Tag: design (page 1 of 1)

Year Of The Ox

Happy Lunar New Year!

May this year bring us all good fortune!🧧


About this pattern: “For this design, we took inspiration from the Eastern styles prevalent in the Aesthetic Movement, as referenced by the Geffrye Museum’s 1890 drawing room. Lucky Lantern features tasseled Chinese lanterns, decorated with pine, plum and bamboo – known as Suihan Sanyou, or the Three Friends of Winter. These three symbols – 松竹梅 (sōng zhú méi) – are revered in Eastern culture, as they flourish in cold weather, and therefore symbolise strength in adversity.” – Mini Moderns

{Image: “Lucky Lantern” pattern in Harvest Orange found via Mini Moderns // Pinned HERE}

Colour Scheme

It’s not always fun to be practical. I’m in the realm of pumpkins, hot apple cider and walks through the woods that are slowly turning a delicious golden and red hue. However, I do have to put my practical hat on because October is just around the corner. In fact, October will be here this weekend and I don’t have that much longer to design this year’s Christmas card so it can be sent off to the printers.

Last year, I did a full watercolour winter scene. The year before that a Christmas in London theme. In previous years I’ve also created a collage and used a photograph of a winter wonderland that I designed. This year, I decided I wanted to keep it simple. I toyed with a lot of ideas, sketching them out and then scribbling them back out. But, I’ve finally decided on what I want to do.

It’s going to have a 1950’s/60’s design flare. Almost everything will have been created out of basic shapes that I’m reinterpreting.

Above is the current colour scheme, there is still some tweaking to do, but I’m very happy with where this project is going. It’s always nice to see an idea come to fruition.

Here’s a sampling of some of my previous cards. Goose Girl & Foxy managed to get onto one of them:

Christmas Card 2013

The Anatomy of a Christmas Card

A New Years Card

A Mini Project

Well, its that time of year again. It is time for me to start working on my Christmas card. Which sounds just plum crazy when you say it out loud, but once I decide on a design and then shoot the photographs or make the piece, edit it and get it sent off to the printers, it is a process that needs to be started sooner rather than later.

I gave Goose Girl and Foxy a break this year and decided to go a completely different route. One of my favorite artistic mediums to work within is collaging. I was inspired by the lovely Phoebe Wahl and a set of Christmas cards she made (see below). Now, when I collage, I don’t normally make all of my pieces myself, I am inspired by other things and I use those to create the elements of each piece.

Phoebe Wahl Christmas Cards 2013

With my love of vintage patterns I set to work, finding just the right pieces to put the puzzle together. Finding bits and bobs here and there, in vintage wrapping paper and post cards, I slowly formed a collection. Below are the the first few bits I created. I played around with the potential design, but I have now settled on one and my Christmas Card is really starting to take shape.

Jennifer Michie Project 1 Jennifer Michie Project 2 Jennifer Michie Project 3

My Christmas Card for 2011
My New Year’s Card for 2011 

A New Years Card

I have kept you guessing for the past few days and today I am finally revealing what my secret project was: a New Years postcard. Did you already deduce that? This past year, Christmas arrived in such a whirlwind and with everything that was going on in and around our lives, I had no time to send out my usual Christmas cards.  But, I was not going to feel guilty about that, I had a plan, and that was send out New Year’s cards instead.

Well, New Year’s Eve came and went and I began my mission, I was on the hunt for Happy New Years cards. I had absolutely no luck. What was I going to do, I thought? And, then I realized, I am from a very long line of creative and artistic people, why was I even looking for a pack of cards. I would simply create my own.

I decided, that instead of drawing one, or creating one through a paper or fabric medium, I would design one using Photoshop. I went through a series of ideas, as all creating processes take and I stumbled on one that I liked.

I used images from a vintage children’s book and pieced different parts together to create my card. Using the background of one page, I removed items that I liked from others. Placing a little gnome in the corner and darkening his hat to a more Christmassy red. I put a glowing candle from the Christmas tree into his hand and placed a friendly woodland squirrel next to him.

Next, I placed “Happy New Years” on my card using pink and white as a highlighting color and the front was finished. Then, I moved on to the back, again using the same pink as on the front but with red as a highlighting color. After doing some more nerdy computer work, they were ready to upload. I have used a variety of printing services for different projects along the way, but this time I used MOO. They were a dream to work with!

Since, this was not going to be your normal “Christmas Card”, I decided that I would send out postcards instead. After uploading my design, I got envelopes to put them in and even had the chance to design my own sticker book. Everything arrived in my postbox this past week and this weekend I got down to business and wrote them.

I had so much fun coming up with a design and seeing the final piece printed up and in my hands, I don’t think I will go back, to buying cards again. So, look out, next Christmas I hope to be sending out cards designed by yours truly.

(Copyright, this design was created by Jennifer Michie and is not to be used without permission. All images property of Jennifer Michie)

Matchboxes

I have been meaning to post about this little piece I saw on Youtube for ages! It is composed of 178 matchboxes, designed by Prague based designer Pavel Fuksa.  I think it is pretty neat! You can watch the video below:

Stop the Clocks

I tweeted this post out: “Paris Flat Unopened for 70 Years”, a few weeks ago and kept the article in my Instapaper account to read over again. I re-read it this morning and I am still as intrigued as I was the first time.

The flat was owned by Mrs. de Florian, who left it and moved to the South of France before the outbreak of WWII. She recently passed away at the age of 91 and her estate came into the public eye when experts were asked to inventory her possessions.  It was through this research that the treasures in her abandoned flat were discovered.

I could not imagine having a place I never returned too. I wonder why she never did? Was it the memories that it held? Was it the memories that it didn’t? Maybe she simply had no ties there. Stepping through the door and in to that world must have been like stepping through the looking glass.

Other than the dust and cobwebs strewn about the flat, it looked as though the inhabitants had just run out to pick up something from a shop.  One of the most startling discoveries was a painting, by the artist Boldini, who’s muse was Mrs. de Florian’s grandmother. Which has been auctioned off for €2.1 million, a record sale for the artist.

What I love most about this article, is that today, even with all the technology we have, there are still some discoveries left to be found, hidden worlds yet to be opened.

Into the Woods

A little while ago, I came across an article from last year, on “designvagabond” and thought I would share it. I appreciate contemporary architecture and design, but it is not always for me. I do not like the cold,sterile feeling that some designs leave you with. But, I do love the use of lighting, windows and the idea of bringing nature into your indoor environment.

Having no window in my little cupboard, this is an office I would gladly call my own. The architect’s plans are beautifully executed. This is a little office nestled in the woods and I love the fact that as you work, you can watch the birds, see a leaf fall, see a branch burst into bloom, watch night slowly close in on you… You get to see life unfold before your eyes, you get to see one season slip into the next.

You become part of something more. More than just someone cooped up in an office, you can live vicariously through your windows and as a girl who doesn’t have one at the moment, I really like that!