I'm Famous

You can now see my face on marketing materials for Augsburg's weekend college... a hazard of working in the marketing office, I guess!

Wedding Cards

One more wedding post:

I like to make customized cards for weddings that I attend. Not only does it save money but I think that it's a small way to make an impersonal gift (like a gift card) a bit more personal. Plus, it's always fun to find a quote that works for the couple and to try to determine wedding colors to use from the invitation.

 

I even made one of these for my husband and I (upper right) for the day we started dating (cute—I know!) and plan to hang it in our home somewhere when I find the time :)

I'm looking forward to making more of these for our upcoming summer weddings!

Wedding Invitations

People have been asking if I do wedding invitations lately, so I thought the topic warranted a post.

I have designed invitations for weddings, birthday parties, baby and wedding showers, graduations, basically anything that people use invitations for. SO... I have some good tips for you:

Step one: Paper
The only place I will go for paper—and the first place I go when designing invites—is Paper Depot in Minneapolis. It's like a little taste of heaven for me because of my strange love affair with paper. But, for those with ordinary paper relationships, it's still a great place to get invitation ideas and help. The Paper Depot has countless samples (many have pockets for RSVP and map/accommodations cards) and the friendly staff is willing to walk you through the process and create an invitation mock-up to take home with you.

Step two: Design
Once you get home with your beautiful paper mock-up, you are probably going to wonder how to make the design and wording as pretty as the package—that's where I come in! I can work with you to give your blank invitation the look and feel of your special day. The invitation is important because it is the first chance for a guest to get an impression of what your event might be like.

I've even designed custom maps to help direct guests to the wedding location. (It's usually my favorite part of the project.)

Step three: Printing
The most economical and stress-free way to print your invitations is to use your home office inkjet printer. If you don't have your own printer I have found that friends will let you use there's if you buy them an ink cartridge or two. I will set up your designs with crop marks and include instructions of how and where to cut so that your invites turn out perfectly.

Step four: Don't forget the small stuff
Carrying the standard you set with your invitations throughout your event is very important. Once the invitations are in the mail it is time to start thinking about programs, table numbers, place cards, thank you notes, etc. All of these pieces should match your invitations so that the guest experience is cohesive—and you'll get tons of compliments. Plus, it's not a hard thing to do once you have the design pinned down.

So, if you are in the market for invitations (congrats on whatever  it is you are celebrating), give me a call or send me an e-mail. I would love to chat with you about how I can help you create just the invite you want.

Quilt Design

One of my creative hobbies is quilt making. Here's a sneak peek at my current project:

The pattern is from Anna Maria Horner.

The photo above is just the center of the quilt. I designed the rest of the quilt myself (more pictures coming later), and I call it "Hacienda Chic." I wanted it look like a old family scrap quilt because it is for a friend's wedding and I hope that it will be a keepsake for them.

It's nice to get away from the computer every once and a while and to be creative with actual tactile materials. But I promise the next post will be more design-related :)

A Map of My Own

Finally, a map of my own to share, although not nearly as pretty as these.

Recently I worked on maps for one of our campus buildings and they are now up on the walls and ready to help people find where they are going.  It's so satisfying to see a highly visible project like this come to completion.

Tweet. Tweet.

I have been tweeting (on Twitter—for those of you not up on the lingo) on and off for the past year or so and this spring decided to attempt to make it more of a habit.

I feel like I have written hundreds of tweets.
I have 68.

I find it difficult to come up with messages that are important enough—exciting enough—for other people to want to know. Instead, I mostly end up retweeting what others say.

But, I guess I have to start somewhere, so here's to more original tweets in the future.

Follow me @jmnagorski to hear some good stuff (other) people are saying.

Hop on the Auggie Train

A few years ago, I got the awesome opportunity to work on a design for the lightrail train wrap to market Augsburg College. I worked the project collaboratively with the Creative Director and it was one of my most memorable creative experiences for a couple of reasons.

1) What is cooler than having creative control of a 90 ft. long train?
I so appreciated that my colleague and I were trusted with such a huge, important branding and identity project. In fact, the college had given a branding firm a shot at the design first and then decided that the project should come in-house. And we knocked it out of the park!

2) The only thing cooler is working on a fun project with a great partner!
We truly do our best design when working collaboratively, and honestly, it's the most exciting way to work. When you tackle projects in teams not only do you have double the creative power, you also have the support you need to be innovative. Trust in your colleagues enables you to push the limits of your creativity.

 

I will never forget the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment I felt when I saw the Auggie Train roll into the station for the very first time. We held our breath as it came to a stop and we got our first close look and then with a sigh, thought "Wow, that's one big Auggie."

EXTRAordinary Maps

Ordinary people don't get very excited about maps. Well, I am not an ordinary person and neither are these maps:

A map designed by Lena Corwin for Purl Soho. 

More map loveliness by Anne Smith. 

 

Paris? Yes please. The Alice Tait Shop 

 

 A typographic marvel found here. Where's the Minneapolis version?

These are just a few of the maps I have stumbled upon recently and swooned over. I love the idea of maps as art. I wonder, what other ordinary items could become art? I'll keep my eyes open for inspiration.

New, Improved Spring Social

I am coming close to my final days as Staff Senate Co-Chair and I plan to go out with a bang!  This year, we are replacing our Summer Picnic with a Spring Social for staff and faculty. This new celebration is modeled after the very successful Christmas Party, and I can't wait to see how it all turns out. One thing I know for sure—I plan to be first in line for the mini burger bar!

I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve as a senator and as a co-chair.  I have met so many kind people across campus, ones who I hope to partner with again in the future. Staff Senate aims to recognize and support staff as well as to tackle challenging dilemmas as advocates of staff at the College. I have grown in countless ways from this invaluable leadership experience and wish the very best of luck to Staff Senate 2011-12.

MOO postcards

Who doesn't love MOO?  I ordered some business cards through them recently and just love them.  It's amazing what quality printing does to a project. Here are some postcards I dreamed up that I hope to order soon.  The best thing about MOO is that you can order a range of quantities but each piece can have a different design.  This is a great way to get variety while still meeting minimum quantities.