wish list: books

Last night I did a little updating on my Amazon wish list. So happy to hear that Stephan Sagmeister has a new book coming out soon. I really loved his last one, "Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far."

When I was a little girl I LOVED Ed Emberley's books. I remember I had one where I learned how to make little characters out of thumb prints. Drove my mom crazy because my hands were black from an ink pad for months! I just added this one to my wish list. I think it would be super fun activity to do with my five-year-old.

in the press: Relaxing Graphics

Relaxing Graphics, by Akiko Taki

We're honored to have been selected by Akiko Taki to grace the pages of Relaxing Graphics, a gorgeous hardcover book by Pie Books (Japan) featuring the best natural style graphics from around the world. One of our custom wedding invitation designs (it's similar to our Meeting Street design) was selected, as was our naturalistic (if you can call a green octopus or turquoise jelly fish natural) marine life series of note cards. The book is full of inspiring designs from top notch graphic designers, and is available to pre-order here (the book will be released in September 2009).

i heart paper

design by delphine; photographs by Vallentyne Photography

I'm so pleased to announce that we were chosen as this quarter's featured letterpress studio by Strathmore! I was honored to design their call for entries for the Strathmore Show graphic design contest, and was really happy to have a chance to work with their beautiful new thistle logo, which was designed by the uber talented Marian Bantjes.

orla kiely at target

orla kiely at target

What do y'all think about the new Orla Kiely stuff at Target? I feel sort of eeeeehh. Underwhelmed. The quality is nice, but the patterns are a bit too Brady Bunch? I wish she had done the straight up stems pattern ... now that I would get excited about. I overheard a woman telling her daughter, "look, it's like dishes from Grandma's old kitchen." Agreed? (I am).

Am I being too harsh?

things i heart, but first purchased because of the packaging

I'm not proud of it, but I admit that I *sometimes* purchase a new product solely because of the packaging. I bought a bottle of St. Germain soon after the product launched last year because I was intrigued by their print advertising and brilliant graphic design (check out their website to see what I mean). When I picked up the bottle in person I was sold ... it's heavy and gorgeous, and it reminds me of the Guerlain Shalimar perfume my grandmother Delphine wears. I do remember thinking, well, if the liquor is horrid I can use the bottle in my bathroom for bath salts.

The elderflower liquor is my new favorite. I like it best as a "flavor shot" in plain club soda in a tall glass with ice. It's also excellent mixed with champagne, and is a great after dinner drink served straight up. Plus it looks pretty on the table.

travel: san francisco

Today I'm traveling to San Francisco for a quick work/fun trip. One of the things I am most looking forward to (besides visiting my cousins, of course) is a visit to La Boulange for a cannelle and café au lait. Thank goodness nobody in my neighborhood makes these or my pants would never fit again.

client we heart: here comes the bride

Here Comes The Bride {logo by delphine}

Yesterday afternoon I visited Here Comes The Bride in their new location (Mission Valley, right near downtown San Diego, California). I love the new store! They went with a lilac and deep plum theme for the décor, to match the new logo and business cards we designed for them. So pretty! I also spotted, among the sea of white and ivory gowns, a pretty blue wedding gown. What do you think about blue for a bridal gown?

inspiration: factory orange and yellow

A recent visit to my dad's factory (top images) inspired the factory orange and steel grey color scheme for a project I'm working on now for Strathmore (bottom images). When I was a kid I loved visiting my dad at his factories and walking the floor with him. I inherited an appreciation for mechanical equipment, which, I think, is the reason I was drawn to the craft of letterpress.

kids party: scooch is 5

big boy orange birthday party

Last week our son turned five. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. When I was trying to come up with a theme for his party, he told me he wanted a "Big Boy" party. To him, "Big Boy" means this big steam locomotive; to everyone else it means, well, Big Boy! I put a picture of the train on his invitation, and on the goodie bags, but otherwise I went with orange as the theme. It's his favorite color and his favorite fruit. He loves to pick oranges and tangerines from our orchard, so we gave a sack of them away to all the guests (pretty and free!). The kids drank clementine Izze soda and at cocktail hour the adults drank ruby red and clementine martinis. I made cupcakes with an orange-flavored icing, and decorated the table with all the orange things I could find in my house (which was not difficult, since it's one of my favorite colors and was the theme of a few of our delphine trade show booths).

identity crisis?

I think Gatorade is having a bit of an identity crisis! What's with all the random branding?

get organized: personal calling cards

letterpress calling cards by delphine

Calling cards are chic. Much better to give someone one of these personalized letterpress calling cards than one of these. Right?

logo design: here comes the bride

gown by Rosa Clara at Here Comes The Bride; logo and letterpress cards by delphine

Here Comes The Bride celebrated their move to a new location by changing their logo colors from earthy green to their new favorite color: violet. So chic and lovely, yes? Normally I would say that changing your branded logo colors is a big mistake, but in this case I think the new color is more representative of the whole bridal vibe and was the best choice for them.

logo crush: jin patisserie

la vie revee tea gift set and orientchic tea tins from jin patisserie

While driving around Venice on my way to visit a client a few years back I spotted the lovely Jin Patisserie logo and have been ever smitten with it ever since. It's such a lovely logo--especially when blown up. The simplicity of the mum is really pretty, and I love any logo using the color orange! I've never had the time to stop into the patisserie, but I've found a few teas that I would buy for the packaging alone on their website: I'd love to try the Orient Blends Orient Chic tea. It's a blend of green and black teas, scented with Osmanthus, lotus and jasmine flowers, combined with pepper. Sounds so romantic, doesn't it? I love teas scented with pepper and with jasmine, but have never tried them both in one tea. But the tin is so gorgeous (and my very favorite shade of green), so even if the tea stinks I'd be happy to just look at the package!

logo crush: chromalab

chromalab

Grace has a nice post about Chromalab and their wacky cool bright furniture on Design*Sponge. When I visited Chromalab I was smitten with their logo! It would be a nightmare to letterpress (each color would be a new pass through the press), but it's perfect for 4 color or digital printing, and really represents the colorful concept of their "lab."

client (and store) we love: orange & pear

all gifts shown available at orangeandpear.com

When Jennifer came to me asking for help with a logo for her new business I was intrigued. She promised a "fresh perspective on gift giving." Interesting, but possible?. She said her favorite colors are green and orange. Yes, yes. My favorite, too. Go on. Please add shades of grey, she said. No more brown ... happy dance. She said it would be the END of boring hostess gifts. Hmmm. Really? She was so sincere, so lovely, so darn NICE. So I spent hours sketching and playing with type, tweaking and improving, until I designed a fun, sweet, colorful logo for her. I had a blast working on this logo with her ... all the while I had yet to see nary a peek at her website, which was still in the works.

But guess what? She delivered!!! Not a one ordinary gift to be found on her site-- everything is carefully curated. Perfectly wonderful. It's the end of boring hostess gifts for real! Yay! Congratulations, Jennifer, on the successful launch of your shop: Orange and Pear.

winning vodka

these guys make prairie organic vodka

Last month J and I were having lunch at the bar at Community Food & Juice and I could not stop staring at the gorgeous label on the Prairie vodka bottle that was peeking out behind the bottles of tomato and carrot juices.

I was not surprised to spot it again as a winner in the Communication Arts magazine's design annual. The look and feel of the Prairie website is totally unexpected (it's dark, with wolves and buffalo ... not light and airy like their label). Makes me want to buy a bottle, which I suppose is the whole point of packaging, right? Fabulous!

Congrats to OLSON for the design!

another reason to visit manhattan

bouchon bakery

Oh, how I wish there were a Bouchon Bakery in my neighborhood (Rancho Santa Fe, California). I was initially drawn to Bouchon because of their fabulous graphic design, but became a big fan due to their perfect pastries. Sigh.

in the press: HOW award

For the third year in a row, delphine has won a HOW design award! Thanks, HOW! This year our adorable squirrel business card holders were honored. They're letterpressed in soy-based chocolate brown ink and are pressed on super fun German wood-grain textured paper. Simply fold along the scores and voila: a nutty case to hold your business cards.

beautiful day

photo: orange beautiful

First of all, forgive me for not posting this past week+. I have been a little under the weather.

Emily of Orange Beautiful emailed me her LATTICE Line lookbook and I was blown away by the photography (and the card designs, too!). Congrats, Emily, on a brilliant product line. Not only are the patterns ORIGINAL (yay!), but the custom packaging is beyond amazing. I especially love the "warm" and "cool" stamps. You can purchase her cards at her Etsy shop here. Can't wait to see what she is dreaming up for the next stationery show!

perspective cont.

www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com

Focus on the good stuff.