3*31*10

I was in Target the other day and fell in love with their new Liberty of London line. The small, intricate floral patterns are so beautiful! Good thing I'll be moving soon and will have a great excuse to buy some pretty new things for the new pad.

3*30*10 Round 2

I just read that Adobe is counting down the launch to CS5: less than two weeks away!!! Holy Guacamole!

Due to travel and financial restrictions, I never upgraded my own computer to CS4, but loved using it at work. I'm looking forward to buying the iMac I've been saving for, as well as the CS5 I will be installing on it. Yay!

3*30*10

I'm supposed to be doing my taxes. Instead, I'm looking at pretty things like this:

I found it here, on the TheDieline, a website that shows off exceptional packaging design.

The thing I love about this packaging in particular is the very organic look. They are using images from linocut. I LOVE LINOCUT!

3*29*10

This last Saturday I went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox with my honey bear at the Laurelhurst Theater (which is awesome, by the way, because its only $3 and you can have cheap beer and pizza). I hadn't realized that it was written by Roald Dahl, and when I remarked about this to Cory, he said he didn't know who Roald Dahl was. And all of a sudden I couldn't remember any of his work. So I decided to look it up.

Roald Dahl is most famous for his children's stories, such as James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Witches, and Matilda.

However, he also only wrote for adults for the first 15 years of his career. I'd like to read more of this.

From the Roald Dahl website: "Perhaps his most famous story is 'Lamb to the Slaughter', in which a woman beats her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb and then roasts the murder weapon and serves it up to the policemen who come to question her. 'It wasn't nasty' Roald said, 'I thought it was hilarious. What's horrible is basically funny. In fiction.'"

3*27*10

Great to see Ashland, OR, in such a positive light on NPR's homepage today! Article here.

Also, I found some great freebie templates here.

3*26*10

I found a really awesome website today: Young Me Now Me

3*25*10

It's my first day off in a few weeks, and while I need to work on my portfolio, I thought it a would be nice to get out of my apartment at least. So I walked down to this nice little coffee shop, Sip & Kranz, on the corner of Kearny and 10th. They serve Nuvrei pastries, Stumptown coffee, and Ninkasi beer (it is my day off!), so it is a great place to be.

On my walk over here I saw an article on the cover of the Asian Reporter that caught my eye. Pingping, the world's shortest man, died of a heart condition. That wasn't really what caught my eye though. It was the photo they showed of him posed with the woman with the longest legs. Svetlana Pankratova has legs that are 4 feet 4 inches long.

Rest in peace little Pingping.

3*24*10

Stumptown Coffee Roasters sent the lovely Rita to Isabel today to give us new kids some training. I learned how to make some right proper espresso! Rita sure does know her stuff about coffee.

I was most excited about learning how to make latte art. Here is my first ever! Love!

3*23*10

My (very cute and smart) friend Scarlett represents a band called The Prices at the artist management company she works for in New York. They just came out with a new album and are having a show at the Bitter End on April 1st. Scarlett needed a poster, so I made one up real quick. I created 4 very different mock-ups, but this ones my fav:

3*22*10

Good things are happening. Too tired to post today, but will update tomorrow!

Happy Monday!

3*20*10

My amazing friend Scarlett sent me a little project this week. She works for an artist management company in New York, and needed a poster for a show that one of her bands is doing.

This is a WAY fun project, because other than the necessary copy (band logo, venue, date and time), the options and possibilities are endless.

It is also a very difficult project because the options and possibilities are endless.

I guess we'll just see how this goes... digging deep into the well of creativity this weekend so that I can get a couple mock-ups to her by Monday...

3*19*10

It's finally friday! And so much to do...

It's my last day at Kells. I will miss the friends I've made at Kells, but thankfully I'm really not too far away. I'm now working at Isabel, a Latin-Asian restaurant on 10th and Flanders. The food, people and atmosphere there are divine!

My PNCA Professional Practices class will be visiting Adidas Headquarters at 4:00. I'm excited to see what they have for in-house graphic design.

Then I pick up Cory from the airport. I've been missing him like crazy as he's been in Chicago all week.

Then off to a Hillstomp concert at Mississippi Studio. I saw them play in Ashland once and loved their heavy sound, so I'm excited to go dance the night away.

3*18*10

I've been on a real inspiration rollercoaster lately.

I think that comes with the process of seeking a creative job. Sometimes I am pumped. I get on that high and become excited to turn my portfolio into the most kick-ass portfolio that any art director has ever seen. Ever. And then there are those other days. Those days when it seems that everyone else, even your crackhead neighbor, has something better to offer. It can be a real chore to get past these days and keep making progress, even though it feels like swimming upstream.

Somehow, I always get past the negative moments. Normally I find that if I "just do it", literally just force myself to work on something, it usually brings me right back out of that rut. So tonight, even though I am exhausted, and don't REALLY have the energy for it (not having a single day off will do that to you), I AM going to get out my studio lighting, camera, and backdrop, and photograph work for my portfolio.

And in the meantime, I am finding lots of inspiration from this blog post about some truly amazing designers.

3*17*10

Last night I finished sewing, by hand, an apron from a pattern that my mom gave me for Christmas. I made two of them, but the first one I sent to my lovely Scarlett in New York for Valentines Day. Many hours were spent, many of them under a playboy snuggie (jealous? though so...) sewing this baby. So here's a real crappy photo of me in my kitchen, barefoot, wearing the finest in housewife apparel:

3*16*10

So I was riding my bike down the street yesterday and saw this sign that reads "COME AND THE OATMEAL CURRANT COOKIE WILL MAKE YOUR DAY BETTER":

I didn't have the cookie. I had the chocolate almond croissant. But sure enough, it DID make my day! I had such a difficult time choosing just one pastry. I can't wait to go back...

Then I made that dinner for Theresa. Bananafish turned out great, and the coconut bread even better.

3*15*10

After a very long and draining weekend, I slept almost in a coma-like state last night. And now I feel quite rejuvenated, ready to kick ass this week. Bring it on, Monday!

I'm going to be making dinner tonight for my beautiful friend Theresa. We've been friends since high school and I have really enjoyed hanging out with her since returning to Portland. She eats like I do (pescetarian - a vegetarian that includes fish and seafood in their diet; and yes, it is a real word), so cooking for her is exciting.

I will be making:

Bananafish (white fish with plantains)

Coconut Bread

Steamed Carrots

These dishes come from the Moosewood cookbook Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. The awesome thing about Moosewood cookbooks is that they have these amazing recipes from all over the world that don't use any meat or poultry, only fish. They even have a recipe for Jambalaya that doesn't use any ham. I'm pretty excited to try that one.

My desk this morning:

3*13*10

Yay! For same sex marriages in DC!

3*12*10

My favorite thing in the whole world: my mom.

And then somewhere else on the top ten: bakeries! Portland's got lots of 'em, and so many of them are so damn good.

So far I've visited:

• Bakery Bar - So far, its my favorite. Those biscuits are heavenly.
• Sweet Pea - Vegan, but you would never know. Love their Bacun Schmear.
• Pearl Bakery - A classic for loafs.
• Lovejoy Bakery - The pastries are good, but the location and the hotties working the counter are the real treat.

Now, my wish list of bakeries I would like to visit:

• Nuvrei - I'm embarrassed that I haven't been yet. Its right next to my new job, about 6 blocks from my apartment.
• Ken's Artisan - I've heard so many wonderful things about this place, especially their pizza.
• Grand Central Bakery - From Seattle, but a Portland classic as well. They put out an awesome cookbook.
• Black Sheep Bakery - Vegan. They've gotten some really amazing reviews.

This list is really only the beginning. Let the carb-loading begin!

3*11*10

So here I am. Starbucks Green Tea Latte in hand and mouth.

And heres why: at about 3:00 PM yesterday, I learned that a draft of my portfolio, resume, business card, and a 2-page Intro PDF (that shows off some work and basically tells a person what I'm all about) are all due tomorrow at 4:00 PM. And I'm not even close to being finished with all of this. I did print off most of the pages of my portfolio. And I rewrote the copy for my resume.

I am now stuck in Starbucks, because its raining too hard to walk all the way home, working on layout for my resume. I'm not even going to start on the 2-page PDF until I get a little more information on what one should look like (I've seen ONE).

3*10*10

I've been working on my resume for the last week, and have been having a difficult time with how boring the copy is and how rigid it all looks. So I went on da internet to find a little inspiration. I found lots of creative stuff, some inspiring, some completely ridiculous.

Here's one that is surprisingly easy to read, and still shows off package design skills:

I love this one, printed on fabric, and with this person's initials embroidered on the top. It's cute, but I don't know that it would have the same effect if you only saw one:

This person turned their resume into a horror film poster. It's certainly eye-catching:

I just might consider doing this if I get real desperate, except I would print it right across my chest to attract more viewers:

3*9*10

My baby brother is turning 21 today! If it weren't for him living in Alaska, I would take him out for a few shots. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLETCHER!!!

3*8*10

My first day off in a couple weeks, so I am... working. I'm working on my resume, portfolio, taking care of a parking ticket, etc. Just generally catching up on life stuff. At the moment I am editing the photos I took of the beautiful Evelyn Jean Caldwell the other day:

3*7*10

I found this cool article about special effects jobs for movies on NPR today. I would write all about it, but I'm limited to 100 words and lazy, so I'll just post the link in case anyone is interested in reading it.

Belief On The Big Screen: Secrets of Special Effects

3*6*10

Since I am fresh out of college, my portfolio consists of work that I've done for class projects, for the University Bookstore, and a few small jobs that I've done for friends. I am looking right now for work that I can do for more friends, and anything else that can diversify my portfolio.

I came across this awesome book today on one of the blogs that I read, and I think it would be a great tool for me to use. The Graphic Design Exercise Book gives you exercises to do to learn new skills and practice old ones, as well as a "recipe list" of the tools you need to do it. I guess I'll be adding this great book to my wish list. :)

3*5*10

Its Friday and, after such an eventful First Thursday night, MOVIE DAY!

My Professional Practices class will be touring Sandstorm Design, as well as Laika. Laika is the animation studio responsible for creating one of my top ten films: Coraline.

Later tonight, I will be watching Harold and Maude. Classic!

Then, I will be making plans to see the new Alice in Wonderland, in 3D of course. It looks AMAZING.

{Disney has disabled embedding. Ha!}

3*4*10

Hello Thursday!

Your blue skies are encouraging. Please don't be too good to me, or I will have to leave my cluttered little apartment and won't get any work done today.

Thank you,

Verelle

3*3*10

I'm going to say its spring now. There are blossoms on the trees outside my apartment building. Even though chances are, living in Portland, mother nature will probably send a 2-inch covering of the white powdery stuff our way before the end of April, I'm still gonna say that YES, it is spring.

Time to celebrate! I'll start by going to art walk tomorrow. I plan to visit Wieden + Kennedy and Lizard Lounge, both on NW 13th. Next I'm going to pump up the tires on my road bike and take it for a spin, probably a loop around the river. Finally, I'm going to... um... finish putting my portfolio together... I guess. Over a nice tall glass of pinot gris! Yay!

On an entirely separate note, if I had an animal, I would want this guy to take pictures of it.

3*2*10 part deux

I just ordered business cards (Its about damn time)! This means I will finally have something to hand out as well as have a graphic theme on which to base all other things "Verelle" such as this blog, my portfolio, and pretty much everything else that has my name on it.

So here is the front, which will be printed in a variety of colors:

And the back which is printed the same on each one:

The idea with these is that I can write in whatever I want based on the person I am giving them too. The possibilities are endless. Some things I might write would be:

"loves her mom."

"really enjoyed meeting you."

"likes to stare at computer screens all day."

The inspiration for this came from the status update feature of social networking sites. It makes the card more interactive, as well as personal. The color scheme is mostly drawing from Pantone's Fashion Color Report for Fall 2010.

Lets hope job recruiters like it as much as I do!

3*2*10

I've been plugging away at my business card. I don't know that I've gotten that far, but I've certainly exhausted quite a few ideas, so I'm sure that soon one of them will be working out... hopefully...

And in the meantime, I have been taking inspiration from the amazingly beautiful work of the design studio Omnivore in New York. They're work is so simple, yet quite stunning.

3*1*10

So to begin designing my portfolio, I am going to need to first decide what size presentation book I will be putting it in.

I like the horizontal (or landscape) presentation, so that is an easy decision.

Now I need to decide between 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 14.

Pros of 8.5 x 11: easier to carry, cheaper

Cons: tighter fit on page, not as impressive

Pros of 11 x 14: more space for presenting work

Cons: more expensive

...and I really need to decide by about 4:00 today so that I can begin working on the layout of the portfolio pages. Maybe the answer lies in another cup of coffee.