Pregnancy Photo Shoot: Nicole and The Bump

Memories...This little photo shoot was done just a month or so before my dearest friend Nicole had her first baby. It's true what they say, she really was glowing. I definitely have a fascination with how beautiful the baby bump looks on women. Hopefully I'll be luck enough to shoot her again, should the need arise ^.-

Taking these shots was so easy in some ways and so hard in others. Easy because Nikki is almost always so picture perfect, it's hard to take a bad shot of someone who smiles so genuinely. But super hard because I was stressed out she wouldn't like how she looked in the photos. Even if I thought she looked fabulous in a certain pose, it can be hard to convince pregnant women of that fact. Sometimes all we see is all that extra weight, right ladies?!



But I stand by my choice of shots. I wish I hadn't made her get up and down and walk all over the complex as much I did. I think she's forgiven me.

This is my favorite shot. Click here to go to the full album. New growth, new baby, new beginnings.


with love- M

IFTTT: So many possiblities

Old hat to some, looks like Latin to others. IFTTT. If This, Then That. Such a basic concept but so important!

I remember taking my first logic class and having my mind blown every time my teacher walked us through an especially difficult equation. Maybe I'm not the logic master she hoped I'd grow to be but I sure do appreciate the impact it can have on absolutely everything. Case and point is this wonderful project, IFTTT.

Basically, there's a trigger (if this) and an action (then that). How about a real world example. If I drop a ball from my hand, it will hit the ground and create a sound (and then bounce all over the place and make my dog go nuts). In our online universe of websites, all separate and unique, this can become a similar equation. I can tell my blog to post to google+ in it's settings menu so it knows 'if a post is published, then send a blurb to her google+ page about'. Genius, right?! But what about facebook, linkedin, twitter, tumblr, and the rest of the social network sites out there?

After a short while, I suppose folks started to realize how irritating and time consuming it is to manually post to all these different avenues of social-ness and a revolution happened! Well not really, but some smart people in San Francisco decided to create an easy to use website with equations that anyone could create and use (yes, still talking about IFTTT). They call these equations 'recipes'. Makes it easier to swallow for those of us who loathe math. Anyone can make a recipe from any of the many 'ingredients' or pieces of data (like a post url).

But the fun doesn't stop with social networking! It can use data from emails, calendars, news sites, and just about anything else with text. It's quite inspiring for me. A permanent addition to my web arsenal.

with love- M 

Blog Switch: Leaving Wordpress

And back to Blogger! I started messing around with Blogger when it first came forth years ago but at the time, Wordpress was way more appetizing. Now the tables have turned and I find myself using more and more 'google stuff'. Looking forward to some quality time here on my blogspot.

A quick update on some different compartments in my life.

1. New house in April. Very exciting but very stressful. Had to say goodbye to a beloved freelance gig because of the move.
2. Got to experience a bunch of cool (and very different) freelance gigs in Philadelphia and Wilmington since then.

And here I am trying to keep up.

Some fun illustration stuff to keep the blogging hounds at bay.

Big & Blooming - My Etsy Shop

Ring the bells, wake the dog, slap the fat lady. I have finally done it. Check out my new Etsy Shop called Big & Blooming. I'll be dedicating this shop to mostly kanzashi (that's Japanese for hairpieces) and maybe some fine art giclee prints. Also, I'd love to know what you think of my pieces. I have quite a few more pieces to upload so be sure to check back.

Wow, nice changes...

It looks like Blogger is kicking it up a notch with these templates and customization features. I was going to have the non-profit group I'm working with create a WordPress account and flikr but now that there are more options here, I might have changed my mind. Picasa has loads more free space for photos than flikr and non-profit organizations love there freebies.

In case you miss seeing my stuffs, I've been pretty regularly updating to MeredithDesign. I'll keep an eye on this account as well in case it starts looking tastier than WordPress but for now, I'm staying there.

New blog at WordPress

I've decided I like the design and configuration of the WordPress blog setup more than that of Blogger. I hope you'll follow me there!

http://meredithdesign.wordpress.com/

Photography- Kristy unicycle series

This is a quick update on some goings on. Last weekend I took some fun shots of a friend in Philly and ended up really enjoying them. I tried to pay closer attention to lighting and placement as well as the arrangement of all the lines in the background, metal poles and so on. Kristy was a great sport and I hope I'll be able to do something like this again in the near future.

In my self promotion sector I've hit a snag on getting new business cards, unfortunately. I thought I was all settled on the logo and then name of my design group and then... well you know how it goes. I'm now brainstorming once more for that perfect fit. The name above all names that fits my niche. How do you sum up a person or an entity? It's such a daunting task. The best part is that I have such an easy (I say easy but I mean easier, creating an identity should never be simple) time helping other people create their image. And yet here I am, walking into imaginary walls and clear glass doors in my head.

Moving on, I have made interesting strides in the craft area of my existence. I haven't really created anything fine art in nature but instead have turned to knitting and light sewing. There's some animal inside me that can't resist the lure of touching fabrics and yarns, evaluating them for different purposes and than creating something from that purpose. I would akin it to giving birth but I have no idea what that's like so we'll leave that alone.

Till next time, thanks for following.

Update for the New Year

We've now been cruising along in 2010 for over a month and I think it's safe to say, I feel lucky to be where I am. My situation is currently thus: One wedding package completed in October, another wedding package being worked on right now, a dvd cover and poster being finished, several personal fine art projects, final stages of setting up formal art and design team/group called Hail to the Dream, and beginning work as a part-time art teacher for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware (Northern). I'm still living at home by the grace of my parents and still don't have a normal graphic design job but I'm still managing to enjoy the little things.

It's taken forever for the BG Clubs job to get started due to a change in their background-check system. Better late than never I suppose. The hardest part is sitting in front of my computer or sketching in my room day in and day out. It gets a little monotonous. I'll be grateful for the change in scenery and activity. Getting paid won't be bad either.

As for graphic design specifically, I feel a little behind if only because I've been more focused on improving myself in figure drawing and fine art color theory. I've been dabbling in all sorts of media from pastels to markers to brush pens to acrylic to watercolor to CG painting. It's been an interesting journey especially in this last month. But the design part of my has slipped into hibernation a little and I'm excited to get it back in the game with this new wedding package and another advertising package for a local non-profit group.

So keep an eye out on my deviantART account; that's where I do most of my day to day uploads of ideas and finished pieces. http://shiroimiko.deviantart.com/ Apologies about the lack of updates on here. I intend to be more active with a once a month discussion/update on this blog. It's on my calender now!

As always, thanks for following along.

Link information and trouble in paradise

Lately I have been focusing on sketching and practicing more in a different, more artsy direction than design. I resolved that instead of uploading those things I have been working here, I have kept them contained to my deviantART account here http://shiroimiko.deviantart.com/

If you're interested in following my day to day sketches and projects, please visit this site.

I should have the more recent invitations I have been working on up soon though my favorite one will have to wait until after the wedding for which it was made in October.

Though several local design groups have nibbled at me and my portfolio, unfortunately no one's biting, or are able to bite in this economy. I can only hope that as time wears on, situations for everyone will start to improve. I am still accepting freelance projects and after my website is up, I will have complete rates available. For the time being, my base rate is $25 per hour and additional costs apply for the more custom projects. Thankfully, for print services I have a local (and very well priced) printer who I have already done a fun invitation project with and will be starting another one in the next week or so.

Thank you for visiting and take care!