the blog.

AMBITION AND EXCUSES

brooke — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:14:00 +0000

I’m scared of failure.

That’s really what it all comes down to. My parents taught me the value of finishing what I’ve started and it’s served me well. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired or don’t feel like it. You finish.

I’ve accomplished quite a few things in nearly 27 years, things I’m really proud of, but I’ve also got ambitions. I’ve got ambitions of doing something bigger and better than what I’m doing now. I want to make a difference and there’s one thing I’ve realized – when you want to do something bigger, sometimes you just have to fail. It’s a tough pill to swallow and one that will probably take a while to get used to.

If you’d ask me now, I wouldn’t know exactly what to say I want to do. I’d probably say that I want to get my Master’s degree and maybe even a Ph.D., I want to live in Europe, I want to teach people new things, I want to work in an environment where the creativity isn’t stifled by clients, I want to experiment. Maybe I’d make all sorts of excuses about why I’m not going after any of those things right now.

Maybe I’d just be a better person to admit my ambitions and pursue them rather than worrying about whether or not I’ll fail.

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*Special thanks to The 99% for getting me to think seriously

DESIGN #108: WRECKAGE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

brooke — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:43:03 +0000

Sadly, it’s true.

I’ve been hard at work this weekend helping get the StitchMix website ready to launch and prepping for Fashion Night Out in Chicago this coming Friday (if you don’t know what StitchMix is, shame on you!). Last night I had a burst of typographical inspiration and am happy to say that I’ve got quite a few hand-drawn type sketches ready to digitize. Here’s to long weekends! Happy Labor Day.

**By the way, if you love the background pattern, it’s mine and you can download it here.

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DESIGN #107: INCOGNITO WITH A MUSTACHE

brooke — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:46:12 +0000

What else?

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DESIGN #106: KICKIN’ IT 80s STYLE

brooke — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:44:44 +0000

Who could resist day-glo green and lightening bolts? Not me. Happy Monday!
** If you’re wondering the quote comes from the Malcolm Gladwell book Outliers. Random I know, but a great book.

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DESIGN #105: SHAPE UP SHIPS

brooke — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 02:05:21 +0000

I’m happy to be back – even if just for an evening! Technically I’ve completed 2 designs this week, but I have to hold off on posting one of them because it will be featured on the super cool Design Milk blog next Wednesday (September 1).

Design Milk is an online magazine dedicated to modern design including art, architecture, interior design, furniture and decor, fashion, and technology. They’ve been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York, and is one of the Google Engineers’ Staff Picks.

Is it obvious about how excited I am about this?

For the time being, here’s another hand-drawn type wallpaper for your enjoyment

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THE SUMMER OF LOTS OF WORK

brooke — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:50:59 +0000

The last few weeks of this summer have been hot and productive. While I’ve been furiously trying to tie up the last few ends of my summer extra-curricular design work, I’ve been totally slacking on my design a day (and feeling a little guilty I must admit).

So in Dribbble-esque style, I decided to post snapshots of a few of the projects that I’ve had the chance to be involved with this summer. It’s not everything – I don’t know that I’m allowed to post some of them just yet – but it is my design a day alibi.

Invite for a co-worker’s annual School’s Out Party

A very exciting multi-part, summer-long project that’s still under wraps

Updated an existing logo - Need a custom vacation home in Colorado? I can hook you up.

T-Shirt design for an annual retreat. It ended up being a little too girly, but still fun anyway

This is actually an Aptera project – the annual open house. The best night of your life.

DESIGN #104: NEVER EVER

brooke — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:31:48 +0000

I find it intriguing. So many times you say (or you hear people say) that there is something they won’t do, somewhere they won’t live, something they won’t be or do. Ironically, and more often than not, you find yourself (or those people) doing exactly what it was you said (or they said) they wouldn’t do. It just makes you wonder… Learning experience anyone?

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DESIGN #103: GON’ EAT ME SOME FRIED CHICKEN

brooke — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:10:02 +0000

This wallpaper is for my southern friends.

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DESIGN #102: CHANNELING LINZIE HUNTER

brooke — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:00:57 +0000

Ever since finding her work in HOW Magazine last year, I’ve been in love with Linzie Hunter’s work. Originally from Scotland, she was a theater major before studying illustration at the Chelsea College of Art and Design. All of her work is great, but my favorite is the series of gorgeous hand-lettered illustrations using subject lines from spam email.

The phrase on my design today comes from one of the most famous movie break-up lines, “It’s not you, it’s me.” And I wondered, has that line ever been turned on it’s head?

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DESIGN #101: STARTING A TREND? FLIP OUT!

brooke — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:58:53 +0000

Have I mentioned how much I love drawing type? Right.

The thing I love most about hand drawn typography is there isn’t the pressure of making it perfect. The slightly shaky lines, the lines that accidentally wander outside of the boundaries of the typography…that’s what I love. It’s tactile and human and you don’t get that naturally with digital art.

Frank Chimero had a blog post recently called Faking It. Here it is in a nutshell:

“How do you get those uneven edges in your illustrations?”
“I draw them, unevenly.”

“What’s the best way to get this to look like it’s cut out of paper?”
“Cut it out of paper.”

“What typeface are you using? It looks so much like handwriting.”
“That’s my handwriting.”

Of course. That’s what I love.

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