Weekend Getaway: Santa Cruz

I had a wonderful time in Santa Cruz with some friends this past weekend. Though the weather was not as balmy as expected, a bunch of the crew enjoyed surfing (bottom images; those aren't seals!!) and I got some great cafe/reading time in, as well as a nice walk on the beach. I also got a chance to try some new iPhone apps; in the image above I used Photo Frame Maker to create the collage and Phonto to add the text. Pretty fun! The finale to the weekend was a concert by the Shins, one of my all time fave bands. It was great to finally see them live!

Create Something Today

I've been pretty busy with freelance projects lately, which is both exciting and also quite time consuming! Today I allowed myself to play around a bit, taking a break from client work. I've been wanting to do a series of prints with quotes, and so I started by playing around with some simple text on this paint background. Wouldn't this be fun and inspirational in a studio?

P.S. (I thought I found this photo on Lost and Taken, but honestly it has been in my folder for awhile and so I am unable to give credit where its due! Apologies!)

A Trip with Friends

I recently took a trip to visit good friends of mine who are living in Chelan, Washington for a year. We had a great time checking out Seattle, enjoying the mountains, and just catching up. I am so thankful to know so many great people, and to have the resources to travel to see them!

Be Inspired (But Don't Copy)

While reviewing many of my pins on Pinterest the other day, I noticed a few resounding patterns:
1. Triangles/Mountains 2. Collage/blocky feel created by literal collage of patterns and or the use of lots of shapes 3. Overlays (colored objects with transparencies that allow for the overlaps to create new colors). Here's a sampling of the images I pinned, which clearly had an influence on one of my recent projects (pictured below the inspiration board). To see more of the designs I find inspiring, feel free to check out my Design Envy pinboard!

Happy Valentine's/My Vintage Art

My amazing sister scanned and sent this to me today... its a valentine that we think I sent to her during her first year of college, when I was in THIRD GRADE! My favorite part is the attempt for realism: we had wallpaper like that, and a white garbage can too! The little valentine on the right says "Cupid is Working (Knock!!!)." Wish I could get into my childhood head to find out what the heck I meant by that! Since I didn't get to designing some hip valentines like I might have once planned to (during a coffee inspired spree of unrealistic design project planning), this will serve as a valentine to you all. I hope you had a lovely day!! :)

Happy February: Website News!!

Remember my chalk board goals? Well, February has arrived and I'm not entirely done with each of the items on the list, but I have at least started them all. And I'm totally excited to announce that I now have a live portfolio website!  Check it out at julievanscoy.com!

Spring 2012 Film Series Postcard

 

I get to make a postcard for our film series every semester (old ones here and here). I love these projects because I get to come up with a new look every time, and the small size helps to keep things simple. Some films have awesome press photos available for download, but others require a little creativity to find something usable. This time, rather than doing a collage of images from multiple films in the series I decided that this image from Waste Land would have a lot more impact. The film follows artist Vik Muniz as creates huge portraits made of trash at the world’s largest garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro. I can't wait to watch it!