Thoughts on Sunday...

So, I've been at this blog for about a month now. It was slow going at first but I had only been married a few days & was living in a city I had never been to that I now call home. I'm getting used to the city...well, not so much the city as my neighborhood. (Brooklyn is big you see and New York City is bigger. I'm really loving it, by the way.)

I have made it a goal to post once a day (except weekends) for the past week or so, I've succeeded...somedays I even posted twice. I feel that things have been sort of random and sparatic so I'm going to try to write out some goals and a more focused posting schedule, saavy? (I do better with goals when I share them with people, it helps hold me accountable...aren't you lucky!) If you have any thoughts/suggestions/words of wisdom/requests please let me know via comment or email: kd.mcnamara85@gmail.com let me know what you want to see more of and what you're not really into.

thank you for sticking with me this far my lovilies, I hope to be making more improvments soon. thank you in advance for your feedback!

ps. sorry about the photo, we aren't exactly the cutest couple in the world! this was taken July 7th, 2007, just after our dear friends Whitney and Mark got hitched! (we miss and love you guys! xo)

Labor Day Cocktail // Michelada

While I know that some people have known about these yummy concoctions for awhile, they are fairly new to me. They would be perfect for a Labor Day weekend get together...or while sitting on a lawn chair by yourself indulging in some sun and a good read.

I've seen a few different variations of this drink but this is my favorite thus far. I really love to have them with fish tacos, kind of a match made in heaven.

ps: if you haven't noticed, you can drag & drop (copy/paste, you PC users) the recipes to your desktop and print them for your collection...just fyi.

Fotographia // Bella Italia

I'm going through some old photos I took when I was studying in Italy a few summers ago. J will be teaching 9th grade Global History (the really old stuff) so I'm pulling images I took in Pompeii, Roma, Ravenna, Firenze, etc to help him decorate his classroom. (He gets kids on TUESDAY!) I thought I would share a few.



That was just a random selection from a trip to Ravenna. Maybe I'll post some of the really fun ones sometime...ah...la dolce vita!

I also have a yummy Labor Day cocktail recipe coming up in a little while so check back...it's not Italian, it's Mexican...we're just traveling the world today.

addio per ora i miei amici!
(sorry, I can't help it!)

Blurry Photo + Helvetica

As promised, you thought I was kidding didn't you. I'm a designer looking for a job, what do you expect? I have to have a creative outlet.

by the way...that's a photo out of our other window. I was so sad to leave the beautiful Texas sky especially at the end of the summer when they get so fantastic...but I think I can live with this view. And yes, that is the East River.

*i promise i didn't mess with the colors on the photo at all!

Serious Inspiration // TODA

I was just informed via email that TODA (The Office of Design and Architecture) is responsible for the MOP packaging design. I have since been perusing [read: devouring] their web site.


Their concept and execution on each of their pieces is very refeshing, as is their unbrideled use of Helvetica. I hope this helps keep those creative juices flowing. I'm going to go typeset Helvetica on some (awesome) blurry photographs.

all images from toda.com

Swiss, French, Chocolate!

Since I can't seem to shake the Swiss design infatuation. I decided to share another of today's obsessions. Brownies. I made them last night and can't stop eating them. all. day. Here's my family's recipe. (when my mom makes them, they're so greasy [read: perfect] they will soak though a paper plate...no lie! I don't know how she does it!)

If you will please notice the use of the Swiss typeface, Frutiger, paired with the French typeface, Didot, just to give it a little French flair.

Packaging Design // MOP Products

One thing about living in the big city is that you can go to the tiny, corner store & come across some really great products. J and I stopped to get toothpaste a few days ago and I noticed MOP Products, (Modern Organic Products) in all of their perfectly simple glory sitting on the shelf like they had been there since the apothecary mixed them. (And who doesn't love an environmentally responsible line of products...and no animal testing!)

O, glorious, modern, Swiss design, how I love thee!

*again, if you know who designed this packaging please let me know. apparently I need to brush up on my research skills!
**UPDATE: I've just been informed that the design group behind MOP is TODA. excellent. thanks megan!

images from mopproducts.com

Other Lives // Paper Cities

Beautiful! Other Lives (formerly known as Kunek) a really great band hailing from Stillwater, Oklahoma, has written a song called Paper Cities. How could I not share!?

These folks are über talented & just plain good-people. They are good friends of J's old roomie, Kirk, who introduced us to their music a few years ago. And that album cover, so nice, so perfect for the sound! Check it out & enjoy!

*if you know who designed the album cover let me know, I would love to give them credit!

...okay, design fanatic, I know, but I just can't stop looking at that album art! it's so lovely, & kind of haunting, I love it!

Lauren + Josh invites

I've been going through a lot of the design work that I did awhile back & came across a few silk screen printed announcements that I printed last spring/summer. This is a wedding announcement that I did for one of my good friends Lauren (we go way back... think junior high!) Lauren & her husband, Josh, were trying to create an elegant, DIY feel for their August wedding. Their colors were scarlet red & black, very masquerade ball/The Count of Monte Cristo. We really liked the idea of using silver ink on black paper so we took that and ran with it. I think it kept things simple but with the addition of the wax seal and metallic ink it was still eye catching.

Design History: WWII propaganda posters

Proof that design history is alive and well in today's urban culture.

I'm always fascinated with street art. I'm from west Texas and we don't get a lot of it out there, maybe that's why. There is just something about the fact that someone gave this stencil thought, took the time to cut it out and go spray it (multiple times) on the sidewalk of a busy street in Brooklyn. pretty awesome.

*If anyone knows the artist or a more specific date for this poster please let me know. I've been unable to find it so far.

disclaimer: I am not very political, therefore, I am not posting this as a part of some political agenda. It is strictly out of a love for design history, urban spray can art & really cool type.

Our invites

I thought it would be appropriate to post images of the invites I labored over since I posted the guest book yesterday...and they just match so nicely.


In case any of you are wondering...the fabric is screen printed by hand with a pattern I based off of the etched glass on the lanterns that the bridesmaids carried. (These lanterns also doubled as center pieces on the the wrought iron tables out on the lawn.) I had a rubber stamp made with our initials and the pine tree that I drew. I used block printing inks rather than a regular ink pad with the stamp 1. because it gave me more control over the color & 2. to give it a little more texture and definition than you would get from a stamp pad. Then, I sewed them to the cards that I had printed digitally at my local printer. The cards are actually a natural color, not bright white, it's a little difficult to tell in the photos. The fantastic yellow envelopes matched the screen printed fabric perfectly, are A-4 size, 30% recycled paper, and I found a great deal on them here.

Even though these little guys were quite labor intensive...I have to admit, being your own client on something like this is a graphic designer's dream!

designer profile: paper-lust

I would like to introduce a friend of mine. Amanda is a fellow Texas Tech University School of Art grad, and the creative genius behind paper-lust designs. We worked together on a project this past spring, a book of visual art, poetry & prose by TTU students – it was quite the undertaking but it was great to work side-by-side with such a talented designer.

She is now running a thriving etsy shop where she specializes in personalized guest books. As a wedding gift, Amanda used some paper and fabric that I screen printed to put together a beautiful book for our wedding. Check out Amanda's other work on her blog or in her etsy shop.

photos by Amanda Sneed

pretties!

I'm SO excited! Hillary (our fantastic wedding photographer & a great friend of mine) just posted some of our wedding pics on her blog.

thanks Hillary, you're amazing!

for friends & family who may want to order prints, go to Hillary's "client access" section, the password is my phone number.

photo by Hillary Wysong, of Hillary Anne Photography.

Peaches on Sunday

We made these fantastic baked curried peaches last night to have with J's Indian lentils...oh, so yummy. It's quite easy and I strongly suggest them while the peaches are in season. (You people down in Austin and the hill-country have no reason not to!)

*the peaches we got at the farmer's market weren't quite ripe so I left them in the oven for a bit longer than suggested and they were perfect and not too mushy. Also, we used plain yogurt instead of ricotta cheese, vanilla yogurt would have been great too.

That's J, rolling the dough for our homemade nan we decided to do as well. What can I say...the man can cook!

If you're in brooklyn, I recommend the greenmarket in grand army plaza. recipe from design*sponge

Music on Saturday

Saturday we spent the day enjoying Central Park and some music. (J really enjoyed the Gang Gang Dance show and wanted me to post one of his pics of them – the drummer was excellent.)


and we took a stroll though Strawberry Fields and stopped to pay homage to John Lennon, there was a small group of older people there with a guitar singing their hearts out, it was kinda sad...


(this is for you Abbey & Lacey!)

HUGE!

My last project at Creative Services has finally been completed, and it's a big one! Literally. If your are in Lubbock, you will get to add this bus to your local scenery for the next few years or so.



thanks Misty!
thanks Artie, for the photos!

Polaroids, friends.

People have been asking, there has been some begging. So here they are. These are the "not-so-wedding-y" photos, some are down-right scary! And, best of all they are Polaroids, which, for those of you born in the 90s was the only instant gratification we, children of the 80s, ever saw - no digital edits here! (My Grandpa Tom used to have one when we were wee, and we thought it was pretty amazing.) So, with out further adieu...

if you are really into Polaroids, I suggest checking out Jen Gotch, if you haven't already. Her work is so quiet & beautiful.

1 week!

It has been 1 whole week in the new apartment and it's starting to get settled. Busy bees we are (or were until J was struck down by some violent illness that I somehow dodged!) and trying to enjoy the final days before J goes back to work and I...well, go find work.

This, my friends, is the view out of our apartment window...it makes the 2"x2" studio a little bit better.

We've also decided to take one photo of the city out of our window everyday. Just for fun. So I'm sure you will be seeing many more of these in the future.