A portfolio is crucial for artists. It's also one of the hardest things to put together. How do you represent everything you've done in a handful of pages? What defines your art and how do you show that to someone? To me, making a portfolio is less about gathering bits of who you are and more about getting rid of everything you're not. The process of cutting work that doesn't fit add to your vision is a process of getting to the core of your artistry. When I was approached by Blurb to build a mini portfolio of my work, I was both excited and nervous to go through this process of getting to my core. You constantly have to ask yourself: what's my perspective?

The first part of the process in building the book was deciding what type of portfolio I wanted to create. I ultimately went with a "mini portfolio" to show a select collection of my work rather than the entire range of my art. Through editing some unpublished pictures of my travels and creating some new studio work, I built a small photo book that gives a reader a quick glimpse into what the world looks like in my head. It's meant to be a conversation starter, rather than the whole conversation.

Travel | Grand Hotel Du Palais Royal

What do you call the ultimate combination of warm luxury, a city of romance, and rooftop views of a sparkling Eiffel Tower? It could be called "perfection," but it just so happens to be called Grand Hotel du Palais Royal. Last week, I had the pleasure of spending a night in this stunning, five-star boutique hotel in the heart of Paris. I arrived exhausted after a 10 hour flight and only left with a longing for the day I return. Curious to know what could have happened in just 24 hours here? Keep reading below...

New Site Design + Branding!

My friends, the day has come! The Kipi Blog just got a (mega pastel) makeover! It's been a long time coming and I'm so excited to share my new look with you, which was inspired by all things summer of course! One of my friends said my blog looks like a vintage ice cream truck and I practically cried because that was my exact goal. Ever since I discovered how to actually use this amazing thing called Instagram, I've been able to focus a lot on my photography and, as a result, explore how it has evolved over time into 'my own'. I noticed that I am truly addicted to colors - especially pastel ones - and it was about time that my blog design mirrored the rainbow that is my other social media outlets. 

Blogging Boss 101 || #1 || Text Tutorial, Part I

red dress image from Atlantic-Pacific

Hey everyone! Welcome to "Blogging Boss" - my new series of tutorials, tips, and advice on how to improve your blogging material! I constantly get asked how I create my graphic design elements and photography work, so I'm starting this series to help anyone get a solid understanding of the many creative mediums you can use to enhance your blog. I learned how to do everything on my own (including designing my blog and photoshop) and relied on many useful websites and blogs to do so. This series is simply me giving back to the internet world for the countless times I needed to take information from it. If you have any desired topics or tutorials you want me to talk about, just leave a note in the comment box or shoot me an email ([email protected])!

Part I of this tutorial, "Having Fun with Text," teaches you how to put an image inside text. It is one of the first things I learned how to do in Photoshop and it's surprisingly super easy, trust me! Since so many of you love the 'golden' title on my blog, here is a quick tutorial showing you how I was able to create it in just a few steps: 

 

Come back next week for Part II of this tutorial, which will show you how to place text behind an element within a picture (for example, in the image above, how I placed the text behind the woman's head)!

DESIGN WORK || #3 || I LIKE FALL SPRING PROMO PHOTOSHOOT

I had the pleasure this week of photographing the promotional fashion shoot for I Like Fall's upcoming spring release! I was delighted when Preetha, a fellow Harvardian and friend, offered up to model for me. She has such a poignant quality that is both stirring yet soft (and she's had quite the social media explosion after the pictures were posted on Facebook!). Here are some of my many favorite shots from the shoot, and you can click here to see a sneak peek of the spring lookbook on I Like Fall's site. If you're in the Boston/Cambridge area, join I Like Fall on Wednesday, February 13th at 5pm at the launch event hosted by Free People in Harvard Square! 

DESIGN DELIGHT || #2 || THE MONTH OF LOVE

People! It's February! The month of Valentine, of hugs and kisses, of tacky department store decorations, and the only time the color pink is a favorite for everyone (maybe). Keep tuned for some wonderful Valentine's day inspired photography, DIY projects, and posts this month. Especially for my fellow peers out there in the struggle, this Valentine's day is going to be budget friendly (and by budget friendly I mean under $20. Okay, that's ridiculous, right? Right. I meant under $10, lol). So grab a friend, a lover, a secret admirer (though don't actually grab that one because you might get arrested for stalking and harassment) and start celebrating love! Translation: eat plenty of chocolate...all day, everyday.

DESIGN WORK || #2 || SENIOR CLASS WINTER GEAR

I was approached by a few of my fellow classmates to help with designing some marketing materials for the Senior Class Winter Swag Sale. They were inspired by this image, and wanted to recreate magazine-like style fashion recommendations for certain activities based off the clothing items. Below are some examples for three of the seven products I designed images for. If you're a Harvard senior and want to load up on some gear, click here to order up! Additionally, if you're in need of design work, shoot me an email at [email protected].

The image above is for the class Harvard sweatshirt; below is for the 2013 coffee mug:

This third ad is for the women's patagonia fleece -- definitely on my list to buy! 

Altogether, I really enjoyed this project! It was kind of fun trying to find quirky, down-to-earth, and class-wide friendly recommendations to wear/do with these items. I look forward to working with the committee in the future on other projects, there may even be some DIY collaborations -- keep tuned!

DESIGN WORK || #1 || THE FASHION-E-STA

I'm proud to announce I've officially completed my first 'client' work! My good friend, Erika, started a fashion blog early in the Fall of 2012, and I have been taking the photographs for her site ever since. Erika already felt she wanted a new look for her blog so I was glad my design skills came at the perfect time! There were a few steps I took that led to the final look and can be helpful for anyone trying to piece together visuals for their website, blog, brand, or product. Before I dive into specifics, here is a preview of what her blog used to look like, and then a snapshot of how it looks now after I was done with it!

As you can see, I did quite the u-haul of her previous layout. One of the most important steps in the whole design process was the title. Deciding on which font to choose probably took the most time out of all the individual design elements I did. The header dictates a lot about the blog and an individual's personality; it's usually the first thing people read and the only thing they'll remember when they're gone. Once the title was done, the design flowed smoothly afterwards. I wanted to emphasize the photographs, so I centered the blog and made the post area compact in order to focus a viewer's eyes on the images. Given that Erika is hoping to pursue some business out of her styling skills, I also wanted to emphasize professionalism and sharpness -- which resulted in the black/gray tones and an overall organized look.  Psychology research demonstrates that having a prominent personal picture on the front/top of a personal blog/webpage results in higher traffic and more consistent viewers (yes, I am a psych nerd). Hence, one of my favorite pictures I took of her now serves as a bold, consistent visual of   her look and style, familiarizing viewers with what to expect. Lastly, having loads of white and dabs of pink allow viewers to recognize how carefree and subtly 'girly-girl' she is (her own words). Overall, I'm just glad she is in love with the final product! What do you think about the re-design? 

Click here to see the new site!

If you're in need of design work, shoot me an email: [email protected].

DESIGN DELIGHT || #1 || IT'S 2013!

Hope you all popped the champagne on time because 2013 is bound to be a good year (it better be!). Here's a little celebratory design I made to commemorate the coming of 365 more days. Now, about those resolutions (cough, cough)...

ABOUT THE BLOG & MARJORIE

Email Marjorie at [email protected] to inquire about projects: