The biggest issue regarding my work is that Blogger is no longer going to offer FTP as of February! This means I have to stop neglecting my Tumblr account and merge it with my site the way I've done with Blogger thus far. This means more work with a serious deadline. I'm still working on the Harambee website. Sheesh!

Anyway, please bear with me as I convert things. Hopefully it'll run smoothly. This week's blogs won't be affected, but I really need to handle this over the weekend.

Labels: workin' wednesdays

My baby vacation is officially over. I can't say it was restful. It was actually full of poop -- literally. I've Hannibal has downloaded new music for the hip-hop class. Although I'm not sure how much hipping and hopping I can do right now. Damn, I sound old. I bought some Spanx to wear, so I should be fine. When I don't wear them, it feels like everything is going to fall out of my abdomen. Anyway, Mooch is excited to return to Lula's next Tuesday. That's her home away from home. I start Colburn the following Saturday morning.

Design has already kicked back into high gear. I have a client meeting tomorrow at 3pm -- at my home office, of course. Shoot, I'm not meeting anybody at Starbucks right now. I haven't had any clients who were willing to let me post their stuff recently. Oh well. I'll be designing Fuss's birth announcements soon, so I guess I'll post those.

Here is the final result of the Mooch and Fuss logo (mostly chosen by people on Facebook):

Labels: dance, graphic design, workin' wednesdays

Okay. This isn't a client. It's my kids. I still need your help deciding on their logo. Everybody knows Mooch. Meet Fuss. We almost decided against the name, because we realized she was only fussing for the first 3 days due to my not actually producing breastmilk. Once fed, she was the best baby.

We later noticed that she would pant really quickly and then fuss as a warning before she'd actually scream at us. We thought about calling her spits, because she really spits up a lot. Really. That name didn't seem like it would go well when she hits adolescence. *smirk* Then we considered chipmunk, because she does those weird eyes that the dramatic chipmunk on YouTube does. We may still use that one around the house, but it didn't stick well with Mooch.

Anyway, I've pretty much narrowed down the logo, but there are subtle differences between the five. Please choose one, and tell why:

Labels: graphic design, Parenting, workin' wednesdays

While I'm off it gives me a chance to build blog traffic, look to other designers for inspiration, choreograph dance routines in my head, and fart around the internet exploring new ideas. That sounds great! Why am I bored out of my scatting mind then???

Here are some graphics I've found that were pretty today:

Labels: dance, graphic design, workin' wednesdays

I don't go back to work until the first week in February thanks to my little bundle of boogers. I've already started back on a couple of design projects, though, because I can do them from home. They're also at least two weeks late. Since they're websites, and the clients are close friends, they understood.

I was outsourcing web design to the UK, but that didn't end well. Let's move on.

Anyway, the next personal projects I'll be working on are my baby announcements and thank you cards from the baby shower (I know that was a long time ago. I've been working through some things!), which I'll be sure to post.

I have a couple of conference program books that are due in May, and I'm pretty sure people will start calling about having me design family reunion materials shortly. They'll want t-shirts, programs, flyers, keepsakes, etc. That time of year always fills up my pockets. :)

People keep asking me if I miss teaching. I love my students. I really do. I have not, however, had a break from teaching since I was fourteen years old. That's fifteen years! I don't get summer off, because I teach summer dance camp at Lula's and summer classes at Colburn. My private lessons go all year. The most I've ever gotten is two weeks during the winter. So, the answer is: No, I don't miss teaching. It will be there when I get back, and I will be refreshed and ready to inspire my babies.

Labels: dance, graphic design, workin' wednesdays

I've had many clients ask for digital scrapbook pages. Depending on the detail and complexity of them, they can be quite lucrative for me. It's also one of my favorite things to do since I scrapbook regularly anyway.

I've only had one person ask me to do an entire book. Needless to say, money wasn't an issue for her. Lol!

Here are a few I've worked on (Click on the images to enlarge):

Labels: graphic design, workin' wednesdays

Someone sent me this the other day. I had to repost it. Please read it. It's hilarious.

How a Web Design Goes Straight To Hell

Labels: graphic design, workin' wednesdays

With several non-profits as clients, I do more than holiday cards at the end of the year. Most non-profit organizations do a year end appeal soliciting funds during the holiday season. Some include a 3 or 4 page "Year End Review," where they highlight some of the awesome things that have happened that year. Some save paper and ink and simply send a letter. Others do a glossy colorful one page document with a tear-off at the bottom and several photos. The latter is what I was working on last night. Check it out:

Front:


Back:

Labels: graphic design, workin' wednesdays

So, I finally designed holiday cards for a client, who didn't mind them posted on the web. I posted them the other day, but I'm reposting them here with the final draft. I'm not a big fan of the final, but in the end, the client had her own ideas. She couldn't choose between the three original designs, so she wanted to combine elements from all three. Fortunately, the card didn't turn out looking too busy. All that matters is that she was extremely happy that I was able to execute her idea. Below you'll find options one through three followed by the final design. Feel free to comment.

In other work news, Lula Washington Dance Theatre's Kwanzaa show is coming up in December. I choreographed one or two pieces. The show will be at the studio this year on December 28th and 29th. Mooch is performing, too! More details later.

I go on maternity leave from teaching from December 5th-January 9th. I don't think I've stopped teaching for that long in my entire 16 years of teaching! I shall enjoy it. Keep the design work coming, though. I have web designers, photographers, and graphic designers sub-contracting during my leave. I hope to keep my blog going. We'll see.

P.S. Yesterday, I bartered with a client, who wanted a holiday calendar designed (a different design for each month of the year plus a cover). In exchange, she braided my hair, so I won't have to worry about it until long after the baby is born. That was great!

Option 1


Option 2


Option 3



Final (With Customer Revisions)
Front


Back

Labels: graphic design, teaching, workin' wednesdays

Okay, fourteen hundred people have asked if I'm doing a holiday card special this year. I suppose if you get your orders and pics to myshell@supasista.net before December 1st, I can hook you up for $50. After that, you're pushing it, and my husband may have to crack open his Photoshop and let me direct him from the bed with a newborn on my breast. In that case, I'd have to give him a cut, so your rate would be $75.

Why would I pay Supa Sista for holiday cards? I haven't even seen her holiday cards. Well, posting people's personal photo cards without a signed waiver is risky. I haven't asked any clients if they minded having their faces plastered on my site, so here are some of the cards I've done for my own family:

Labels: graphic design, workin' wednesdays

This week has been slow at Supa Sista Designs. I've learned that when freelancing, your slow weeks are your times to do a little marketing, run some errands, take a two hour nap, or make a smoothie from scratch. When the jobs start flowing in, they all flow at once -- and everybody's job is an "emergency" that's due today.

Here's a job that's not due until March, though. It's the Brownstone Website. They are an up and coming online magazine for girls. Click on the image to enlarge.

Labels: graphic design, workin' wednesdays

"Can you make this bold with red splotches?"

"I really want the letters to read vertically."

"My friend said she only paid $35 to get her logo designed. Why do you charge so much?"

"I want seven colors in my logo."

Dealing with clients is enough to make a designer turn evil and finalize a design that they know is inappropriate. At what point does "the client is always right" become "the client doesn't know what the hell they're talking about, and this logo is going to drive their business right out of the door?"

Fortunately, most of my clients have valued my opinion over their own. Once I warn them about the potential harm they can cause, they back down from the "minor changes." I have had a few cases where there were 800 revisions. I've actually had a situations where the client's suggestions helped the final design. It all depends on their background.

It doesn't really matter what field one is in, the most common complaint is "the clients are really difficult to handle." I owned and operated my own dance studio when I was 22. The parents were enough to drive me crazy.

"We have to pay for costumes?"

"Why isn't my kid in the front?"

"C'mon you've known me for two years, hook me up on that tuition."

Let's just say I didn't close the studio because of the kids. Otherwise, I wouldn't still be teaching. I haven't yet had a design client, however, who made me want to say, "Screw this noise. I'm hanging up my mouse and graphic pen."

I get most of my clients via referrals from friends, Twitter, and Facebook, so I've gotten to work with some really cool people and organizations. I hope it stays that way. If you become a client (anybody's client), take it easy when you're making demands, or you could wind up with a logo that looks like this:

Labels: clients, graphic design, workin' wednesdays