Vote for Design 1: Text Me!

Vote for Design 2: WOW MOM

Note: I tweaked this one to a more soothing colorway and also to offer addition of kid names since I originally posted about the design.

Thanks in advance! xoxo

The focus of this Minted challenge is typography so for the mom card I thought it would be cool to use the word “mom” and its (very fitting) inverse “wow” to create a graphic pattern. I used green because it’s a lovely and vibrant neutral (not all moms dig pink, you know?). I also liked that this treatment created two photo windows.

My one question, now looking at it again, is whether I ought to include “Mom of ________” text. I have until the end of the month to revise the design (after which point the voting begins…hint hint!). Visually, I definitely prefer the spareness of the text as shown here, but also know that some moms like to have their kids’ names on their cards. What do you think?

Anyway.

I haven’t had time to submit to a Minted design competition in a while, but when I saw the business card design competition announcement, I immediately was struck by the idea of creating a texting-inspired card. It would be fun, geeky, gender-neutral, and ironic.

This is what I came up with. The inspiration is a text conversation and I think the inclusion of an avatar is perfect because I’m a big fan of photos on business cards since I’m so visual.

What do you think? Care to cast a vote in my favor?

Edited to add: Oops, sorry folks! The voting will start shortly after the submission window closes August 1. I’ll keep you posted!

Goodness. Once again, I’m starting a post with a comment about how long it’s been since I last posted. Well, to my credit, since the announcement of my major site overhaul in January I was busy cooking and delivering a baby. We welcomed baby Violet in March and she has been an utterly joyous addition to our family.

Meanwhile, a lot has transpired around us and in May my friend (and a contributing writer to Boston Mamas) Sarah Feather (aka The Carcinista) died after a courageous battle with cancer.

After Sarah died, I thought about things I could do to honor her spirit. Sarah was smart, funny, loving, and incredibly stylish (you can see photos honoring her sartorial prowess here). She also was wonderfully “old school” in her thank you etiquette — utilizing the US postal system — so I decided to design a greeting card in her honor.

These Hello, Gorgeous cards are the result. The colors (aqua and pink) were her favorite, the clovers are representative of an icon she loved (and I felt them fitting, as all of us who knew her were lucky to have her in our lives), and the salutation is classic Sarah (and I credit our mutual friend Paige for changing the original “Hello” to “Hello, Gorgeous” when I floated a mock up by her during the design phase). I love how these cards came out and the fuschia envelopes look fantastic with the cards. Also, they’re eco-friendly…printed on 100% recycled content using soy and vegetable-based inks. And I’m donating 50% of the proceeds from this card to benefit ovarian cancer research. A trifecta of awesomeness, no?

After I finished designing Sarah’s cards, I wanted to create a more neutral companion card. I’ve been obsessed with yellow and gray (and come to think of it, those are the colors I wore to Sarah’s memorial). Here is the result:

I hope you love these cards and consider purchasing some. Thank you, Sarah, for continuing to inspire us all.

And the overhaul is finally done! I was determined to finish the redesign of Posh Peacock before heading to Altitude Summit (which I am so, so honored to be speaking at this week!) and I have made my goal a few days under the wire. Here are some of the changes you’ll see at Posh Peacock:

• Brand new peacock! Big thanks to my sister Jenn and my friend Liesbeth for input at various stages of design.
• New rollover navigation and generally more modern and awesome layout.
• New layout for my motif collection (see, for example, the stationery section). So cute, no?
• New thumbnail layout for my custom design portfolio. I’m especially thrilled about this; much more user friendly than text links.
• A sale section. With lots of awesome stuff in it! Go shop!

And, I’ve updated my collection/portfolio to include the following new art, projects, and samples:

• Adorable new firetruck design (inspired by my lovely friend Kristen Chase, whose fourth child was delivered unexpectedly at home by a firefighter).
• New stationery projects in my custom portfolio: Chloe and Ryker.
• New wedding samples in my custom portfolio: Queen Anne’s lace, floral wrap, fiddleheads, oak tree, pocket folio, and modern menu.
• New (and possibly my favorite so far) baby project in my custom portfolio: Chloe.
• New holiday samples in my custom portfolio: chocolate, wine, & lights, dog ornament, Liam, joy, peace, and Laurel’s valentine.
• New memorial section in my custom portfolio, including: bookmarks, orchids, and simple foldover.
• New business and logo projects: Krom letterpress, Charlene Chronicles, and Eat. Blog. Run.

So, um, yes, it was a busy 2010.

Now, to celebrate the new overhaul, I wanted to offer a 25% discount on anything from my online shop (including the sale section!). From now until February 15, 2011, simply enter “NEWLOOK” in the Comments section at check out and I’ll refund you back the 25% via Paypal. Or shoot me an e-mail and we can coordinate the order in advance.

Hooray, hooray for a new year and a new look!