Monday, February 22, 2010

Mesu Measuring Bowls

I bought these bowls at the 2005 How Conference in Chicago. They were designed by Jennifer Panepinto as a design project while she was getting her Masters in Design at the School of Visual Arts. She was dieting and was sick of measuring, so she created a set of bowls she could measure in and then just eat the food right out of them. Genius! I'm dusting mine off again as I journey down another (and hopefully last) weight loss trail. Jennifer's site say the bowls are out of production, but if you go to her site, you sign up for her mailing list of new product announcements. (I did see a couple on ebay)


Have a great day!
Jill

All images are owned by Jennifer Panepinto, LLC

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Valentine's Day Card Swap Love

I had so much fun with the Valentine's Day swap organized by Carina at crowandcanary.blogspot.com, that I just had to share. There is nothing like getting cards in the mail, no matter what the age. These were really special, because they were hand-made by fellow bloggers. So each of us were to make cards for the 2 people we were assigned. I was lucky enough to get Gabby Hanlin, card 1 and Ashley Mouton, card 2 as my swap mates. I loved their cards and the sweet notes they included. Truly lovely! I also thought it was quite ironic that each of their cards were in the same color family. They must have been channeling each other!

I have also included 2 pics of the cards I made for Gabby and Ashley. I create cards for a living, but this was a little different because I was making 2 and not thousands, so the sky was the limit, glitter, envelope liner, double layer, rounded corners and sparkly paper. I had such a fun time, can you tell? I had glitter everywhere. I found this great stamp of wood grain and used a glue stamp pad and then glittered the you-know-what out of those cards.

So here's to getting your hands glittery and recapturing a little of your childhood. It really got me motivated to work on my Jilly Jack note card designs that I have been procrastinating on.

Have you done anything lately out of the norm that has motivated or inspired you to be creative? Please share!

Take care!
Jill

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Must have for foodies and typophiles

I have fallen for these awesome Helvetica cookie cutters. How can anyone resist? A. they're cookie cutters and B. they're Helvetica! These wonderful culinary creations are from Beverly Hsu. They are in such demand that she is busy making more. Sign up at beverlyhsu.com for an email notification of when more cookie cutters are available. In the meantime, check out her site and view her portfolio, she's a very talented designer.

Okay, I'm hungry for cookies now. Oh man!

Have a great day!
Jill

Monday, February 15, 2010

Contest on Cafe Cartonlina


Enter to win a pair of these fabulous 2010 Winter Olympic mittens, I did! Go to Cafe Cartonlina and try your luck! While you're there, check out her fantastic blog. It's worth the trip.

Image from Cafe Cartolina.

Friday, February 12, 2010

My Creative Influences

Here is a fun exercise, list who your creative influences are and see if it helps you get in touch with your own aesthetic. What is it that helps mold you as an artist? I feel it's all your favorite artists and designers, each impacting your art in a different, yet profound way, that help to shape the artist you become. I've linked each artist to a page describing their work, so that you can get a better idea of where my design sense is coming from. They are listed in no certain order.


1. Paul Rand, a corporate identity genius. Take a look at his portfolio and you'll see what I'm talking about.

2. Saul Bass, brought graphic design to moving pictures, by way of title sequences.

3. Paula Scher, amazing woman in the graphic design industry, a definite roll model for women in the biz.

4. Miro, I enjoy his use of color and the playful quality of his work

5. Eva Zeisel, she is amazing, born in 1906 and still designing.

6. Frank Gehry, his organic architecture is either loved or hated, I love it.

7. Charles and Ray Eames, their sense of design and form were amazing.

8. Maurice Sendak, I loved his books and his illustrations made me want to draw.

9. Vasily Kandinskywas a pioneer of abstract art and eminent aesthetic theorist

10. Paul Klee, his abstract style, use of color, texture and line are what I connect with


This was really fun, like a trip down memory lane from childhood on up through my career. I'd love to see who influences you in your work! Feel free to share.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Fun font of the day



Compass TRF is a reevaluation of an existing Compass typeface dated 2002 and is design by Rumiz Guseynov for TipografiaRamis. Compass is a geometric contrast serif typeface. I'm in love with the flourish initials. I'm not sure why, but I'm on a kick with all these "flourishy" fonts. Must be that time of year, Valentine's day and all!
New Compass consists of four styles—regular, italic, alternate and flourish initials with small caps.
Compass TRF is recommended for use as display typeface. It is suggested that flourish initials font to be used for decorative purpose only, not basic typesetting. Read more at myfonts.com

I'd love to know what you think of this typeface and if you have any new fonts you'd like to share.

Take care,
Jill

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Wonderful typography video


F is for FAIL from Brent Barson on Vimeo.
I stumbled upon this amazing typography video called F is for Fail by Brent Barson. Just sit back and prepare to be amazed. I was! You can view other work by Brent at his web site, brentbarson.com

Enjoy!
Jill

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Blog Style Board


This exercise made me think back to some branding exercises we did at the agency where I used to work. If you could visualize your brand, what would it look like? Of course these were done with magazines and the client would clip out and paste on a board, but it's the same principal that I have used. What does Jilly Jack Design and more specifically this blog look like? So this is what I came up with out of materials I had on hand. It's bright, happy, clean colors, texture through materials used in the paper, ribbon and fabric used in the cards and folios. Most of all it is friendly and approachable. So that is what I'll be striving for. As far content goes, I hope to bring more of myself into the blog as well as fun info about our cards and graphic design in general.

I'd love to know how your style or brand board would look? Feel free to share!

Take care,
Jill

Friday, February 5, 2010

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. Interview

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. Interview from Shane Nassiri on Vimeo.

I thought you might enjoy this video interview with Amos Kennedy Jr. He is a letterpress (artist) printer, who has enjoyed much success and he's a really interesting person.

I hope you have a great weekend! It's snowing here, we're supposed to get 6-8 inches which is a lot for the area.

Take care,
Jill

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Pantone Chair Love



I saw these on Facebook yesterday and did a little digging to find the source. It turns out that Seletti makes them for Pantone. I tried to find a retailer, but the ones that were listed on the Seletti site didn't have them on their web site. I have a few graphic design friends that these would make perfect gifts for them. So, if any one knows where to purchase these, please let me know. I'd love to know how much they cost too.

I personally love the new turquoise PMS 15-5519. Shown above, which is their color of the year. My question is what color would you choose if you could?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Narziss Swirls



I love the curls and swirls of the serifs on this type. Of course you would need to use it fairly large so they wouldn't get lost. But hey that works for me. It's elegant and light-hearted, formal and informal. I love that about it.

Narziss Swirls is a font designed by Hubert Jocham Type, the personal foundry of Hubert Jocham, started in 2007. Read more about Hubert Jocham and purchase the type from MyFonts.com

Have a great day!
Jill

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Ever so wonderful paper!





Ever is a paper produced by Gmund a papermill out of Germany. They make unique and spectacular papers. Ever comes in various text and cover weights. I love the San Francisco 54lb text weight because of it's textural qualities and the way the light plays with it. It's almost like a thick onion skin. You can buy small quantities online at the Paper Mill Store. It's not cheap, but it's worth it. It comes in 8 colors, Aomori, San Francisco, Salzburg, Lyon, Waikiki, Sverige, Anchorage and Lanzarote.

I've never used this for a project yet, so if you have, please share your experience. I'd love to know how it prints.

Oh, and have a happy Ground Hog Day! Phil really let us down, 6 more weeks of winter! I'm ready for some warmth.

Take care,
Jill

Monday, February 1, 2010

What Type Are You?


It's an interactive piece where you answer simple questions and the "psychiatrist" analyzes what typeface best matches your personality. Give it a try here: What Type Are You? This looks like it was a holiday promo from the award-winning ad agency Pentagram, so I'm a little late on the draw. I'm taking the chance that you haven't seen it yet. I thought it was hilarious!

I was Dot Matrix. Not sure I agree with that. It's not my favorite typeface. Please share what type you are!

Take care,
Jill
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