Out with the Old, In with the New!

I had the opportunity to work with a very wise business mentor recently and we got talking about some of the older designs I currently have for sale.

She said if I wouldn't like to see them on a billboard, then they should go, I shouldn't have them up for sale.  And she's correct of course.  If I'm not loving them, if I'm not loving working on them or personalising them my clients, then no I shouldn't have them for sale.  I've been through and counted up 37 - yes! 37! designs that simply have to go.  Over the next little while I will be taking these designs down and replacing them with new and improved creations, more reflective of me and where I am now.

As a designer, I have grown over the years, my skills have improved and been refined, and some of my earlier work just doesn't show me at my best.

I have lots of ideas for my new designs.  However if there is a particular theme, idea or design you are just itching to see, please drop me a line.  I'm always interested in and appreciative of your feedback and ideas.  After all, it's you who purchase the designs!

Until next time, cheers nicky

Combining Birthday Parties - Double the Fun!

It is surprising the amount of requests I receive from parents whose children's birthdays are quite close together and who want to throw one party instead of two.  It makes a lot of sense and I'm sure it works out costing less than two separate celebrations.  The difficult part is how to combine the parties so it looks even remotely cohesive.

In the past, I've been given the challenge of designing an invitation with a Space and a Princess theme.  Kinda tricky.  A simpler theme was Princess and Pirate, almost a walk in the park that one!  More recently, the two themes were a Mermaid and a Hedgehog.  Hmmmm, interesting.  How on earth do I approach that I wondered??!

In the end, the solution was relatively simple.  Two invitations.  I suggested to my client that we double side the invitations, have the Mermaid on one side and the Hedgehog on the other.  Obviously they would need to work together somehow, so I elected to keep a similar look to each design.  This is what I came up with.

To view the Hedgehog Invitation, click here.

After creating the Hedgehog themed invitation, I did a redesign of my popular Mermaid themed inviation in order to tie in with the design of the Hedgehog.

To view the Mermaid Invitation, click here.

My client was very happy, her kids were thrilled, both got what they wanted.  Great result all round.

Something to keep in mind should you decide to double the fun and throw a combined birthday party for your next celebration!

Until next time!
Cheers, Nicky :)