* Warrior's Lead Identity Design *

Warrior's Lead is a private practice Wilderness Therapy and Performance Coaching company started by John Queen in 2012. I worked with John to develop an identity, business cards and website for his new business.

Visit Warriors Lead here!

* More DIY Christmas Gifts *

Here are some gifts I made for my friend's preteen daughters (one is obsessed with hedgehogs). They are the coolest girls.

I made these little stuffed plush animals for each one as well as handmade books. One is a writing journal, and the other is a fashion illustration workbook, with croquis templates for her to draw over. I put them together in these bags to make it fun. Hopefully they like them!

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* BOOKS! *

Holy shit! So, my love of holding/smelling a new book stems from childhood, as does most people who didn't grow up with video games and kindles. I was in Barnes and Noble looking for some gifts when I found these newly re-designed classics.

EDIT: not sure why some of these do not exist online anymore...I swear they are in store though!

I was immediately racking my brain for who I could buy one of these for (besides myself) who would appreciate the design, and not be scared of the weight of the book. I ended up not buying one, but if you know me, and want to get one for ME, I would be ok with that. ;]

(images from google and B&N)

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* DIY Christmas Gift *

My brother had taken a trip several years ago to Thailand for 6 months. He brought back a bunch of souvenirs, including a cool t-shirt for me that was too small for him. After a few years of wear, this ill-fitting tee became more ill-fitting, and soon never left the back of my drawer.

Because I'm making a good portion of my gifts this year (hi, I have very little money, how are you?), I decided to salvage the design and the memory for my brother. I scanned the T-shirt and played with it in photoshop until I got the look I was going for. And, now he will have a great, custom-framed reminder of his adventures, and I still have money for groceries! Everyone wins.

Before:

After:

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* Logo Contest *

I recently submitted a logo for an online logo contest I saw on craigslist.

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* Wedding Invites *

Here is a wedding invitation kit design I did for some friends a few months ago.

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* Oh My Goodness *

Where have I been? Well, I actually have spent the past few weeks of non-blog posts interviewing for and accepting a new job! And then looking for and getting a new apartment!

Needless to say, I am so relieved that 2011 has been quite a change from 2010.

I spent a good 2 hours today at Target just looking around at apartment stuff. My brain has been going a million miles an hour thinking about my new place; where things would go, what I need to get, what my color palette is going to be. I'm a huge planning dork. It is one of my personality traits that can be very fun, but also restricting.

I've spent the last few sleepless nights drawing decorating ideas all over my sketchbook.

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* Sunday Sketch to Final Product *

Here are some Save the Date's I did for my friend's wedding. It's so much fun designing invitations, and I love that this one was so different from what you typically see for weddings.

* Sketch *

* Final Product *

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* Art Opening Postcards *

My mom has her oil paintings in the North Hampton Library for the month of November, so I designed some postcards for her.

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* Collage Crazy *

Collages are the most versatile and inexpensive way to make something (in my opinion). I can always rely on having magazines, glue and paper around. I have one sketchbook that I keep solely for doing simple collages. I have a whole stack of cut out objects from magazines that I like, and I try to challenge myself to put them together in unusual ways.

Most of these are works in progress, since I'll usually find another cool object to cut out and add to a design later. It is a really fun way to pass the time. Here are some from my sketchbook:

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* Week Wrap Up: Dad's 60th *

All last week my mom and I were busy putting together a huge surprise birthday party for my dad. And by huge, I mean 85 of our closest friends and family. Coming from half an italian family, this meant lots of food. Coming from half an irish family, this meant lots of alcohol. Needless to say, there was a lot of preparation needed.

During the planning, I was in charge of designing the invitations and decorations. I thought I'd share the designs I did with you here.

I also wanted to come up with a way of displaying photos of my dad that was interactive and fun. I decided to hang twine from some pieces of wood to make a photo hanging. People could use these *adorable* clips to attach their favorite photos or a nice note to the hanging.

I was so busy running around that I didn't take many pictures. I only have these 2 shots of the final hanging, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like.

The party was a blast! It didn't go exactly as we expected of course; it was too cold to be outside for long, the food was getting cold, and my brothers kept my dad out too long getting shots at the bar, so they were almost 2 hours late. But, we made the most of it. I haven't seen my dad that shocked in a while. Totally worth all the effort. :]

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* Sunday Sketch to Final Product *

Here is a "Sketch to..." of some cute gift tags I made for my cousin-in-law's upcoming baby shower. The giraffe is an inside joke, plus it is an adorable animal, so it worked all around. We also don't know the sex of the baby yet, so I went with purple and green for the colors.

You'll notice that this sketch is different than the final artwork. Once I drew out the giraffes, I had to make some changes to their position and to the arc, so it would look better on the circle tag.

* Sketch *

* Final Artwork *

* Final Product *

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* Sunday Sketch to Final Product *

This is the sketch and final product of my online portfolio website mariatorti.com. I went through a few ideas of how it would look, but I knew I wanted to base it around the four colors I used in my identity and business cards for mtdesigns.

I kept it all pretty simple, so I could upload it quickly, and designed this blog to go with the same theme. I would like to re-design it all eventually, but probably not until next year.

* Sketch *

* Final Product *

(You can visit my website here.)

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* Fruident *

I don't know many people who can say they love their dentist, and I'm not sure I can say it either. However, my dentist is making it easy for me to like him a lot. Exhibit A being this adorable vintage postcard he used as my appointment reminder.

My past dentists would usually send a generic postcard with an illustrated tooth exclaiming that it's time I get my teeth cleaned. (Personally, I find anthropomorphic teeth frightening.)

I am thoroughly impressed with my new dentist's approach, and even though the illustration itself is slightly creepy, I appreciate the intent behind the gesture. Kudos to Dr. Temple for using graphic design for the greater good.

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