I was trained in 2D and 3D design at the University of Iowa, where strong, minimalistic lines, curves and Bauhaus grids dominated. "Form follows function" was our mantra across the design department, while typography was rooted in the Big Twelve unless you had a darn good reason for it to be otherwise. Combine that with a basic grasp of 3D design software and a touch of terror surrounding failure, and I grew into a rigid traditionalist. These days, my love for illustration has bled all over that foundation, giving my work a sorely needed injection of organic, flowing lines and whimsical trappings.
The Ontonagon Historical Walking Tour was an Eagle Scout project designed to take guests along River Street, the main business street of Ontonagon, Michigan, as well as a few local landmarks off the beaten path. Marked destinations have posters detailing the rich history of Ontonagon's businesses and the town in general. Guests began the tour at the local history museum and received a brochure with a map to follow and extra trivia about the town. The map was hand-drawn to give it the folksy feel that permeates the little community, and all of the posters were designed in Adobe Illustrator. Photographs were provided by the museum, and text supplied by the Eagle Scout hopeful.
Not surprisingly, I chose to do my own save-the-date cards and wedding invitations. My husband and I chose a "book" theme due to our shared love of reading. Designing the invitations was significantly easier than making nearly 3,000 paper flowers for the reception.
A large chunk of my freelance work is offering reference sheets for original characters. I created a few templates early on to try and appeal to broad audience tastes and common needs in reference sheets while avoiding designing a custom sheet for every single order. I allow a few changes, such as color palette swaps or adjusted sizing, but starting from nearly done is much faster than starting from the beginning on these large and fussy orders.
This was a project for my Color for Interior class that I had an absolute blast working on. We were given various color schemes to work with while meeting the goal of "breaking the cubes." This exercise was to teach us how we could use colors and shapes to make a standard room appear more dynamic than it is physically. I could have designed for this project for the rest of the year and been totally content.
This prototype was designed as a 4-glass wine tray that paid special attention to keeping the wine in the glasses instead of on the floor. The small pedestals were meant for cute party snacks. This tray is absolutely perfect for a girl's night in, and its small size makes it easy to tuck away when not in use.
The honest truth is that when we were assigned this project, I was deeply mired in my depression. To help combat my illness, I decided I was going to make something whimsical, and ring tosses, bean bag throws, and horseshoes were childhood summer staples that I drew upon for ideas. What resulted was a lounging pile of rings surrounding a light that peeks out like fairies in a shrub. As soon as it was printed, I set it up next to my home workstation, and it helped lift me up in dark times throughout my school career.
