Saying goodbye to January always feels like a step toward spring. The dawn is coming earlier, and today, in my garden, the squirrels were chasing each other madly around the trunks of the cedars. While there's still frost on the rooftops in the morning, my mind is drifting toward planting time. As a salute to the hope that seeds represent, I've put together a small collection of artworks that demonstrates my perennial love for seed packages and gardening itself (click on the image for a larger view):

Exploring words and giving them life through hand lettering is always a fun challenge for a designer. Recently, my assignment was to create a logotype for two artisans whose business is called Two On A Lark. A great name for two creative women! I began with a plain ball point pen, seeing how the words could be stacked, emphasized, and styled:

Two of many sketches were selected and developed. The top one is a more classic script style done with a pointed brush. The one below this was written with a felt marker in a more trendy, playful variation:

Numerous colored elements were added to both variations and the choices were circulated for feedback from discerning individuals representing a variety of age groups. A variation on the more playful version was developed further, with a casual script version of Lark plugged in, and color was added digitally. The logo was designed to be used online, on hang tags, business cards, and shipping labels. Here it is! Please contact me to learn more about my logo design services.

With Valentine's Day being the next "greeting card holiday," I thought it fitting to feature a few of my past renderings of the iconic heart symbol as they appear on cards I have designed in tandem with art directors. Below the line-up of valentines are other published cards. Please contact me if you are interested in my illustration and calligraphy services for your company. To view another archived collection of my cards, click here. To view a larger version of the collection below, click on the image.