december was lovely

2011 was definitely not the year of getting-things-done (well, besides 3 semesters of grad school), however I did churn out a couple stellar projects in December. My personal Christmas cards were a hit (hit = 3 extended family members said they were cute) and it only took 2 proofs for ma and pa to approve the fam Christmas cards. Petrnotail and I fit in a craft day at the beginning of December as well—she worked on her Christmas cards while I got all inky making a bookmark set. And then I rounded off the year with delish chocolate coffee stirrers. My mother even donated 20+ spoons to the cause.

And now on to 2012!

grad school update

Grad school update: Project 1 [Advanced Design] has officially been printed, photographed and crossed off my list!

Not to bore you with the details, but here's a quick project summary:

1. We had to choose a real company and create a fake campaign/product/exhibit for the client. I chose Whole Foods Market and created the brand "City Grown," an indoor gardening line.

2. Along with a unique identity, the idea needed to be actualized in 3 separate treatments including an environmental treatment. For this portion of the assignment, I chose to create seed packets, a kiosk and an iPhone app. The seed packets would be sold exclusively in self-serve kiosks in front of Whole Foods. The back of the packets have a QR code that would direct the purchaser to the City Grown app.

caffeine monday

Exercise #15: That's Not The Words!

Task: Get that song out of your head by rewriting the chorus about a person or object near you.

"Think Twice" by Eve 6 has been stuck in my head since my morning power walk (feel free to judge on both accounts). If the single happened to escape you in 2003, watch the video here courtesy of YouTube. It will help you to follow along with my version about the empty cup of coffee sitting in front of me.

Think twice before you drink that cup

You'll be up until half past twelve

Think twice before you drink that cup

Shoulda made it, shoulda made it half caf

Think twice before you drink that cup

You'll be up until half past twelve

Think twice before you drink that cup

Shoulda made it half caf

It was too late

I drank that cup

And now I can't

Shut myself down

I drank too much

I blame myself

And now I can't

Shut myself down

*Note: This was written after my 6pm coffee cut-off which is generally only loosely adhered to.

Get the skinny on this ongoing personal project here, and if you want to follow along you can purchase the book here.

and now i tweet

Just in case you weren't sitting at home googling my name during the hurricane, I started a Twitter account this past week. I'll just go ahead and pull a direct quote from a convo I had with an office mate in which I said ridiculous things and he nodded politely: "I'm pretty good at Twitter."

For other choice phrases and #fails, follow me at @hannahdashlove.

caffeine monday

Exercise #14: Stupid "K"

Task: We don't usually see letters or numbers as anything more than their true forms. Because of this, we don't appreciate their individual loveliness. This week's task is to take your name and recreate it using any letters or numbers except the actual letterform of each letter.

Just in case that "task" description was a little bit confusing, here's a for instance: I couldn't use an "H" to represent an "H" so I used 2 big "I"s and 1 little "i". Actually, because my name is made up of mostly straight-lined letters, I used mostly "I"s and "i"s. I chopped the dot off the little "i"s but I added them back using blue so you could see where they would have landed.

Get the skinny on this ongoing personal project here, and if you want to follow along you can purchase the book here.

caffeine monday

Exercise #13: Bugs Just Wanna Have Fun
Task: Design a carnival ride for a bug using only materials in your immediate area.

I call this carnival ride the lamp-post push. Once the bug’s antennas are securely wedged in-between the car’s safety belt, the ride launches the car downward at lightning speed. Remnants of bug vomit can be seen at the base of the ride.

*Note: I skipped exercise 12 because it was an exercise in calling objects different names. For instance, a refrigerator is a refrigerator, but what if I start calling it a chair? Or table? Or cockroach? You see where I’m going with this, right?

Get the skinny on this ongoing personal project here, and if you want to follow along you can purchase the book here.

i went to maine

I never thought this summer would be made up of so many trips, however here I am unpacking and photo-editing once again. Apart from Third Eye Blind on repeat and some major BFF bonding moments, the Maine trip can be summed up like so: sleep, coffee, read, coffee, hike, coffee, pool, coffee, write, tea, sleep. If only real life could be so lovely.