Doing design as my profession requires that I design for other people. However, from time to time I like to use my talents on a personal project, something that will have no financial gain.

About 6 months ago I started rock climbing. It’s a fun sport and has helped me lose a bunch of weight. I wanted to share with everyone my excitement, so naturally I had a desire to put a sticker on my laptop.

My fun new sticker

I spent some time looking online for a sticker that was already created, that conveyed my passion, but I was coming up short. Everything looked bad. I did order a sticker from CafePress, but the print quality was so poor, there was no way I was going to stick it to my precious laptop.

So I did the next best thing…using my design savvy, I created my own. When I was done, I was happy with the results, but now needed to find a printer. A search took me to Blue Bee Printing. For under $40 I could get 50 prints of my new creation. But what the hell was I going to do with 50? I only needed a few. Then it dawned on me, I’ll give them away. I’ve been climbing at Rockreation, a local gym not far from my house. My thought was to leave them there and let anyone who wanted one have it.

Now I’m finding the nice part of doing a personal project. Not only did I get the sticker I was after for my laptop, when I’m at the gym I’m seeing people with my sticker. It’s been posted in the locker room, affixed to people’s water bottles and gear bags. It’s really a nice feeling.

When I was a kid, I loved me some Legos. Hell I still love them and even have a container of about 200 pieces that I still like to build with when bored at my desk. When I came across this video I was blown away by it’s creativity. Check it out, it’s well worth your time.

I’m going to be totally honest; I’ve been a bit lazy the past few days. While I could eat a nice complete breakfast at home, I’d rather save a few minutes and stop at Starbucks on the way to the office. And I’m glad I have been.

A few weeks back I noticed that Starbucks had started putting up the Christmas promotions. I didn’t pay any attention, as I wasn’t in the holiday spirit. But last week I had a moment to take them in.

The art is so simple, it’s genius. The promotions feature snowmen, penguins, reindeer and a boy and girl caroling. But what I enjoy so much is how simple the artwork is rendered. They used basic organic shapes and, for the most part, 2 colors. The objects are filled with a single color and then overlaid with a dark gray to give them some depth. As a designer I enjoy the uncomplicated visuals, as a letterpress printer I see art that would look beautiful printed.

Nice job Starbucks!

images copyright Starbucks