Oaktown Spice Shop Website is live!!

So excited to announce the launching of Oaktown Spice Shop's website! My design, information architecture, and photography, is live! It took sure took a village to bring this to fruition. We had the great and talented Erin Dracos Scott consulting with us on a photo shoot. She was kind enough to shoot some of the photos herself. I also had Keir Lenihan and Cynthia Warren help in camera work and styling. Andrew Venell was our wonderful and patient programmer who brought our design to life

The owners of Oaktown Spice Shop, Erica Perez and John Beaver, have created the most amazing shop. The walls are filled with colors and textures of all sorts. They are warm and wonderful folks who love to share their love and knowledge of spices. Their enthusiasm is really quite contagious.

Our website wanted convey this enthusiasm, as well as their down to Earth personalities and the beauty of the shop.  We did so by making the site easy to navigate. Nothing is slick. No need to be! The colors and texture of the photos are to transport the viewer so you can almost smell the peppercorns and nutmeg. Erica and John learned how to photograph their products themselves, so that you can see each bottle up close. We are all very excited with the site!

Le Sorelle Logo and Label

 

 

Sprout Creek Farm Logo. Alternate.

 

Additional Signage for Plank Bowling Alley in Oakland's Jack London Square

 

I have been working on more signage for the new bowling alley, Plank, in Oakland's Jack London Square. I have done a series of interior signs. Keep your eyes pealed, the soft openings are beginning soon!

Plank Bowling Alley Signage in Jack London Square, Oakland

I just finished up signs for a new bowling alley that is in the works for Jack London Square called Plank. The alley will have a nautical, steam punk vibe to it. The signs, which will be outside had to have a retro quality with a nice balance of modernity. Thanks to the lovely Alexandra Silverman, who is working on the interior design, I was able to take part in a great, fast project!

Milton and Small Beverage Co. Business Cards

In  celebration of the return of Milton and Small, I am posting their business card. It has been a little over a year but they are back! They are great folks and they have a great product, with a new chicory version to be added to their line. Let me remind you that I was thrilled to have won the amazing Communication Arts Design Award with the packaging I designed for M&S, so I have a very special place in my heart for my client.

I will keep you updated when their coffee hits the shelves once more.

Lucy Cuneo Photography

Black and White Photography

WHETSTONE: O'CHAME

 

CHEZ PANISSE

 

PROSCIUTTO AT CHEZ PANISSE

Fishkill Farms Brochure and Poster

Solstice Press has done an amazing job printing the Fishkill Farms brochure and poster. This is the image they have posted on Instagram. Can't wait to pick them up and see them with my own eyes!

Luke's Local Delivery Logo

 

 

Early last year, Luke Chappell of Luke's Local Delivery came to me to design a new logo for his delivery business. He was not sure what he wanted but it needed to be genuine and timeless.

After much brainstorming, I came up with the idea of using a fox for the mark. In my research I found, that in alchemy, the fox was considered the cultivator of the Elixir of Life. In Northern Native American tribes the fox is considered a noble messenger. This was perfect symbolism for Luke's company because it felt in line with his philosophy. He considers it very important to run a company that is values-driven, that is environmentally sustainable and is good for the local economy. (His parents are well known for such ethical business practices, Tom and Kate, who founded Tom's of Maine, in 1970.)

As for the style of the mark, Luke decided on a woodblock feel. Because I do not consider myself an illustrator, this was outside of my comfort zone. Of course, being in that zone always ends up being the best experience for a designer, and Luke was very happy with his new logo!

Prune Restaurant Website has Launched!

Houston we have liftoff. It's official, the Prune website has launched! I have been working with my amazing, uber-talented, wonderful, beautiful friend Cynthia Warren on the website for Prune Restaurant in New York City. The owner of Prune, Gabrielle Hamilton, is coming out with a new cookbook this year following her memoir Blood, Bones and Butter, and she was ready for an update to their website.

Our design parameters included an existing logo, a color family, and a font created from Gabrielle's handwriting. The whole team was clear that we wanted a site that felt like human hands had created it and far from a digital, impersonal experience. Cynthia and I used the front of Prune's building as our inspiration. We riffed off of the Victorian details of the storefront for the layout, and thereby created a sense of place. Our intent is that visitors feel as though they are getting a peek into Prune Restaurant.

GH is a straight-shooter, power-house of a woman. It was very much an honor to work with her on this project. 

Fishkill Farms Brochure and Poster Sneak Peek

Very excited to see New York's Hudson Valley Fishkill Farms brochure and poster go to press today! This is a sneak peek at the poster side of the brochure. My wonderful client, Josh Morgenthau, wanted the classic tri-fold brochure for his farm. He came up with the fantastic idea to have it unfold to an 11 x 17 poster on the flip side. I designed the poster to have the seasonal timeline for all of their pick-your-own orchard crops. We wanted the poster to be both luscious and sleek. The challenge was to have graphics that made sense but did not overwhelm the image as a whole. Can't wait to see the final printed pieces!

T-Shirt for The Edible Schoolyard Project

Great T-Shirts in production. Yay! Love The Edible Schoolyard Project in Berkeley. I deeply believe in what they do in their garden and classroom. They are changing lives there.

Cynthia Warren Design Studio Photography for Design* Sponge

It's been almost a year and a half since I had my photography shoot for Cynthia Warren Design Studio. Holy smokes time flies!! Cynthia is one my closest friends and design collaborators. She is one of the most amazing and creative people I know. She asked me to help her capture her studio for a piece for Design* Sponge. It was a great challenge; the photos needed to use only natural lighting. It was a great experience!

Tracy Lenihan Design Studio Logotype

Just trying out a logo!

The Annual Edible Schoolyard Plant Sale Poster

I was asked to design the poster for this year's plant sale for The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. If you live in the area don't miss it.  The rooster was such a hit with the Chez Panisse staff volunteer poster, that it was requested I use it for the plant sale! I am hoping to make t-shirts for the event itself. To be continued!

Milton And Small Coffee Design Hang Tags

Milton and Small Hang Tag, Front

Milton and Small Hang Tag, Back Detail

I was just going through some past projects and I came across the collateral that I designed for Milton and Small Beverage Co. I started with the logo I designed for them while working on their coffee label. (The label won a sa-weet Award of Excellence in the prestigious Communication Arts Design Competition! ) Rather than keeping with the ornamental feeling that I had created for the coffee bottle, I went clean and simple.  Their business cards and hang tags (pictured), however, stayed within the aesthetic of an apothecary, which was the muse of the label.  This gave them the leeway for future design directions for new products and labels but still had a sense of continuity with their original product. 

Gala Invitation for The International House at University of California, Berkeley

For the annual gala at the I-House at UC Berkeley I suggested we create enticement with the invitation. Rather than the more commonly used folded card layout, I designed a poster that will be printed on a delicate but environmentally friendly newsprint. Each recipient will open a beautiful blue envelope to find the image of a starry sky peeping out at them. The unfolding of the poster to find the final invite on an 11 x 17 poster is all part of the experience of the piece. The design itself is inspired by an I-House logo that includes a globe and the organization's tenets: friendship, respect, understanding, tolerance, and peace.

Team Clem Emblem and T-Shirt

I have an amazing group of friends who have become part of our family. The Hawaiians have a perfect word for such a thing: 'ohana. One of our 'ohana is in battle and I wanted to create an emblem for all of us to wear our love and support. The hippo is Clem's favorite animal because it lives amongst many other animals peacefully. They will, however, be fierce when necessary, even known to take out alligators if need be. It is time to be fierce. 

Lucy Cuneo Photography Logo

I worked on a logo for photographer, Lucy Cuneo. She is one of the most lovely, gracious, perceptive people I have met. I wanted her logo to match both her style of photography and the grace and loveliness of the woman herself.

This is the first instance of trying my hand at calligraphy and both Lucy and I love the imperfection of the C. For the logo color, we decided to go with a family of colors. I imagined Lucy deciding what color she wanted to use, the same way she would decide what outfit she felt like wearing, it would all depend on her mood. Why limit yourself??