Jumping right in this week with an update on what’s happening with my lettering.
I’m happy to share some new products in the shop. While the content differs radically, what they do have in common is that they came out of practice work and accurately reflected my thoughts at the time.
First is the new “love” graphic. When I don’t have a specific word or phrase, sometimes I’ll choose a typeface and draw an entire alphabet. Because 1. I’m a total nerd and 2. Practice makes…well, better letters.
Lately, one of my favorites to draw is Bodoni Poster Italic. There is so much that I enjoy about these letters; the contrast of weight within each letterform, the angle of the italic, the use of ball terminals. Before I drift much further in deep type nerd territory, I’ll simply leave it at I LOVE drawing this font.
I think you can see where this is going. I started playing with different words, unable to find one I didn’t like the look of, but clearly the word “love” grabbed my attention. So I went with it and the final result is a variety of colored shirts and a mug that I’m calling Big Love.
Interestingly enough, the second product came out of wanting to draw more banners. There are so many cool effects that you can get using banners, so I was intentional about practicing to get more comfortable with what I could do.
One evening Dean & I went on a walk and were talking about some challenges we were navigating. #parenting #business #life
Of course, one of the ways we navigate these moments is to find some humor. Dean is a master at this and I’m not too shabby at times, so by the time we got home I had a number of ideas that gave me a giggle.
When laying out the mug, rather than having a large wrap-around graphic the way I did with “love” I decided to have the lettering on one side of the mug and create a modified version of the graphic to have all on it’s own. #steamingpile
I completely understand this product is not going to appeal to everyone. Because even if you do resonate with the sentiment, you may not be able to have this on display without getting called into your bosses’ office for a chat or having to explain “What’s so funny about your new mug mommy?”
However, it does sound like there are a few family gatherings and work meetings where people are considering the possibility of distributing either mugs or shirts.
You can check out all of the various shirt options here:
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| Welcome To The Sh*t Show | Love | ||
| Unisex | Women’s Slim | Unisex | Women’s Slim |
Or, if coffee mugs are more your jam, check those out here.
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| Welcome To The Sh*t Show | Love |
I’ve created “introduction video” #2 to send out to publishers. Rather than emailing a boring resume (#lame), I hope to set myself apart from other narrators by creating short 1-minute videos that provide a feel of who I am and ideally spark some interest.
I’m sticking with the format of not talking during the video, but instead using my lettering to tell the story. #usewhatyougot Of course, the idea is to get audio work, so I do incorporate my voice; the twist this time is that my voice narrates various reviews I have received over the years.
Keeping the video to 1-minute in length does seem to increase my chances of a cold email getting a total stranger to click on the video. It’s short enough that people are willing to give it a chance, but long enough to give a feel of what I can do.
Like my dad (human resource manager extraordinaire) would say while coaching me back in the day about creating a resume, “You want to get their attention so they’ll want to contact you, but keep it brief.” I’m not trying to show everything I can do, just enough to get them to want to continue the conversation.
So, how have things been going? At this point I’ve been added to the narrator roster of a number of publishers and landed an audition with Audible in a few weeks. #makingprogress
It’s a slow process, but I really am encouraged by how the amount of traction I’ve gotten in the past 2 months.
SIDENOTE: Any interest in seeing the process of creating one of these videos? We’re talking ideas scribbled on paper, watching me making tough cuts to keep to 1-minute, and practice videos with my hair in curlers. (#truestory) If there is any interest I can pull that together, but if not, I’ll just keep sharing the final result of all the blood, sweat and tears. #onlyhalfjoking
So without further ado, here is introduction video #2 What Others Say.
Always nice to hear from you, so don’t be shy. Let me know what you think of the either the products, video or both!
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