Archive for March 2011
Working on My Portfolio
March 31, 2011
Nothing will work unless you do.
- John Wooden
Hello my readers 
I am sorry that this blog is pretty short but I am diligently working on my portfolio. I got my pictures back and they look awesome. I am busy cropping and adding my watermark. My goal is to have my super awesome photographs and then a digital composite of each piece. As you can imagine – this is very time consuming!
I can not wait to share the entire invitation portfolio with you; but for now, here is a little sneak peak…
Thanks again to my sister, Whitney!
Tags: BullFish Graphics, portfolio, Whitney Olson Portraits & Photography | No Comments »
My guilty pleasure brings inspiration
March 30, 2011
Just don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.
-Ella Fitzgerald quotes
About once a month I plan a trip to Ohio. Flying out PTI is a joke – it is the world’s tiniest airport and there is never a line in security and yet I still get there about an hour early. I could probably get there 30 minutes before time of departure and still make it to the gate just in time to hear the flight attendant say “Zone 1….we are not boarding Zone 1″. But being the anxious person I am; I still get there the full hour and find myself bored. This is the one time that I allow myself my guilty pleasure….gossip magazines!
I know…I know…tacky right? But it is the only thing that keeps me occupied and gets me up-to-date of what all of cool people are doing. But I have found inspiration in these magazines. Every month, AT&T launches a new ad in their Painted Hands ad series. Their ads keep me coming back for more magazines just to see what they have come up with this time….
These ads are genius. I have no idea what agency came up with this concept but it is artistic, attention-grabbing and beautiful. Their tagline is “Works in over 200 countries, like [insert country here].” Then the hands are painted to represent something iconic from that country. I can not imagine the amount of planning, sketching and painting that go into these Ads.
You will notice how consistent they are. The simple phone choices. The solid back-lit backgrounds. The vibrant colors that make you ask “are those really hands?” Folks, this is how an Ad Series is done! It is something that makes you think “Wow, what’s next?!” I find inspiration in these pieces, I hope that you do too. So here are a few of my favorites.
After initially posting this, I found a video of a behind the scenes shoot of the AT&T Ad series if interested!
YouTube Video of AT&T Painted Hands
Tags: Ad Series, AT&T Painted Hands, BullFish Graphics, Gossip Magazines | 3 Comments »
My Dream Office
March 29, 2011
Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.
-Gail Devers
Several of my friends have posted what they wish their dream office looked like. It got me thinking…what would I want in my dream office? It would have to be white and green because those colors keep me energized to work but relaxed so I can really get my creative juices flowing. And let’s face it – it matches my logo. My chair would have to be super comfy and wide enough for me to be able to sit indian-style.
My desk would have to be big enough to hold my PC & My Mac. And since this is a dream, my mac monitor would be HUGE!
I would need an area with a table and a couple of chairs to be able to meet with my potential clients about what their needs are and be able to spread all of my paper sample books and swatches out to show them. And this table would also be used for invitation assembly space.
I would need a ton of shelf space for my design books and magazines to go on. And of course cute little trinkets to have on display. A Huge Cork Board and Black board to hang up inspirational pieces and jot down ideas and notes.
This is a lovely dream. Luckily, my office now is white and green. I have a desk big enough for my PC and my average-sized Mac. And when I need to assemble stuff- I just do it at my coffee table. I am grateful for the space I have. It works for me now.
But it is nice to have dreams….
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
-Epicurus
Sunday Photo Shoot…
March 28, 2011
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
-Anatole France
Thank gosh that I have an amazingly talented sister when it comes to photography. She always calls on me for her design needs and I always call on her for photography needs – it’s nice how that works out.
I get up super early (for a Sunday) and get to her house by 10:30am. I knew the weather was crappy in my city but hoped it was nicer an hour away, where she lives. This was crucial since we were going to do the shoot outside with natural lighting. Nope it was cold, icky and rainy there too.
I walk into her house, with a moving box full of props and 1 white & 1 brown roll of wrapping paper for backdrops. I greet her and see that she set up and awesome little studio in the kitchen – what a good sissy!
We sit and go through each invitation set and kind of the theme I was thinking with each set of props. So, we get started and realized that I really had NO clue about how to do these photos. What was I thinking buying these props? They looked cheesy and too staged. We didn’t use any props out of the box. The only prop we used were wine corks that my Dad let me borrow from his craft box (he makes ornaments out of them). It turned out that the invitations looked much better by themselves on the solid colored paper. It also helped that Whitney was very skilled at using dramatic camera angles to really capture each invitation’s look. I guess it’s good that I didn’t need little gimmicks to make the invitations look “professional”. They looked best with just the focus on them.
Thank you Whitney!!!! You are the best sister!
I have not seen all of the pictures on a computer screen yet. Just the tiney little pictures on her camera screen. I can not wait to get them and finally have a professional-looking portfolio. We definately learned that less is more and to take chances with odd angles. They were the ones that turned out to be our favorites. Stay tuned for my updated personal design portfolio!!!!!
I believe in hiring photographers, but if you ever need to take pictures of your own items here is what you need:
Tags: BullFish Graphics, DIY Photography, Whitney Olson Photography | 2 Comments »
Is All Change Good?
March 27, 2011
Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.
- Robert C. Gallagher
Thinking of a logo for a business is stressful. After all, it is the business summed up in a small image that will be on everything associated with it. I should know…it took forever to come up with a name for my business and even longer to create the logo. It is even harder to create a logo that will be be timeless and still work 10 years from now.
The new trend, it seems, is businesses changing up their logos. Some change is good and some change is just bad.
So here is my “What’s New” & “What’s Ew” this week:
WHAT’S “NEW!”
Walmart’s logo has evolved a lot since 1962. But so has the business. It started as a small retail store in Texas and now all of a sudden there is one down the road from everyone. But this time, Walmart really did it right. They kept the elements that made the original logo what was recognizable. They updated the blue to a more modern color. And the star is still incorporated, but much cleaner and has a bit more emphasis than it did before. Also, the star can be used on it’s own if they ever wanted. They have used the star as their favicon (that small symbol that sometimes appears in the broswer bar.) I mentioned this type of element in a previous post about branding. This gives the logo more options in it’s branding. This change is GOOD!
WHAT’S “EW!”
Belk’s new logo, in my opinion, is “ew!” I am not really sure that this hit’s home with their clientelle. Hip, young girls do not shop here – so why go with a young logo? Also, for some reason, it reminds me of the adidas’ logo. The 3 leaves the lower case font choice. To me the old Belk logo conveyed that classic southern retail store. I say in 5 years, they will change it again.This change is NOT SO GOOD!
You think company’s don’t realize that their logos are disasters? Let’s take a gander at Exhibit A:
WHAT’S “PEW!”
I don’t even know where to start with this one…. I mean, what were they thinking here? The GAP logo was one of the most recognizable retail logos ever! It is clean, simple, easy to read, and looked great stamped on the back of their over-priced, perfectly distressed jeans. Why would they even attempt to go with this!? It looks like one of the themes you can choose from a Word template or PowerPoint presentation. Did an agency do this or the CEO’s 13 year old kid who got a laptop and took Word for a spin?
After the release of the logo they switched right back to the old one in the same weej,
What’s the moral of this rant? Don’t fix what ain’t broken…
Grabbing the Bull By the Horns
March 26, 2011
Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.
-Johnny Carson
For years I have had this on-going list of ideas for wedding invitations and stationery sets. I am finally doing them. Now that most of my freelance projects have completed, I am taking some much needed me time. For most people, “me time” is a day at the spa or shoe shopping. For me…”me time” is finally getting to that list. So I am sitting here in my pajamas and turtle robe and knocking these ideas out! I am grabbing the bullfish by the horns today.
Tomorrow I will have my photo shoot for most of my wedding invitation & stationery samples. The photos will be featured in my online portfolio & on my Etsy store. The fun stuff is almost over and then it comes to the not-so-fun part….pricing. Ugh…I hate pricing. Knowing how much to charge for printing is easy – the printer’s determine that. But how much do you charge for YOUR time? So for now, I am just going to pretend that I don’t have to complete that part of the puzzle and just stick to the fun stuff…making pretty things!
Here are some inspirational photographs for tomorrow’s shoot. (these aren’t my designs I just love the photography style)
I hope to post pictures of the photo shoot. I will be taking pictures of us taking pictures. Sounds silly but I thought it would be fun to document this occasion since I have been working toward it for 7 years.
WISH ME LUCK, READERS! WOO-HOO!
Tags: BullFish Graphics, Etsy, Stationery, Wedding Invitations, Whitney Olson Portraits & Photography | 2 Comments »
Flippin’ the Birds!
March 25, 2011
To have been torn from the study would have been as death; my time was entirely occupied with art.
-John James Audubon
Have you ever gone to a bookstore or visitor center and seen the animal & plant field guides? Ever since my trip to Yellowstone last year, I have become a fan of the Audubon series. I especially adored the tiny illustrations in the books and trying so hard to find each bird just to be able to say that I did.
Audubon Series Field Guide to Birds
Until further investigation, I had no idea that this series was named after a real person.
John James Audubon – He was a naturalist and an innovative artist of his time.
John James Audubon
The miniature (and sometimes life sized) portraits of the North American birds he illustrated, were very different than his predecessors. He would illustrate these birds with awkwardly tilted heads, wings spread, maybe hanging upside down from limbs. See, he illustrated from life. He would watch these little creatures for hours in their natural habitats and somehow capture their unique personalities. Most illustrators during that time would illustrate using mounted or stuffed birds. They did not capture the life as Audubon did.
The NC Museum of Art has the complete Audubon Birds of America series. The books are said to be 40 inches in height. This is the first time the Museum is showing the exhibit. They have owned the series for more than a century and a half! I am definitely going to go see the actual pages that Audubon printed himself. He was said to have created it with pride and with hopes that people would accept his artistic style and his hard work illustrating and discovering over 400 different species of birds.
Check it out! NC Museum of Art – Audubon Exhibit
You can also find out more about the Audubon Society on Facebook
Tags: Audubon Society, Bird Watching, John James Audubon, NC Museum of Art | 1 Comment »
My Favorite Brand….Coca-Cola!
March 24, 2011
“Branding” is the often subliminal process by which a business employs marketing strategies to get people to easily remember their products and services over a competitors’ … essentially, it’s applied psychology.
“Branding” is also a term used for burning a symbol into an animals hide. Although, this definition disturbs me, the idea can be applied to business marketing. You are, figuratively, burning this brand into people’s minds and subconscious.
My favorite brand, of course, is Coca-Cola. This company has been around since 1899 and was considered the first energy drink due to the small amounts of cocaine. Yikes! Although, this ingredient is not included now-a-days, I still find myself addicted and longing for that ice cold coke. I am also addicted to its superb branding. The coke logo can be found even in the smallest villages in Africa.
You can also find coke in my kitchen. That’s right… my entire kitchen is dedicated to coke!
I have 20′s, 30′s, & 50′s trays, Coke bottles from around the world, old & new tin boxes and old Coke ads. It is decorated tastefully, of course!
What I love about their brand is how recognizable the logo, colors, and style is. Coke has even started bring their billboards back to the old style. You know, the old ads of the “good girl” image with the soft lighting & soft painted porcelain-skinned faces. It sort of depicts “The American Dream”. And everyone tells me that I look like I could be from the 50′s and I wish I could’ve been chosen for one of their classic ads. We can all dream, right?
So, what exactly am I getting at here?
All businesses should have a brand. Get a logo that you love and use it on everything. Be consistent with your colors and fonts in your marketing materials, website, and letterhead.
Your brand should be so recognizable that your clients KNOW who you are! Is there one element in your logo that you love? Use that! For instance, my BullFish logo. I love the bubbles. I use that on as my yahoo & Skype icons. I will even use it as my watermark on my photographs. But the key is to be consistent! Check out some of the branding Coke has used in the past!
For any branding questions or needs – please feel free to contact me!
Tags: Branding, BullFish Graphics, Coca-Cola, Coke, Logo Design, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Hello world!
March 23, 2011
- Hey! It’s me, Jenni!
For anyone who doesn’t know me, I am Jenni and I love anything graphic design related. I work as a packaging designer for 8 hours a day and usually go home and keep designing until it is time to go to bed. I loved it so much that a few years ago I started BullFish Graphics. I am obsessed with sharing my ideas and discovering “what’s new” and “what’s ew!” This is a blog about my life in design.
Seeing as though I am OBSESSED with any excuse for me to design something, one of my best friends, Amanda, told me about Etsy.com. She told me that I could sell my invitations and stationary designs online – I thought that it couldn’t be true! But I soon found out that it was….
So, I have signed up on Etsy and started a shop but I have no listings ready to post yet! This weekend I have a photoshoot with my very talented sister Whitney. We will be be taking different style photographs some for my online portfolio and some for Etsy. I will tell you more about that later…
Please follow this blog if you want to know more about me, my life, and what I offer as a graphic designer.
Tags: August Magnolia, BullFish Graphics, Jenni Sheets, Whitney Olson Portraits & Photography | 1 Comment »
