Spread some holiday... sneer?

Who says you have to be sweet and mushy this holiday season? Especially when you have a chance to snag these awesome, snarky Christmas cards.

I find the touch of sarcasm refreshing this time of year! Enjoy:

 

Like what you see? Visit NeatThings to buy a set of your own.

A wedding keepsake that rocks...

I was flipping through some amazing detail shots on Laura Kay's Wedding Photography site, and saw an awesome idea for a Wedding Day keepsake.

The Bride and Groom requested of their guests to sign a message on these flat rocks, that would later be displayed in their home.

Laura Kay recently shot my friend's wedding that I was a bridesmaid in, and I highly reccommend her if you are looking for a wedding photographer in the DC/Virginia area. She was really sweet, laid back and we all really enjoyed having her along with us for the day. Check out her website at LauraKayPhoto.com!

Above image by Laura Kay Photo

Statement jewelry

For Christmas this year I am going to attempt to make a few statement necklaces as gifts for friends/family. I decided to search around for some inspirtation, and found several pieces that I love. I suppose it's good to have fall back options incase my craft projects go awry.

The first two are necklaces are from Bejewelled Bespoke, ($65 and $89) and the last one is from amy987, ($68) both on Etsy.com.

       

Less is more.

Working as a news designer, I've come to appreciate nice, clean and simplistic advertisements. I rarely see such ads in my line of work - so here are a few that I found elsewhere. They prove that less is more, and I wish I'd see more of them.

For more minimalist advertisements, check out Creativebits.

Tie the knot...

...with a wall full of ribbons! Onewed recently posted this cute idea for bridal shower or wedding decor.

Here's what they suggest: This could easily be turned into an exciting DIY project - just get a bunch of friends or family together to help tie the knots into the ribbon and then tie the ribbons to a shower curtain rod (or something similar). Hang your art behind the head table or guest table as a fun focal point! Or, use it as a backdrop for your guests to take some fabulous photos against. Lovely!

All you need is love.

One of my best friends got married this weekend, and I'm still feeling the love from that wedding.

I love a few of these love-inspired note cards from Modern Emotive Stationery & Paper Goods.

 ....Congratulations to Erin and Nate!

Personalized notecards

This weekend I get to visit some of my friends from college, so I thought it would be a good excuse to make some personalized note cards for the fall.

Here are a few examples of what I've been working on for them:

Awesome package design

A friend of mine (thank you, Edel) gave me the link to a really great package design site called The Dieline. They claim to be the worlds #1 package design website - and for good reason - they showcase a range of excellent professional and student work.

One example of such is from a Student Spotlight feature on graphic artist, Sara Strand.  Here are two designs she submitted to The Dieline that I love.

Sara says... Love Fonts Memo is a classic memory game where it’s all about finding a matching pair of cards. At the end the player with most card pairs wins. The cards represents love stories about different kind of type faces. Love Fonts Memo is perfect whether you are a professional or a rookie.

She also designed packaging for animal treats, in a series she calls Fish, Bird, Dog and Cat:

Sara says... Fish, Bird, Dog & Cat is a line of animal food/candy. Organic food/candy which comes in a packaging with little windows. So you can easily see what product you’re buying for your pet.

 

If I had a dog, they would definitely be getting a box of those doggy treats - so adorable!

2009 - A Year for Redesigns.

After reading about the Washington Post's redesign, I did some looking around for other companies and organizations who have taken the plunge and revamped their look. In 2009 alone, many companies have launched newly designed logos and corporate identities.

Here are a few redesigns that I thought stood out as a change for the better. Let me know your thoughts!

1. Sony's Playstation 3

2. Chicken Now

3. Videocon

4. Discovery Kids

5. Mozilla's Firefox

6. Audi

For more on companies and their redesigned logos, visit graphicdesignblog.org

The Washington Post gets a facelift

Today The Washington Post launched their redesigned newspaper. I took some time today to read through their Redesign User Manual - and I really appreciate the approach they're taking introducing their new product. Check it out for yourself, here.

Here's a few highlights of the changes they've made, courtesy of editor and publisher:

"Executive Editor Marcus W. Brauchli said the redesign introduces stacked headlines on the biggest story of each section front. "We know you're busy, so we're layering in more information in headlines and labeling sections for faster navigation," he said. 

The headlines in the redesign also signal the sort of story presented: centered hed for feature stores and flush-left heds for news stories. 

The typeface is what Brauchli called "an upgrade of Scotch Roman, a typeface used in newspapers since the nineteenth century, redrawn for clearer reproduction." Line drawings of regular writers give that aspect a Wall Street Journal look. "

I liked this side-by-side comparison of their old body type versus their redesigned format. Just proves the power of great typography!

Newspaper notecards

You would think that since I work for a newspaper, I'd have my fill of newsprint during my week. However, I really love these notecards from The Craft Pantry. 

It's a really cute idea, and a bonus that she prints all her work on recycled paper.

Need an idea for an original wedding gift?

To keep with the wedding theme, I wanted to share with you an article I found on handmade wedding gifts, courtesy of Etsy.

Here are a few ideas:

Fashion Illustrator, Brooke Hagel, takes photos of brides in their wedding gown and turns them into these beautiful keepsakes:

Below are charms and lockets that a bride can incorporate by hanging them from her bouquet. Each one could have a memory or photo of a grandparents who had passed away -- a way to remember them on her special day. By luckymebeads.

I love weddings!

Two of my closest friends will celebrate 2009 as the year they got married. I was fortunate enough to be asked to be in both of their weddings as a bridesmaid, quite an honor and I am so thankful. Kaitlyn got married July 11th, 2009 and Erin will be married Nov. 7th.

For Erin's bachelorette party I was enlisted to make a few games for us to play. I had a great time making these and I wanted to share them with you!

I want to thank Twig & Thistle for the inspiration behind this game!

Welcome to Delighted Studio!

I am thrilled to announce the launch of a design blog for Delighted Studio!

My hope is to use this blog to share upcoming projects and keep you up to date with what I'm working on.

Since much of design is born from inspiration - this blog will also feature what is going on in the industry and various this that inspire Delighted Studio.

Enjoy!

XOX, Danielle