Sunday, May 19, 2013

Aesthetics

You know. When I got a marketing degree, I thought my degree would mostly teach me about advertising and even include a few graphic design classes. Unfortunately, my degree included zero graphic design classes and focused more on the process of getting a product into the hands of consumers rather than specifically dissecting the advertising aspect of it all. It wasn't until my senior year that I learned SUU offered an Advertising major. That included graphic design classes.

Seeing as I wasn't about to change my major one semester away from graduating, I took it upon myself to learn what I needed to learn to satisfy my graphic design/advertising cravings. Enter -- curtain business.

I recently changed the name of my Etsy shop! It is now called The Crooked Branch -- inspired by my childhood street name. I have loved rebranding my shop and coming up with cute things to make my company more aesthetically appealing. Here is a card I include when someone requests swatches:
This one is kind of like my business card. It is included in all the packages I send out.
I was really honored a couple months ago when a website contacted me and wanted to feature my curtains on a project they were working on called The House That Etsy Built. They decorated a house with products from almost 100 different Etsy shops. These three pictures are from that project:



Another thing I'm feeling the need to show off is an invitation I made for a Young Women's activity we had recently.

 
I've also slowly been working on making our house more aesthetically appealing. It took me a near 6 months to get both of these curtains finished and to decide on throw pillows for the couch. I am completely loving the way our living room is coming together.
I have serious commitment problems when it comes to fabric. I don't even want to tell you how many hours I spent and how much fabric I bought before deciding this would be perfect.
My dream is to turn the basement living room area into a playroom. This is the first step in that process. Next step is adding shelves for storing the mess of toys we currently have down there.
It is so exciting to me to see design ideas come to life! 

8 comments:

Rebecca said...

Oh my goodness. I'm dying over that Book of Mormon flier. That is the most creative thing I've seen in a long time. I love it more than words can express. I mean, the title page, the footnotes, the italicized header...GENIUS! All of it!

Jill said...

Look at you, Miss Talent-Pants!!! (That is a compliment) These are fantastic! I love your business card and your swatch card. When we talked about graphic design today, why didn't someone nominate you??? Glad to be your friend and learn from you. Also, seriously awesome Book of Mormon flier. Loved it.

LC said...

I LOVE your new curtain company branding! SO cute, Sar. I especially love "Swatch ya thinking?" So clever.
I also LOVE your playroom/basement look so far!

Eric and Justine said...

You sure have a knack for designing some great things. Do you have a program that you do most things through?
I love our curtains!

sarah said...

Justine -- I use a program called Gimp. I've never used photoshop but I think Gimp is supposed to be comparable to photoshop, but it's free! You can just download it online.

Kim said...

Sarah, you are so clever with everything you do--like the swatch card and your business card and the Book of Mormon invitation. LOVE them ALL!!!

So glad you got your front curtains finally made. Looks much better for the home of a curtain seller to actually have a matching set of curtains in the living room. And your kitchen curtains add so much to the room compared to the bamboo blinds that were there before.

I LOVE that you were featured in the "House that Etsy Built". Nice job! Once again I clicked on your curtain shop and read through all the positive comments about your curtains. 100% positive!!! That is so awesome!!!

Keep sharing all your clever things with us. They are fun to see and I'm sure you love having a willing audience to ooh and aah over all the cute stuff you make and do.

And that includes oohing and aahing over your cute little boys.

David and Mary said...

Sarah... very creative. I like your new Etsy shop name!
The Book of Mormon invites are great.
You are so CREATIVE :)

Kenzman said...

I thought I already commented but it never got through! You are so amazing! Thanks for inspiring so many others to use their talents in different ways! Love you! xox