Design | Invitations + Thank You Postcards

We're in the crazy last few days before the 2011 Blarney Blast...and I realized that I never blogged the design pieces from the 2010 Blast!

Finian Road has always been an avid supporter of the American Cancer Society, so being able to design the printed pieces for a fundraising celebration is always a treat!  Last year, our Relay For Life team wanted to have a fun gathering where we could celebrate one of the partners of the firm, Jim Connolly, who had been diagnosed with kidney cancer a few months earlier.  Combining his Irish heritage + Relay, and the Blarney Blast was born.

The two main printed pieces -- the invite and the thank you -- were designed by Finian Road.  Both were postcards with rounded corners.  Keeping the size at 4x6 allowed for lower postage rates.  We  tied in both the corporate logo + the Relay logo into the colors of the invite, and kept the design festive + simple.


After the event itself was an enormous success, we wanted to not only thank those who supported the Blast, but then invite them to the Relay For Life as well.  On the 'thank you', we included two specific things: a 'save the date' for the Relay (with date/time) and the link to our fundraising site so our supporters could follow our progress. 

We wanted to make sure that our supporters had the Relay's date on their calendars.  We designed a "Connolly's Crew" lap that followed the Opening Lap for cancer survivors, and it was one of those poignant times where you were tearing up at the same time you were cheering.  Some of my favorite event photos -- ever -- are from the Connolly's Crew lap, where Jim was surrounded with all of his friends and family.
As we are approach the 2011 Blarney Blast this weekend, we will be fighting back in his memory.  I'll highlight this year's event + goodies next week, after the Blast!

Design | Wedding Ensemble by Finian Road

From last year...clearly, safe to blog now since everyone has received and attended the event!

The bride chose three colors -- chocolate, pear green and tangerine for the wedding.  Her family has a connection to the wheat industry in Washington, so we used a simple wheat motif throughout the ensemble. Clean and uncluttered was the goal...tying in the three colors throughout.

All three pieces had rounded corners (so elegant on printed pieces) and were printed in a matte styling.  The main invitation was 5x7, with the two coordinating pieces at 4x6.  (And yes, her return address was changed for the blog posting. But it gives you a feel for what it looked like!)

As the wedding was a 'destination wedding' for both families, coming from each side of the state, I designed a brushstroke state of Washington on the map card, highlighting the main route of travel to the wedding itself at Cave B Winery in Quincy.  Adding in a simple 'map zoom', it highlighted the neighboring towns to Cave B without cluttering up the overall design. 

The ensemble was sent in a chocolate envelope, and tied together with satin ribbon.  We all loved how they turned out...here's a glimpse for you!

Congrats to the Design Giveaway winners!

Congrats to both Angie and Michelle -- you're the random winners of the Design Giveaway!

Eemail me at shelley {at} finianroad {dot} com to confirm what giveaway you'd like and where you want it sent!  :)

A Design Giveaway!

As the commercial side of Finian Road's design business flourished last year, I started to have an itch to design fun, personal pieces as well.  Lots of color, quirky items, more creativity.  Stuff that's cute and fun to not only have, but give as well.  

This month, I opened Finian Road's online shoppe over at Etsy.  To start, I added two pieces to the shoppe -- a cheery to-do list notepad and a set of "Avoiding Ambiguous Food" lunchbox cards.   You'll have to read the lunchbox cards description to see how they came about...trust me, whatever I sell, I definitely use too!  :)





The notepads each have 50 sheets and are bound at the top.  I seriously love checking boxes off.  I am a nerd, I know.




Want to know something awesome?

The day the cheery to-do notepad was listed for the first time, it made a treasury of "undiscovered finds" on Etsy!  Artsyville highlighted it with other goodies on Etsy.

Speaking of Artsyville, she has absolutely beautiful goodies in her shoppe.  What I love to do via design she does by hand...you should check her stuff out as well!




And my favorite tongue-in-cheek "Avoiding Ambiguous Food" lunchbox notes...Jonathan gets one of these each day in his lunch.  They're being sold in packs of 25 - perfect for a month's worth of lunches!  :) 

Sized roughly the size of a baseball card, they're cute and perfect to tuck in with lunches.  You could even use them with care packages to bring a smile to the face of someone you love!



And to celebrate the new personal design launch, I'm giving away two goodies! 
The winners can pick what they want -- a cheery notepad or a set of lunchbox notes...

Just leave a comment here by Tuesday evening (February 1st) at 6 pm Pacific.  Let me know which one you'd want to win...and I'll announce the winners tomorrow night.  Good luck!

A new year, a new groove

So hard to believe we're almost finished with the first month of 2011!

The last few months of 2010 were a whirlwind...between shoots + design projects + the Christmas tree season, it was a daily battle to stay ahead of the game while working from home with the Wee Ski in tow.

I did several things over the course of the 3rd and 4th quarter of the year to help gain a better grasp on the business for the upcoming year.

• Did a full business analysis of Finian Road. 
• For the year ending 2010, overall business was up 41%. 
  I transitioned away from Merrill Lynch and had time to develop the business from here (God bless double nap days!).  I honestly never believed in 2006 that this would be a feasible venture in terms of truly adding something to the family (as I'm pretty sure I just wanted to be able to expense sweet equipment back in 2006 when I started!).  But on the whole, I'm pleased with how the business has grown. 
  I love my clients -- they've been an incredible source of growth: both for photography and design.  And it's easy to say -- when you love the people you're working for, you tend to also love their friends and family when they refer you!
• Nearly 60% of my revenue last year was generated from the "design" side of Finian Road Image & Design. 
  In 2009, design was at 21% of revenue. I realized that I have hardly ever featured any contract or design work here on the blog...and with the significant impact it made on the bottom line this year, I know I should be sharing some of the projects so you can see the depth of what's available through Finian Road.  I'll be honest - I love how the design side is growing.
• I formed an Advisory Board for Finian Road.
• In order to manage the growth of my company successfully, I needed to get a better perspective and gauge of how I'm doing - both in my work (image + design both) and from a business perspective. 
  I will tell you that I definitely appreciate my finance background in this, and all of my business management classes from the University of Portland.  It's the numbers geek balance to my crafty, creative side. 
• The Advisory Board has been fantastic for feedback on what I need to improve. 
• better time management
• stepping up my communication game (read: getting email under control w/clients, wholesalers and suppliers)
• challenging myself to grow behind the lens. 
• My game plan for 2011
• Better management of communication overall. 
  It's definitely a work in progress, but it's improving!  It includes getting all my sessions blogged (I still have a dozen from 2010 that have yet to see the light of day, even though the clients have been delivered their images long ago!) and sharing more about the process and insight into how I do what I do. 
• Challenging myself behind the lens.
  I have completely reworked my post-processing with the help of a few marathon sessions of feedback + coaching.  I am loving how it's coming along.  And it's only January!
• Better time management.
  Blocking out specific times in the office, and leaving it in the office when I'm done.  A healthy set of boundaries from both sides. 
• Stretching myself from a business perspective.
  For photography, design + nonprofit work.  In addition to my commercial design work, I started a semi-personal line of goodies that I'll have up in my Etsy shoppe as a retail outlet. Simply fun stuff for the Type A nerds like myself, mainly.  And there's a good chance I'll have a giveaway on some of it soon!  (That means: check back!)  You're either green + growing or ripe + rotting!  I'd rather be on the growing side!  :)

AND FINALLY, A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU...
...to all of my current + past clients, as well as those who want to become future clients, I'm adding in a special Valentine's special, available through Feb. 7th.

You can save $50 on a shoot - either for yourself or to give as a gift!  If you'd like a gift certificate, they can be shipped to you or the lucky duck who's receiving it...wrapped and ready to go!  Full shoots are just $400 through February 7th.

[And if this is something you'd like YOUR significant other to do for you...just forward them this post! :) ]

If you're interested, it's simple to do!  Just send me an email (shelley {at} finianroad {dot} com) to get the ball rolling and save $50! 




And here's to an incredible 2011 for everyone!

A little design work...

A little quiet on the blogging, eh?

Lots of projects in the works right now - one of my recent favorites is the recent Evening at the Mansion for the St. Martin's Alumni Association last week. Had to wait until after the event to show the goods, as Finian Road Image & Design designed the invitation suite for the event.

Included in the design - the map card, tickets, a cover piece with the latin inscription "Crescere Mutando, Mutare Crescendo" all ribboned together with black satin ribbon, inside black linen envelopes. There was a custom line drawing of the Governor's Mansion that was provided, and incorporated into the design. The final pieces had rounded corners as well.

The event was held at the Governor's Mansion in Olympia, to thank the donors for their support of St. Martin's. A fabulous evening coordinated by the Alumni Association.

Lots of design projects delivered over the past few weeks - baby announcements, adoption announcements, and some custom work for a firm in Tacoma. There's a few more coming shortly - can't wait to highlight them on the newly designed Finian Road website - set for sometime in April!