May 28, 2014

KELLY + JOFF

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These are my cute friends Kelly + Joff.

For a long time, I told Kelly I was going to force her + Joff into a fake engagement session so I could practice my photography skills on some ridiculously photogenic people. We talked and talked about it ( including conducting an awesome Internet search for bad engagement photos )....then nothing ever happened, because as you know, life happens.

Then Kelly texts me on a random February day, and we decide to take photos that Saturday in the dead of this brutal, brutal winter. Why you ask? You probably want to hear that—surprise!—Kelly + Joff are now engaged. But no. The answer is that we are both just a wee bit crazy.

Luckily, we camped out at Merchant for most of the session, drinking delicious craft cocktails + annoying the bartender, who I am pretty sure was less than thrilled we showed up right when the place opened. I highly recommend ordering The Regret—Death's Door vodka ( or gin ), lime juice + rosemary served on the rocks, for the record.

I am little disappointed we never got to recreate this photo with downtown Madison's parking meters, but c'est la vie—these kids are still my faves anyways.

Published by Holly Whittlef in Photography

May 23, 2014

WORK / BRETT BLOMME FOR CITY COUNCIL

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Earlier this year, I had the totally rad opportunity to help out my very good friend Brett develop a logo + series of mailers for his first City Council campaign ( !!! ). Some of you may know this, but I spent a few years of my life twerking for the people in state government, so it was an honor to help someone I whole-heartedly believe in run for office for the very first time.

The project actually came together pretty fast as Brett gave me full trust + near full creative control over the design process. As a designer, you don't get that often, so when you do, you run with it. Brett is a young, hip lawyer, so I wanted to keep the design clean, modern + fresh with a touch of Americana to reflect that. When it comes to political campaigns, I love me some good ol' red, white + blue, so I stuck with the classic color combination but added modern typography + icons to make him feel fresh, relevant + cool. Emphasis on the cool.

Once we had the feel, the logo, literature ( a.k.a. "lit" : political speak for mailers ) + collateral came together perfectly. And bonus - I took the photos for the lit too! Last fall, in anticipation of him running for office, I photographed Brett around his district before the weather turned brutal.

Unfortunately, my homeboy did not win on Election Day, BUT he met so many constituents in his district + is going to run again next year. Plus, his constituents loved the lit, so we're going to have to step up the design next time to make sure he wins.

With that, happy Memorial Day friends! Enjoy the long weekend + give some love to those who so bravely serve us.

P.S. Thanks so much for all your sweet comments on my last post. Y'all are far too nice.

Published by Holly Whittlef in Design

May 16, 2014

LIFE LATELY / 3

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Life lately has been sorta kinda totally and insanely nuts.

This week alone, I arrived back home after a bachelorette party weekend away in sunny California, got food poisoning, had four final projects due for school + two freelance deadlines—not including another two I am late on. I don't tell you all this to brag about my busyness, because in the midst of all that, I still rationalized binge watching six episodes of The Newsroom in one night because I was "cleaning my apartment" at the same time. I do tell you this because I am really telling myself that I need to slow the eff down. This girl is burnt out.

Life doesn't always allow us restful periods to pause in gratitude of the miraculous fact we are—indeed!—alive. But I know that within the busyness—the traveling to Colorado to see your sissy graduate, end-of-semester school projects, work that pays the rent + inevitable fuck-ups of work that cause even more work—I still need to find restful pauses to reflect on the awesomeness of life. That's been my goal as of late. To just stop what I'm doing every once in awhile, take a big, lung-busting breath, and say thank you. It's the attitude of gratitude. And it works.

Because all my hard work is paying off! And working this hard only confirms that I don't want to work this hard the rest of my life. That's made me a whole lot smarter financial-wise ( who da thunk? ), more appreciative of the fact I don't have kids ( mothers, I don't know how you do it ), and incredibly excited to see where life takes me when I graduate in December.

Yeah, so life may be nuts...but it's oh so good.

Published by alphablossom in life lately, Photography
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