Issue 14: Summer Camp
On arts, crafts, and the friends we made along the way.
🏕 I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills
You all know me as a designer and a business owner, but it may surprise you to know that this is not my first stint as a creative entrepreneur—that distinct honor goes to the bead-art and bracelet business I started at YMCA camp in 2002.1 It won’t surprise you know the business folded quickly (the supply-to-demand ratio was not great), but I was bit by the creative bug (and many other bugs) and never looked back.
Camp, in every sense, is my favorite thing about summer—indeed, the only thing I really like about it. I may have graduated from summer breaks long ago, but I have such fond memories of coming home crusted in glitter after day camp at The Art Barn and serving one-week counselor stints at sleep-away choir camp. There’s an unparalleled coziness to the stickiness and mess inherent to camp, and something enchanting about taking time every year to devote ourselves to over-the-top silliness and exploration. Camp (the place) and camp (the style) are etymologically unrelated, but they enrich our lives in similar ways. Camp is ephemeral, it’s whimsical, and in a world that requires us to be productive most of the time, camp is a break from the reality and rules that govern our existence.
So this week, we’re looking at design through camp. We’ll get glittery and dirty. We’ll come home smelling like a campfire. We’ll sing along to silly songs. And most importantly, we’ll learn how to work together. Read on for more!
✨ Moodboard of the week
The Summer Camp moodboard is a bright and bold ode to summer break. It’s rustic and rainbow. It’s a better friendship bracelet than I’ll ever make. It’s a moment we’ll never get back but one we’ll take with us for the rest of our lives. It exists for its own sake and that’s more than enough. Click to see the original images and full board on Pinterest!
🔍 Question of the week
“How do you design a logo from scratch?”
Parts 4 + 5: Presentation, Feedback, and Selection
While most of us envision design as being primarily about creation, how we present our designs and how we interact with feedback is, if anything, more important to the final result than concepts and drawing. Even if one person (or team) is ultimately responsible for the visual outcome, design is a fundamentally collaborative process between the person who best understands the message (the client) and the person responsible for translating it (the designer). How both of us communicate during this process will make or break the final result, so it’s important that everybody be fully engaged at this stage so we can identify what works and what doesn’t about each concept, and refine what does into a perfect final result. Here’s what this looks like in practice:
The presentation
I put together a presentation of all of my concepts to share with my client. In addition to showing the concepts without color, I present everything without type (unless it’s a type-based concept) so we don’t get distracted by things that can easily be changed. I write up detailed descriptions of each, and we’re ready to present.The meeting!
I always try to present concepts in a meeting, rather than over email, so I can get real-time reactions and I can talk through the thinking behind everything. While I try not to over-explain (after all, if my clients don’t understand it on their own, the intended audience won’t either), I also like to explain the intended layers of meaning live so nothing gets missed.Time for contemplation
We talk everything through at the meeting, and usually there are a few front-runners immediately. That said, I like to give everyone time to ask for opinions, or just think things through, so they feel confident in their choices or feedback—or, if nothing quite works, to articulate what is missing.Feedback
Once everyone has had time to think things over, I get any feedback, and incorporate it into the selection—which may mean updating existing designs, or creating a few new ones. This is where I depend on my clients to be really honest with me about everything they’re thinking. I know sometimes people are afraid to offend (and in all honesty, logos are my babies!) but I always want to know absolutely everything they’re thinking, good and bad so I can give them a final result they’re beyond excited for. It’s also where I have to be the most humble, since no matter how attached I am to an idea (and it’s hard not to be sometimes!), I have to be ready to let go if it doesn’t work.Select favorite(s)
Once everything has been updated, we pick one or two concepts to take to the next stage. While we will only have one final product, sometimes it’s helpful to see the options with color or type before making a final call, and narrowing it down to a few favorites means I can devote all the necessary attention to the options we have.
This process can be really vulnerable for both me and the client—for me, because I’m offering up my creative self, and for them because they’re being represented. It’s also really exciting because, for the first time, the project starts to feel tangible and we can start to visualize not only the final product, but what we will be able to do with it. Check back next week to see what happens next!
Submit your burning design questions by sending me a message below. Questions can relate to design itself, entrepreneurship, workflow, or anything you think I may be able to answer. There are no limits.
🎧 Soundtrack of the week
This week’s playlist is a mix of summer camp favorites, fireside singalong classics, songs that just feel like sleeping under the stars, and a hefty dose of Parent Trap references. Get your Oreos and peanut butter ready and check out the playlist below, or click here to listen and save on Spotify.
☁️ My Favorite Things
I don’t actually like kombucha, so I should be more embarrassed that I bought this Better Booch Mango Delight Kombucha just because it had a pretty can. This packaging embodies late summer to me, with gentle bright tones, whimsical line drawings, and a bold design that’s still highly accessible and easy to engage with. In unrelated news, if anyone wants a can of kombucha, hit me up.
Image sourced from Better Booch. This kombucha also has green tea and elderflower in it, so it does, in fairness, sound really good if kombucha is your thing. Also do you know how hard it was for me not to just send more gymnastics leotards? How do I get that job, for real.
🌱 Touching Grass
📖 What I’m reading: My mom recommended James McBride’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store every day for a month and my Libby hold came through this week!
🎧 What I’m listening to: Kacey Musgraves’ The Architect is the only song I really love off her latest album, but I really love it. I know it came out in March, but it really seems to fit the season and it’s been on repeat.
🍅 What I’m eating: Athena Calderone’s Bucatini with Spicy Summer Tomatoes is hands-down my favorite summer recipe. I don’t love corn so I typically leave it out and I usually make it with parmesan instead of pecorino, but you can also make it exactly as-is or put your own spin on it. It also tastes exactly the same without the cheese if you, or someone you love, is vegan!
📺 What I’m watching: 2x Olympic climbing champion Janja Garnbret’s unfiltered interview from Adidas. Also watch the climbing competition itself if you haven’t yet.
🎨 What I’m doing: After staring at the swatches on my wall for six (6) months, I’m finally painting my dance studio, and hopefully my bedroom this week. Stay tuned for the finished product!