I’ve never used a creative staffing agency to help round-up work, but I was contacted by one this week who I will be meeting with on Tuesday. I’ve been in business, officially, for 4 years now and have been pretty successful with my work flow and clients. There are times when things can get slow, but that goes with being an independent designer. I have my super busy times as well where things get crazy – it always seems to balance out in one way or another.

Have any of you worked with a creative agency and have advice to offer before I meet with them? I’m not nervous about the meeting, but I haven’t had an “interview” like this in ages and it just feels a bit odd, you know? I’m usually the one screening clients and making sure we’re a good match. Having an agent who assists in that arena is all a bit alien to me. I can’t see how it would hurt though. I think it’d be good to have that extra set of eyes to aid in sorting through them.

So, please share your thoughts and let me know about your experiences, what I should be aware of, and if there’s anything else you think an independent designer should keep in mind when working with a creative staffing agency. Thanks!

My friend, Melissa, who runs a fantastic site called, OperationNice.com, suggested I check out Startup Weekend in Philly (video above from January, 2011). She went to one of their events this past October and had a great time! She says it was a great place to network as well as get her startup idea, Hangplan, off the ground (which you should sign up for, btw).

I think it would be a blast to work with a group of people to aid in the design of a product over an intense 54-hour period. I love creating graphics and helping companies with their branding from the get go. This might be my chance to work with a startup from day one. How much fun would that be?

Startup Weekend happens all over the country – here’s their global home link. Maybe there’s one near you! Have you attended a Startup Weekend event? Any experiences you’d like to share? I’d love to hear about them.

This past Monday, I launched the wedding section of my website and received a lot of great feedback! Thank you to all of those who’ve supported me over the past few months while I fine-tuned the suites, contacted tons of print vendors for the best pricing possible, and tweaked everything until I felt it was absolutely ready to be launched.

I will be adding to the collection every 2 weeks so there is something fresh in the collection for couples to peruse. Most of the collections will be able to be edited (colors, printing style, etc) to accommodate your budget. The price sheets included are simply a guideline for the printing techniques and high quality papers I suggest for each design.

For example, the Ingrid suite is priced for 2-color foil stamps on a 130# black stock. As currently priced, the invitation suite starts at $9.25 per invitation (invitation, RSVP, and envelopes). What if that isn’t in your budget, but you really love the design? I offer many options to bring your price per invitation down using different papers and printing options.

Here’s just one idea to show you how to save:
The Ingrid suite is originally printed on a 130# black stock. To save, the color of the stock for would change to a lighter option such as white. For a flat printing option, I offer 120# Mohawk paper which produces a very nice end product. Just have a look at the mock-up below to get a good idea. The colors you choose to print with can change according to your wedding colors (just as is possible with the foil stamping option). Flat printing on white 120# stock begins at $4.25 per invitation (includes RSVP, main invitations, and both envelopes) for the Ingrid suite saving you $5.00! Of course the result won’t be as striking as using the foil stamping technique, but the final result will be beautiful nonetheless.

So, you can see, pricing can change depending on print and paper options used. If you like my wedding stationery designs, please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss your budget. I’m more than happy to discuss every engaged couples’stationery needs.

All graphics ©2012, Nicola Black Design, LLC • All rights reserved.

For in depth info on wedding suites available, please visit the wedding section of my site.

I had so much fun designing this invitation suite! It is the second suite in my wedding stationery collection now available for purchase. Featuring a high quality, black stock and foil printing, this suite is sure to impress your guests! The suite is customizable in that foil colors can be changed to compliment your chosen wedding color scheme. Please contact me here if you are interested in ordering this suite. To see the details, pricing sheets, and terms for my wedding invitations, please visit the wedding section of my site here.

All graphics ©2012, Nicola Black Design, LLC • All rights reserved
(more pieces not pictured available – see wedding section here for more on this suite)

For in depth info on wedding suites available, please visit the wedding section of my site.

This suite is what made me fall in love with wedding stationery design. It is the suite my husband and I used for our wedding in October of 2011. Now, I’m sharing it with you! This suite received a lot of great feedback from our guests and paved the way for our Old Hollywood Glamour, 1920s, Art Deco, black, white and metallic themed wedding. To order this suite, please contact me here and we’ll get started! To see the details, pricing sheets and terms for my wedding invitations, please visit the wedding section of my site here.

All graphics ©2011, Nicola Black Design, LLC • All rights reserved
(more pieces not pictured available – see wedding section here for more on this suite)

My client, Penn’s View Hotel needed a flyer for print and web to advertise their leap year birthday package. I had a great time designing this piece focusing solely on typography, color and layout.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area between 2/24/12 and 3/4/12 and are a leap year baby, I can’t recommend this place enough. Every time I’ve visited, the staff has been very courteous and professional, the decor impeccable and the atmosphere very comfortable. Take advantage of this offer if you’ll be in town – it’s an incredible deal!

Click to enlarge

I can’t express how much fun this project was to work on! My client allowed me to get as creative as I wanted and let me loose on her Roaring 20s Birthday Party theme. I originally completed a champagne colored version of the invite for review before the scheme changed to black and silver. I think the edit was a good one and brought out another side of the 20s – it makes me think of the silver of the Art Deco industrial architecture of the era.

While this project was created for posting online and/or sending as an attachment in email, it’s one that could be used in a printed invitation as well.

All graphics © 2012 Nicola Black Design, LLC. • All rights reserved

I was contacted to create a brochure for a South Jersey nonprofit organization called, Humble Hearts, Women of Purpose, Inc. The brochure is a tri-fold, 4-color piece that clearly communicates the group’s purpose; to assist women and children by providing a transitional home with a family style approach to rebuilding their lives.

I was also asked to create a logo for the group which will be posted in my portfolio soon. For the time being, it can be seen on the front and back of the brochure above.

It was an absolute pleasure working with The Philadelphia Film Society on their 20th Film Festival Guide. Above are a few shots of the interior layout I am responsible for. When I came on to work on the guide, the cover design was already completed. I continued with the project putting together a full 122 page guide, preparing all items for press, placed and kept track of booked/cancelled ads, formatted all text and created page templates for specific genres as well as created the film grid which fest-goers heavily rely on. I was also responsible for keeping up with daily changes and edits for booked and cancelled films/ads which means complete rearrangement of pages and layout on a whim.

I’ve worked on previous Philadelphia Film Festival Guides including their 13th, 14th, 15th, & 16th guides. The cover of the 14th festival guide (on the left) was one of my creations.

Here are a few things I’m loving this week from around the web. Makes me want to make holiday food gifts and decorated labels for all of my friends and family! Enjoy!

Syrups, containers and labels:

While I’m on my syrup high, I might as well share this little tidbit from A Beautiful Mess. How cute is the packaging she created for her syrups? I’m loving them! She breaks down a few more recipes for you – vanilla, raspberry and caramel! Add the pumpkin spice syrup above and you’ll have a well rounded set of must have coffee syrups in no time!

More adorable labels:


Photo: creaturecomfortsblog.com

Since we’re already looking at cute labels, how about these? I recently made homemade peach preserves and applesauce from scratch with my mother-in-law and after seeing these labels, I was a bit inspired to make my own. I’ve yet to do so, but I am completely inspired by the style of these by Jamie Oliver’s brand, Jme.