Graphic Design

Hello everyone!  It's a rainy day in Georgia with a high of 64 degrees Fahrenheit.  There are only a few places where you can wear shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of January, and the south is one of those places! 

I'm on my second cup of coffee already, and I've been going through the web looking at the new blog posts and videos posted this week.  I always love reading about other soapmakers - it's a great way to get inspiration and who doesn't want to see a fellow crafter succeed? I always love ready success stories :)

I thought I'd write up a blog post about one of my hobbies that I haven't actually ever blogged about before - and nope, it doesn't have anything to do with soapmaking or going to college.  In fact, I have taken four years of graphic design classes, and I even thought about going to college for graphic design before I started my own soap business!  I love graphic design for many reasons, but one of those reasons being the fact that I cannot draw or paint to save my life.  Graphic design is like an output to create something beautiful for people who are painting impaired (AKA me!! PS-That's another reason why I LOVE soapmaking - each bar is a work of art but without the paintbrush!)

I do some paid graphic design.  Usually my business is just referrals from word of mouth. I have thought about opening an Etsy shop with graphic design services if I ever have time! Here are some of the creations I have made.

Of course I made my own logo and designed my own website!

www.reviveyourbath.com

This is my most recent logo I made for an orthodontic lab where they create retainers.  I am also doing their website: www.orthoexpresslabs.com 

Logo I did for a local interior design shop

Logo I created for a shop that sells RC car parts

Newspaper ad I created for a local restaurant - I have also designed their menu that is hanging up in the store, and am also working on to go and catering menus!

Below are just pieces of art I designed in either photoshop or illustrator.

My name - Caitlin Amanda Abshier

This was one of the hardest designs I have made.  It's called a vector image where I basically redrew the image in illustrator showing shadows and details along with a little texture to finish the final image. 

I loved doing the purple horse so much that I created another one.  Each one of these took me 20+ design hours. I think the orange horse looks better than the first - much more detail on it.

Oh my goodness posting these makes me want to go design something else!  

I am meeting with a woman today from a charity called Blue Skies Ministries to help her redo her website.  I am super excited to have some design work to do in my spare time! Blue Skies helps raise money for families where their child has cancer.  They raise money to sponsor a trip to Disney World for that family.

I'd love to hear what you think of my designs!

Caitlin