I am so proud of my twice-published grandmother! Her most recent memoir, Love & Asperger’s: Jim and Mary's Excellent Adventure, is available now! I was so excited when she reached out to me to design some promotional materials for her new book. With her author headshot and her book’s cover image, I put together bookmarks, flyers, and one sign for her author signing events.
Knot as easy
Usually the creative work I pick up strains my eyes (graphic design), my fingers (cross stitch), or my neck and shoulders (lettering…I have bad posture). However, the shipment of rope for my first commissioned macrame was 75 lbs! I’d only made a few macrame pieces before this one, and never anything at this scale. Once I got it from my mom’s porch to my car, then back out of my car and up three floors to my apartment, I didn’t have to worry about moving it again until the piece was ready to hang. I’d enlist my brother’s help at that point, anyway.
After a whole lot of brain-numbing math (a different type of workout), the next step was to measure 40 lengths of 80’. My back was sore for several days, my roommate can attest to that as I wasn’t terribly quiet about it.
At several points in the process I wondered if I had gotten in over my head, but thankfully, my triple-checked calculations were correct. Seven weeks and 80 hours later, the piece was done and installed at 302 Wheaton. I’m grateful for the opportunity to see my art in public, and the owner’s patience and the trust he put in me to make something unique for his new restaurant.
I’ll be honest, once the thing was out of my living room, I had about 2 hours of relief before I was twiddling my thumbs, wondering what was next... stay tuned ;)
Senior farewell: Something better than spicy chicken
I hate leaving. I’ve always been part of the group at the restaurant that stays behind long after we’ve paid for our meals. Always the last to fall asleep at sleepovers. The one to offer to drive so I wouldn’t have to worry about being the first to be dropped off at the end of the night.
It hurts to think about leaving Asbury. I can quite literally feel it in my chest when I think about it. And that’s weird, because I never planned on coming here. It is the most random thing that has happened to me my entire life.
Read the rest of the first and last article I wrote for the Asbury Collegian here.
Highbridge Film Festival 2016
It's surreal to tear down an event only hours after you've put it up, especially after all the hours planning.
My senior year, I was a part of a class titled Special Events, where we put together the annual film festival at Asbury, from everything to the webcast of the event to the decorations of the festival and its reception, to the design of the poster and other signage.
I was the leader of the Design team, and spent the semester in the Creative Suite branding Highbridge 2016. It was an incredible amount of work, but as a team of three, we were able to put together all of the pieces (posters, program, signage, etc.) to make the event a success.
The beginning
Since before kindergarten, I noticed hubcaps. (You're allowed to think it, because I know it's weird. My parents thought it was weird too.) I'd point them out in the parking lot of grocery store and tell my mom, "They have the same hubcaps as the neighbors!"
After they stopped playing outside, kids my age used to play in Microsoft Paint. I did too, until I discovered Microsoft Word. I memorized font names -- not on purpose, but because I liked how my named looked in Juice ITC, I could barely read Edwardian Script ITC, and noticed that every single teacher used Comic Sans MS on their handouts. (I thought WordArt was pretty cool, too, but we don't have to talk about that.)
sharpie on sketchbook paper
I've always loved office supplies, especially pens, markers, and paper. Although crayons always kind of irritated me, I don’t care if it’s a pencil, ball point pen, Sharpie, felt tip marker, or a stick in the sand. Some people argue that you can’t “draw letters,” but I wholeheartedly disagree. Hand lettering is something I am pursuing passionately.
felt tip marker on sketchbook paper