My Society6

About a week ago, a friend asked if he could buy a piece of my art from me (seen below). He wanted to give it to his girlfriend for Christmas. I was extremely honored. Then immediately overwhelmed with the anxiety of printing it out for him. The thought of printing another thing off at Kinkos gives me hives... they are terrible at printing imagery. And because I just moved to Indianapolis, I have no idea where a decent printing place is. Luckily he wanted to print it out himself, and I was off the hook. However I figured I needed to set something up to ease my printing woes, incase this were to ever happen again. 

Alas! I got on Society6 and created an account. I don't have great expectations of selling, but feel free to peruse my page and give me some hearts! My Society6 page: http://society6.com/AshleighLay

Happy Holidays!

A couple weeks ago, my boss gave me the task of designing the holiday cards- printed and electronic. (I've secretly wanted him to ask me for the past 4 years!) This is my interior design boss. He's beginning to utilize my graphic design skills, which couldn't be more ideal because I'm not a fan of the interiors work.

If you read this blog, you might know that I redesigned his website for him too. On the about us page of the website, I created a Brady Bunch inspired gif. He wanted that to be incorporated onto the holiday card. I also did an electronic card in Flash and put it on the website. It's currently on the homepage! 

Front of postcard

Back of postcard

Silhouettes. Why do I love them so?

Here are two pieces I did for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. If you go to their FB page, you'll find these along with some of my other pieces! 

OMG... Fall already??!

Hey hey, for the past month, I've been juggling a graphic design freelance gig and my interior design job. I'm waiting for my graphic design/ illustration career to take over, which FYI will be very soon!! There have been times when I feel like I'm still in school. Long days. Short nights. Multiple projects. Rare free time. The only difference is getting paid for my efforts. Here was a recent assignment that turned out well. The clients were pleased. (Their logo went in the bottom right corner.)

Apple phones...

Let me get real with you. In the past few months since graduating, I've been unable to acquire a full-time job as an illustrator/designer. Several interviews and several dull bites have not led to much. Things are moving as slow as molasses, says my current boss (who has been wonderfully patient in my pursuit of happiness). However one awesome thing has come from the job hunt...  I got a freelance assignment! It was a fun little gig and ended up on a company's Facebook page! I'm famous! Hah, not quite, but it's uplifting to see my work somewhere other than on my personal sites. Also nice to know that my style is applicable to something out there!!

Out of about five concept drawings, this was the one I chose.

Flash-tastic!

I lived in Atlanta for barely a year... but it was probably the funnest year of my life (I know, funnest is not a word)! I met 5 wonderful, beautiful girls that I am lucky to call my friends. They are the sweetest, most positive people I've ever known. Everyone should have friends like them! We all live in different cities now: Portland, Denver, Cincinnati, New York, Atlanta, Beijing. Very different cities! Somehow we manage to take breaks from our busy schedules to keep in touch. For my next email update, I made this silly, little flash animation for them. Just because. Of course I already see things I want to change about it... but that's no surprise.. is it? 

This is us!

Infographic Resume

I took a brief hiatus from the job search after graduation, but now I'm back. I decided to revamp my boring resume and create an infographic. Apparently it's becoming a trend. After doing some research, I came to the conclusion that maybe it's just a trend in Europe (?). There are sites that actually make them for people... but they don't even look that great (in my opinion). I'm sure I'll change this a bazillion times. So here's round one...

Wrapping up!

My concept illustration class finished today (... you know, my Drake's Cove class).  Yay!  I came away with some good pieces, including this little guy. I decided to take a different approach with Photoshop this time. I blocked out the prime shapes then added texture to them with different brushes. I can't tell if I really like the technique or really like the composition. I think the color could use some work and the treehouse could move away from Sadie's bum, but overall I'm pleased with the outcome. And I'll probably work with this style much more.

Making GIFs

A few weeks ago I volunteered to do my employer's website. After doing my own website, I had the itch to do another. That and I can't begin to describe how awful their previous one was. It was a Flash nightmare... a constant scrolling gallery... rollovers and drop downs that never disappeared... it was bad.  

Now I'm not here to brag about how much better the site looks (though it's a vast improvement!).  I'm here to post this GIF. Initially it was supposed to be like the Brady Bunch where everyone stayed in the same spot and their heads moved. Being that there were 11 of us who needed to be incorporated, we decided it would be best if people just moved around.  It turned into a huge undertaking. There are about 30 initial images which were edited and arranged in this beast.

This was the first take, where everyone stayed in the same spot. I think I like this one a little better.  It just needed to be slowed down.

Cuppy Cake

I found this bad boy hiding in my closet!  I painted him this summer.  I had a slight (-ly huge) obsession with cupcakes for a couple years.  I have about 4 or 5 cupcake pieces in repertoire.  But this piece is going be my inspiration for this weekend.  I'm dusting off my watercolors and adding some life to my Drake's Cove concepts. 

Last school year I took beginner & intermediate watercolor with Arthur Wang (the funniest man you'll ever meet!).  As it turned out... I was pretty decent at it.  I was even nominated for a scholarship (toot toot).  Hah, I knew I didn't stand a chance against the Fine Arts Majors, but it was nice to be considered (it was like the Oscars... everyone knew Meryl Streep was going to win Best Actress this year; the other ladies didn't stand a chance!)