I’m nearing the end of my graphic design program (almost finished!) and the current task was to design a package label for something, anything: I chose to do a label for my husband’s home brew. I’ll admit that the ‘client’ here is a bit biased; however, the snowgum tree logo and associated [...]]]>          

I’m nearing the end of my graphic design program (almost finished!) and the current task was to design a package label for something, anything: I chose to do a label for my husband’s home brew. I’ll admit that the ‘client’ here is a bit biased; however, the snowgum tree logo and associated beer bottle labels were quite well received!

I also had an assignment to do an entire company brand (logo + letterhead, business card, and envelope design). I opted to redo the ANU logo – a daunting task! I wanted to courageously tackle the ideas of classicism and university shields while also propelling the forward thinking nature of a university. I think the toughest part about a university logo is the audience – the logo must appeal to Nobel laureates, academics, emeritus professors, and high school senior students looking for freshness in their potential university! Did I do a good job? You be the judge.

[I should state here that this was in no way commissioned by ANU, nor should it be used for any such official purpose: it was made purely for fun (unless(until?) ANU decides to buy it from me!)]

We were asked to make a corset cake for my calligraphy teacher’s son’s wedding – and wow, it turned out alright! We had so much fun joking about “which part do you want to work on Honey”, and of course we heard that there were similar jokes about eating it during the reception! (Yes, [...]]]>

We were asked to make a corset cake for my calligraphy teacher’s son’s wedding – and wow, it turned out alright! We had so much fun joking about “which part do you want to work on Honey”, and of course we heard that there were similar jokes about eating it during the reception! (Yes, I made the black roses, one hour each; no, we did not make the figurines, although I did add the wings.)

I certainly am wavering between two styles – wanting to do more of a Brent Harris’s Leo Schofield type thing, like my life drawing (with [...]]]> I got a new (well, it’s vintage, so new to me) Blackbird fountain pen. So much fun! Here’s one of my first sketches with it (after a Manet painting…)

I certainly am wavering between two styles – wanting to do more of a Brent Harris’s Leo Schofield type thing, like my life drawing (with Gillot 303 nib) from a few weeks ago:

; but instead my hand simply cannot seem to get away from detailed sketches, like my graphite renditions of Jannis and Nick below.

It’ll be interesting to see where my hand takes me in the next few months… My favourite calligraphy nib (the Gillott 303) has significantly more flex than the Blackbird. But the Blackbird is good fun in the meantime and for regular writing too.