I Love Letters

No, not the kind you get in the mail. I’m talking about the alphabet baby. I started doodling words and names when I was younger. My school notebooks became portable galleries for my experimental letterforms and sketches. I left only minimal space for note taking of course.

Growing into the graphic design profession, I’ve really taken that interest and branched into calligraphy, stylized typography and hand-lettering.

Illustrating quotes has become a great way to practice this skill. When thinking about my next quote illustration, I try to choose quotes that I can personally relate to. And do my damnedest to avoid all those clique expressions of “reaching for the sky” and “never give up on your dreams.” Barf, right?

If I’m struggling to find a great quote, I focus on well-known people that I find interesting, eccentric, beautiful. People like Julia Child who inspires me in the kitchen everyday or Hunter S. Thompson who makes me feel like it’s perfectly ok to be a little “off.”

From there, I start sketching with pencil, considering the mood of the statement. The way you illustrate the quote is of just as much importance as the quote itself.

If want to see more of my illustrated quote posters, check out the Etsy shop.

Cheers,
Biebs

Hungry? Build Your Own Burger

Well, I can officially cross off one of my 2015 Bucket List items.

~~3. Launch a Kickstarter Campaign~~

Today, is the official start day of the “Build Your Own Burger” Poster Design Campaign. Pledge your support to make this Limited Edition print come to life. You’ll get your choice of a tasty Burger Poster!

I used pencil, ink and watercolor to create illustrations of popular burger components. The artwork was then digitized and made-ready for print production.

Click here to view the campaign. Check it out today!

Urban Dictionary Daily

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Get it?

Introducing: Urban Dictionary Daily

Stay hip and fresh with a daily dose from Urban Dictionary. Warning: This could get graphic.

I LOVE SPRING!

I don’t know about where you are, but we couldn’t ask for more perfect weather here this week! It’s a glorious 60+ outside, the sun is shining and for once that wicked South Dakota wind is no where in sight!

This time of year gets me so excited about all the exciting things to come this spring and summer. I start dreaming about my garden, long hikes outside, bike rides and BBQs. Maybe a few nightmares about all the yard work that is coming, but hey! We don’t need to talk about that.

What are your favorite spring time activities? And what do you look most forward to for the summer?

Maybe it is the beautiful weather and the smell of spring in the air that has me so excited about these two new invitation designs! We also shot and edited our first 30 second commercial over the weekend. Click the link to check it out! http://youtu.be/Z2viIOTPnAM

Designed In A Car

If you want a picture of what the last 2 weeks of my life has looked like, simply imagine a car.

And in that car, you’ll see an orange cat, a scratching post, a bowl of kibbles and water, a mouse toy and a frazzled designer with her MacBook. Yep, that’s me.

We put our house on the market a few weeks ago and since then, I’ve been spending an unnatural amount of time in the situation described above. We’ve had to keep our house spotless at all times. It’s like living inside of a glass house. And then before each showing or open house, I find myself schlepping my cat, her belongings and my working computer into the car, to park and wait “patiently” for the potential buyers to leave.

Selling your house is the ultimate killer of creativity. I haven’t even come close to picking up a paint brush since we signed the listing agreement. It’s a safe bet that there will be no new paintings until we have settled into our new home. Luckily, as a graphic designer, my work is portable, so I’ve been able to keep a little creative spark ignited. In my car.

I’m releasing 6 new wedding invitation designs. I think I’ll secretly call this group “Car Designs”.

“Zig Zag”

“Roses Are Red”

“Scalloped”

“Charming Chalk”

“Painted Canvas”

“Bursting”

Check out Bieber Design Wedding Online!

What If I Fall?

I just finished up a new hand-lettered typography poster last night. As I finished it and was harshly critiquing it from a distance (as I do with all of my work) – it suddenly occurred to me. Why did I choose this quote? I admittedly spent far too much time perusing the internet in search of the next quote I wanted to letter. After compiling a long list of possible subjects, I picked this one. It was actually the first one I wrote down.

It occurred to me that the reason I chose this quote had a lot more to do with how I was feeling emotionally – not just the letter count, the word flow or any other design aesthetic reasoning. “What if I fall?” I’ve asked myself that question so many times. Not in those specific words. But to be truly candid, as an artist, I am incredibly insecure. What if no one likes this painting? What if this design isn’t good enough? What if I can’t do it?

I think the insecurity all stems to the root of what design and art is. When an artist paints or a designer designs, they are pulling from an internal source of inspiration and creativity. They are pulling a part of themselves out and displaying it to the world. To be judged. To be criticized. To be hated or to be loved. Art is personal.

“Oh, but my Darling, what if you fly?” I love this. When I find myself wavering, question or swimming in self-doubt, I remember that you’ll never fly unless you confront the fear of falling. Another wise person once said that if you don’t make something that someone hates, no one will ever love it. So let the haters hate, because “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” (Hint Hint, that’s probably going to be the next poster in this series).

New 2015 Wedding Designs

January is always a busy time of the year, the effects of the Holiday Season are just starting to wear off, we were blasted with some cruel below zero temperatures and wedding season is starting to pick up speed.

In true artist fashion, I seem to put of designing my new set of Wedding Invitation Suites off until the last minute. So these past few weeks, I’ve been brewing up kettles of True Blueberry herbal tea, turning on some Norah Jones and locking myself in my studio.

I emerge with a new set of 2015 Design Suites! This year I wanted to have a good mix of modern, classic and rustic designs. Plus, I’ve expanded them to my Bieber Design Wedding website so I can now work with my clients online!

Click here to view the new Bieber Design Wedding website!

The Advertiser’s Guide to Navigating Facebook

I wanted to create an easy, go-to guide for posting ads on Facebook. So I created The Advertiser’s Guide to Navigating Facebook Posts.

Download the PDF:AdvertisersGuide_Facebook_Jan2015

The Art of Illustrated Typography

I have an entirely unhealthy obsession with typography. I love it. This would explain why my online shopping cart never contains clothing or jewelry, cosmetics or the like. It contains fonts. All kinds of fonts- scripts, serifs, blocks, calligraphy… Actually when I think about it having a font library is a lot like your wardrobe. You have to choose the right outfit for the occasion and a good selection is essential.

It’s nothing new for a designer to be obsessed with typography. It comes with the territory. But as an artist, I’m exploring ways that I can combine my love of typography with my physical work. To begin this exploration, I’ve started a series of illustrated quote posters. I wanted to choose quotes that aren’t your run-of-the-mill cliques – “Keep Calm and Carry On” type of stuff. I selected quotes from a few people that have captivated me, a sort of eclectic bunch.

Here are the first 7 posters from the series: