Thursday, January 1st, 2009
Highlighting 12 projects from the past year
Back in January 2008, I made the big decision to stop searching for a job and start my own business! Unofficially, for one year now, Viddyworks been providing Grey/Bruce with a source of Eco-Friendly Graphic Design! Join me on a retelling of the year in Graphic Design Projects.
January - The Piano Man
Viddyworks opened up for business on April 1st 2008. However, during the months prior, I had to get my chops up, and build a portfolio! Justin’s Parents were planning on closing the retail branch of their business, The Piano Man, and moving shop to their home. Mary also wanted to showcase her antique business, Her Mother’s Daughter. They needed a website, and I needed to learn a thing or two about web design.
February - The Business Plan
At this point I was well on my way through the SEB (Self Employment Benefit Program), during which I worked diligently on Viddywork’s business plan. It’s not really a design project, but it is crucial to the projects that followed! The whole document was also printed on 100% recycled paper.
March - Branding My Business
There were a LOT of things to do to get ready for Viddyworks’ opening day, and branding was a big priority!
April - Gems Records
Huzzah! My first month as a real, live business! One of my favorite first projects was a business card design for my brother James’ recording studio in BC, Gems Records.
May - Just B
Still needing to build my portfolio, and practice my web coding skills, I decided to re-do my partner, Justin’s website.
June - Don’t Die Early
An ex-coworker, Lynn Brown, approached me about helping her husband spruce up the packaging and branding for his product, “Don’t Die Early”, pH strips to measure your body’s acidity. Their hopes were to get the product on the shelves of Sobey’s and Loblaws.
July - Shards
Artists are some of my favorite people to work with. I was especially pleased to design this business card for Jenni-Lynn, owner of Shards Jewelery. She makes jewelery out of recycled items, selling them at craft shows and farmer’s markets. The business card doubles as an earring card.
August - Infanti Custom/Wishes ‘n Wants
I designed this pair of business cards for a husband and wife, each starting their own businesses in Squamish, BC. I saw this as my opportunity to try out a great environmentally friendly printing company in Vancouver. The result was fantastic!
September - Words Aloud
I was delighted to take part in creating the artwork for the Words Aloud festival, held in Durham. My concept was featured on the cover of Mosaic Magazine, and distributed in posters and brochures all over Grey/Bruce.Click Here to read the press release for the festival.
October - The Colour Jar
Did I mention that I love working with artists? Timothy Dyck, owner of The Colour Jar, needed a design for an advertisement, and rack card to promote the diversity of art supplies available in his store. This also lead to a one-page brochure website, which can be seen here
November - Girlz Garage
The Girlz Garage, another west coast client, needed new gift certificates and “menus”. Hannah was thrilled with the idea of having eco-friendly printed products!
December - Hastie Stables
James Hastie is elevating his passion for training standardbred racehorses to a small business. He uses scientifically proven methods to train yearlings in harness racing. I had the pleasure of creating his website!
In conclusion
It’s been a really great year, full of great design projects for great clients. I hope you can all see the progress I’ve made in my design skills through this little post! I’m looking forward to another year of creating even more eco-friendly designs for Grey/Bruce and beyond!
Happy new year folks!
Posted in Design, Eco-Office, Events and Festivals, Pictures, holidays | 1 Comment »
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Everyone, give a warm welcome to the latest addition to the Green-Book.ca team: The Peace Lily! I’ve appointed it to the very official position of Director of Oxygen Creation. For short, I’ll call my lily DOC.
Indoor air can sometimes be up to ten times more polluted than outdoor air. Keeping plants in your office is a great way to improve the airquality of your workplace. According to the UK’s House of Plants, Peace Lillies in particular are especial good at filtering harmful stuff out of the air such as: alcohols, acetone, trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde.
It seems as though Peace Lillies were designed for office use. They don’t require much sunlight, and don’t need to be watered every single day.
Posted in Air Quality, Eco-Office, Green Living, Treehugging | 2 Comments »
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
As I said at the end of my last post: What you don’t see in my office is just as important as what you do see when the environment is concerned. I’ve broken this section up into two sections.
What don't you see here?
Absent Items:
There are certain things you’ll never see in my office for three reasons: Either they’re wasteful, they’re bad for the environment, or I don’t need them!
- Trash Bin: I recycle everything I can. When it comes to my office, I’ve found that I don’t need a trash bin at all because everything I use is recyclable. I’ve managed to reduce the waste in my office to the point where I empty my 8 litre recycling bin just once a month.
- Paper Invoices: All of the invoices that Viddyworks sends out are digital! I’ve got a nice little program called iBiz installed on my computer that allows me to send pdf invoices directly to my clients inbox. Not only do I save the paper and ink needed to print the invoices, but there are no envelopes, stamps or delivery to the post office. The other nice advantage is that my clients receive their invoices instantly. This applies to proofs for my design clients as well.
- Unnecessary Office Items: I’ve found that I don’t need to use staples, push pins, paperclips, or any other little fasteners to keep my office organized. Nobody said that every change has to be a huge change! While the use of these tiny objects seems very small and insignificant, just remember that there’s a huge industry of manufacturing, packaging and shipping behind them.
- Chemical Products: I’m talking mainly about the dreaded White-Out here folks. Have you ever gotten close enough to smell that stuff? It’ll make your head spin.
- Every “Green” gadget out there: Just because a company advertises an eco-friendly product, doesn’t mean that I’ll rush right out and get it. “Green Washing” is an unfortunate by-product of the rising awareness of environmentalism. There are companies out there who are trying to cash in on the environmental movement by convincing consumers to toss their old items in favor of the new ones. My advice to you is this: If you want an eco-friendly office like mine, don’t throw your old Ikea desk in the dumpster and rush out to the hardware store. Be patient, use your old desk until it’s completely worn out. The best thing we can do is use what we have before rushing out to replace it.
Invisible Eco Office:
There are changes I’ve made in my lifestyle that are invisible to the naked eye!
- Thermostat Regulation: This one is simple: Low heat in the winter, and no A/C in the summer. Lucky for me, my office stayed nice and cool this summer due to a collosal vine growing on the side of the house. It filters the sunshine, and releases nice oxygen right outside my window. If you don’t have a natural filter for your window, go and see your local home decor shops for blind or curtain options. This winter, I’m prepared for the cold with sweaters, slippers, fair trade organic teas, and three warm kitties to keep me going while the thermostat is turned down to 15 degrees.
- Clean Green: My office is in my home. Therefore, the kitchen and bathroom facilities are an extension of my office while I’m working. I have a no-bleach policy throughout the house! In fact, there are no name brand chemical cleaners to be found anywhere in the house. (Gee, this is a blog post in itself!) I make my own cleaners that can be used in every room in the house (including the launrdy room!) There are three main ingredients to all of them: vinegar, baking soda, and water. Stay tuned for recipes!
- The 3 Second Commute: That’s about how long it takes me to get from the bedroom to the office. This one is kind of a no-brainer! No commute means waaaay less driving!
- Shutting Down: I’m talking about more than just your computer. Modern electronics just baffle me with their vagrant disregard for energy consumption. Think about this: when I turn off my television, a little red light comes on whose sole purpose is to let me know that it’s consuming energy, even in it’s sleep. How did we come to this? At the end of the day, I flip the power bar under my desk off. This means that the computer, printer, lamp, and back-up hard drive won’t be sucking power while I’m not using them.
- Clean Webhosting: GreenBook, Viddyworks, and all of my client’s websites are hosted by a company in Toronto called Hostpapa. Their whole operation is carbon offset, including their servers and office.
There you have it! 5 things you won’t see in my office, and 5 invisible green practices. Not all of these are suitable for every office, but we can certainly all do our best!
Posted in Eco-Office, Green Living, Transportation | 5 Comments »
