January 10, 2018Comments are off for this post.

2017 / Year In Review

It's 2018.

That fact is crazy to me because (a) I swear I was just sporting an Abercrombie zip-up jacket and frosted sparkly eyeshadow on New Year's Eve 1999 fearing the impending apocalypse of Y2K, and (b) it means I've officially been a self-employed designer for more than three years now.

Three years! And yet, I still feel so new to design. Always learning, always trying to pay attention, always discovering what I want to communicate to you — and to this crazy world — with my work. It's perhaps the reason why I'm terrible about actually showing my work. I often still feel like that self-conscious, uses-too-many-Photoshop-filters design student constantly wondering, "Am I good enough for this?"

Because of these lingering feelings, I'm dedicating myself to showing up.

Again and again and again.

It's only by doing and sharing my work that I'll grow and progress as a designer. Also, it turns out I need clients to pay my bills and showing my work helps ensure I can afford those expensive jars of tahini and packs of sparkling water I love so much.

Enjoy this sampling of my 2017 design work. There was a lot of branding, typography and lettering. My first real packaging! A bit of web design. A first foray into animation. And I'm never not wishing for more print projects — did you hear that, 2018?

A huge thank you to all my lovely clients for entrusting me so generously with your businesses, ideas and friendship. You the best.

August 18, 2017Comments are off for this post.

FREE Things Friday

It's Friday.

And while we've survived another week on this planet, so many people have not. After the horrifying events in Charlottesville this past week, it cannot be repeated enough: it is not okay. Hate and white supremacy and terrorism and bigotry and oppression and the alt-right, ALL NOT OKAY.

We cannot be silent.

I'm holding onto this message tight and committing to being a warrior for love, justice and freedom. Free iPhone wallpapers won't fix the institutionalized systems of injustice in our country, but one thing I know deep in my bones is that art has the power to connect. And human connection is one of the superpowers that will help us dismantle these systems to make meaningful change and create a world that's better for all.

Wishing you a peaceful, love-filled weekend, friends.

(P.S. I highly recommend watching Brené Brown's post-Charlottesville live FB discussion.)


Click on links to open and download.

01 — Hashmarks (made by stamping a mini hair clip)

02 — Lines (made by stamping the end of a cheese knife)

03 — Abstract Grid (made by stamping one end of a battery)

04 — Circles + Squares (made by stamping the other end of a battery)

March 16, 2017Comments are off for this post.

The Importance of Play

Between keeping up with client work, exploring Scandinavia + working on this new site, I haven't had much time to just PLAY.

I don't say this to complain about my current state of existence. As a creative, right-brained human, I've simply learned that my happiness + sanity are in direct correlation to the amount of time I allow myself to explore whichever artistic medium I feel like on a given day. Sometimes that's lettering, other times that's illustrating new letterpress projects or pattern-making. Often, it's literally scribbling in my sketchbook.

In the past, I used time as an excuse for not doing this one simple thing that instantly brings alignment + joy into my daily being. I whined (and still whine), "But there's no timmmmeee!" at least once a week to my mom on the phone.

Over the last year however, I've discovered all I really need is 20 minutes. Just a mere 1200 seconds to get things and shapes and ideas and life mantras and built-up gunk and Salt-n-Pepa lyrics out of my brain, and alive onto paper.

My favorite 20-minute play activity is stamping. This all started years ago with potato stamping. Now, it's morphed into a full-fledged artistic witch hunt to find any thing or object in my vicinity, slather it with paint, and stamp it to see the results.

In London, I discovered shallot stamping (above). In Stockholm, it was mark-making (below). And when I arrive to Portugal tomorrow morning, I fully plan to continue this ever-evolving experiment while basking my face in the Lisbon sun.

From top left (L to R): stamped tea bags, paintbrush marks, corrugated cardboard cut into shapes, fusilli pasta, pepper grinder, bell pepper, shallot, paper coffee cup