Circus-inspired packaging

I love creative and eye-catching packaging design.  So much so in fact, I am often the victim of advertising…or rather…of cool packaging.  If something looks fabulously amazing on the outside, it has to be amazing on the inside too!

No, I don’t actually think that.  But, nonetheless, I really do enjoy buying something simply for its appearance.  I guess I never learned the “It’s what’s inside that counts” or “Don’t judge a book by its cover” lessons    Okay, not really…I value those morals as well…but when it comes to work, and design, and inspiration, and eye candy….all morals are out the window! 

Here is some circus inspired packaging I spied for three flavors of gourmet popping kernels called Carny Corn.  The designer, Theresa Decker, decided to create a circus side show act theme including Buttery Bessie (world’s fattest woman), Firey Hot Frank (fire breather) and Sweet & Salty Pip and Pop (siamese twins).  She used vintage broadsides as typographical inspiration and manipulated black & white imagery for each label.  The bags are printed canvas and are held in a custom made wooden crate with transferred typography.

It’s so creative and so cool looking I would definitely be tempted to buy this popcorn…even though I rarely ever eat it.

Gorgeous business identity suite

I love when I find amazing brand packaging!  This is a gorgeous gorgeous business identity suite for Jackie Wonders, a wedding photographer I spied online.  When the Lifework make-over is all complete (I hope by the end of summer!) you’ll see a lot more paper goods & business identity products from us like the ones below!

Enjoy:

It’s amazing how just a simple little pattern can actually turn into a real statement piece when done right.

Oh my word…love the real feather used in her packaging.

So simple.  Just a pattern and b&w text, but it sure pops!

Gorgeous!  And even the twine & string are essential to the overall look.

Blink Lash Bar update

As promised, I’m following up with a post about my recent clients over at Blink Lash Bar.

They have officially started business in the hip Capitol Hill district of Seattle.  You can check out their website here.

This is taken from their site:

“At Blink we specialize exclusively in eyelash extensions. Whether you are looking for a casual look, lashes for a special day or for all the glamorous who want that WOW look every day, Blink professionals have a skilled technician that will customize the perfect look for whatever you strive for.”

They also have a service called “Lash Dips”, which is a semi-permanent (6 week) product giving your eyelashes the look of mascara that is applied perfectly.  This sounds so fabulous…I might just have to go try it myself!

Here are some pictures of their location, including two displaying the logo we designed for them- front and center on their door & sign!  How cool!

Blink Lash Bar- Eyelash Bar Logo

I had the privilege of designing a logo for a business, Blink Lash Bar, in Seattle.  This will be a hip, stylish eyelash bar located on Capitol Hill.  Eyelash bar!  From what I’ve learned, eyelashes are applied professionally and stay on for a week or so before needing to be reapplied.  How cool!

The clients wanted Old Hollywood Glamour style.  Their colors?  Black, Smoky Gray, and Fuchsia.

This was a SUPER fun logo to work on!  Feminine, elegant, formal, royal, and elaborate…Old Hollywood Glamour is actually one of my favorite styles!  Think pink, diamond-tuck cushioning, black crystal chandeliers, silver, glass, Marilyn Monroe, animal prints, and mirrored surfaces…

Think fabulous!
Here is the finished logo for Blink.  Hope you like it!

Brooke- for Stella & Dot

Have any of you heard of Stella & Dot?  They have some of the best, cutest jewelery!!!  You can visit their site by clicking here and checking out some of their fabulousness.  My favs- the Charm Necklaces or this Brooch Necklace.  Gorgeous, classy, feminine…yet there’s a bit of toughness thrown in there too.

All this is to say, lucky for me! when Brooke came to me with a new business venture she is doing with Stella & Dot.  She wanted business cards & blank invitations designed with the Stella & Dot colors, prints, and look.

Here are the digital versions of her pieces, below.  The designs were printed onto a gorgeous shimmery white paper.

Business Card

Spring Invite

Fall Invite

Pretty cute huh!?

Red Lotus

A few weeks ago, Dinah from Red Lotus contacted me about designing a logo for her up-and-coming business.   Dinah makes and sells beautiful fabric baskets in various sizes.  They are bright, colorful, and very versatile.  While functional, they can also be used as home decor (think stylish storage baskets).  Not to mention, her business model is absolutely fantastic; she donates part of the proceeds to an organization that provides opportunities to women and children!  Vibrant products- what a way to celebrate women!

Dinah will soon start selling these baskets on Etsy.  I will update this post with the information on how to buy them as soon as her baskets are available!  Check back for Red Lotus fabulousness!

So for the logo, we met at Dinah’s house, where I got a little taste of her personal style… and was able to look through all of her baskets to get a feel for what she wanted in a logo.  Dinah was torn between whether she wanted a very simple Lotus flower or a more elaborate one…so in the end we created two!

First we created a layered and feminine Lotus flower seen here:

I just LOVE it!

And the second logo we created was a bit more graphic and simplistic (below)

Which I think turned out great!!  The one Dinah ended up using was this one.

I can’t wait to see her products up on Etsy.

Good luck on your new business Dinah!

-Marissa

Tax Free Retirement Book & DVD Covers

Patrick Kelly is an awesome guy to work with.  He is seriously smart and seems to always have a new business or idea- and they ALL seem to do very well!  Lifework Media has had the privilege to do a lot of work for him; from video shoots, to graphics, to DVD duplication and more.

Here are some pictures of his last book: A National Bestseller! and the DVD we shot, edited, and created for Patrick’s seminar series.

John L. Scott broker associate branding

Brooke Grossberg contacted me about doing some branding for her new job.  Brooke is this adorable, classy blonde from Bainbridge Island, about 30 minutes from us.

The more I hear about Bainbridge and the more I visit, the more I think I would like to live there someday.  It is beautiful, and of course Brooke didn’t help when she talked about it!

Brooke is pretty awesome herself.  When I met her for coffee she was SO sweet and bubbly!  Just makes me excited to get to work with someone like that.  She contacted me because she was going back to work as a broker associate for John L. Scott and wanted business cards and a 5×7″ announcement mailer.

The starting point was to create a motif for Brooke, that would be used throughout her pieces.  We created something for her that was somewhat feminine, but was also gender neutral.

After playing with many fun color combinations, Brooke and I decided on navy blue & orange.  Stylish, yet masculine too!

She wanted a business card that was very different, very high-end, very unique.  I came up with the idea of a layered business card.  We would do one layer of shimmery white paper.  The next layer would be the printed business card, a bit smaller.  And the third layer would be a thin band on top of it all with her name/title.  It turned out fabulously unique and definitely captures the high-end, hand-made, luxurious feel she was going for.

Here are the graphics of her motif, business card design, and announcement.

Three layers make up this business card

Bloom Logo

Daniela from Bella Signature Design created a secondary company called Bloom, which is floral design for weddings- instead of the whole package service that Bella Signature Design provides (planning, designing, florals, etc).

Here are examples of the logo & branding designs we created for Bloom!

Bella Signature Design Logo

Occasionally I do some design work for Daniela over at Bella Signature Design.  I absolutely ADORE her sense of style, and just love love love to create pieces for her because she always wants something fun, hip, and stylish.  Not to mention, she is extremely sweet, easy to work with, inspirational, and so so incredibly talented!  Who wouldn’t swoon over the opportunity to design for her? (let alone have her design your wedding…wink wink…I’ll never forget the fabulous job she did at my wedding two years ago).

When Daniela asked me to recreate her Bella logo,  it was one of the first projects we worked on together professionally.  In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, this was a direction I wanted to take the business, but we’d been so busy with corporate work that we just never spent the time to go out and get this sort of business.  So, not only was it a first working with Daniela, but in some ways it was really the start of this whole creative, artistic side of Lifework Media (aside from a few artistic fliers and logos we’ve done in the past- most of ours have been somewhat boring!!) so it was a first in many ways for me too!

Daniela mentioned she was very into quatrefoils- so that became the new motif that her design would center around.

Here is a picture of a quatrefoil I found online to show you what they are:

You see them a TON in old architecture and buildings (fencing, etc).

Here are some pictures of the final logos.  I designed several different versions so Daniela was able to mix the logos up a bit- the quatrefoil being the connecting feature in them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t you just looove her rich color palette!?  Can’t get enough of chartreuse lately!