So you have a logo. Maybe you had it done professionally, maybe you have a friend who created one for you or you made one yourself! Whatever the case may be, your logo does not make up your brand, infact it is a very small part of your visuals. What makes your visual branding great is seeing all of the small components come together, creating a consistant look and style. That means your website, your business cards, packaging and your social media platforms. So what do you after your designer has handed you your final logo files? Or you need to make your own business cards in a pinch? A lot of times companies don’t have an in-house designer and a lot of materials like blog posts, email blasts, etc, are up to someone who isn’t trained in design to create. Sound familiar?

I experienced this a lot when I first started designing for clients. I would create a beautiful logo for them, hand it off, receive final payment, all was good in the world. Then I would head over to the client’s website to see the beautiful logo I designed for them on top of a completely incohesive website!! EEKK!! All of a sudden my pride and happiness with my work turned to cringing, not wanting to direct anyone to the website to see the logo I did. This is one reason why I stay away from projects that are just logos (there’s always an occasional exception) and try to focus on the branding as a whole.

SOOO all that being said- here are three tips to help keep your visuals looking good across all platforms! They are the basics, and there are tons more I could write about, but these specific three will be the foundation for any work that you are creating and can really make your designs go from zero to hero.

1 // Keep your fonts and colors consistant.

With fonts and colors- I normally group them both into a general rule: don’t use more than four. With fonts, you want to stay away from using the exact same font that is used in your logo, to allow the logo to stand on it’s own and not to get lost in the crowd. Throughout your visuals, choose a font that you will use for your body text, your headers, sub-text, and a highlight font if needed. Try to keep these consistant throughout all your visuals.

For colors- I wouldn’t stray too far from the color palette of your logo. Don’t forget to stick with the 4 colors rule of thumb! I’d go with a light color (for backgrounds and fills), a dark color (for headers and body copy), a neutral color, and a punch color (for the areas that need to stand out). Or just stick to different tints and shades (adding white and adding black) of the same base color. Whatever you do- keep it consistant. I often use the color guide on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but if you don’t have those programs, some great ways to choose consistant color palettes are websites like Kuler (created by Adobe), The Color Collective, and  Design Seeds.

2 // Stick with a grid.

Whatever you are working on, be it a letterhead, a blog post, or a business card, I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep text and images aligned, as well as consistant borders and margins. This can make or break your design.
If you have an inch border on one side of your letter head, make sure all the sides have an inch border. If you have 25px in between images and text, keep it that way throughout all  your blog posts! Keep the end of all visual
items aligned.
3 // Keep it simple! 
I can’t stress this enough. Don’t be afraid of negative space. Instead- EMBRACE it! The key to good design is knowing how to use space, not filling every inch of it up. White space is good. It’s great actually. With so much to look at on the internet, so much competition for our minds and time, people want something that has a clear, consistant message. Simple and easy to understand. With breathing room. Don’t crowd, oversaturate or confuse. Keep. It. Simple!!!

And YES YES I KNOW- there are many examples where people have broken these rules and made it work- but you have to know the rules in order to break them! So stick to these three simple steps and as you get better, you can start to experiment and break them! Woo Hoo!!

PS- hiring a designer means you don’t have to worry about any of this! wink wink..

With so many Instagram users out there, I think it’s important to use another app besides just the filters that the Instagram offers to help your photos stand out in the crowd. I’ve had a few people ask me what apps I use to edit my Instagram photos- so I thought I would share some of them with you today!
VSCO Cam // This is a great app for those who want a great filter on their photos but don’t want to spend the extra time doing major customizations. There filters are very simple and clean looking. Much more beautiful than the ones that Instagram offers.

Afterlight // This is my favorite photo editing app by far. I love the freedom and the options available on this app. You are able to edit photos without the constraints of a 1-10 scale like on VSCO cam. Sometimes I just want a very slight change instead of moving all the way up to the next number. Like a 6.35 instead of a 6 or a 7. But another reason I love this app is because of it’s most recent updates. You can do circles, numbers, instant film filters and more. It’s a blast to play around with. I especially love their numeric and alphabetic filters. I haven’t had any reason to use them yet- but when I do, just watch out!

A Beautiful Mess // We all know the amazing DIY Blog A Beautiful Mess, right?? Well they recently came out with a really fun and creative app for your photos. It comes with cool borders, doodles, and sweet hand drawn phrases. You can read all about the app on their blog here.

Don’t be limited to using these photo editing apps for just Instagram photos. You can also use them to edit your blog pics, or whatever other reason you need photos edited! Have fun!!

Photo sources: VSCO cam, A Beautiful Mess, Joanna Waterfall Instagram

This time of year brings a lot of birthdays and celebrations in my family. My brother’s birthday is May 8th, my dad’s birthday is May 9th, and Mother’s Day is always close behind the two.

This weekend I was reminded how fragile and unpredictable life is. We have very little control and every day we have on this earth is a blessing. So I just wanted to take a second and say happy birthday to my brother and my dad- and Happy Mother’s Day to my mom. I am beyond thankful for you guys and love you so much. You have helped shape me into the woman I am today and continue to do so. (And sis- I love you too!)

Mom // your sense of humor and outlook on life is inspiring. You have shown me how to humbly live as a servant of the Lord- following wherever He may lead you. Fully trusting Him through every step of the way.

Dad //  Your enthusiastic spirit and hard work ethic has shown me how to live a passionate life. To embrace the simple things in life and know deep down that they are actually the big things. To submit your talents to the Lord and see what He does with them.

Jonny //  I can’t even say your name without smiling. You are my artistic partner in crime, the only person who can make me belly laugh for days on end, my baby brother who I still feel the need to protect. Your heart for the Lord and His people is contagious. I can’t wait to see where life leads you.

Friends- hug your loved ones today. Give them a call if you’re far. Because we don’t know what’s going to happen. We really don’t. Life is short. Seemingly too short sometimes. Embrace every day, the big and the small moments. They are what make up your life.

It’s been another long and busy week! I’ve been in a design cave the past few days- and am so happy to come out this weekend! Stumbled upon this video from Loren Conrad’s blog and it just put me in an amazing mood. A perfect Friday morning vibe.

Have a marvelous weekend you guys!!!

CS Lewis- you’re kinda awesome.

Urban, you’re making me want to redecorate. And go back to bed. Cause it’s Monday and I’m struggling.

Loving these pillows.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

It’s been a long week over here. I have definitely been pushing on the borders of taking on too much. Once again. I was doing a great job at saying no to things for a while- to scheduling out projects and being all organized. But then sometimes when things are going well, it’s like I take that and say “I can take on more, I feel fine!” then I’m right back where I started. Stressed!! I’ll learn. One day. I hope.

Sometimes when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I just need to take 5 minutes, to focus my mind on something else and look at things other than design. I find it inspires me much more than forcing ideas to come to my head. So I wanted to share with you three blogs I visit when needing that chill time!

1 // Joy the Baker. Looking at the delicious treats she makes paired with her clever, hilarious and oftentimes heartfelt writing just warms me inside! It’s like I’m entered into the kitchen of a good friend who is telling me stories and baking me goodies. A great read when you just need some comfort or a good recipe. Her podcast is a regular listen for me too.

2 // Refinery 29. I guess this one isn’t necessarily a blog- but it’s a daily read for me so I had to post it! The fashion, the local tips, the celebrity gossip, I am an admitted Refinery 29 addict. They never cease to amaze me with their marketing. I want to read every single article with just one glance of their headlines! They have different sections for different cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and LA! I’ve come across a lot of different restaurants, store openings and events happening in LA because of this site. It’s a great read for those times when you’ve been working at home and haven’t left the house for too many hours (maybe even days- ah!) and just need to see what’s happening out there in the world around you. Maybe even make plans to head out to a new store opening in the area.

3 // A Cup of Jo. I’m sure you guys are familiar with the one and only Joanna Goddard and her beautiful little family. This was one of the first blogs I ever started reading when I discovered this whole “blog land” and I’ve loved it ever since. (And have always been jealous of her amazing blog title. I really wish I would have thought of it first!!) Writing lovely posts about her adventures as a mom, giving weekly challenges like “Interview your parents” or “Meditate for 10 minutes a day“. And much more on love, travel, food, fashion, and a ton of quirky fun finds. It’s a great read when you need to just step out of your world for a minute or two and focus on the small pleasures in life.

So there you have it! My go-to’s for small chill out moments while working. Are there any sites you visit when needing to take 5 from work stuff?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend friends!!

Goodness I love me some good food photography. Joseph De Leo has an amazing eye for this stuff.

Now I’m craving donuts…

source.

Hey friends! Hope you’ve been having a good week so far.

This post is for my LA Creatives- (but feel free to read you non-locals!) There is an awesome event happening at The Standard in DTLA May 18th. It’s called Create + Cultivate.

It’s a one-day event filled with mimosas, workshops, creative seminars, food, cocktails, a photo booth, amazing goodie bags. There will be speakers like Jessica Comingore, A Cozy Kitchen, Leaf TV, and many more talking subjects like turning your passion into a business, the art of food blogging, how to find inspiration and tons more.

This would be the perfect event for someone who is looking to meet some local creatives, get inspired and have an awesome time, of course! And hey, I’ll be there! So we can meet and be friends!

If you need some more convincing- check out this video from one of the past Create + Cultivate events. It will sell you more than I can!

If you need more convincing, you can use the discount code “CCVIP” at checkout and get a deal on your ticket.
Let me know if you’re gonna be there so we can hang! Tickets are limited and going fast so hurry up and get yours!

Happy Wednesday friends- enjoy it!

I had some fun a few Fridays ago with a calligraphy starter kit I had purchased MONTHS ago and hadn’t used yet. It was one of those days. Feeling frustrated, not really able to clear my mind and focus- so I hopped off the comp and busted out my calligraphy kit. It was really hard to do! But really liberating at the same time. It was so fun to not do anything for a client or a project- but just for the sake of creating something. I miss doing this. Some of you may have seen this little pic I Instagrammed that day.

I also got a little crazy and spilt ink all over my desk… I have to admit I wanted to “Command Z” that thing right when it happend, but it was also kind of awesome to get messy and have my desk and my hands stained with ink splatters. I just ran with it and dipped my paper into it. I had some neon green puff paint lying around and put that on it, and had some fun with my logo.

I challenge you to create something outside of the computer this weekend. Just for fun. Spill some paint- stain your hands. Let go.

Have a great weekend everyone!