The 100 Day Project: Days 5 – 11

The Great Discontent’s 100 Day Project is in full swing. Created by artist Elle Luna, the goal is to do something creative every day for 100 days that has a specific focus and helps your creative process grow. Projects include photography, video clips, dance, and drawing. I’ve chosen to do 100 days of travel hand lettering. I’m working hard to improve my lettering skills and showcasing my love of travel.

I’m illustrating one place each day, either a place I’ve visited and loved or somewhere that is on my bucket list to visit in the future. This project is more about the process than the end result, and I am definitely seeing my process improve, even in this short amount of time. Plus, it’s helping me develop a good habit of drawing each day—a soothing exercise I desperately need in my chaotic and busy life.

I really enjoy looking at other people’s projects as well. There are some seriously creative ideas out there, and so far, most people are really encouraging with each other. Follow the progress on Instagram under the hashtag “#The100DayProject” and my specific hashtag is “#100DaysofTravelLettering” under my Instagram handle, @noeldolangd.

Day 5: New York
I love the Big Apple, such an amazing city of culture, art, food and excitement.

Day 6: London
Anther favorite spot on the globe that I’ve visited and loved

Day 7: Madrid is a fantastic city, though I am not pleased with the lettering on this day. I tried to do a brush script style and it came out really flat

Day 8: Warsaw
The capital of Poland and my heritage on my dad’s side. I brought in red to channel the Polish flag

Day 9: Seattle
It’s on my bucket list. As a coffee fanatic, this java city is a must see! It’s supposed to be foam in the coffee mug

Day 10: Dublin
Inspired by the Book of Kells that is in Dublin, I did ornate Celtic / illuminated manuscript style drop cap letters with a few shamrocks

Day 11: Chicago
My kind of town…and the area I grew up in. I really like how the bevels turned out

Small Bites: Design Links I Love | April 13, 2015

Beat the Monday blues with inspiring designs! Enjoy your week and create good work!

Louis John Pouchee was a type designer in the nineteenth century. Several of the faces he designed were considered lost in a fire at Monotype in London. They were recently found, and they turn out to be some of the most, beautiful intricate woodcut typefaces in existence. His work is stunning, and it’s wonderful that it is not lost.

99U published an interview with legendary Pentagram designer Michael Beirut this week on finding your voice. He discusses working with Massimo Vignelli for 10 years and what it was like to find his own design aesthetic. He offers advice for new designers and emphasizes sticking with what you’re good at instead of trying to be jack of all trades.

Keyboard shortcuts will save your life in time and efficiency. Here’s a graphic from Design Taxi with the essential shortcuts for Adobe Illustrator.

Web design and print design are ultimately both design with similar foundations. However, their mediums are quite different and there are essential differences between the two that will make or break your project. Learn how to design for both with these 15 tips.

The 100 Day Project: Days 1- 4

This past Monday began The Great Discontent’s 100 Day Project. The purpose was to do a creative exercise everyday for 100 days. Some people do songs, others do art, photography, make videos. The point behind it was to not focus on the end result, but on the creative process. See what influences you when you’re focused on a single project and watch your improvement.

Since I’m learning hand lettering, I decided to combine that with my immense love of world travel. I am doing 100 days of Travel Lettering (see hashtag #100DaysofTravelLettering on my Instagram account, @noeldolangd). I am drawing the names of countries, cities, states that either I have visited and loved or are on my bucket list as must-sees before I die. The project has to be manageable since it’s so lengthy, and I feel illustrating a single word every day is something I can fit into my busy schedule.

I’m trying to work on the process part and mix styles and try new things. Some days I include a visual that goes with the location (i.e., I did the Golden Gate Bridge for San Francisco and the curved end of a gondola for Venice) and others I just draw the letters (like Morocco). So far, I see my lettering improving a bit, but more importantly, I’m learning that I have time to draw every day. It’s a good creative exercise for me and great for relaxing.

I’m enjoying viewing other participants’ projects as well. There is so much talent and creativity in this world. I like the ones where artists take everyday objects like post-it notes, matchbooks, napkins, etc and make them canvases for their art. They are producing some gorgeous sketches. I love how encouraging it is and that people are taking risks to try new mediums, new processes and share their work out in the open.

It’s not too late to join! Get on Instagram and start following #The100DayProject and my hashtag, #100DaysofTravelLettering.

Day 1: San Francisco
My favorite city in the United States, hands down

Day 4: Venezia (Venice to we crass Americans)
This is one of my absolute favorite places I’ve ever visited. I consider Venice a magical, enchanting place that I love dearly. I made the end of the V look like the curved metal of the gondolas.

Day 3: India
Another place high on my bucket list. I want to see the Taj Mahal so badly and experience the spirituality of the Ghanges. The wildlife lover in me wants to see the beautiful tigers and Asian elephants

Day 2: Morocco
An exotic location high on my bucket list to visit soon. I’m dying to see their beautiful culture and experience the rich, vibrant colors seen in their clothing, ceramic tiles, art, and architecture.

Small Bites: Design Links I Love | April 6, 2015

Happy Monday after Easter. Hope everyone didn’t overdose too badly on Peeps and chocolate bunnies. Now that you’re coming off of that sugar high, here are some design links and articles to get you going this week.

Creative Market posted the top 10 TED Talks for Designers this week. It has a bunch of new ones I haven’t seen previously, though it includes a few of my favorites (Chip Kidd’s talk is phenomenal). Get inspired with these amazing talks on creativity and design.

Feel like taking a nap instead of working? Want to down that extra vodka shot? Apparently, both will help boost your creativity. Design Taxi posted this great infographic this week with 10 Scientifically True Facts About Creativity. Perhaps this is why all the great writers and artists of times past were such raging alcoholics. Actually, I find meditation very helpful. It’s hard for my ADD brain to calm down to do it, but it really helps tremendously and is much better for you than a line of shots.

A very controversial ad campaign came to light this week. Creative director Ganesh Prasad Achayra released a series of ads promoting using condoms by pointing out if you don’t, you could have a mini Hitler, Stalin or Salvador Dali. Okay, I don’t think Dali should be in the same category as Hitler or Stalin. He contributed positively to society with his fabulous art, but he had a great mustache that fit the campaign. I think the ads are pretty smart, and since I don’t particularly care for children, I find them very funny. But, I can most definitely see the controversy surrounding them, and I’m not entirely sure how effective they would be in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Definitely something to muse upon.

I absolutely fell in love with this beautiful candy box packaging design from The Dieline. Meant to be a gift for the Indian holiday of Diwali, the illustrations and construction of this box deserve a mention.

The travel addict in me loves these beautiful vintage inspired flight prints by designer Neil Stevens. I want them all!

And, finally, don’t forget that Elle Luna’s 100 Day Project begins today. Sign up for an Instagram account, pick your project for the next 100 days and start sharing your creativity. I will be posting under the hashtag #100DaysofTravelLettering.

Creative Process: Chocoholic Frolic Invitation Package

The design concept for the Chocoholic Frolic, a fundraising event for a nonprofit here in Colorado Springs.

For the last several months, I’ve been working on a freelance project for a nonprofit here in town. I think it’s good to share work and the creative process, especially when you’re a small business like me. The big designers with big clients get all the glory, but the truth is, we small freelancers produce some good design as well and usually on very small budgets. Realistically, that’s what most of us end up working with—small clients with small budgets. But, it shows how good a designer can be when they have to make their designs shine instead of relying on stellar custom photography and high end print techniques.

The nonprofit I did work for, Kidpower, helps provide resources for abused children and provide workshops in schools on how kids can stay safe and be empowered. Once a year, they have a fundraiser called the Chocoholic Frolic that is quite a fancy gala. Local chocolatiers come and have tables of fancy desserts and sculptures, there’s a jazz band and it’s cocktail attire.

In previous years, the organization couldn’t afford a designer and did their best in-house. This year, they found my website online and hired me to take their invitation and event branding to the next level. The save the date card had already gone out, so it was vital I still use the stock photo of the chocolate desserts they’d already purchased. Furthermore, the client wanted me to maintain some design elements from previous years in order to not have it unrecognizable to their attendees.

Finally, I had to make a series of posters that were separated from the event branding that emphasized this year’s theme, “WIsh Upon a Star: Every child, everywhere is confident and safe.” The posters will be displayed at the event and make attendees aware of the organization.

Join Me in the 100 Days Project

The Great Discontent’s 100 Days Project.
Image is copyright The Great Discontent and belongs entirely to them. This image is only being used for information purposes.

Looking for a creative project outside of your daily work? Want to try something new and exciting? Need motivation to stay consistent? Join me in participating in The Great Discontent’s 100 Day Project. It starts on Monday, April 6 and will continue for 100 days in a row.

Originally this was a project assigned to Yale School of Art graduate students by legendary designer Michael Beirut. They had to choose one action to repeat everyday for 100 days. Students made a poster everyday, others danced in public or made videos. It was a way to get them to be consistently creative with a new venture outside of the daily norm.

Artist and designer Elle Luna was inspired by this original concept to create her own 100 Days Project. She wanted to make it more about the creative process rather than the final results. Last year, she did 100 self portraits. This year, she is painting her dreams of travel for 100 days. Read the full interview with The Great Discontent.

By participating in the process for 100 days, you see changes not only in the quality of someone’s work, but also their lifestyle. Elle mentioned a busy mom who wanted to be an artist, but spent her time posting pictures of her kids on Instagram instead of her art. By the end of the project, she had made great art and found a way to incorporate it into her daily life with her kids.

I am a designer who has always struggled with confidence and ability when it comes to hand drawn art. I’ve always believed that I wasn’t good at it and could never put it out there. Thanks to the internet and seeing the vast styles and abilities of other artists, I am more confident that my silly doodles and uneven lines have a place in the art world. But, more importantly, I really enjoy drawing and I find it relaxing.

I spend 8 hours a day on the computer and more in the evening when I’m freelancing or trying to cram in new skills or coding. I’m too attached to my devices. I struggle with insomnia and anxiety. Drawing is the perfect outlet for me. It calms me down, gets me ready for bed, and I truly enjoy it. That is part of the reason I’ve started pursuing hand lettering this year. It combines my love of typography and the relaxation of drawing together.

So, for my 100 Days Project, I am going to do 100 Days of Travel Lettering. Each day, I am going to letter a travel destination either that I’ve been to and loved or that I’m dreaming to go to next. It’s one word each day, so it’s something I can fit into my busy schedule, but it will force me to do this every day. I’m anxious to see my lettering skills improve over the 100 days, but I also think it’s going to bring some peace and tranquility to my chaotic life.

Interested in participating? Read the full details here and sign up today. Also, be sure to get an Instagram account as you will need it to share your work everyday. Each project must have an unique hashtag, so be sure to look for mine at #100DaysofTravelLettering.

Small Bites: Design Links I Love | March 30

Another Monday, but it’s Easter week, so that means an abundance of marshmallow Peeps and chocolate bunnies, so it really can’t be a bad week. And, you can have some awesome design links to make you smile this Monday morning as well.

Of course, I have to include yet another link that involves my favorite hand lettering artist, Jessica Hische. This is a video of her discussing what it was like to design the 2015 Love Forever stamp for the USPS. Really cute video and an amazing design for her stamp.

This is a really clever ad campaign from nail cosmetics company OPI. It took me a minute to get it (much like me with most modern art), but it’s really cool, and of course, the wide array of colors attracted me.

In addition to Nutella, I am obsessed with all thing Sriracha. Finally, officially partnered Sriracha products are hitting the market. In addition to being deliciously flavored, I LOVE the packaging of this iconic hot sauce.

Sagmeister & Walsh just released their new campaign for an Indian juice company called Frooti. I don’t think the packaging is all that exciting nor the logo (not sure if Sagmeister & Walsh did the logo), but the photography and ad campaign concept is brilliant.

And finally, for new designers out there, here are 20 rookie mistakes when it comes to typesetting to avoid. Mastering these basics can up your skill set tremendously and make you stand out as the professional in a crowd of students or recent grads.

Year of Learning: March Hand Lettering

The one script word I did this week that I feel turned out really beautiful. Far from perfect, but it was the only word I did where I thought it looked like it belonged in the “script hand lettering” category!

Three months into the new year, I am actually still working on my New Year’s resolution goals. This is a rarity for me and my attention span, but I’m excited that I have stuck with my goal of “learning” this year. I’m focusing on web design and hand lettering, and both are going pretty well. The web is further along than the lettering, but I’ve always been more computer savvy than drawing savvy.

One of my favorite aspects of hand lettering are the beautiful brush scripts. The long flourishes and swirls that can come off of a letter are stunning. You can create script with a pencil and marker and coloring in the letters, but I really like the brush pens that allow you to write based on your hand pressure. This week, I purchased two Tombow brush markers from my art store, and I enrolled in the Hand Lettering Basics class through Skillshare.com.

True art paper that is thick and that can handle markers, lots of erasing, etc is pretty expensive stuff. Since I’m such a newbie and spend most of my time erasing, I went to Office Max and bought cheap $1 notebooks. I got a basic graph paper notebook that a math student would use and a penmanship notebook for elementary age children to learn to write basic letters. The paper is very thin, and I have to put a sheet under it so the markers don’t bleed through, but the penmanship notebook already has the ascender, baseline and descender lines built in—perfect for learning script letterforms.

The Skillshare class has helped a lot, but what it ultimately takes is practice both with the letterform itself and the amount of pressure to put on the pen. The Tombow is very, very sensitive, and it only takes a gentle touch to make it start writing. It’s been a fun process, and I’m glad to see improvements.

Overall, I know I’ve improved a lot on this journey, but at the same time, I get frustrated that I’m not further along. It seems so hard, and I still look like a little kid doodling. But, most of the lettering artists I admire have practice for years or even decades to perfect their craft.

In the Skillshare class, you spend the first section just practicing strokes to get yourself familiar with the shapes and pressure amounts. Mine are pretty rough here.

I looked up script lettering in Google and just tried to copy the letterforms I saw. Not too bad…well yeah, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Freehanding script based on what I ahd learned. I don’t like that mine still looks like grade school cursive handwriting. I definitely want more of a script font / calligraphy feel.

You start learning the capital letterforms first. They’re my favorite, because they have the most potential to add flourishes, swooshes and swirls to make them very ornate.

When I practiced my letterforms the next day, I really showed some improvement. For me, the “n” and “m” in lowercase form are some of the hardest to create.

My Favorite Things: March 22

Spring has sprung. We have a new time change in place. Colorado has experienced 60 and 70 degree days and even had our first rain (not snow) storm! I’m in a jolly mood and ready to share more of my favorite things with you. This week, my favorite things are all free things on the interwebs!

Design Matters Podcast

Graphic designer, AIGA president, brand expert and overall lady with an amazing voice for radio, Debbie Millman, does a free weekly podcast through Design Observer called Design Matters. I am completely addicted to this and listen to it and the archived episodes several times a week on my drive into work. For 10 years, Debbie has interviewed prominent people in the design industry including graphic designers, web designers, magazine editors, typographers and brand experts. She conducts thorough, engaging interviews, asks unusual questions and has the absolute best way of guiding her interviewees through an amazing journey. I’ve completely enjoyed every single one of I’ve listened to, but for starters check out Liz Danzico (creative director at NPR), Jessica Hische (my lettering idol), Aaron Draplin (he’s hilarious), Hoefler & Frere-Jones (on the archives since they broke up this past year), and Massimo Vignelli. Available on iTunes or SoundCloud.

Humans of New York Blog

Sometimes I wonder if all this technology and social media is a bad thing. I feel like we’ve lost our connection with mankind and it’s promoting anti-social behavior at times. However, then something amazing like Humans of New York comes along, which is one of the best things on the internet. The creator, Brandon, was a stock trader who lost his job and decided he wanted to spend his time photographing and micro-interviewing the amazing citizens of New York City instead. Every day, he posts several photos of random New Yorkers with a snippet about them. It may be an amusing quote, a touching story, an in-depth anecdote on their life. Whether it’s a few words or many, each person he features touches you and provides a strong emotional connection. Recently, Brandon raised a million dollars for inner-city New York kids to get to go to Harvard and realize they can pursue their dreams. Each day on HONY is amazing and well worth reading.

99u Blog

99u is an amazing online blog produced by the folks over at Behance, which is the online design portfolio site by Adobe. How’s that for 6 degrees of separation? It is a great online resource for designers and offers anything from design inspiration to useful articles on running your own business to improving your work. 99u has grown into an annual design conference, magazine and books, but just checking their blog several times a week yields great content.

Small Bites: March 16, 2015

Get your weekly dose of design inspiration with small bites on this fine Monday.

I am all about creative business card designs. They’re one of my favorite things to design, and I love how much versatility they have in terms of materials, shape and design. This week InspirationFeed published 20 of their favorite designs using plastic.

Becoming Steve Jobs, a new biography on the founder of Apple is coming out soon. This past week, in anticipation of its’ release, Fast Company has been publishing interest excerpts. Apparently, when Jobs was on his deathbed desperately needing a liver transplant, Tim Cook offered his and Jobs refused. It’s an interesting article, and I’m anxious for the book release.

Design Taxi published an interesting video this week outlining exactly how Apple stores are designed to make you spend more money. Yes, all stores are designed for optimal profits, but Apple’s relatively small storefronts generate more money per square foot than any other retailer.

Graphic designers and advertisers can face serious creative challenges at times, including how to make a dull product seem appealing and interesting. AdWeek featured the new campaign for visiting the state of Nebraska this week. Rather than trying to build up attractions and excitement they don’t have, the Nebraska tourism office is marketing the Cornhusker state as “Visit Nice.” It won the Best in Show for the Nebraska Addys and it’s a really well done campaign.

Want to see a graphic designer twitch? Use Comic Sans, ask them to use internet images for print and ask them to work for free. Enjoy this playful list from BuzzFeed.