Biz card in progress

I started making my business card last night but I'm all out of inspiration. I want it to look nice in a whimsical way, kinda like my blog's theme (by suckmylolly.com). 

I always turn to flickr for design inspirations but I'm having problem opening their site right now. I found this one featuring really creative, think-outside-the-box designs. Most of the cards there are made to look as close to the product that it's selling as possible. I especially like the one about a farm. It's got a small fluff of wool actually pasted on the body of the sheep drawn on the card. Really cute! In there are also two business cards from dentists, one with teeth impressions on it and the other a teeth floss (not so cute haha). And a rubber business card! Can you imagine? You have to stretch it in order to read the details. It certainly makes an impression but I don't have to keep stretching it in order to see the phone number. 

So many creative minds out there that are stretching design concepts to its limits. On second thought, is there a limit to design? Design - in whatever medium it is applied to - has no boundaries, I think. It's only up to your imagination.

Ok I'm off to hunt for more inspiration.

Eden Valerie

About two weekends ago, I had a "photo shoot" with the cute-as-a-button Eden Valerie Sestoso, who will be christened this coming Sunday (April 6). The photos are for her baptismal invitation cards (all 50 of them). Eden is the second daughter of local reporter Edmund Sestoso and his wife Lourdes.

I chose to take the shots at the Freedom Park since the colors there would make a great backdrop for the photos. And I wasn't disappointed- the greens and the blues really gave an energetic pop to the shots. But of course I had to digitally tweak the photos at Photoshop and Paintshop to pull in the highlights and give the pics a boost (Thank you Lord for Photoshop Actions! :-)

Eden was a bit camera shy and kept running away from me but soon as she got comfortable with me (and the camera that I kept pushing in her face) she was soon her normal, cutesy self. However, it was a bit hard convincing her to smile for the cam!

I whipped up two designs for her:



































I picked pink, blue and green as the color palette for the two designs, as the colors are whimsical and fun. Edmund chose the vertical (landscape) layout and upon seeing the other design, he decided to turn it into a tarpaulin (banner) which would be hung at the baptismal's reception venue. I just love designing for kids' and babies' parties. It's fun (although sometimes a wee frustrating but in a fun way) to take their photos, plus it's so easy to decide on a color palette for them.

The designs in progress:

















I used Corel Paintshop to pull in the greens and the highlights and then Photoshop to give the photos an over-all boost. (sorry for the crappy photo, I took it with my phonecam which only has a 2-megapixel resolution. I know, I know, I should have taken a screenshot instead.)This is the part I hate! Cutting them to size, and in this case, all 50 cards. I'm trying to develop an easier "system" of cutting the cards, but so far, I'm cutting them one by one. And notice my "jurassic" paper cutter? It may be almost antique, but it's sturdy and reliable.
Tadaa! The end-result is certainly worth the tiresome cutting. Draining, yes., but I love doing this stuff.

Be well people!