A Request for Proposal looks like a reasonable thing at first glance. It seems most RFPs are put together by a group of people, typically belonging to non-profit organizations, trying to hire a designer for their project, be it a total branding package or a website. After the committee has forged their RFP, they send it out to designers in their area, asking for a proposal to work on their project.
What’s wrong with that? Continue reading
The request is one now mocked by everyone in the design world. “Make the logo bigger” is an inside joke, a reference to a client change that is asked for any number of reasons, most of which are a bit silly, to be honest. Nevertheless, the request is made, and it allows me, the designer, to explain the design process and why we as designers often sigh, then steer the client to a better solution. Continue reading
A lot of pressure rides on a book cover. It has to interest you, it must speak to you, it must reflect its insides, all in the hopes of getting you to pick it up, or, if you’re an online book shopper, get you to click the “read more” button. There are millions of book covers out there, how is anyone supposed to make one cover stand out from the others? How does one convey the themes of the story through the front cover of a book? Continue reading
There’s something about a rich red that has me salivating. I’m currently wearing my red sweatshirt, drinking coffee from my favorite red mug, and wishing I had this gorgeous red wood burning stove aboard my boat:
Red is a warm color, sure, but something about it cast in ceramic really tugs at me. Here’s hoping I may one day have this “Sardine” model of Navigator stove aboard the S/V Libby.
Read a similar post on courtneykirchoff.com.
Last night (December 19th) and this morning (the 20th), I applied for some graphic and web design jobs being offered in the greater Seattle area. If you’re here because I listed this website as a reference point for my portfolio, then hello to you. I’m a time-valuer, so I thought I’d save you some time by giving a virtual interview. In this post I’ll explain why I’d be a great fit as your designer, answer some common interview questions, and talk a little bit about who I am. If at the end of this post you think “Hey, she’s kinda cool,” and would like to consider me for a real interview, then please contact me. If you think, “Meh, she’s no big deal,” then I’ve saved you some time of having to actually talk to me about my strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to interview someone better-suited for your team.
So let’s get cracking.
Sometimes I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Even though I live in a small space and only have so much room to dedicate to all things coffee, I can’t seem to lose the mugs. Why? When I lived in my apartment I hoarded them, like some caffeine-addled dragon in her lair. Something about coffee mugs, the larger ones (not those pansy little ones) just have me hooked. I agonized about parting with many of them when I moved aboard my boat. I had to give them to my mother, so I knew they’d go to a safe home. Seriously. I’m such a freak.
We all like pretty things. We may have different definitions of what we find pretty, but the fact remains: we like beauty. Dustin Hoffman’s character Raymond in Rain Man sums this up rather well: “Very sparkly. Very twinkly.”
A cob house is a small piece of beauty, carefully crafted out of clay, straw, and sand, sometimes taking a year or more of construction, but finishing off into a residential gem. What does cob house have to do with design? Imagine being able to come home or even work in such a cozy and inspiring place. What kinds of ideas would you have if you got to live in such a home? Think about how fun the mundane would become, if you could just sit and sip coffee in a living room with designs carved into the wall.
Go on, have a look:
