Rococo Cocoa

You have to admit getting letters personally addressed to me from the White House makes me cooler than you.

Remember this? If you don't (you don't) let me refresh: I'm designing wedding invitations for my friend Amelia and her fiancee Joe (not me) and we have gone through months of edits, text changes, mother's changes, more mother's changes, more more mother's changes- and now we're here!

They are inviting around 170 people (all with at least 1 "plus one"- that's a lot of people!) and thusly, I'm hand making around 170 invitations. See, that sounds tough doesn't it. But get this- Each invite has 4 separately cut printed components, printed labels, backing sheets that need to be cut, ribbons that need to be cut, wrists that need to be cut...

It turns out that when I'm done with them I will have cut 170 x 6 components to = 1,020 components in all, 4,080 (or therearounds) slices of the exacto. Crazy!

Anyway, I'm keeping track of how long it takes me so that when I charge another wedding invite client, I know I'm getting my money's worth. So, its really a good thing in the end. And think of the ice breaker I have at the wedding! "Hey, you know the invite you got in the mail that was absolutely gorgeous? Yeah, all me baby. Here's my card."

Very cool photog. Francois Brunelle. He's doing a series of photographs on unrelated lookalikes. Check it out.

I have my own lookalike proposal to give. This model (who's name I unfortunately don't know) from a James Cameron show, and actress Brooke Burns.

They look just alike! It's just so creepy. In other news, I was published by Overheard in the Office. I won't tell you which quote, or what day, but I think it'll be pretty obvi. That is all, folks. Have a great weekend people!

I recently gave a friend a really good wedding present: I offered to design her wedding invitations for free. It's a great portfolio builder and it helps keep me sane cause the jobs at work right now are boring. Here are the three ideas I presented to the happy couple:



1. Basic Folded
In case you didn't notice, her wedding is going to be in the fall. The wedding is fall themed, so I tried to reflect this in the coloring and decorative flourishes.


2. Swash and Leaf- 've always wanted to use a swash font for something, and since I work in museums, they frown on them case they're not readible to younger folk, disabled folk, and the elderly. But for weddings you can be foofy foofy, so I went with Caslon Swash. I love these envelopes, and if anyone can find them on the cheap I'd really like to know where I could get a bunch. The envelope is binded with a wrinkled paper ribbon that I found really nice. The paper is this really awesome watercolor paper with ripped edges which gave it a natural look.


3. 12 Leaf
12 leaves, and their wedding is in October. Do you get it?

This is the one they went for. There will be some color changes, and like a reply card, directions, all that good stuff. So when I get the final thing together there will be a delightful post on that. I like how the line on the actual invite mirrors the ribbon on the envelope. I'm trying to figure out how to mail all that with the ribbon on the envelope. More on that later.
Cheers!

I haven't blogged in what seems like forever. I promise I will blog a lot more from now on! Hopefully, it'll be interesting enough to keep your attention!

So, when I first got my ultra glamorous job as a graphic designer (ha), my mother bought me a bag to use to cart my wares back and forth to work. That was two years ago. Now its pretty much fallen apart, sadly... so now I have to find a new bag. Here are a couple bags that have caught my eye in the past couple of weeks. Which one melds stylish youthfulness with masculine sophistication the most?




1. Padded laptop/Briefcase
from Fitson (http://www.filson.com/)
I'm really digging this bag. This bag has evolved from a family of extra-durable apparel and clothing that dates from 1897. Real manly stuff. Maybe a guy who wears old spice and backpacks on the weekend will ask me where I got my bag. Love and Marriage will ensue.
$285.00





2. Lacoste Duffle Bag
from Saks Fifth Avenue (http://www.saksfifthavenue.com)
I've been eyeing these for a really long time now. It looks like the perfect size for a weekend trip to New York, an stylish piece of luggage for overnight business trip, or a holiday visit with the family. Yet, this seems a little too casual to bring to a meeting. I'm trying to seem be more mature. Still, can't you see me glamourously exiting the Hampton Jitney in early June with this bag?
$190.00



3. Fossil Jackson Leather Messenger Bag
from Macy's (www.macys.com)
Four words: stylish, classic, simple... shiny? What else do I need? Unfortunately, I need more than one pocket for all the crap I lug around. Don't want to fish around for what I need. Am I right bag ladies?
$158.00



4. Kenneth Cole Single Gusset Expandable Messenger/Computer Case
from Macy's (www.macys.com)
I think I may have found the one! This lovely tote does double duty as an everyday messenger and smart computer brief. Sleek and stylish, the expandable main compartment holds a full-featured organizer and padded laptop pocket for my future computer, however that may come to me. At least I can save more with how affordable this is!
$99.00

More on my fashion tribulations later this week!

So I have approximately 13 gifts to give. And this year, for some god forsaken reason, I told myself I wasn't going to buy anything, and that I was going to make everything. I have presents to make for (and I'm thinking out loud here):

1. My mother
2. My father,
3. My sister
4. My brother
5. My
   
6. four
   
7. (count 'em
   
8. four) roommates
9. My friends Carly
10. Lizzy
11. and Laura...

...as well as handmade cards for them and 4 more people. That brings our grand total of things to 26 items. Did I mention I have a cold? Did I also mention I haven't finished anything? Its going to be like college all over again. Yum.

PS. This means at least 11 posts next week with the results. Stay tuned!

It's Christmas Party time at my job... where we get our clients into a pub, get them drunk, then try and get them to sign wild contracts that get us all their money. Not really, but it sure would be a lot more fun than the awkward cocktail conversations I have with clients I usually only speak with about copy and pantone colors.

Anyway, here's one of the options I provided. I think its very Starbucks-y. I included the artboard cause I thought the way it interacts with the red square is pretty nifty.

Coming tommorrow! Roomate Thanksgiving pictures!

We did some work for the Pentagon over the weekend (fuck yeah!) and my boss bought me a gift. It's this snow globe that plays the National Anthem. Wonderfully kitsch. As you can see, I'm making use of my newly constructed light tent.


As you can also see by these pink lemondade cupcake pictures I took last night, I need Daylight light bulbs, these are quite yellow. No matter! They didn't taste yellow! More (less yellow, I hope) pictures tommorow.

The other day I visited my mother and father, who live on Memory Lane- well its not actually called memory lane, but for me it is. Whenever I go there, I do a couple of things: I make sure to I fill up on as many mom-made Haitian goodies as possible (otherwise I'd have to visit way more often....... too catty?) Anyway, she gladly cooks anything I want, as long as it's oily and fattening.

Like I'd ask for anything else.

This time, she made boullion soup, but at other times, I've gotten family sized portions of poule corniques et pois (cornish hen and peas) to Sauteed beef in brown rice to fried plantain (which doesn't sound fancy but its tasty!) She probably wouldnt mind it if I ended up looking like Biggie Smalls' heavier brother. But I resist (as much as I can.)

The other thing I do is go to my old bedroom (or, the memory closet, if you will) to see if theres any crap I can take out of there to add to the mountains of crap I have in my apartment. I was looking through a box and I found this sketchbook from highschool:



It looks like I did all this art around junior year of HS. Not too shabby. I seemed to be really into crosshatching. In this book, however, was a really detailed drawing of Trent from Daria. Which, I mean, was correct in it's movie like foreshadowing. Also in this sketchbook: really awful, and I mean REALLY AWFUL poetry. You'll never see it if I have anything to say about it.

PS. REALLY AWFUL.

Cool picture of me installing at WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution:

Fabulous!

WACK! is on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts through December 16, 2007. Located at 1250 New York Ave, NW, the Museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. General admission is $10.

These were invitation proposals for the New York office of my job. It was for a fall cocktail party. I guess these do come off kind of creepy. I still like them. I want the red wine one on a t-shirt. I can see it being the cover of some rock album, or a horror-sequel to Sidways. Eh?