behind the scenes at a photo shoot

Yesterday I found myself traipsing all over the University of Oregon campus, art directing a long-planned photo shoot with the ever-so-talented David Loveall. We do these shoots just about every year for the UO Annual Giving Program (you can see last year's projects for them here, here and here).

I thought it might be fun to give you a bit of a behind-the-scenes peek at our photo shoot so I snapped some quick shots throughout the day.

As far as photo shoots go, ours are actually quite casual. No hair & make-up artists, no wardrobe or prop department, no prior head shots and model screening. The kids are all 100% real UO students and we prefer them au naturel.

While we had no big movie trailer to retreat into, we did get lunch catered, right outside the EMU (student center).

After gobbling up a turkey sandwich, some chips and a cookie, it was on to the next location. By the end of the day, we had shot roughly 1,000 images in nearly 20 campus locations – in part thanks to advance location scouting and thorough shot list preparation.

My favorite location was shooting inside the Craft Center in the ceramics studio. The light was simply amazing thanks to a huge wall of windows and skylights. While none of our three models had ever thrown a pottery wheel, a very patient student (who was trying hard to get her own work done amidst our shooting) and a kind and knowledgeable studio manager (who was a natural instructor) were willing to step in, thus making sure we got some great shots.

And here's my favorite shot of David: flat on his stomach – in the wet grass! – to get just the right angle of the students gathered down the field in the sun. Thanks, David! Not only are you a super photographer, you're also quite the trooper :)

what's for dinner?

It's barely starting to feel like fall but I've been thinking about Thanksgiving dinner for months! Not because I'm an avid cook (far from it!) but because I've been working on the holiday line-up for Harry's Fresh Foods.

Harry's needed a brochure that presented their food service holiday line-up in one easy-to-read brochure that's packed with information and appetite appeal as well as order form.

So I designed the brochure to look like a restaurant menu, complete with linen fabric texture and Harry's signature illustration used as a subtle background throughout.

 

As the main font, I chose Carolyna Pro Black, which has the elegance of a script mixed with the ligatures and flourishes of custom calligraphy.

I blended the plate shots with the background in Photoshop, creating soft vignettes that added to the festive holiday feel.

 

And just to show you what a departure this holiday menu is from the standard product sheets I designed for Harry's, here's a quick comparison:

 

I'd say let the holidays begin!

cheers to beer

My day-to-day work for Harry's Fresh Foods usually involves designing or updating print collateral for use by their sales force but a few weeks ago, they asked me to help them with a special events project. Fun!

You may remember seeing the logo I designed for their 2012 Ski Summit here so now I get to share some of the ways it was implemented.

The main use was on beer steins that were sent to prospective attendees of the event. The logo had to be converted to strictly black and white so it could be engraved onto the glass.

I then used it on the actual invitation, which took the form of a full-color, 4-panel brochure detailing the itinerary of the 2-day event (which included a pub crawl, since no visit to Portland is complete without at least one pint of local micro brew!).

I'm quite pleased with the result – hopefully, the invited guests are, too!

another award – creativity 41

I love getting mail. Naturally, when opening my mail box, I prefer to find a lovely handwritten note from a dear friend than a bill or yet another invite to bundle my phone and cable...but best of all is when there's a package.

Seeing a plain brown box waiting patiently at my door step always gets me giddy with excitement. Did someone send me a present? Did I sleep walk and order that as-seen-on-TV gadget?

Last week I found one of these boxes tucked away behind some bushes next to the front door (I must not have been home when the UPS man made his delivery) and I eagerly tore away the tape, revealing my very own copy of Creativity 41.

Having a collection of award-winning designs is always a great design reference but what makes this book special is that it includes one of my award-winning designs! A magazine ad, to be precise, that I worked on with copywriter extraordinaire Erin Codazzi (you may remember reading about it here).

What makes it even more special is that the book itself is actually a pretty cool design. While the use of pattern is a bit much for my taste, I do love the fact that the paper edges were printed with stripes. And, of course, that fabulous diecut "1" on the front cover.

Yep, I love getting mail. Can't wait to see what this week's mail brings me!