Street view through the gate.
Don’t you love it when the littlest things surprise you? When I got my new office I went a little crazy in the plant department. Only after three of my ferns died did everyone tell me how hard it is to keep ferns… I guess they didn’t want to spoil it for me– my grandmother was so good at it. My faithful spider plants remain (thank you Dad, I think of you) and one cool cactus. Here’s the surprise part: yellow February blooms! It sort of feels like spring around here anyway, but I still couldn’t believe they were flowers. What are the chances of yellow? Most of the cactus I see blooming in the winter are in the red or pink family.
Just a little serendipitous brand experience at the yellowDog office. We’re all about it.
Beautiful little waxy flowers-- just in daylight hours.
It’s late and I should really just go to bed– but I can’t. I have to start my new copy of Why We Broke Up. I’ve followed Maira Kalman’s work for years, initially introduced to Pete, another great yellow dog. (He eats tons of crazy things and even goes to school.) Tonight I had the pleasure to see her with Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) at Quail Ridge Books. They were hilarious! I can’t remember the last event I went to where I laughed so hard… I had considered cancelling since the list of deadlines is huge and looming– but how often do you get to see the people who inspire you and make you want to do better work? It was worth it. I’m officially inspired.
I’m ready to pick up my sketchbook and start drawing. I’ll get started right after that first chapter…
The newest book-- and Pete. Another yellow dog with LOTS of character.
We’re all about the yellow here at yellowDog. (If you’ve been to the office I think you’ll agree. Who knew I had so many yellow books!) Even still, since the loss of our official pup we’ve added brown and red to our pack. The Paws4Ever Annual Walk in 2011 marked the debut of Riley the red. I was honored when P4E asked if I would do the logo for their big event. We love supporting such a great place for dogs– and cats too…
She modeled for the logo and I have to admit, it was a little hard to get her to sit. She prefers long walks in the woods or even longer naps in her favorite chair. She seemed a fitting model since she used to live at Paws4Ever before we brought her home.
Livin' the life of Riley.
Maybe 2012 will have an opportunity for little Miss Sadie Brown…
Got a project for me?
We [yellowDog and Clear Connections] wanted to celebrate our clients and friends and the first six months of our shared office space. What better way than a Holiday Open House?
It was fun putting it all together from decorations to invitations — to food and goodies. We had a great turnout and are so thankful that the line between client and friend is so blurred. 2011 had many opportunities for great work with clients new and old and it’s always nice to get together when we don’t have an impending deadline as the reason. It was so relaxing that we all stayed a wee bit past 7…
Thanks to all who came for your continued support and for driving all the way to Hillsborough!
Welcome to 2a
Trees lit and decorated in Clear Connection colors.
Living in the woods makes for great branch selection!
The holiday version of my corner office.
The official invitation
Thanks to the discussion boards from the Creative Freelancer Conference back in June, I’ve learned about a new tool for creating websites for clients.
It’s a great tool for clients who are visual and want to work in a space that thinks like they do. We’ll be trying our first official site this week for an educational consulting firm in Chapel Hill. The owner is excited about making her site work. She started in WordPress and it just didn’t feel as intuitive as she wanted it to be. As a consultant who travels to universities across the country, she’ll be able to use Clover to add images and videos from her campus visits. She can also post a calendar of her trips and that big SAT date. It’s exciting to find a product that makes a client so happy about working on her website… I’ll post an update once she gets up and running.
Check out Clover for yourself. They have a great demo site that lets you get a sense of how the product works. That’s what sold my client!
I’m one month shy of my official two years on my own and I’ve made the leap (or climbed the stairs in this case) to my very own corner office. Yep, it’s official, yellowDog now has a bone-a-fide office space on N. Churton Street in downtown Hillsborough. And it really is a golden corner of sunshine. It’s so bright I can even have plants! I imagine it will take a while for the shine to wear off, but the novelty of it makes me giddy on the days I go in. Working in a sunny space will take some getting used to– my office at home is more like a very quiet, dark cave… The new office is a great space to meet with clients, meet other downtown merchants and hang out with current clients [Haven Salon is right next door]. I’m sharing my digs with Clear Connections and it’s bound to be a place with ideas brimming and late night oil burning…
If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by. We love visitors and promise to always have treats!
yellowDog corner office: why do I always find myself in this chair and not the one at the desk?
Every work day starts with my chores around the ‘farm.’ Taking care of chickens is just like having dogs. They’re always glad to see me coming… especially when I have kitchen scraps for them. There’s an added bonus though– the daily gathering of some of the most beautiful works of art.
What beautiful bounty!
I don’t think I could ask for more lovely, daily inspiration. We’ve learned so much from keeping them– about half of the sayings we have are somehow derived from chickens, hens or flocks. It’s been great fun watching their social interactions. I’m considering a little letterpress book project that might be ‘Chicken-isms’ or something along those lines. Cluck? Printed in these gorgeous eggs colors (in case you’re wondering, we’re talking PMS 726, 621, 628, 7500 and maybe 727. Every once in a while one is almost white.) The best part on the blue ones? Once hard boiled the inside of the shell turns a bright teal– a special prize when peeling them…
Back to that little book. Food for thought?
I was looking for a large sketchbook to take to a meeting last week and I pulled out one of my favorites from college. A BIG yellow (yes, yell0w) sketchbook. I flipped through and found many drawings of hands. Bones, flesh, holding pens, writing script… and then my favorites… Los Manos. I had forgotten that I used to draw these little stick figures doing all kinds of activities on hands. I’m not sure what that fetish was about, but I thought I’d share a few.
Los Manos (me wearing orange shirts even back then...)
Los Manos and my favorite Swatch
Since I’m working on 15 minutes of art a day, I think I’ll leave this sketchbook out and handy. It’s fun to get back into the messy part of art again.
So I opened my newest bar of soap this week—one of my guilty pleasures. I admit to buying it sometimes based on the packaging (and the smell, of course). You might be surprised at how fancy soap can be. This package is beautifully subtle (so beautiful, I think it will end up in my Right-Brain Business Plan) and with its soft, delicate scent, it won me over. Who knew that when I unwrapped it months later I would find an even better surprise? Type.
What clever, and again subtle, branding. I love it. It makes the soap smell better. It makes the birds sing when I get up in the morning for my shower. Okay, it really just makes me smile.
Good design turns up in the darndest places…
At a recent meeting with a colleague [in a madly popular Durham bakery], we were discussing brands, and how crucial they are to the success of companies, products, campaigns or initiatives. The investment doesn’t have to be the equivalent of a new Coca-Cola campaign, but the impact can still be as rewarding. A consistent message reinforces what your audience knows about your brand and they continue to learn as you expand it.
For many of my non-profit clients, these brands are applied to donor campaigns or special events. Other organizations work with affiliates throughout the state or country and need materials that retain consistency when the work is out of their hands. Templates and tools are simple to create and can reinforce the brand across many users and audiences. Keeping the relationship to the parent brand is important, as it increases visibility and adds credibility.
It’s all in the details—even the smallest pieces of a campaign can reinforce the brand. One of my clients met me with folders in hand. I commented that I loved that she had chosen one of their brand colors for her folders—she hadn’t realized that she’d done it. That subliminal messaging is all part of embracing exactly who your organization is and putting it out there in a visual space.
You don’t have to be a control freak to love a great brand package. The consistency means that you’re more likely to achieve the outcomes you’re seeking. Whether this means sales or donations, attendees or volunteers, being true to your brand will mean measurable results. Make your brand work hard for you.
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