Currently

What I'm Reading

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, a Florida-based author.

This Week in Instagram

I've been enjoying creating my own little arm parties.

Blog I'm Currently Enjoying

My best friend just turned me on to the hilarious and adorable fashion blogger, The Man Repeller. I can't think of a good enough description, so check her out for yourself.

What I'm Listening To

Lots of When Saints Go Machine, Glasser, Hooray for Earth and the like. I'm loving the electronic mixed with  unexpected vocals.

Something You May Not Know About Me

The last 4 days, I have been eating vegan and am slowly working towards a full fruit & vegetable-based, whole-foods diet with absolutely no refined foods. I feel great so far! One of my favorite restaurants offers vegan options that are absolutely delicious. Case-in-point, vegan tostadas!

What I'm Doing In School

LOTS of web development and a significant amount of work for the Pet Pal Animal Shelter, in regards to spaying and neutering. The picture above is a preview of one of the concepts.

Freelance News

I have been doing postcard design for a local printing company and just finished my first job! Nothing too exciting, but freelance keeps me afloat. I do have time to take a few more smaller projects, so I welcome inquiries.

My frequently-mentioned beastie, Kelly Wren, now has a blog! Go say hi. I'll be working with her over the next few weeks to perfect the look and feel of her site. I am excited to design for her again! The last thing I did for her was an infographic regarding her New Year's Resolutions and before that, her wedding invitations.

What's new with you?

Design Refined | Attack of the Killer Cardigan

Today was windy, warm and lovely. A great day for my first fashion shoot, made possible by my best friend Kelly's patience and prowess. I think it was a very interesting experience for the both of us, considering we were dying laughing at the outtakes from the wind and my cardigan. Plus, failed jumping photos are always the best.

 

THE OUTTAKE

 Photography by K. Wren von Herrmann

Sunglasses  Mossimo  |  Necklace  Irish gift from my mother

Bracelet  H&M  |  Dress  I•N•C

Cardigan Vera Wang  |  Tights  Catherine's

Shoes  Target

A Photo An Hour: Vacation

This is a photo-heavy post.

I am a huge fan of the increasingly popular Photo An Hour posts. One that I recently enjoyed was Amy's "Day in the Life".

I'm the type of person who loves (respectfully) digging through other people's things and seeing the wonderful goodies that they surround themselves with. This may/may not include people's purses, homes, cars and work stations. Material goods are sometimes more telling than words when you are discovering someone's personality.

7AM | Awake and ready to leave. Clocks are behind.

8AM | On the road with Rachel napping and minimal traffic, allowing me to enjoy the weather and my ever-trusty jellyfish.

9AM | So close! A typical "Disney wire" picture. 

10AM | Our tour with Mama's Sauce print studio!

11AM | A trip to Rifle Paper Co. for adorable paper goods.

12PM | Finally at Universal, making a beeline for Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

1PM | Armed with a delicious Butterbeer, we wait in line for The Forbidden Journey.

2PM | Waiting, always waiting. Thankfully stimulating conversation with awesome ladies save me from boredom.

3PM | Our favorite coaster, twice around. The Mummy indoor roller coaster is the best!

4PM | A break from the crowds in an Irish pub, accompanied by ice-cold cider.

5PM | Back to Islands of Adventure for one last go on the Dragon Challenge.

6PM | Ready to end the day early, we leave the parks to head to the hotel, oogling at CityWalk's new fantasy mini golf course.

Though mine is not an "everyday" set, I had fun shooting it. Though I was on vacation in Orlando when I took them, I have to say that it was harder than I thought to keep the photos coming. I will admit I've fallen out of the photo taking habit, which is just silly because I LOVE taking pictures. I work a 9-6 job but I think I'll do another one for a productive weekend sometime soon.

Designer/Developer

My ultimate goal as a designer is to also be a web developer, with proficiency in HTML, CSS and possibly Javascript... maybe even beyond. I have experience with HTML4 and CSS2, with a few valid sites floating around the internet, but I still feel so new to the scene that I am constantly brimming with excitement every time I learn something new.

I am a huge fan of wireframing, the process of sketching web designs to determine layout, sizes and general direction of the website. I even love to code, a task that many of my designer friends loathe. Working for hours, knee-deep in Notepad, is fun for me. You know, especially when I test the site in the browser and it works without question.

I admit to being somewhat of a control freak when it comes to design, so having my hands in every part of web design not only increases my personal profit, but gives me a fuller sense of accomplishment.

There is nothing so special as to be able to look at a website and break down the code to see how the creator laid it out... when I was once boggled with how to edit Myspace layouts.

I hope that as I continue to grow as a designer that I also grow as a web developer, without falling too far behind. As in any field, the other hardship to learning new technology is to be faced with the next generation only months later.

What are your goals in your profession?

My Ears ♥ When Saints Go Machine

"Add Ends" by When Saints Go Machine

One of my recent Spotify finds is the band When Saints Go Machine. The cello, odd electronic and instrumental sounds, pacing and flow is exactly what I need when I am designing. Similar to Miike Snow, they are a harmony of electronic sound and smooth male vocals.

The two songs I've been playing on repeat are "Church and Law (Radio Edit)" and "Add Ends". I have not been able to find out much about the band themselves, but you're welcome to download "Church and Law" on Amazon.

Vacation

Vacationing in Florida on Spring Break can be terrifying and exhausting. Traffic, long lines, heat, people... it isn't something I'd be up for, normally. But one of my good friends, Rachel, came to visit me and I braved all of that with a smile on my face. We had delicious food, new experiences and enjoyed plenty of roller coaster fun. Mix that in with a brunch including my best friend, and you have a 4-day work break that takes the spring break cake. (Say THAT ten times fast.)

A mini bar, good times and good drinks.

Delicious breakfast quiche.

A humble bar dinner.

Fun bakery flooring makes for fun pictures.

My first macarons (the orange [not pictured] was the best!)

Gorgeous Florida beach skies.

Dirty pit stop bathrooms.

Beautiful flora making long wait times bearable.

I had a few other fun experiences that I'll be posting about soon, because they're the kind that deserves their own real estate, you know?

An Okay Weekend

My first mimosa from a delicious restaurant downtown.

Sometimes you'll have weekends where you don't accomplish everything on your to-do list. You'll decide to sit around instead of going out. Maybe you'll even fall asleep on the couch watching Doctor Who. When you go out, you'll have a drink or two that you've never had before. And that's totally okay.

This weekend, I spent time with friends new and old, watched Doctor Who and helped my parents around their new beach house. We hauled books from their storage shed to their new home, and then rode bikes down the beach to a delicious seafood dinner.

I spent time with family, went shopping with my best friend, caught up with people I hadn't seen in a while and drank a few delicious ciders.

By Sunday evening, I found my to-do list was still long and my deadlines were moving close. Instead of stressing, I told myself it was okay. Sometimes it's okay not to get it all done. Because, well, it is.

Personal Branding: Almost There

After several months of back and forth with myself, I believe that I have settled on my new logo for my personal design endeavors. You'll see this blog and my portfolio shift towards the look and feel portrayed in the finalized version. My official logo is simply the typography inside the graphic.