Tag Archives: design

design process: inspiration moodboards

Hey friends! I’m busy with design projects, emailing and client meetings today but I wanted to give you a look at one of my current projects – I just love it!

I’ve spent a lot of time refining my process recently and one of the things that needed a small change was the inspiration moodboard portion. As creatives, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when jumping on Pinterest for inspiration. If you’re like me, it’s hard to edit down a specific look because I just love so much! So, I decided to make searching for images part of the Branding Workbook that I send to my clients to get their project started. In the Workbook, there are specific categories that they need to find images for. A few categories being typography, color and texture. I ask them to go out with their camera or flip through a magazine to find these images. This way, they are looking for something specific as they search for visual representations of their brand and not becoming completely overwhelmed by all of the options.

This client  decided to stick to magazine clippings to collect images. After she gave them to me and we discussed them along with her completed Branding Workbook, I was able to narrow them down to the images you see on her inspiration moodboard.

design process: inspiration moodboardI just love the rich, bold color and typography she chose. We’ll be revealing more of her updated brand very soon! :)

Side note: I still love creating moodboards via Pinterest and I don’t think that is a bad way to go about finding inspiration. This is just what works best for my clients at this point!

I’d love to know what works best for you! Where to you go to collect visual inspiration?

 

new from the studio: oh, i design

How’s everyone doing out there? I feel slightly disconnected from the internet world since I’ve cut back on blogging – but it has been a good thing, for sure.

This weekend we got our house ready to be put back up for rent and started looking at houses! ( EEEEEEE!! ) I’m not sure I was ready for the emotional side of finding a house, whew! But, I’m super excited to see what God has planned for our future.

Now that you’re all caught up on my crazy little life, it’s time for a big reveal from the design studio! Last week, Jessica Packard revealed her newly renovated blog, Oh, I Design! It was such a blessing to work with this sweet girl and have the opportunity to get to know her.

Oh, I Design blog design by jordan brantley

Here’s a short interview with Jessica, the interior design guru behind Oh, I Design:

Tell us a bit about Oh, I Design! What can new readers expect?
Oh, I Design is my little piece of the internet focused around all things interiors along with posts about San Diego, other creatives, events + just inspiration. It originated when my now fiance and I made a big move from Oklahoma to San Diego, I found it was the perfect place to keep up with my friends and family from home. It has transitioned into more than I ever thought and I have met so many fantastic people through it.

Has your blog had a big effect on your career in interior design?
Absolutely! I am a big believer in “it’s all about who you know” and again, I have met a lot of great people through my blog/social media that have connected me to new clients and job opportunities. It (eh…she? my blog is a she…I feel bad calling her “it”) helped me find most of the closest friends I have in San Diego and I couldn’t be more thankful for that alone. But, “she” has also given me more knowledge about interior design through a lot of research and exploration for various posts.

How important was having a strong visual identity to you?
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the strongest), I would have to say 11. Ha! Yes, I would say the content is the most important but how will people remember YOUR blog/website? What makes it special? What makes it…you? Before I had the opportunity of working with Jordan, I attempted to create most of the design elements on my old blog (poor old blog) and it was just….blah. Nothing reflected my personality and I eventually found I lacked the motivation to create more unique posts because of it. Jordan helped me gain the confidence and motivation I needed!

Thank you Jordan for having me on your blog and creating such a rad blog for me!! I am a big fan of yours!

16_ohidesign02Can you see why I love her!? Haha :)

With this design, we wanted to make it super clear who Jessica is and what she does as soon as readers come to her blog. ( here’s the inspiration moodboard we started with! ) We used hand drawn elements ( the furniture renderings are her own sketches! ) and graph paper texture to give readers the feeling that they’re getting a peek into Jessica’s sketch book.

Head on over to Jessica’s new snazzy blog and say hello!

Does your brand need a little spring cleaning as well?  

I’m currently taking new design clients for the coming weeks, so shoot me an email if you’d like more information about working with me on your project!

 

new in the shop: customizable blog post templates

Happy Monday! Here’s something exciting to start off your week: new products in the CLC resource shop!

just drag and drop! fully customizable blog post templates

There are three sets of blog post templates for you to pick from. Choose the one that best fits your site’s aesthetic and use them to speed up your blogging process and create a unified look without spending a ridiculous amount of time laying out images for each post!

just drag and drop! fully customizable blog post templates

Inside the Photoshop file, just drop your image on top of the shape you want it to fit into and it will crop to that shape! Super easy.

ANGULAR: fully customizable blog post templatesPlease feel free to come to me with any questions you have about using the templates!

If you use them on your blog, send me the link! I’d love to see. :)

►  Grab the templates for your blog!

 

what are your favorite digital publications?

I’m on the hunt for a little e-inspiration for a current design project. There are plenty of great magazines around my house but I’m looking for a few killer digital publications. Of course, I’ll be soaking up inspiration from tangible sources but I want to make sure I do my research to find out what makes an e-mag really pop of the… screen.

the best digital publications, online magazines

Here are a few I’ve rounded up so far:

Okay, GO! Throw your suggestions at me.

a shot of inspiration

Do you ever jump on Dribbble for design inspiration? Sometimes I forget about it. There are just so many sites to keep up with. But it is definitely a great source of inspiration + community in the creative world!

shot of inspiration / dribbble

  1. breanna rose
  2. stitch design co. ( how cuuuute!? )
  3. mary kate mcdevitt
  4. pedale design
  5. megan gilger
  6. karen dessire

Side note: kate from katelynbrookeblog.com just did a roundup of her top 10 on pinterest + dribbble and was kind enough to include me! in great company, for sure.

What’s your favorite source of inspiration?

Oh, and you can find me on Dribbble right here.