Thursday, September 30, 2010

Caregivers Team Logo...Controversy?

Does this remind you of the medical Mary Jane dispensary logos? Or does it work as a church care ministry logo?

CaregiversTeam

Monday, September 20, 2010

Sparkles & Royalty

33 Riches of Divine GraceWe're getting ready to order this card for the church to list the message topics for an upcoming year-long series. I'm rather happy with the result of it! The title of the series as "33 Riches of Divine Grace", so I went with the sparkly gold and royal blue theme.

The blue background layer is a free design that I found online. The white is a filled layer with a pattern effect applied in order to give it a crackly, textured look.

The coin and banner were formed in Photoshop. The sparkles around the title were hand drawn using a star-shaped paintbrush (at varying sizes) as well as a glow layer effect.

The title text is a combination of Copperplate Gothic Light and Harrington, which made for an elegant, yet fun design for the letters. I love how the "G" in Grace and the "E" in Riches are touching. Sometimes you couldn't plan as well the things that happen by accident.

33 Riches of Divine Grace (close up)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Change of Seasons: Winter to Spring

You may have noticed the shiny new graphic header at the top of my blog, yes? Spiffy, no? (Don't answer that if the answer is no.)

Due to some recent nudging from the Holy Spirit and a downright kick in the pants from the Father Himself, I am going to begin developing a freelance clientele to both add variety to my work experience and bring additional income for our family. The new business is called MangyCat Creative Design or MCCD. Oh, for the love acronyms!

I'll post later on about what specific services I will provide, what they entail, and general rates, but to give you an idea, here's a short list:
  • General Graphic Design (Web & Print)
  • Writing & Editing (Fiction/Nonfiction)
  • Photo Editing & Manipulation
  • One-on-One Mentoring for Young Writers
  • Blog Design & Other Webmastery
  • Writing & Design Workshops/Seminars
I will most likely be charging a flat hourly rate for most types of services, which is actually a lot more affordable for the client (and much easier for me to calculate). That's how I have worked in the past, and it seems to be a good model that people can understand.

Now to presumptuously answer a few questions:

Is your blog going to become some boring, business-related blog?
Never fear! I plan on continuing to post creative work here so long as it spouts from my fingertips.

Can you do creative services for anyone in the world?
Yes! Well, anyone with an email address anyway.

What will you be charging?
That's for me to know and you to find out. :ninja: It is an affordable hourly rate, but it is different for different kinds of services.

What's this One-on-One Mentoring for Young Writers thing you mentioned? Don't you do that on Cleanplace?
Actually, I haven't been able to keep up on CleanPlace as much as I have in the past. Though the teens on CP are like my adopted nieces and nephews, my focus right now is on my family at home. I thank God for Nia, our invaluable, incomparable lead admin on CP, for she is steering the ship with incredible acumen and a sincere love for the CP teens. I have the utmost confidence and trust in her ability to do so.

What I am offering here is a deliberate, purposeful, and personal mentoring program that focuses on raising a young writer's skill level and help her work toward publication. This would be a weekly meeting (in person or through Skype/IM) that includes critiques, instruction, and Q & A time.

You're not going to shamelessly plug your design services, are you?
Now that you mention it...

[shameless plug] If you happen to know of anyone who is interested in hiring a creative person, please pass on my name and contact info. I would love to get in touch with them. [/shameless plug]

----------------------------------------------------

Thank you, friends, for walking through this with me! And thank you for your support of my creative endeavors.