Anna Monroe

Work/Life Balance as a Young Parent

Anna — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 03:18:48 +0000

I’m sitting here on the lid of our toilet, laptop propped on the counter while my son splashes in the tub, requesting me to “watch this, watch mom, mom… watch!” [drops his alligator in the water from high up, it splashes, giggles, moves on to something else]. I sat down with a plan to type up a list of things I’ve been wanting to blog about for the past year or so. After the nth time of Danny stopping my train of thought by insisting I look at something, it had me thinking about one topic in particular...

A long-awaited reinvention | Part 1

Anna — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 21:48:13 +0000

Rebranding yourself can be a huge undertaking. For me, it wasn't just about a quick logo redesign or tweaking copy here and there... I wanted to make sure that people who saw my brand got a true sense of who I am as a person as well as the quality of work in which they can expect from me.

‘Tis the season for DIY

Anna — Sat, 30 Dec 2017 05:38:44 +0000

I've been doing a lot of designing on my Mac lately, so I think my brain wanted to channel that creativity into something else for a bit. It all started with creating a tent for my 2-year-old, bc A) eh yea no, I'm not going to spend $150+ for a tent that costs half that for supplies, and B) duh, it's extra special when it's homemade. Thennnn it kind of spiraled into a real Susie Homemaker kind of Christmas where I was baking cookies, creating coloring pages, and stitching pillows until 4:00 am Christmas... I said it's extra special when it's homemade, right?

Where I found inspiration for my website redesign

Anna — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 20:40:49 +0000

While working on my rebrand, I explored the ever-changing world wide web for sites that were unlike any other, as it was important for me to see what my "competition" was up to, as well as making sure I wasn't just another copy and paste of your typical portfolio site. There were so many sites that I gathered inspiration from, whether it be for design, interactivity, or content; but below, I'd say, were the standouts.

Surprise! Happy 70th birthday, dad!!

Anna — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 15:55:05 +0000

Planning a surprise party is not easy. Especially when you have a year for everyone who knows to screw it up. :p But with all of the secret convos, gathering of old photos, and getting our dad out of the house without suspicion, we managed to pull it off! I'll avoid getting into all the boring-to-strangers details, but I wanted to share a few of the things we did to make it extra special.

New Beginnings

Anna — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 05:07:01 +0000

To put it bluntly, I’m in the process of rebranding myself, which includes a revamp of my site. SO… if you happen to come upon my portfolio and blog and realize they don’t match, well… now you know why. Cheers!

We’re Having a Baby!!

Anna — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 18:55:31 +0000

My husband and I decided to start a family this past August and on September 4 found out we were expecting! We’re so excited to start this new chapter of our lives together, which should be happening close to May 17, 2015!

I Remember…

Anna — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 21:53:48 +0000

I came across this site on OnePageLove and thought the design, message, everything... was great. Give the search a try, people have shared some beautiful memories. Don't forget to post your own!

5 Stellar Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Web Tutorials from 2013 (Tuts+)

Anna — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 22:19:57 +0000

I'm a frequenter of the Tuts+ Network, they have some great free tutorials, tips, tricks, galleries, etc. I picked five tutorials or tips (InDesign, Photoshop, Photography, Web Design) I thought were helpful, interesting, and/or applicable to current trends in print and web design. Feel free to share any tutorials you found useful from 2013 or years past. :)

Site of the Day – station.ch

Anna — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:57:55 +0000

I first saw this site as a nominee for the 2013 Webby Awards. The image of tweets being projected onto a wall in their studio caught my eye.. perused their site, finally finding myself on the livecam, twitter wall. Took a stab at tweeting using their #stationwall… and 10 seconds later my tweet appeared! So impressed by this concept and style, I’m trying to see if someone here could get on board. Check out the rest of their site, it’s just fun to see others ways in which they engage their visitors. #funuserexperience 😉