Remember how I said I suck at blogging? I wasn’t lying.
BUT, never fear! I started up a new project 365 project at the beginning of the month, and that, my friend, is something I’m good at keeping up with. Keep tabs on me here!

Here’s a few photos from the month:

I suck at blogging. Seriously.

Welp, since last time I blogged, I’ve gained a year in age. Huzzah! Finally 21! There was much drunken celebration (all of my friends had to make up for the fact that I could never go out with them in college). We went out Friday night for a Denton bar crawl. Then on Saturday we headed out for Austin, Texas. My favorite Texan city. Unfortunately, all of my photos from the weekend were deleted by someone, so I’m just stealing his during this post.

You know what? I don’t think I ever bragged to you blog readers about my new bike. Yeah, I said bragged. I bought a beautiful celeste Bianchi in July. I want to make babies with it. I want to pet it. I want to hug it.

I love it so much I made Brad buy one too.

In other news, I am now EMPLOYED! Like, full-time real grown up girl employed! I’m working at El Creative, a small design studio full of the most awesome, talented folks you could hope to work with. I’ve been working as a contract designer for them that last couple months, but starting October 1st, I’ll officially be a part of the team. So pumped.

Anyway, I have some new design work to show you all, and I promise I’ll get around to it… soon.

As promised, this is my post about our new apartment!

I’m living with Brad, my boyfriend, and our two cats. Previous to this we lived in a huge two-story, five bedroom house. Which was totally awesome, except we were getting tired of having roommates. Fast. And, as a designer, I was itching to design my space in a cohesive way (and forget about how we were cramming 5 styles into one house). So, we moved! And I love it!

Luckily Brad is pretty easy going when it comes to decor, so I’ve gotten to choose most of our furnishings. We’re on a pretty small budget (yay for just graduating) so nearly the entire apartment is brought to you by Ikea. I’ve thrown in vintage pieces as I can afford them.

While I’m concerned about aesthetics, Brad is concerned about technology. As long as he could have the most ridiculous TV around, he’s pretty cool with anything happening in the living room.

I’m a bit of a book hoarder, so I was pretty pumped when my friend (and crazy talented designer) Anna sold me this bookcase for a crazy good deal. The kitchen table used to be my mom’s. It has storage underneath the surface. Perfect for holding sewing patterns.

I posses the power to kill pretty much any plant. It’s a gift. Cacti and succulents are the only things that can withstand my wrath. Also: cue the cutest salt and pepper shakers ever. Thanks, Jonathan Adler.

Last, but not least, our workspace. Brad would be mad if I didn’t show you his ridiculous standing desk (Yep, he stands. He does not sit. Because he’s crazy). So here’s that, followed by my work zone!

So there you go! That’s where I live now. I’m pretty pumped.

So… excuse the month-long hiatus. Everything’s been a little crazy for the past month. I’ve started working at a studio I interned at last summer, El Creative, and have loved every minute of it. I also went on a 10 day road trip to New York with Brad‘s family. Then right after coming home, we moved to our new apartment! All crazy and awesome and fun. I’ll post photos of the new place next time, but for now, it’s all about the road trip!

We spent two days in Tennessee visiting Brad’s grandparents, which was probably the most relaxing part of the trip. No rushing, no worrying about traffic. Just fields & food.

Then it was onward to Virginia for a July 4th celebration with the other grandma. More fields, more food, and more relaxation. Also: horses!

After fattening ourselves up, we trucked on to Washington DC to explore the Smithsonians and meet up with my bff, Amanda! I had just gone with her to visit the Air and Space Museum in March, so we dallied our way through the Natural History and American History museums. Dinosaurs = by far the best.

And of course, we had to make a quick trip in Philly to try the original cheesesteak on our way to NYC.

Then, long at last, New York City. It was my second time being in the city, so I feel like I had a pretty decent understanding of the subway system and the importance of intersections. We drove over the Brooklyn Bridge coming in to Manhattan rather than trekking through the Lincoln Tunnel, which surprisingly was a lot less stressful. The first night we were in, we went out to see Wicked on Broadway, which is absolutely fan-freaking-tastic. Seriously. I hadn’t been sure what to expect, but the show was amazing.

The next day consisted of about 14 miles of walking. In the heat. Which I was somehow okay with. We checked out the Brookyln Bridge (on foot this time), had for realzis Brooklyn Pizza, went into a swanky little bookstore, shopped at the Macy’s on 34th street, and went out to The Highline. Photos are more fun than words, so here you go:

So there you go. That about sums up our trip. We came back to Texas nearly the same way we went through, so I didn’t really document the trip home. We moved the morning after we got home, so we were pretty exhausted. However the place has come together SO much better than we had hoped. Stay tuned for the “new apartment” post!

Post graduation life is so different. I don’t feel guilty for going out and having a good time, and I’m enjoying just hanging out with everyone before we all part ways.

I’ve been shopping for goodies for Brad’s and my new apartment, which is always dangerous & super fun (mostly dangerous because I can justify really expensive furniture pretty easily). Thanks to craigslist, I’ve discovered a goldmine antique store close-by for rockin’ mid-century furniture and super groovy chairs. So of course… I had to buy this as the “pop” in our future living room.

For our farewell senior blow out, my friend David threw a lake party. Such a blast. Gotta love hanging out in the sun all day, canoeing, and playing in the rain. I feel like we made up for a bunch of hangout time lost due to homework. Also, the swing photo is totally stolen from my boyfriend, Brad. Don’t tell him.

Of course, I’ve been working on some freelance while I’m on the job hunt. Gotta pay them bills! I have a bunch of branding projects going on that aren’t quite ready to see the light of the web yet, but I’ll show you a little sneak peek of a website I’m working on for a really fun musician.

ALSO, big news! This past week Brad and I signed a lease for our new apartment! We’ll be staying in Denton for a year and then figuring out what to do from there. Thanks to the train that’s opening up soon, it’s looking like I’ll be able to commute car-free to work! Can’t wait. Brad snagged a photo of the apartment model’s kitchen. Our floor plan is larger and laid out differently than the renovated model we saw, so we aren’t quite sure exactly what our future place will look at, but I’m excited anyway! Hooray for stained concrete floors!

SmartCart is a hypothetical interface that I concepted, designed, and animated a demo video for. SmartCart lets customers browse recipes quickly while gathering groceries, sync smartphone grocery lists, find the quickest route around the store, discover additional meals, and pay for items with ease. Special thanks to Brad Holt for live action video.

★ Finalist in the 2010 Adobe Design Achievement Awards.
★ Merit Winner in the HOW 2011 Interactive Design Awards.

Bulwark is the epitome of the American football helmet. Bulwark seeks to make a dangerous sport safer and not only minimize, but to prevent the chance of concussions in American football. Their helmet decreases the chance of concussion by over 31%. In order to sell their product to professional teams and high schools, Bulwark needed educate the public about the serious risks of concussions and how Bulwark solves them.

Collateral:

 

Brochure:

 

Locker Room Poster:

 

Website:

 

T-shirt:

Fuzzy Muffins is a personal project that I started in the summer of 2008. I bought myself a sewing machine and a ridiculous amount of fleece and went to town. Since graphic design is one of those disciplines that requires a lot of tweaking and finessing, I was craving a hobby in which I could start and finish something in the matter of minutes. When my couch was overflowing with plushies, I created a website and an Etsy shop and began selling. I’ve since participated in multiple DFW area craft shows and continue to sell plushies online.

★ Featured on Indie Fixx

 
Website:

Redeux is a vintage clothing company that seeks to emphasize the great things that make every girl different. The clothing is categorized by “vintage” character genres — punk, hippie, chic, and bombshell. Each genre has a personality attached to it, someone with traits relatable to the girls they target. The genres are meant to be mixed and matched to maintain maximum individuality. Redeux believes each girl has a bit of all the personalities in her, but how she mixes and matches them is what makes her unique.

The concept: to emphasize the individuality in every outfit. Each genre of clothing is represented by its own pattern made up of one of the four symbols in a deck of cards, symbolizing the idea that you need multiple sides to create a whole. The genres are personified by their own story.

Copy writing & photography is my own. Special thanks to Brad Holt for his gorgeous video work.

Collateral:

 

Fall Catalog:
 
★ DSVC National Student Show Best Copy Writing 

Video Lookbook:
 
★ DSVC National Student Show  

Packaging:

 

Please bear with me as I keep adding everything to my portfolio! In the meantime…

Let’s re-cap on the past year:
 

 
I bought a scooter. Then I wrecked it. Then I sold it.

 

 
I became obsessed with vintage things and went on a buying spree.

 

 
I fell in love with a little town called Marfa, Texas. I went twice.
 

 
I visited an alpaca farm. It was adorable.

 

 
I went on my first flight ever. To LA. For free. Because I was an Adoble Design Achievement Award Finalist.
 

 
I made a pretty sweet memory box thing.
 

 
I got another cat, Tungsten.

 

 
I visited my best friend who now lives in Maryland.

 

 
I finally learned how to use a 35mm camera.

 

 
And I finally graduated college.

Now. Onward.