Winter Grays

I've got to be honest, I find that winter can be a huge drag. Here in PA it's mostly gray dreary and gray and cold and gray. I enjoy that hermit lifestyle of minimal movement and socialization. However, this season I've put it a bit more effort to move and also attempt to appreciate the winter grays. Below are some unedited iPhone snapshots from when my friend and I wandered around Green Lane Park on a very foggy winter day.

The Tiller Gift

I'm going to keep going with this wedding season theme and show another side project I created last month for a wedding I attended Labor Day weekend. I had been invited as a guest to a wedding for a couple that had quite a poetic story. She was from Pennsylvania and he was from Michigan. Without necessarily needing to make a gift, I came up with an idea for them shortly after I had been invited. Traditionally I enjoy hand drawing letterforms for the couples, however, for this one I took it in a slightly different direction. With the two home states as a personal connection, I resorted to using map textures. I found a "T" for the last name of Tiller and got to work in Photoshop.

I found maps in a similar style of both Pennsylvania and Michigan. I wanted the maps to be apparent but also not busy, so I desaturated them. Adding the T into the equation, I applied the Pennsylvania map to the gray T and the Michigan map to the background. This made the map textures subtle and right away, it isn't very apparent they are two different maps. The thought behind this arrangement was that the Pennsylvania girl was becoming a "T" and they were within Michigan, where they moved together as an engaged couple. Check out what I mean below:

State College, PA is in the center, the bride's hometown, with the Michigan highlights of Flint, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids surrounding the T. The next step was to print it. I made the print 8"x8" and found some textured/colored paper to print it on. With a white mat and black frame, it was complete! With the mat the piece was 12"x12".

Due to shipping, I had to get creative. I ended up purchasing a slightly different frame and shipping it to Michigan. I rolled up the print in a tube for my carryon. Therefore, the final looked slightly different, but overall quite similar. I was happy with the final product, and luckily so was the happy couple. Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Tiller.

Below are a few extra images and detail photographs of the stationary system for the Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania branding.

Shrewsbury!

My Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania lifestyle brand book has officially arrived today from Blurb, which was a surprise... I love the speedy delivery! Images of the 24 page standard landscape book (10"x8") will hopefully be posted within a week or two. Until then, feel free to look at the spread thumbnails below.  (First and last images are the image-wrapped hardcover.) I have officially completed my Branding works, the end is near, and it is so surreal...

Branding Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania

 

^ Town Website

 

^ Envelope 

 

^ Page Spread 1

 

^ Logo & Business Card

 

^ Signage System

While a lot of these images are older versions of what I currently have developed for this project, it does give viewers a taste of my perspective on my hometown of Shrewsbury.  Primary themes include: maps, deer antlers, wagon wheels, and my color system (red, green, cream, and slate gray). I am currently in the process of editing all of the aspects of my lifestyle brand and organizing the content in a lifestyle brand book.  Within a few weeks I hope to post final spreads!