Simultaneous internal groan heard around the world

Here are two real life examples of letters and words that make my eyes think about salt from looking at graphic design job alerts that are sent to my email:

1. Freelance Designer {yay! that's me!}- (PowerPoint a MUST) {asphinctersayswhat?}

B. There is a PC station available, but you may also bring your laptop with all applicable software onsite if you prefer. {toot toot! you just missed the Mac train!}


On a lighter note:

This guy.

{click for detail}

{grabbed from Jak & Jil}

Dresses I can't afford but it's ok

Whoa, new summer dresses just in at Bona Drag! Usually I just like one or two, but there are several in their shop now, just sitting around, needing to be on me.


{Seneca Rising}


{Mara Hoffman}


{Samantha Pleet}


{Society For Rational Dress}

The last one is my favorite. I want to look like this every day. Anytime I see silk laying about on someone like this, I think of Madeleine Vionnet and then I think of her sorta creepy tiny mannequin dolls, arhhg! and then I think of the horror film Dolls! oh wait, no, that movie was corny and boring. Do you know what is scary? Curtains.}



Anyway, most of the designers featured on Bona Drag are local artists too. Love it.

New shop, new logo (part 3)

Ok, I asked for second opinions from other designer friends, I stared at the logos for hours - changed a few around, and I researched what other Etsy sellers and online retail stores are doin'.

Second opinions from wise design eyes:
Most people preferred the thick knockout text on black - ChunkFive
{rad font, among others that are free at Font Squirrel}

Not too many liked the big areas of negative space in some logos. One person HATED the lone cyan gradient example. All of the feedback was awesome and very helpful.

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Finally, I came up with a logo that I could live with.



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Now, to apply the logo to a 760px 100px banner for webviewin' and thumbnail that would be featured on the main page of my Etsy store.

I wanted to have the circle on the banner, but it just wasn't large enough and was losing visual hierarchy compared to the other text.













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Got fed up with that not working, so I checked out how other Etsy sellers dealt with their banner vs logo problems. The best one I saw was James Rowland Shop. This shop has unique vintage boots and I've been a repeat customer. Their logo is stacked text in a box for the thumbnail and then all on one line, taking up the entire space on the banner. So, if it works so well for them, why not try it in my case?


{click on image to see it large and in charge}

And I am ok with this. I put a slight drop shadow on the text to appear cut out, but otherwise no other change from the circle logo. I figure if it keeps the tilt, then it's ok.



So there it is! We Are Were. And now I can go back to concentrating on adding new items every week.

So what.

Leave Her to Heaven (1945). The Big Lebowski (1998). #moviescenesofspreadingsomeonesashesthatgetsallovertheperson

I got linked to Pitchfork and I'm continuing the circle of life

I'm not so into dance music, but this track is different and won me over cos the first bit sounds like Ariel Pink.

F.X.N.C.

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Best Coast

Always good to hear new stuff from Best Coast, even though I can't technically buy this track or something? Saw Bethany Cosentino at the very stuffy hot sweaty Knitting Factory recently (with Bitters). Regardless of the venue being not ideal in many ways and the dude who came with me had to bail before they hit the stage, I loved it and will do whatever it takes to see this happen in front of my eyes again.
And her blog is good times.

"...for me and yooooou"

Designing a logo for a friend who is a DJ - Fucci.

Her current logo is just the font Zapfino, which under other circumstances can look brilliant - just check out the wiki example.

First stage:
Choosing the right font or combination of fonts.

- These are the samples I sent -




Now that I have feedback on what she prefered I can proceed to the next stage of making "all of our dreeeeeeams come truuuue..."

Shoes, wtf?

Shoe Lust

I love this tumblr blog.

I love that shoes are getting taller and more artistic mainstream-wise, what with affordable brands like Jeffrey Campbell, Sam Edelman, and Seychelles all over the place. This is great. Once you figure out the basic shape of tops, skirts, dresses, and pants that actually work well with your body shape, you can then stick with those basics and have fun with stand-out shoes. One's body shape may change, but their shoe size won't.


Moar platform, moar better.

I ordered these from Need Supply.Waiting for their arrival. I love that they are huge and obnoxious, but also not busy and simple/effortless in design. Would look perfect with flowery summer dresses {will not distract from the print.} Will see how the fit is, as ordering shoes online can be tricky...

High hopes.

CAT DRESS!

There is a huge cat face on your clothes.

I WANT TO BUY THIS.



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Fis with some dirty hangers.
{sort of related}

Wolfman Coyote J Calhoun

Another ear worm that I don't mind having.



Thanks to this DJ and certain events happening simultaneously in my formidable teen years, I realized music could actually be amazing.
- an older sister who was really into college music and wasn't hiding that fact
- 120 Minutes on MTV
- having discovered the local college radio station (91.9 aka 92J) in middle school during a fit of rage at the current Top 40 situation

It was hard sometimes to find this DJ's show cos he kept getting kicked off stations - once I heard he got fired over a joke he made about the deaf Miss Alabama who was the reigning Miss America. Also, he'd play complete albums by The Essence and Sad Lovers and Giants and be like, "this is illegal but it's also 2am on a Sunday night and no one likes me anyway...tape the next hour if you know what's good for you."

Ha, someone else taped "The Edge". Wow, another article.

I wonder how many lives this guy touched with music? He definitely made things better for me and cos of him during the early 90s I was obsessed with MY version of Top 40 Pop - Tori Amos, The Pixies, and Moby. My sister introduced me to Liz Phair, The Smiths, PJ Harvey, Cocteau Twins, etc... and by "introduced" I mean, I snuck into her room and listened to her records and CDs while she was out or asked what tape she was playing in her car. Then Nirvana and Pearl Jam happened, and things were ok for a while.

Anyway, I still have those tapes...


{thought Velouria was Evegloria at first. Awesome.}

The one song NOT on the sdtk

So a glowing green orb terrorizes a little girl of tales about lady flesh orbs.

Watched Heavy Metal (1981) the other night. Unedited. Completely from beginning to end for the first time ever. And I can't get this Devo song out of my head.
IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS.



Also, wow, a lot of gigantic cartoon boobs in that movie.

Free shows, that's nice.

Looks like I am going to be at the South Street Seaport a lot this summer
(esp since the full-time job is gone).

Thanks for the heads up, Oh My Goddess.

There's always time for Gifs

New shoes in new shop - We Are Were. yaaaaay.

Show score

At the end of SMarch I went to see MINKS, Cloud Nothings, and Effi Briest at Mercury Lounge. I grabbed Erin and made her walk two secs from her sweet East Village apt to chat about boys and cats inbetween sets. I'm not into taking pics of bands at venues anymore cos isn't everyone else doing that? There is no need for another tiny glowing box in someone's hands above their head for others to peer around. But I still buy up merch.



I picked up these tapes from Cloud Nothings - dear lord, Dylan Baldi is 18, I feel like a pedophile. Anyway, I already got the 7" from Group Tightener. Also, got the MINKS 7" on Captured Tracks.

And here is MINKS blog accumulation of photos.

Effi Briest really blew me away live too - all lady band. Can't wait for their upcoming LP. Oh, there it is Rhizomes. omg - the limited edition vinyl is hand numbered and housed in a letter-pressed leather sleeve, with digital download and insert. balksjdlkjd

Outfit: 1930s movie hair

Wore this last week. Got inspired by two movies on Netflix that I watched instantly back to back one night.



Platinum Blonde (1931)
The Little Princess (1939)

Whether you're a slut or a virgin, (and even with almost a decade between these movies) it seems like cropped, curly locks and the bow-in-the-hair-to-the-side thing was still cool.


Jean Harlow


Shirley Temple


Me & Fis



Famolare sandals that I got from Crafty Crow Vintage last summer.
And there's a tumblr too.

One time I heard that Michael Jackson's favorite film of all time was The Little Princess. As a kid, I remember seeing it in black and white with just the dream sequence in color. Anyway, this is what Fis does during the day...

New shop, new logo (part 2)

Logo possibilities. I definitely want the circle logo instead of the long bit of text.





{click on the images for detail}


I can't choose, going to step away from the designs for a few hours then come back to them with fresh ideas/new brain.

New shop, new logo

First step:
Research fonts





{click on the images for detail}


I like these, now to narrow it down...

Next step:
Q. How will this font function: how will it be laid out and seen, who will be looking at it?
A. The text needs to fit in a long narrow Etsy banner, but I want the logo to be in a circle with stacked text so it will look identifiable in thumbnail boxes on twitter and whatnot. This is a problem. Have to compromise. Is the circle idea that great? What if the banner just had a full image of items I sell and no text?

I will try both ideas and see which one is better. Also, I will try text in the long banner.

Laser Cat!

Guess ponytail-Cosby-sweater isn't getting onto Cute Boys With Cats or Boys + Cats.