Tag design

A Coincidence…. What was at work here?

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A few months ago I wanted to trace a photo and paint it. I needed tracing paper, so I went to the art store. The sales clerk was doing a flyer for the store, and happened to be tracing an old flyer. He showed me how to do it and exactly what I needed.

He armed me with tracing paper, graphite paper and media paper for the painting part. I had all of this in a shopping bag. I went home ready for my project. Something came up and there sat my shopping bag. Over time, I kept moving that shopping bag to different places in my office.

Since I am not an artist, I was afraid if I took those supplies out of the bag, I would forget what he showed me and how to use them. I know, it’s a basic technique, easy peasy, but for a non-artist until I’ve done it once, it was going to be a challenge.

Fast forward to yesterday. A funny coincidence happened. I decided, “that’s it,” I’m tracing that photo!! I looked in my office and couldn’t find the shopping bag. I didn’t have time to do a thorough search, but I kept thinking ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT. Where could that shopping bag be?

Last night, I happened to need a blanket. It’s cold, snow again, so went to this storage container I have. As I lifted up the blanket, there was a surprise. My shopping bag with the art supplies was there. I smiled, because I would never have looked there for the shopping bag. I remembered vacuuming one day and moving the shopping bag into this storage container. A blanket ended up on top of it.

So, WHAT was at work here?

The Universe, St. Anthony or my Guardian Angel? I’m not sure, but when I saw that shopping bag I was overcome by feelings of “Wow – I can’t believe it. I would NEVER have checked in the storage container. Thank goodness it snowed, I got cold and needed the blanket!”

How about YOU, I’m sure something like this has happened to you too. Share your story.

Need some LADYBUGS, buy Geraniums.

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IMG_3514I enjoy gardening. When Spring comes I have favorite flowers. I love impatiens and geraniums. Imaptiens remind me of Carmel, CA, beautiful bedding plant, but they do need watering every day. Geraniums though, they are a hardy flower that bloom constantly with little care.

IMG_3510Recently, I went to the gardening store and was looking for geraniums in this pinkish/redish color. I looked down and this particular geranium was FULL of ladybugs. Of course, I smiled and was transported to my childhood when the “first” ladybug I ever saw had landed on my arm. This little bug was so pretty, sweet and dainty and when it walked up my arm it felt like a little tickle when it moved. My second thought was, “WOW – I must be in for some REALLY GOOD LUCK, there are a lot of ladybugs here!” My third and final thought was, how are there so many ladybugs on “THIS” particular geranium?

So, I read the little instruction sticker and it said that this particular geranium attracts ladybugs to it, which is good for your garden, because ladybugs eat different insects. DID YOU KNOW THAT? I didn’t.

When I got home I Googled “ladybugs” and found that in Europe ladybugs are called “ladybirds.” Not sure that I can see how a ladybug resembles a bird except for the wings it has. At the same time, it made me think that this sweet beautiful little creature does not look like a “bug” either. My research found that ladybugs “are known” for bringing “good luck!”

So, with this post, I share my ladybugs with you.

Let’s see what luck comes our way!

 

 

The Pantone Color Institute has spoken. The color of the year is GREEN!

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pantone-color-greenHave you ever thought about how the color of the year is chosen?  I’ve always wondered, but as I am not in the design industry never looked into it. However, throughout the years, I would walk through stores “thinking,” I guess this year it is egg plant purple, sunny yellow, cherry red, etc., because every store was using the same color for their products.

I’d either be excited and spend money on a new pillow I didn’t need, because I loved the color OR I would frown and say, “NEVER would I buy dishes in grey.”  Not my color palette. Good way to save money, if you don’t like the color of the year, you don’t make frivolous purchases.

So, you are thinking, “How is the color of the year chosen?”

There’s a company called, “Pantone Color Institute,” and they are known for color forecasting. Companies hire them for help with understanding color trends, color branding, and choosing a color strategy.

They came up with the Pantone Matching Color System as seen in photo, which standardized the ability to reproduce exact shades of a color between companies/manufacturers by using a specific Pantone number for each color created. So, basically, if you want to have a specific “blue” for the print on your business card, you would email the printer the specific “Pantone #” for the blue shade you want. No need to go into the printer’s office. Your blue color would print out perfectly!

The Pantone Color Institute started choosing the color of the year in 2000. Why were they chosen to choose the color of the year?  This is not clear in my research. It seems that since they own the Pantone color palette, they are considered color experts. They make their yearly choice by looking at color trends during the year. This year they chose green as they had the feeling people wanted to be closer to nature.

If you want to learn more about “the color of the year,” do a quick Google search. There are several interesting articles on this.

I hope you like green. We will be seeing GREEN in everything, i.e. fashion, home goods, interior design… probably cars too!

Luckily, I don’t mind green, it’s the color of nature. I can live with that!

Can you?

Great Advertising

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I had to devote this Blog to advertising when I saw this adorable Italian ad from Dolce & Gabbana featuring Italian grandmothers with tiaras and beautiful designer purses. What a great idea! The ad warms our hearts.

Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana

Don’t they say a “picture is worth a thousand words?” This next ad caught my attention, because it was clever.

Madeline Weinrib

Madeline Weinrib

Madeline Weinrib’s marketing team used an interesting old Indian photo to transport our minds to India and then in a conversational font asked us if we knew they carried Antique Indian dhurries. The ad was very engaging! I’m curious about the photo.

I sold adverting for over seven years. It became a habit to prospect for potential advertisers in other magazines, newspapers, billboards, listening to the radio, and more. You name it, and I was there, looking for my next good lead.

It got to the point in my life that I couldn’t enjoy looking leisurely through a newspaper or magazine. Why? Well, instead of enjoying reading the articles, I was looking at all the advertisements. After ripping out pages for different leads my brain was too tired to go back to the beginning to actually “read” an article. The funny thing was, I had bought the magazine to “read” NOT “prospect,” but work prevailed.

Now, a few years later I can enjoy reading… but my mind is still “alert” to looking for the next great ad something I haven’t seen before. Isn’t that why we look forward to the Super Bowl ads?

I’ll leave you with this last great ad by “Hellman – Chang.” I love this ad. The men are in beautiful suits, focused on making furniture and RIGHT in the middle of the ad it says, “IMPORTED FROM BROOKLYN!” THAT caught my attention and I smiled.

Way to go guys. America is on the verge of a manufacturing “come back!”

Hellman - Chang

Hellman – Chang

So, what’s YOUR favorite ad?