 NIKTEA designed by: Brandexpert Island Of Freedom I've always been drawn to products because of their packaging. I am that person who buys wine for the label design, or a shampoo for the shape of the bottle. Though sometimes this has led to a less than thrilling merlot, it's how I operate and how a vast majority of today's consumers do too.
According to an Ipsos poll, most Americans agree that the design of a product’s packaging (72%) and the materials used to package a product (67%) often influence their purchase decisions when selecting which products to buy. Package design is seen to be even more important when buying a gift, with eight in ten agreeing that packaging design can influence their gift selection (81%).
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 My family created the Baby be Bright Stroller Light Kit in 2017. It was an idea my husband came up with because our neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks and limited street lights. Previous to the Stroller Kit, I was securing a flashlight to our son's stroller with a tube sock. Needless to say, there was room for improvement.
I let my husband handle the logistics of the product, and I was happy to dive into the branding and design. Once we decided on the name, "Baby be Bright", and confirmed it was available, I began my process for logo designs. This starts with an idea map, where I list out any word or phrase that comes to mind and applies to the product or service. I knew I wanted the branding to be playful, but upscale. Most importantly I wanted it to be colorful since the Stroller Kit has so many LED color options and modes, but still appeal to the purchasers—the parents.  White Feather Bakers asked me to design a logo for them as they launch their company. They specialize in custom cakes, cupcakes, cookies and granola; and wanted a clean logo that would look nice on their packaging and web presence.
The photo above shows some of the initial sketches I started with before taking the designs to the computer. The following are the top three concepts that I presented to the client. The first column shows the black design on white, and the second column shows the white design on black.  I was recently asked to design a new logo for a business in Florida. The business owner wanted the logo to be friendly, but professional. He also wanted it to use the colors: black, orange, and green. He was drawn to logo designs that look like vintage seals. Besides that, I was able to explore any design solutions that interested me.
I started by sketching some logo ideas and refining what I wanted to take to the computer.  I've been working on these paintings for the past few months and have fallen in love with the process. They're like 6" squares of art therapy. I've been experimenting with different colors and designs and each painting is unique. I don't do any pre-planning when the line-work starts which is very unlike my normal design process. One of my favorite things about them is the accidental alignments that you notice when placing canvases next to each other. As you turn the canvases and different edges meet, you notice many lines connect perfectly, almost like it was planned.
 One of my favorite comics, The Oatmeal, satires the designer/client relationship in ways that never fail to make me laugh. Pictured above is the intro to their comic, How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell. (Which is hysterical, and everyone should read it regardless of your profession, feelings about comics, designers, websites, or eagles.) I think it also opens up is the discussion of this 'DESIGNER versus CLIENT' dynamic that we've been hardwired to expect, hate, and frequently mock. Granted, sometimes it's entertaining (and true), but sometimes we create a self-fulfilling prophecy for a painful working relationship. How do we do that?
 I'm so excited that the moving process is underway, and we're setting up our new place. We've moved much closer to work and family, and into a 3 bedroom home (holy square foot upgrade). Probably the most exciting portion of this move (for me at least) is that I get my very own home office space. No longer sharing an office space has naturally turned into another project for me. And also naturally, I found it most appropriate to create a quick "mood board" of the elements I'm bringing into my office (tis the life of a graphic designer). My color scheme is green, white, black, gold and pink. In hindsight, it's basically the color scheme of my childhood.
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February 2019
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