PRE-DD
Stuff I designed before I was a daddy
Happy 100th Birthday Girl Scouts!
The Girl Scouts turns 100 today (Congrats, ladies!) so I thought I’d share a project I did a bunch of years ago for them. I know I say this about pretty much everything I post here, but it really WAS one of my favorites. And it’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to illustrating a children’s book.
Follow the Reader was an activity book for the Daisy Scouts (K-1st grade) meant to encourage parents to read to their kids and generally take a more active role in their learning. It was chock full of word games, matching activities, and cute-as-pie illustrations (if I do say so myself). The biggest challenge was that the book was also bi-lingual (English/Spanish) which meant 2x the type in an already jam-packed layout.
Like the Girl Scout organization itself, the book was about as inclusive as you could get. There were kids of every skin tone, all shapes and sizes, a girl with leg braces, one in a wheelchair, even a couple of girls NOT in dresses!
However, after having already completed most of the illustrations, the Girl Scouts decided they wanted to add a little girl with a hearing aid. The only problem was that none of my people had ears! So, I created one little girl with an ear so it could show a hearing aid.
I remember thinking at the time (2002) that it would be cool if they showed a girl with 2 mommies or 2 daddies. Back then it seemed a bit far-fetched, but I’d like to think that if I were hired to do an update they’d include such a family.
Pre-DD: Nutcracker… Sweet!
In addition to parlaying my last name (Almond) into my business name (Design Nut), I’ve had a long and storied past with another famous nut…
My nutcracker connection (not to be confused with my Rainbow Connection) dates back to 3rd grade, when I was cast as the narrator of our class production of The Nutcracker Suite. I remember spending some serious time practicing the pronunciation of “Tchaikovsky,” and then being crestfallen when I came down with the chickenpox. Fortunately I was still able to perform my narratorial duties from the side of the stage, far away from the other kids. The show must go on, even in elementary school.
Fast-forward a couple of decades to my first year in business for myself. I was hired by the Kennedy Center to do some illustrations for children’s products being sold in conjunction with that year’s performance of The Nutcracker. Graphics of the Nutcracker Prince, Clara and the Rat King were printed on tee shirts, caps and tote bags, and garnered several design awards, including inclusion in Print’s 2003 Regional Design Annual.
Subsequently, I turned the illustration of the Nutcracker into my holiday card, carrying the theme even further into the nifty client gift shown above.
That same year we started collecting Nutcrackers (beginning with some of the leftover client gifts) to display during the holidays. We now own a couple dozen, including a set of Nutcracker-themed matryoshka dolls, a pair purchased on a trip to Germany, and a 3-foot tall patriotic Santa nutcracker won in a raffle.
Then last year I was again cast in a rendition of the famous ballet. Our chorus’ production was entitled “Men in Tights: A Pink Nutcracker” and starred Clarence instead of Clara, and yours truly as the Sugar Plum Fairy. It was pretty much the most fun I’ve ever had on stage, except for almost twisting my ankle in my measly 1-inch heels. Big props to you ladies — I don’t know how you do it. And yes, those are cupcakes on my shoes.
The Most Important Thing I Ever Designed
I was speaking at an adoption expo recently as a panelist on the topic “Are You Ready To Adopt?” In sharing our story, I referenced our family album a few times, as it was such a big part of our home study process. And it struck me that a) our family album was the ultimate “Designer Daddy” project, and b) I hadn’t yet featured it on the blog. Time to remedy that!
For those of you not familiar with the adoption process, it varies if you’re adopting domestically or internationally, and if you’re going through an adoption agency or the foster care system. But in all cases, potential parents must submit to a home study, which is way more than a walkthrough to make sure electrical outlets are covered. Financial, employment, and residential histories, a physical exam, fingerprinting and background checks, letters of referral, home inspections from the fire department and several other procedures and stacks of paperwork are all part of a home study. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard (and thought), “Good grief! If biological parents had to go through this, it would completely remedy overpopulation!”
While all that sounds pretty overwhelming, the most stressful and time-consuming component of our home study was creating our family album. It’s also The Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Designed.
Pre DD: Learning to fly
Here I am – heart in hand (or morphing into a bird, rather) – once again apologizing for a long span of blog silence. But I’ve been busier than I have since… well, I can’t remember since when. And with the economy still recovering and so many friends looking for work, I am extremely grateful. Especially since I know a dry spell is always just around the corner. Such is the life of the self-employed.
But another reason I’m enjoying this giant mountain of work I’ve been buried under is that most of it is good stuff. And for a designer (well, for me at least) good stuff = 1 of 3 things:
1. Creative Freedom
2. Decent Budget
3. Likeable Clients
And in several cases, I’m even into my #4: Projects/Clients I Genuinely Support and/or Am Excited About. So yeah, I’m savoring this, counting my lucky stars, rubbing the Buddha, etc.
more here >>
Pre-DD: Strengthening family ties
Logo has been featured in the publications LogoLounge 4 and Creativity 36
One of the joys of working in DC is being exposed to the vast number of nonprofits doing dynamic and important work. While working for these organizations doesn’t always equate to dynamic paychecks, the payoff is oftentimes greater creative freedom. And it’s even more rewarding when you’re able to contribute to a cause in which you really believe.
That was the case with Family Ties Project, whose mission is “to promote and preserve the well-being of children, youth and families affected by HIV/AIDS by working with parents and caregivers to plan for the future care of their children.”
Pre-DD: Collage kids!
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One of my all-time favorite jobs was a group of collage/illustration thingies. They were for a guidebook promoting health insurance for schoolchildren, produced by the Departments of Education, Agriculture, and Health & Human Services. You’d think with that trifecta of bureaucracy there’d be a gigantic budget. Alas, sometimes the more government organizations involved, the smaller the budget. But not having a big budget forced me to be more creative, as well as thrifty.
The client clients requested the design represent kids K-12, as well as communicate both education and health care. So using cut paper, found objects, some stock photography and my trusty Sharpie, I came up with the fun bunch you see here. I think my favorite is Protractor Smile/Paper Clip Hair Boy (the simplest solution is often the best). But Cotton Ball Beehive/CD Earring Girl (inspired by Cindy Wilson of The B-52′s) is a close second.
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Full layout after the jump…
The Pre-DD Years: Air Claire
Looking back through my portfolio, there are quite a number of projects related to parenting, children or education. Maybe it was early Designer Daddy training, or just coincidence. Either way, I’m proud of these babies and want to show them off again…
"Air Claire" was featured in the DC Art Director's Club Annual Show.
The first project that came to mind is one of my all-time favorites — a birth announcement I designed while at my first job in DC. I was working at Supon Design Group, where I had the rare combination of great co-workers and great clients. Needless to say there was always a healthy dose of (friendly) competition among the designers assigned to a job. So I was particularly honored (both professionally and personally) to be the lead designer given the task of creating the birth announcement for one of our clients.
Our client was adopting a little girl from China, and wanted something clever and sweet to announce this unique family being formed. It was printed on 3 sheets of semi-transparent vellum (to give the appearance of rice paper), and featured an illustration of an origami stork delivering a tiny Chinese carry out box. It says “AIR” on the top panel, and “CLAIRE” on the 2nd panel underneath, with the “AIR” in each word overlapping. The tag line reads like the cutest airline ever: “Babies fly free.” On the bottom panel are the specifics of Claire’s birth along with the Chinese character for happiness. It was all tied together with strands of red and gold ribbon and mailed in a custom envelope.
A funny bit of trivia: Claire was from China, origami is Japanese, and the woman who illustrated the stork is Korean. Quite the Pan-Asian creation!