a girl named fred » les news

a very modern mixer

a girl named fred — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:05:18 +0000

My sister Catherine & I are featured in this month’s issue of Nonpareil Magazine. Well, not us, but our work. Inspired by the Fall 2010 collection of New York fashion designer Thakoon, we put together an idea for a very modern mixer, a little party brides & grooms can have with their wedding party before the big event. Catherine and I did the concept work, I designed all the printables, Catherine did most of the styling and she shot the whole thing. Look for unisex colours, lots of texture and plenty of personal touches.

Here’s a peek:

A shout out to Garnish for providing us with all the packaging and food presentation supplies.

You can see the whole issue over at Nonpareil Magazine (our feature starts on page 58). If you like the printables (the invite, the CD label and playlist card and all the stickers), you can download templates via Nonpareil.

[edited: Apparently the Nonpareil download links are no more! If you'd like the templates, just shoot me a note via my contact page and I'd be happy to email a zip file to you.]

go ahead, make someone’s day

a girl named fred — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:16:57 +0000

The crew over at Garnish are running a super-fun promotion: Random Acts of Garnish. The premise – it’s easier than you think to make someone smile. Here are some of the fun ideas they’ve come up with.

How about coffee to go?

Or some sweet socks for a friend who likes to have cute tootsies?

Or my personal fave to date, alphabet cookies. These spell out you are awesome.

Of course, the star of the show is the thought you put into making someone smile. But those sweet printables don’t hurt either. Here’s what we came up with to help make it as easy as possible to make someone’s day:

To add to the fun, Garnish will feature your random act of garnish on their blog. Sign up for the promo, send in your pic and share your inspiration with the interwebs. Fun, right? I think so.

Get the deets here, over at the Garnish blog.

sweets for your sweet

a girl named fred — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:11:07 +0000

One of my clients, Garnish, is running a delicious Valentine’s Day promotion. Choose some of their products to customize your sweetie’s Valentine’s Day gift, and you’ll get a set of printables (designed by moi) included! Isn’t that a sweet deal? And look what you can do with them…

Get your own Garnish goodies here.

it’s time for northern spirit!

a girl named fred — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 19:37:51 +0000

Spirit of the North-Fall 2010 edition-is hot off the presses. This issue was a lot of fun to put together.

Our cover story? Why, the Grey Cup, of course! (For non-Canadian readers, the Grey Cup is the Canadian Football League Championship.)

We featured another gorgeous illustration from the very talented Ian Johnson:

There is a profile of Vancouver artist Suzo Hickey:

Our editor takes us in search of the elusive Whooping Crane:

This issue’s photo gallery features stunning images of the Canadian Prairies. These two by Robert Postma are my personal favourites:

And we get up close and personal with the Koalas of Australia’s French Island:

As you can see, lots of good stuff! Look for a copy on a news stand near you, or visit Spirit of the North’s website for more info.

raise your acumen

a girl named fred — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:20:39 +0000

Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. It seeks to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Acumen Fund investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services – like health, water, housing and energy – through innovative, market-oriented approaches. Think of it as kind of like a mutual fund Kiva.

A group of folks here in Vancouver are intent on starting up a local chapter, and I was happy to come on board with some pro-bono graphic design services. First up? A poster for Acumen 101, an upcoming information session.

If you live in the Lower Mainland, and are interested in this type of organization, do come out for the info session. We’d love to see you there! You can learn more about Acumen Fund here.

spring awakening – Pantone colour forecast

a girl named fred — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:07:16 +0000

Pantone has released its 2011 Spring fashion colour forecast to coincide with the start of New York Fashion Week. Feeling a little Honeysuckle (aka Pantone 18-2120) anyone?

I know Spring tends to be all soft and sweet, but I have to say this forecast is a little pastely for my own personal taste.

You can read the full report here.

today i'm loving… thursday edition

a girl named fred — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:00:46 +0000

the working proof is an initiative of sub-studio founders anna corpron and sean auyeung. their goal is to build a collection of great, limited-edition, affordable artwork from some of the best artists out there. but there’s a catch (and it’s a good one!). 15% of the proceeds from the sale of each print goes to the artist’s charity of choice.

for example, 15% of the $45 purchase price of this print by amy ruppel (love her! well, not literally. i mean, i’ve never met her. but i do love her work.) will benefit american forests.

similarly, 15% of the $30 purchase price of this print by karolin schnoor will benefit transportation alternatives.

and this fancy dress print by yasmine surovec? 15% of its $35 purchase price benefits kids in need foundation.