Getting Published

During my earlier career, BK (before kids) I covered the map in different design projects and logos were just one of my specialties. I’ve had the privilege of having my work in several design publications, books and annuals for everything from package design, wine labels and store point-of-sale promotions to business cards and other promotional material. It is always great to be published with client’s work, but when it was my own self promotion, it was all the more exciting.

When I ran the design firm, Holden & Company, at Christmas time I designed and sent out promotional holiday packs that included custom die envelopes that held books with removable gift tags, wrapping paper and string. Here they are featured in one book.

Last year I was thrilled to find that my little red truck had been chosen for inclusion for publication in Logo Lounge 4. Logo Lounge is a phenomenon of the trademark world. Their site is a catalog of nearly 99,000 current logo designs. I have 79 logo designs cataloged on their site. You can visit a bit of the site, there’s plenty to see and read, but membership is required for access to search the logos. They choose from the most current logo submissions for publication of their latest book. This year, the competition was 33,000 logos. I was thrilled to see that one of my designs, Azz & Bzz Apparel, was chosen for LL5.

Here is a shot of the logo section of my book shelf. I don’t think you can’t have too much inspiration.


For more information on getting your work published, visit the website of your favorite book publishers and look for the section Call For Entries.

Local Sculpture, Homegrown Whimsey

“Mom! That truck was a Shark!” my daughter yelled in the car tonight (and I nearly drove off the road!)
Driving through Sebastopol, California, you can expect to hear things like that coming from your kids. That’s because Sebastopol is home to artist Patrick Amiot, who’s brightly painted sculptures consist of most things you’d only find at the landfill. Patrick, in my opinion, is the master of repurposing.
I don’t know Patrick personally, but I have enjoyed his art peppered throughout Sonoma County for years. And until I spotted this red truck on Flickr, my all time favorite was an enormous cartoonish cow, sitting quietly with a half-grin towards the traffic, in a huge roadside pasture along Highway 12. Once in a while, you will notice that the farmer has tucked hay into it’s mouth and the other real cows are eating from it.
To read more about this amazing talent click HERE. For more fabulous photos like the one shown, see the Flickr pics HERE and HERE. You can also go to the website he shares with his artist wife, Brigitte, HERE. And it looks as though soon you’ll be able to get your 2009 calendar HERE!

Red Truck photo courtesy of travelinfool55’s Flickr photostream

My Husband’s Cabernet

He claims he was about to pour it out thinking it had gone bad, but on the urging of his brother, my husband decided to go ahead and bottle his first barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon. Well, unfortunately, it only made 2 cases, because this wine is absolutely incredible.



Saturday morning Jeff came home from the firehouse with a name and a story and by Saturday night the wine was labeled, wax sealed and we were sharing it with friends in Sonoma. (It helps to have a wine label designer in the family.) I printed these leather-simulated labels on my desktop printer onto old typewriter parchment (great texture), spray-adhesived them to another layer of paper, cut to shape and markered the cut edges with brown ink, then debossed spots between the stitching design. They gave a great real-stitched-leather appearance.

Here’s how the back label reads:

2006 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
This inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon was made and cellared in my father’s barn in Sonoma under the watchful eye of a Western Screech Owl. We believe that this owl represents wisdom and helpfulness, as described in early Indian folklore.
I have enjoyed many years with my family creating white wines from my father’s estate Chardonnay vineyard. This first Cabernet Sauvignon is a deep, red wine crafted from the grapes of the Metzger vineyards in Sonoma.
All aspects of the wine-making process are a family affair -from picking, crushing and pressing, to racking, bottling and label design.
I hope that you enjoy this wine as much as I have enjoyed making it.

PS. Had he been serious about bottling these in the first place, he surely would have used traditional Cabernet bottles and not what was on hand for the Chardonnay.

Here’s more husband-leather fun from the past.