A tale written in third Person

I don't know if this constitutes as a bedtime story, but here is a design tale:

There once was a tall, skinny (no offense) boy named Chase.
Chase was a really good musician, even though he would never admit it.
Chase was in a band and when the band's era came to an end, he decided that he couldn't give up his passion for music.
One day Chase decided to record some of his piano songs (which, you can download here).
Chase's potentially royal friends provided positive feedback to his efforts.
Chase got a boost of self esteem and arranged to play his first solo show in Columbia on November 7th, 2009 at Top Ten Wines (you should go).
Chase needed someone to design a promo flyer so that the people will come.

Christy is a designer.
She has a website.
She likes music.
Christy would like some piano music for her website.

Chase struck a deal with his equally talented designer friend, Christy.
Christy made Chase a flyer in exchange for a "website" song.
Christy has yet to hear any such song, but is sure it is just because Chase is busy preparing for his first solo show.

Below is Christy's series of designs, eventually leading up to the finished product:

Chase liked the 3rd one the best.
Christy make a few variations:





Christy made one more, which ended up being the winner:


Christy is satisfied with the end result.
She believes Chase is as well.
At least he better be.
The End.

Have A Great Day!
~Christy

More Website Updates

I have been wanting to edit my website for a few weeks and finally got around to checking it off my list. Major changes were not my intention; I just wanted to reorganize and categorize my designs, as well as add more of them.
Check it out!

www.solbergdesigns.com

Have a great day!
~Christy

Light Collage

Photoshop was my car companion today.

I decided to blend a few more photos from my travels and make something that focused around lights.

When I was in Europe, I made it a point to photograph as many lampposts as I could find (at least, lampposts that I thought looked cooler than the average lamppost). Some of my favorites were taken in Paris, so for a background image (the criss-crosses that you see) I used a photo of the Louvre that I took.

I hope you are enjoying my obsession with Photoshop as much as I am. :)

Have a great day!
~Christy

Side Project: Collage

The idea of a collage is not original. The idea of taking pictures from Europe and blending them together along with pieces of your journal is not original. But, I did it anyway.

The text that I have flowed in the background is from my London blog (Christy's London Tales). At the end of every entry, I had a "recap" section, so I took all of my "recaps" and blocked them together for my little project.

The phrase, "Today it rained. All day. I loved it." was how I began my very last entry from London (I believe it was the day before I flew home).

This took approximately 1 hour. And, is purely for my own enjoyment.

Have a great day!
~Christy

Updates!

It's been exactly 1 month since I have posted.
It's been exactly 2 months since my 23rd birthday.
It's time for some updates.

WEBSITE
www.solbergdesigns.com has had over 900 visitors! I am always looking for comments and suggestions for the site, so if you have one please pass it along to me. I am hoping to put some new designs up within the next few weeks.

WORK
I am currently working as a graphic design intern at the Missouri Botanical Gardens until mid-December. While I have been working for 3 weeks, this is technically my first full, 5 day week. All of the design work for the Gardens is done in house. Therefore, there are always things to be done! So far I have done a few ads, some table tents, etc. We went on a tour of Mulligan Printing Company in downtown St. Louis, and will be getting a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the gardens soon as well. You could also say that I am getting into horticulture. Having to frequently look up plant names has made me more interested in the subject. Today on my lunch break I strolled around and snapped some pictures:

Rose Garden

Rose Garden

Fountain in Rose Gardens

Taking a break.

Tram Ride

The Climatron

Dale Chihuly

Chihuly close-up

More Roses

Rose Garden

Water Lily

Needless to say, the work environment is, well, pleasant.

OTHER
My brother asked me to come up with a promo poster for a show he is playing in Nashville with some other performers. It is an Elliot Smith Tribute Show that is going to be at Mercy Lounge on Sunday, October 18th. He wanted me to go for the look that Elliot Smith used on his "Figure 8" album, seen below:


















After a few drafts, I decided that the best way to go about this "look" was to make all of my own letters. I only used a font for the Event Info section. So, here is what I came up with:


SOCIAL MEDIA
Not embarrassed to say that I use text, BBM, Gchat, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, sometimes simultaneously, to communicate with my friends. It is also a part of my job at the Gardens to keep up a blog of Henry Shaw's travels from the late 1800s. I advise you all to check it out; Mr. Shaw was quite the character. Click Here to view it!

CUBICLE FRIEND
I was able to buy this cactus/succulent (I'm still not sure which one she is) with the help of my 20% employee discount. :)


END QUOTE

Have a Great Day!
~Christy

Final Redesign

Third time's a charm, right? Maybe it's because of my unemployment status that I feel it necessary to use my time towards changing my website as many times as possible, and maybe not. Either way, I have redesigned the site for a third and final (at least for a now) time. The name is still the same: www.solbergdesigns.com, but the LOOK is NEW!

I decided to add some more elements to the site; showing more diversity in my work. I added a few paintings that I have done over the last few months, as well as some photos that I have shot and edited over the past year.

While I am looking for a job, I figure it can't hurt to let employers know that I am a fan of all things creative, and not just graphic and print design.

I'd love to hear feedback on the new look!

What shall I do next with my spare time (besides the tedious job hunt?) I am hoping to get some more designs posted soon (redesigns and new designs that I have conjured up). Must.Keep.Designing.

And maybe hitting the gym too. I hear activity helps creativity.

Have a great day!
~Christy

www.solbergdesigns.com

I have a new domain name!!! :

www.solbergdesigns.com

I decided to change a few things with the site, and am hoping to add more designs/photos soon! But, I'd love some feedback. Thank you!

Have a great day!
~Christy

MY NEW WEBSITE!

Ever heard of Moonfruit? Me either...well, not until a few days ago at least. Let me give you a hint....it has NOTHING to do with outer space and nothing to do with apples either (but, what a fun combo THAT would be..)
Moonfruit is a company that allows you to make a website for FREE! It haa several different templates and is very easy to figure out. I spent a good 7 hours today working on a site, and finally finished it! I was ecstatic to come across Moonfruit because of my current lack of enthusiasm about Dreamweaver (maybe I shouldn't admit that since I will be applying for jobs soon?). I know how to use Dreamweaver, I am just not a fan. Also, Moonfruit allows you to keep your website for free as long as you update it at least every 6 months! What a wonderful thing.
So, that being said, check out my brand new website!

http://christysolberg.moonfruit.com/

Have a great day!
~Christy

Visitor Guide covers take 2

I went back and made some adjustments. I added the Mizzou student recruitment header in order to keep the branding consistent. And again, anything that looks grey, should be black. I'm not sure why the color is not coming through! Thoughts/comments encouraged!

Have a great day!
~Christy

MU Visitor Guide beginnings

Inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x3PQ5QhMJs (joke, but I really do like this song. RIP MJ)

Mizzou Publications, in conjunction with the Office of Visitor Relations (aka the best job on campus), is in the beginning stages of creating a Visitor's Guide for Mizzou. The entire project will not be completed until April of 2010, but there is a lot that needs to happen in that time. First, a media kit has to be put together to send to potential advertisers. Today I created some mock covers to be used in the media kit. I may be making some more on Thursday, but here are 4 that I have completed (anything that looks grey should be black):







Which treatment do you like best?

Have a great day!
~Christy

Senior Year

I have acquired an insane amount of photos from my senior year of college. Here are my winners:

Photo Journal

Faurot Field from the press box

Homecoming skit 2008 with Mike Hall

Surprise


Lila at Thanksgiving


My roommate is a communication addict


MU Basketball in the Mizzou Arena


Nashville


New Years Eve


DeAnne at her wedding reception



Nashville


Caroline and I probably laughing about London


Columbia


Photo Journal


Valentine's Day ; the cookies are fresh


Back in London


The London Eye


Lila at Easter

Washington University on graduation day

Friends hold hands in big moments

Senior Sendoff

The Design Soldiers on our last day of class

Trust me, this is going to be a cute one

2627