I’m back from the Altitude Design Summit aka Alt Summit which was hosted this past Thursday at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Headquarters in New York City. I’m so glad I hopped on the bandwagon with Kate and snagged a ticket early as I met some fabulous ladies and heard from inspirational speakers. Plus, it was the push I needed to get some new cards designed and printed for me – love that I finally had a way to get my full name AND my nickname on one card :) The cards are Moo Luxe by the way – something clients have expressed interested in- so I decided to give them a whirl. I can happily report they were a hit- nice and thick and luxurious!

I was recently listening to a Creative Live presentation from Tamara Lackey where she said something to the affect of your ‘brain needs a break to be creative’ – I totally agree and thats what Alt Summit was for me – a chance to recharge and be inspired.

Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka Swiss Miss, gave an excellent keynote on 8 Rules to Live By and the importance of side projects (one of hers, TeuxDeux, is a favorite of mine). You may have seen some of my tweets throughout the day- though my fingers couldn’t move fast enough to share all her words of wisdom. One of my favorite rules was ‘If an opportunity scares you, take it. Being scared means that you’ll learn and grow.” And I can certainly say I practiced that right away at Alt Summit – I’m normally on the shy side in person but I really pushed myself to meet new people and find out a little about my fellow attendees. I’m excited I got to meet Keli from Dry Goods Design, a beautifully curated fabric shop based in Seattle, and also Liesl Gibson the wonderfully talented designer behind Oliver + S.

I collected a lovely pile of business cards, saw Martha Stewart in the flesh (for the second time) and enjoyed a pinch-me moment at the rooftop cocktail party enjoying a glass of prosecco and the New York skyline with a group of people who ‘get it’.

 Thanks to Domestikatedlife for this instragram image

Anyone of the bright and bold shades would look great paired with a neutral like french roast or titanium. I especially love the softer and sophisticated tones of rhapsody and rose smoke.

Some of my logo clients come to me with an idea of color in mind while some start with a blank slate- and thats OK! I’m always happy to suggest colors and different color combinations keeping in mind your clients and target market. I often ask clients check out a home improvement store to look at paint swatches or to collect inspirational color combos on a pinterest board- there are so many colors out there to explore.

I’ll be updating the blog from time to time with inspirational color combos- everything from classic black & white to trendy neons.

Thinking about refreshing your look? I am currently booking clients for September identity and brand design- drop me a note if you’d like more info!

In addition to the logo design, I created a 5×5 trifold brochure and 5×7 postcard design. The trifold brochure features a short bio, session information, pricing – and of course lots of room for a collage of photos – furthering the vintage look. A colorful and interesting brochure such as this one is great to hand out to prospective clients – giving them further incentive to contact you. The branded postcard features a grouping of images and contact information, and is perfect for leaving in shops and other vendors with whom you network.  I especially love the pop the white brings to the pallete – in the form of clean borders around the photos and tiny pinstripes adding some texture to the collateral pieces.

Melanie, thanks for choosing Designs by Taz for your identity & brand creation- I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!

Want to get your new business started off on the right foot or thinking about updating your look? I’ve worked with hundreds of clients across the globe to brand their businesses – many of my clients are photographers like myself but I’ve worked with realtors, spas, salons and other small businesses as well. If you like my style and think we would be a good design match, I’d love to hear from you!

Allow me to introduce you to one of the designs I worked on this winter for cool photographer couple Adam & Laura Queen of A + L Photo. I really dig the arrow icon I created for them and love how its integrated in the design for a ‘little something’ while still keeping the overall look very clean and modern. And its always refreshing to work with a client who isn’t afraid of a pop of bright yellow! I also created a complimentary business card for them with graphic and bold stripes to echo the lines in the tail of the arrow – a great brand design for modern, playful, yet genuine look.

Thanks Adam & Laura – enjoy your new look – you rock!

Each template set includes eight double sided 5×7 card templates (that’s 16 files in all). Files are optimized for press printing thru WHCC, but can be easily modified for use with other printers.

Let me show off the goodies! First is Deck the Halls…

And then we have bold sister Hipster Holiday

Both of these are available in the store. You may have noticed things are looking a bit different around here – trying to add all my current products (and many new ones) into the shop! If anything from previous posts tickles your fancy, just drop me a note and I’d be happy to hook you up if it isn’t upload yet!

So now for the goods! The logo design and a swatch of the pattern in digital form.

I also designed business cards to go along with the look which Jill had letterpress printed. YUM! Its hard to appreciate in the photos but this stock is so luxe and thick!

Thanks Jill, loved working with you! :)

Isn’t it so cute?? I’m currently obsessed with red and aqua together, what an awesome combo.

PS. The details on the card – 5×7 formatted for WHCC press printing, but compatible with a variety of labs. Enjoy!

Update – this limited design is now gone, but stay tuned for future freebies :)

I created the full KnC package for Stephen: Logo design, letterhead, double sided business card, envelope, notecard, sticker design and favicon (though only a few items are pictured here).