biggest things I find important, is when I work with my clients, I try to help them walk away with a clear vision of how to maintain their identity. If clients don’t know what type, color, and icons to use in other magazines ads, newsletters, etc, then you are setting them up to fail. With Gatehouse, I was able to work closely with their awesome design team, to create a strategy that they would be able to maintain. It’s been almost a year since this website launched, and I have to say, they have done an awesome job at maintaining the style, brand, and look and feel of their site. That is an A+ client right there!

If you are interested in how I go through my process of creating an identity, be sure to check out my class right here. (or any other class I teach)

 

 

 

nicole's classes, recent work
02/11

Caravan is up!!

I am so excited to announce that I am combining my shop with Alma & Mike Loveland of Ollibird into a new shop called Caravan. We have other designers joining us soon there too, and it will be your stop to digital downloads.

We are ecstatic about our new products and projects, such as my large chalk prints, and their nativity puzzle, and we are super excited about our lineup coming up for Thanksiving and Christmas. I love designing new logos, and websites, especially for myself. And this Caravan Shoppe was a blast to put together. Be sure to check out the confetti button! Check it out here.

Preview of party hat

 

 

design, Personal, recent work
01/05

Mom’s Best Network

Friends-

Can you believe it’s already May? Its so crazy to me….The days are long and the months go by fast right? Things have been so wild here- but beyond wonderful.

Back in January, I teamed up with a social media company called Mom’s Best. We have been busy getting everything together, and we are excited to announce a new site: Mom’s Best Network.

 

Our focus is to empower women and help them become their very best. We feature some really talented women, and have business tips, crafts, design tips, fashion tips, food recipes; just TONS of good things.

Anyways, head on over there to see the line up- you won’t want to miss it!

 

recent work
13/04

Weekend Going-Ons

Phew. What a week! So much good stuff going on that I am bursting at the seems. too many secrets. too many.

But here are some things that I CAN tell you:

1. Come buy my wrapping paper at Bijou for just $6! You won’t want to miss all of the fabulous vendors that will be there.

 

2. Come to a Nicole’s Classes Party- and you can buy classes for 50% off! Also, first 25 people will have free classes.  I teach the typography class, and I am not going to lie, it’s maybe one of my most favorite things I have ever done!

 Have a great weekend! Hopefully I will see you at some of these!

community, nicole's classes, recent work
21/03

Recent: The Color Run Website

I almost forgot about this work I did way last year! I designed the home page for this site- the color run.

recent work
23/02

Recent: Freshly Picked Identity & Website

I was so excited when Susan asked me to redesign her logo and website. I adore her leather moccasins and ok.. everything in her store. She was a blast to work with, and I am super excited about how everything turned out.

As I sat down and started working on her branding, I really thought a lot about what she made, and the types of things associated with moccasins, leather, and that “hand made” feeling. As I worked and brainstormed- I felt really drawn to the idea of a feather with a modern twist; harsh lines mixed with intricate patterns.

As part of her branding, I also designed a variation of her logo- a mix of the feather & Freshly Picked logo to be used as a “branding iron.”  Since she works with leather, I wanted a version of her logo to be used as a brand.

Then we carried all of this look into the website, making it clean, but adding touches of patterns everywhere. Notice the patterns used at the top, as well as the branding icon used in a variation on the date. So fun! (and go check it out in full size, it looks so much better!)

Go buy Susan’s stuff here (but don’t look too closely, we are still working on her shopping cart page!)

identity, recent work
23/02

Recent: Wedding

Again, just catching up on work from 2011.. Here is a wedding invite I was able to design with an awesome bride, who had a super eye. I was so ecstatic that she was comfortable with making the body text hot pink, and their names gray. How cool does that switch (not traditional but so beautiful) make it look?

invitations, recent work
23/02

Recent: Baby’s First for Goldberger Dolls

I finished this project a few months ago, but let’s be honest- I have been on the fast track since beginning of November, and I feel like I am just now catching up.

I was able to re-design the Baby’s First Site for the Goldberger Dolls Company, and it was a blast working on, because wow does my little girl LOVE their dolls. Not only that, but they have such a whimsical style that was fun to work with. One of my favorite parts of my job is being able to design in so many different styles, and this website was truly a blast to work on.

 

and just so I can show you the before:

 

 

I love seeing how we were able to transform this old site into something clean, fresh, and vibrant.

 

Check out their site to see more of it (believe me, this is just a sampling. It was a big project!)

graphic design, recent work
06/01

Recent going ons

I am so sorry for the radio silence- things were so crazy before christmas, that taking off the 2 weeks for christmas was a necessary break.. and to be honest, I have had a hard time jumping back into the blogging world.

Part of that reason is that I have been soo busy with a lot going on here. Here is just some tiny snapshots of what I have been up to…

1. I finished up this 8 month project and launched this new designed website for Goldberger Dolls. I will post about the before and after later, and show more..  but it is so exciting to have it up!

2. Designed and finished up a logo for Adam Webb. I love how it turned out!

3. Been working like a crazy person on Altitude Design Summit. I have been designing posters, agenda, updating the website, newsletters… I don’t know- but it has been crazy. And I can barely contain my excitement for the conference!

4. Been designing fliers, newsletters, and a website for Gatehouse No1. We are hoping their NEW website can launch soon, and it is exciting to see how it is progressing!

5. Designed the January theme for KSL studio 5.

 

Anyways, there is a little of what I have been up to… I have even more projects I would love to unveil- but they are all pretty secretive.. but hopefully in the next few weeks I can spill some more!

graphic design, recent work
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