This week's good stuff

It's been awhile since I wrote my weekly good stuff post and I'd really like to get back into the routine and what better way to start a routine than to just do it.

Don't use black for shadows. Chris Coyier writes a good article about making shadows a darker tone of the item they fall on. For example, if a person's shadow falls across concrete don't just automatically made that shadow black but rather make it a darker tone of the concrete. While Chris' example is written for web design, it really falls across all design, painting and illustration.

Here's 40 trendy business card designs... always good for inspiration.

Invoicing is a necessary evil of being a freelance designer. Here's 15 good tips to make sure you keep on top of your billings. Stop scribbling your invoice notes on little pieces of paper that end up on the floor of your office and organize yourself with some software. It will save you time and earn you more money in the long run because you'll look more professional.

And if invoicing doesn't prove to you that being a freelance designer is a tough career choice then maybe you should read this article about whether or not freelancing is for you. If you'd rather stay in bed all day or don't necessarily like people then don't quit your day job.

This last item, via Frau Lipstick, is for the knitter and designer in me. It's a hilarious video produced by a sweater mill in Scotland that makes "700 billion cardigans a day." Watch it even if you're not a knitter, you'll still love it.

Clean and happy

It's been a busy week between work and life and all that stuff. In preparation for their Granny's visit I threw the dogs off track with a mid-week, midday bath. And as a result Lola has been excessively lovey tonight staring longingly into whatever eyes she can capture silently coaxing endless rubs. I always let her roam without her collar for a day or two after her bath. She gets to be naked and we get to do this.

The sea before the storm

It's a wild week of weather and we'll be lucky if California manages to stay in about the same place. It might just wash into the Pacific. Today we are expecting another massive storm with high winds and lots of rain. I had to venture out and see how the ocean was behaving before I hunker down for the rest of the week.

Graphic Design: Coffee and Travel

One of today's design projects was a new yarn label for a fiber called Coffee Beenz. The yarn is intended for adult and sophisticated children's sweaters. A neutral color palette led the way for this coffee house inspired yarn.

To design the label I had to get thinking about coffee. I made myself a cappuccino as inspiration and sat down at my computer to research all things coffee.

I first hit the major coffee house players to see how they are selling coffee these days.

Starbucks, in the upper left hand corner, is clean and stark. I was surprised to find their site so white and so simplified from previous versions. I like it, but it wasn't the warmth I had in mind. Next up was The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Their site invokes the the emotions that go with knitting, things like warmth, softness and comfort. I like all the layers and colors too. Seattle's Best on the bottom right was so red. I know their logo is red, but wow. I think a red label would be too strong for this yarn. Peet's rounds out my main search and I like their look that has warm tones and a foreign feel.

Also, Starbucks coffee bean bag.

By researching these and a few more samples I was able to narrow down the ideas I had for this yarn label. I like the browns, greens and tans. I like the feeling of foreign travel and the exotic locations coffee beans come from. I kept thinking of the old world, the seven seas, and traveling by boat. But I also wanted the label to be fresh and enticing.

Here's my final design approved by the client.

I chose a warm greenish-brown background with a slight gradient. The seal in the background I created from the company's logo to invoke the feeling of coffee farms in exotic foreign locations. For yarn name and other important information I used a rich tan. A couple hand drawn coffee beans add interest and fun. I can't wait to see it on the skein!

The rain's a comin'

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