I'm Pathetic...I Know

Wow. Really?? February 16th?? Sheesh. Good thing I'm so good at keeping my blog updated. Uhhh, I've been busy. That's my excuse, as pathetic as it may sound. Anyhoooo...here are a few things I've been busy with...

Some "newer" stuff

Lots of new projects have been in progress over here at Libby Design...now if I could just find the time to post about some of them. If only blogging could count as "billable hours". Wishful thinking, I know. Here's one project that I'm just wrapping up - a logo and business card design for Pacific Ingenium, a new consulting business that's starting up in the Mpls. area. Fun stuff!

Long time, no...anything

Hmmm, somehow 6 months have past and I've failed to post a SINGLE thing. Well, fear not - there's been lots going on over here at Libby Design - so much that there's been no time for blogging. Lots of new projects have been completed or are in progress, so stay tuned - there will be more things coming for your viewing pleasure in 2010. :)

In the meantime, kick back and enjoy yourself! Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!!

New Team Member

I'd like to introduce a new addition to the Libby Design team - please give a warm welcome to Boots, Libby Design's official lap dog. Boots brings an excellent skill set to the team and we're very excited to have her. She has extensive experience specifically in client relations - don't let those "puppy eyes" fool you! When it comes right down to it there's no way Boots will be accepting any low-resolution files or screen fonts! Our hope is that Boots will not only be an incredible asset to the company, but our clients will grow to know Libby Design as "the company with the great customer service dog".

Welcome to the team, Boots! Hang on for the ride!

Twins Yearbook

Last week I met with a new client who got my name from another client I've worked with. Gotta love referrals. They're located down in Savage, so I made the trip down to meet with them and I think they're going to be a lot of fun to work with. The first project we just completed is an ad that'll be in the 2009 Twins Yearbook. Fun stuff! We're huge Twins fans so this was a fun one to do knowing I'd be seeing it this summer when we're at games.

Blah.

That's how things have been the past couple of months...and honestly how I've felt after the holidays. :D I was crazy busy up until about Thanksgiving and it's died off since then. There's still a small trickle of work coming through, but it's pretty slow. Seems to be the same with everyone else I talk to in the same field, so I'm not too terribly worried. Everyone's predicting that first quarter of '09 will be brutal, then things will pick up. So we'll keep our fingers crossed that things pick up sooner than later. I do have a photo shoot later this week and a meeting with a client about some more work. There are a few other projects I started back in December that were put on hold that I'm hoping will come back to life here soon, too. So in the meantime I'm trying to enjoy having some "downtime"...getting stuff done around the house, stuff gathered up and organized for taxes, that sort of stuff. So, hang tight until I have some more fun stuff to post that I've got cookin'!

Update

Well things have continued to be extremely busy, which I can't complain about. I've been doing a lot of different types of work from production work to design work to art direction. It's been good. Now if I could just get people to PAY me for all the work I've done. Ooops. Did I say that out loud? Apparently I did. Anyhoo...

Here are a few things I've been working on. For the past couple of months I've been working on a re-branding project for a company called Walls Industries. They're pretty much the "Carhartt of the south" - based in Texas. We're in the process of trying to persuade them to move forward with a new logo (which you'll see in the designs below) and also with a fresh "look". Below are some samples of the hang tags and stickers for various garments along with a 3-panel ceiling banner.




I also recently finished up a pro-bono project for Normandale Community College. They have a really cool scholarship program for underprivileged kids called "The Normandale Math & Science Academy". Basically this program gives kids the chance to pursue a career in the medical/science field. It's a great program, so I was happy to help them put together some professional looking materials so that they can go out and raise support to help continue funding this program. We put together a trifold brochure and 3 biography cards that told the story of some current students who had received scholarships. I was privileged enough to be recognized at Normandale's Donor Appreciation Banquet on September 17th for the work I did. It was a nice night of networking and meeting various people who have helped put this program together.



Another project I'm just wrapping up is an FSI for Red Star Yeast. This will be run in Colorado and a few other locations as they do some market research as to which brands are selling best based on location, store, etc. I've enjoyed this project a lot. The client had me art direct the photo shoot of the products which I got to do with my friend Shawn over at Nielsen Photography.



A few weeks back I completed a project I'd been working on for a while - a flyer for the Minnesota Childhood Apraxia support group we're a part of. This was a fun little project, and I'm excited that we now have a nice flyer to hand out to make people more aware of what Apraxia is. It'll be great to see how many more people join our group now that we'll have a tool for spreading the word!



Last but not least, I've done a few "personal" projects over the past couple of months, too. My twin brother, Aaron, and his wonderful wife, Katie, recently returned home from Ethiopia with their baby daughter, Matea. We're so thrilled to have a new member of the family!! I offered to design adoption announcements for them and had a BLAST!!



And speaking of a new family member - my middle brother, Jesse, is getting married November 1st to his lovely bride, Jodi. We're SO excited to have her as part of our family! As part of her Christmas present last year, I told Jodi I'd love to do custom wedding invitations for them. So here they are! Everything fit in a #10 size envelope and they turned out really fun - definitely something "different", which is always good.



So there...that's just a taste of stuff that's been going on in terms of work the past few months. I'll try to be better about posting. Stay tuned!

Bombarded

That's how I've felt the past couple of weeks. After a REEEEEAAALLLY slow summer, everyone has suddenly decided to get back and track with their marketing. That's great, except for the fact that everyone wants everything NOW! So, life's been interesting...but I'm managing. In the last week and a half I've picked up 13 new projects. Add those to the other 4 or 5 I've got going on and we're talking a real party in the office of Libby Design!! It's all good.

Luckily I've had a real nice mix of things I've been working on. A few brochures, some sell sheets, a couple web splash page designs, some corporate branding strategy projects, a few banner designs, adoption announcements & wedding invitations...there's lots more, but you get the idea. I just keep telling myself, "Who needs sleep...you can sleep next month after the paychecks roll in".

Below is a brochure I finished up today for an Interior Design/Home Staging business. Turned out pretty nice. Can't wait to see the actual printed piece.



All in all, things are going pretty well. Looking forward to the start of school, though. :)

Still kickin'

Yes, I realize it's been a while since I posted something. This whole "summer" thing has really thrown a kink in my working-from-home routine. Kids + husbands golfing + therapy appointments + too many other commitments = not much time for work.

Here's a quick rundown on where things are at with the 'ole business - things have continued to be fairly slow over the summer (which has worked out just fine given the above mentioned equation of what my summer schedule has looked like). Tomorrow, however, I have a meeting with a brand new client who has several projects for me. I'm pretty pumped about that. Then I have another meeting tomorrow afternoon for a new project with the Minnesota Humane Society. Woohoo! Thursday morning I have a creative session scheduled with another client for a big project for Walls Outdoors - we're re-doing all of their in-store signage and a few other items that will be used in Wal-mart and Kmart. I've also got a few other projects going on, including a fundraising kit for Normandale Community College and a patient information/welcome kit for Northwest Eye. Oh yes, and I had an exciting moment the other day when I was driving and saw the new logo I did for Northwest Eye (FYI - it's not on their website yet) on a sign for one of the places they're opening a new location at. Excitement.

All in all, things are going okay, but I'm definitely ready for the school year to being and life to get back to "normal" - or at least what I consider "normal".

Circle Me Bert

We're headed to the Twins game tomorrow night with the kids along with 4 other families - we'll have a total of 10 kids ranging in age from 2 to 6 years old. I came across this picture of Bert Blyleven and figured I'd have some fun with it.



Here's our sign - I'm guessing they haven't seen this one before. Keep your fingers crossed that we get circled...and that we win the 100 lottery tickets - that might come in handy with how slow work has been over the summer. ;)



I'll keep ya posted.

Latest Projects

Summer is proving to be challenging once again as I try to find time to work with "the fam" home. I love summer, but a part of me secretly can't wait for school to start. :)

My workload has picked up a bit, which is great. This past week I finished up an ad that will be in the Vikings GameDay program. Yes, I know...now I look like a traitor, participating in something that has to do with the "enemy". Go Pack, go!



Over the past couple of weeks I've been working on this product offerings sheet for another client. They have some existing brochures, so what I had to do was match the design and then I also did the product photography. I'm happy to report that it is in fact possible to do a photo shoot while holding a crying 2-year-old...these images are the proof. :) This one took a while and was quite a challenge trying to figure out how to get everything to fit! But thankfully it's done now and the client is happy.



I'm still working on some other projects for Northwest Eye and Normandale Community College, along with a few other smaller projects. Somehow I've been managing to keep my head above water, even though there are days where I feel like I'm SOOOO behind! Thank goodness for my "real" work hours - between 9pm and 2am. Don't know what I'd do without 'em!

The Big 2-5

We've hit a major milestone - 25 posts for my Libby Design blog. That leaves me no choice but to do something wild and crazy in celebration...like list 25 random things either about myself or my business for your reading pleasure. Here goes nothin'...

1) My middle name is Rebecca.

2) My desk usually has at least one sippy cup on it and remnants of various snack items from the kids at any given time.

3) This morning I sat at a Caribou in St. Louis Park for an hour and fifteen minutes waiting for a new client to show up - while she sat at the Caribou across the freeway for an hour and fifteen minutes waiting for some mysterious designer who contacted her out of the blue to show up. We've rescheduled for Wednesday - and have narrowed down the SPECIFIC Caribou we'll be meeting at. :p

4) My first dog's name was Chumley - she was a St. Bernard who died after being attacked by a porcupine. RIP Chumley.

5) I love Cherry Coke.

6) At my last dentist visit I had 3 cavities...probably from Cherry Coke.

7) When I was little I was absolutely IN LOVE with John from C.H.I.P.S. Now I look back and wow, was he a complete dork or what?

8) I'm two months behind in entering my business expenses into my expenses spreadsheet.

9) Chad is actually my second husband - when I was 7 my brother Aaron married myself and Jeremy Day behind the Lilac bushes at First Baptist Church in Cannon Falls, MN - the very church my parents were married at. Unfortunately, that marriage only last about 2 hours until church was over.

10) I sometimes catch myself singing songs from "Barney" or "The Wiggles" as I'm working. Today it was a song from "Elmo's Potty Time"...."Put your body on the potty 'cause it's POTTY TIME!!!!!" (Imagine that being sung in the voice of Elmo's Dad)

11) Growing up I thought my Dad was related to McGyver because he could fix anything...and he kind of looked like him, too.

12) This past weekend I realized that my son has inherited one of my best features...my double jointed arms. Yes!

13) I have 1,824 songs in my iTunes library.

14) I love funky socks.

15) All I want for Christmas is...a gift card for socks from this website.

16) I'm the proud owner of a black 70s tie-around-the-neck pant suit that is complete with rainbow stripes running down the side AND a matching belt. Bring on the Halloween parties - can't wait to break that thing out again.

17) I recently got new glasses after having the same pair for WAY too long. When the eye doctor checked the prescription of my old glasses and compared it with my new prescription she said, "Wow, you haven't been driving with these on, have you?". I look at her and said, " Oh, no - that just wouldn't have been safe", as I secretly thought to myself "Thank you God for sparing me from being pulled over while driving in these glasses". Yikes.

18) Last night I was thrown out trying to stretch one of my hits in our softball game into a triple. Crap, if only I had slid.

19) One of my most prized possessions is my "Poison's Greatest Hits" CD.

20) I haven't balanced my checkbook in over 6 months. Thank you online banking.

21) The only thing I ate today was a chicken burrito from Chipotle.

22) I love Dwight Schrute.

23) I sometimes play with the Dukes of Hazard car that sits on the ledge next to my desk.

24) Spam makes makes my skin crawl...or at least the idea of it does - I've never actually tasted it.

25) I have 3 meetings with "new potential" clients lined up over the course of this week, including the one I rescheduled as a result of the Caribou crisis this morning.

There you have it ladies and gentlemen - 25 fabulous things you probably really didn't care to know. Hope the next 25 posts are as incredible and out-of-this world as the first 25 have been. Peace out.

Update on "The Search"

I've had a few people ask how "the search" has been going for new clients/work. My hard work has paid off...at least a little. Right now I've got meetings lined up with Razr Marketing, Misaki Marketing, and GMS Communications. I've also been in touch with several other places, but haven't actually set meetings up with them yet. It's been nice to hear feedback from many of the creative agencies in the Twin Cities area on the quality of my portfolio after they've reviewed my website. If nothing else my "search" has been productive in the sense that I'm getting my name out there. Keep your fingers crossed that some of these new contacts turn into great clients! Stay tuned.

Searching for more

Hello to my five faithful readers (especially you, Mom)! I apologize for not being a good blogger - my failure to post over the past month has been partially due to my own personal laziness, but also in part due to the slowing economy. Things have slowed down quite a bit for the time being, so what better time to continue the on-going search for more work and new clients! I spent a good chunk of last week following up with places I contacted a while back and then also contacting some new places I'd been wanting to contact. After sending out 50+ emails, I finally got a few responses. I've got an interview set up with Razr Marketing, and then I had a couple of other places contact me about upcoming projects. Today my search will continue! I'm sure other freelancers in my position would be anxious about the uncertainty of when things will pick up again, but for some reason I've come to really enjoy these times because it's almost like another form of problem-solving, seeking out new contacts and new work. Yes, I know that sounds odd. But it's exciting to think about all the opportunities out there that I haven't yet found. I'm sure my faith is a big reason why I don't automatically switch into "panic mode" when things slow down a bit. We've really seen some amazing things happen since I left my corporate job back in Jan. 07, and I honestly have no idea where we'd be if I was still there. Yikes! I'm thoroughly enjoying the flexibility of working from home, even though there are other challenges that rear their ugly heads often enough.

While things have been a little slow, I've managed to keep a steady trickle of work flowing. Over the past month, I wrapped up the last of our Planting the Flag campaign materials for NorthRidge, I've done a direct mail piece for a new client - Entrust Mortgage, a newspaper ad for another client, some concept package design for General Mills, a design concept for a patient folder for Northwest Eye, and a few other projects. It's been a nice mix of things, which is always nice.






That's all for now...back to searching!

Planting the Flag Campaign

Well, seeing as how it's been over a month since I last posted, I figured I should at least throw out a quick update to all my loyal readers. Because there are so many of you.

Here goes ...

The past month has pretty much been dedicated to our church Giving Campaign. Not quite sure how, but I ended up as the one and only person responsible for all the promotional and print materials. Nice! It's been a lot of work, but it's been pretty cool to be tied in so closely with all that's going on. Our church is in the process of trying to purchase some land, so all of our literature and promo pieces focus on our theme for the campaign "Planting the Flag". Below are some of the pieces I've been working on:

Planting the Flag Logo



Planting the Flag Overview Brochure (size: 7.5" x 10" – 16 pages)



Planting the Flag Banquet Invitation & RSVP Card




Planting the Flag Magnet (party favor for our Celebration Banquet – size: 2.5" x 3.5")



Planting the Flag Commitment Card (size: 4" x 9.25")



Planting the Flag Prayer Devotional Cover (size: 8.5" x 5.5")



Planting the Flag Dessert Fellowship Postcard Invitation (size: 8.5" x 5.5")



Planting the Flag Communication Template Sheet (size: 8.5" x 11")



Along with the pieces shown above there have also been lots of other smaller things I've been working on for the campaign – stickers for the Children's Ministry collection bank project & Planting the Flag Play-doh project, graphics for DVD presentations on Planting the Flag, Commitment checks for the youth group to write out their donations for the Planting the Flag campaign...there are more, but I won't bore you with all of them. Case in point, it's been a BUSY past several weeks, but looking back it's been a great experience. I've had the opportunity to work closely with many people from our church who I didn't know all that well, and more importantly, I've been able to use my gifts and talents to glorify God as we as a church seek to further His kingdom here on earth. Can't beat that!

My "real" job has also been keeping me busy with miscellaneous projects such as business card designs, brochures, package design concepts for General Mills, etc. Always something to do ... and as I always say, never a dull moment!

Multitasking is what I do!

Hello to all five of you loyal readers of "Life In The Basement". It's been a while since I posted, but there's been a lot going on. So many new projects...so little time to post about them. Here's a brief re-cap of what I've been working on:

Chick Soles™ – A new line of women's shoe inserts
This project has been a lot of fun so far. The deadlines have been pretty insane, but it's been good. Basically the company who makes Toasty Feet inserts is coming out with a new line specifically targeted at women. These inserts will be the first of their kind in that they'll be designed for use in dress shoes (in other words they'll be for the kinds of shoes I always think "look" cute, but I'd never buy them because they've gotta be so incredibly uncomfortable).

My part of this project has been developing various package designs. We're still in the early stages, but it's going well. Once we get the package design done we'll be moving on to doing signage that will be on endcaps and display headers where these products are sold. Right now Wal-mart has said they'll let Polar Wrap (the client) market these new inserts in a good chunk of their stores nationwide. If they do well (hopefully as a result of the fabulous packaging!), then they'll renegotiate the terms of their contract for marketing and carrying this product. Check out this cool site I found while I was doing some research for this project.

Northwest Eye Clinic – Rebranding
A few months back I re-did the logo for Northwest Eye Clinic. They are changing their name to just Northwest Eye in hopes it will be a better name to use as an umbrella for all the various services they provide. At any rate, recently I've been working on designs for business cards, letterhead, envelopes, prescription cards, referral cards, you name it, I've been working on it. My gut tells me this is going to be a pretty long, drawn out process, but in the end it'll be exciting to see all the finished pieces!

This and That –
I've had a lot of random, smaller projects I've been working on, too. Some of those include:

• Newspaper ads
• Direct mailer postcards
• Custom PowerPoint presentation designs
• Logo designs
• Trade Show graphics (posters, table displays, etc.)
• T-shirt designs

Another big thing that's been taking up a LOT of my time is the Giving Campaign at our church. Somehow I ended up being the "communications contact". I've got so many things going on with that I can't even see straight. That's pretty much another full-time job. Ouch! But in the end it'll all be worth it...I hope. It's been fun getting to know some of the different people who are on the various teams working with us.

That's all for now...back to multitasking – the thing I (try to) do best!

Remember when ...

You were this cool?

When I saw this, I had flashbacks to our home movies of me trying to be cool jumping my rusty BMX bike in the background as my Mom shot video of some out-of-town relatives driving into our drive.

Oh to be 13 and this cool again ... or not.

After 9 months of waiting – it's finally here ...

No, not baby #3 – my website! It's kind of funny that it took 9 months because looking back, the process very closely resembled a pregnancy.

Here's the timeline:

April 2007 – Decided a website would be a great addition to my life

July 2007 – Met with my webmaster for the first time to discuss the process

October 2007 – Began frantically gathering information and making important decisions in order to feel like I was prepared for this to actually happen

December 2007 – Felt weary of the whole process, just wanted it to be OVER!

February 16, 2008 – My website made it's first appearance to the world

Whew...glad that's over! I'd like to say a special thank you to my friend AnnDee who helped me with all the programming and webmaster stuff. I'm fine when it comes to how a website should "look", but don't ask me to make it "work"! That's where AnnDee came in. I appreciate all your help, AnnDee!

Enjoy the site!

Tabloids Schmabloids ...

Here's another interesting project I just did for a client. His sister-in-law is turning 40 this weekend and they're throwing a big surprise party. Apparently they're going to have this "edition" of the National Enquirer blown up into a poster and this will be the first thing guests see as they enter The St. Paul Hotel for the big bash. Good times!

Minnesota Humane Society Project

I got to work with the Minnesota Humane Society on a fundraising mailing this past week. The existing pieces they'd been using were, to put it nicely, horrendous. This project was a fun one because I was pretty much given complete creative freedom. I ended up doing a 4-page brochure, a letter, an envelope and a pledge card. Hopefully the fact that the new literature actually looks decent will help their fundraising efforts!