Designs on Christmas

 

Hey Audrey!

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and I'm looking forward to spending the day with my family. I wanted to show you my favourite Christmas designs. Two posters I designed for a beauty shop for my friends at Engage, using paper cut-out snowflakes as the main graphic element. The idea was that the ladies at a local empowerment centre could make these, and that they then could be sold in-store. The next design is a Christmas card for WIP Holdings that contained a set of gift tags. I designed the Christmas icons using the circles of their corporate logo. Have a happy Christmas Audrey!

Logo no yes?

Hey Audrey!

I saw a logo competition for the Ishikawa Prefecture on the Design 21 website. This 'province' in Japan is well known for its rich traditional culture and high-tech industry. The logo would certify excellent Ishikawa products as 'Premium Ishikawa Brand' and promote them to the world. It was quite a challenge to design something for a place I've never been too. But I did some research and found that the Prefecture's Bird was the Japanese Golden Eagle. I decide to combine an image of an egale with the geographical shape of the Prefecture, using a Japanese painting style, and soem hours later this logo emerged. Audrey, have you ever been to Japan? I would love to go and see a typical Japanese garden. And the cherry blossoms.

Bracelets with memories

Hey Audrey!

I love it when the things that I wear remind me of the people that I love. Like my favourite bracelets which I like to wear all at once. The colour woven one was a gift from my friend Christine, who is now living far way in Tanzania, the wooden painted one (with gold paint) was a gift form Di and Greg, which they bought in St Petersburg. The wooden one I bought on a lovely weekend away with my friend Ria in the Natal Midlands. They were made by John and Andrew Early, who make beautiful wooden vessels and furniture.

'Ons Plek' safe space

Hey Audrey!

I am so excited to just have launched my new social design company SideBySide. I look forward to doing work with clients that are making a change in the world. You can read all about our first project for Ons Plek Projects on the SideBySide blog.

Beautiful boots

Hey Audrey!

These are promotional postcards I designed for custom footwear designer Astrid of Bohéme. I told you a few posts ago how much we enjoyed the photoshoot, remember? I wanted to add a lace element to emphasize the burlesque idea, and did some ink illustrations for this, but I think the real lace overlays looked better in the end.

Hello Skin

Hey Audrey!

I recently worked on a packaging design for a skin care range aimed at teenagers for the cool people at Engage Brandcraft. One of my ideas was to use teen faces peeking out from under a fringe, the other was copy driven: I looked at phrases or sayings teens are currently using and tried to link it to the nature of the product. I had fun!

Audrey gifts for a stylish coffee break

Hey Audrey!

I love it when people give me Audrey-inspired gifts. Like this Kate Spade mug. Actually the illustration on the beautiful box is based on Breakfast at Tiffany's. And the tin, in which I shall keep my coffee from now on. Thanks lovely friends!

Natalie does Audrey

Hey Audrey!

This took a while, but I just discovered this Harpers Bazaar cover from November 2007. Natalie Portman is on the cover, in the Givenchy evening gown you wore in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's. You will be happy to know that this very gown was auctioned of for £ 467 200 at a Christies auction, and that the proceeds went to the City of Joy Aid Charity in Calcutta.

Beautiful Bohéme

Hey Audrey!

Astrid and I had so much fun shooting her winter range of beautiful pumps and boots today. Astrid organized with a friend to use her sumptious bedroom, and was such a natural and sensual model for her own shoes. These pictures are a sneak preview, but you can soon see her stunning designs on the Bohéme website.

Just being Audrey

Hey Audrey!

I bought myself an indulgent birthday present: the most delightful book about you! It is the story of your life, written as a children's book by Margaret Cardillo. I love the illustrations by Julia Denos, especially the spread featuring all the famous characters you played in movies over the years. 

Quite a SSStory

Hey Audrey!

I have just finished a logo for a client,  and it took quite a lot of 'S' designs to get it right. So now I have made an 'S' family, and they can live happily ever after on this blog. 

Green things

Hey Audrey!

I went shopping for green things today: cute compostable planters for little chilli plants, and unbleached sugar cane toilet paper and serviettes. I was chuffed with the toilet paper, not only is it better for the environment, it is two-ply AND has embossed hearts on it!

Edwardian elegance

Hey Audrey!

I just couldn't resist showing you the three actresses who play the Crawley sisters in Downton Abbey posing for American Vogue in modern day couture inspired by Edwardian fashion. The photoshoot was by Uli Weber.

In love with Downton Abbey

 I love the tweed hunting outfit, look at the stunning detail on the hat.

 What a beautiful hair comb!

Hey Audrey!

Like many other people in the world, I have fallen completely in love with the TV series Downton Abbey, set Yorkshire from 1912 onwards. Mary and Matthew have become my favourite start crossed lovers. Susannah Buxton, the costume designer for the series, did a fantastic job. I read in an interview that she mostly reworked real vintage dresses for the series, instead of creating them from scratch.  Even Vogue thinks that the series is something special, and have been showing their readers how to get the Edwardian look, as well as shooting luscious spreads with the lead actresses. The images I'm showing you here are form the Special Christmas Edition, which has the most romantic ending I have seen in a long time.

I bought a dog tummy!

Hey Audrey!

I recently attended an auction at the beautiful Book Lounge in Cape Town. Generous illustrators and designers donated a piece to be auctioned off in order to fund a much needed school library. I was lucky enough to win the bid on this charming piece by Roulé Le Roux, using a Groucho Marx quote. I smile every time I see it, I think you would as well!

My Fair Lady

Hey Audrey!

I watched your film My Fair Lady with a friend the other day. We both loved it! I'm so happy that Cecil Beaton, who designed your iconic costumes, won an Academy Award for them back in 1965. When I first saw the film as a little girl,  I wanted my wedding dress to look exactly like the white ball dress with matching long white gloves. Now I love the shell pink organza tea dress most. Normally I hate musicals, but I know the lyrics of the My Fair Lady songs off by heart. "I have often walked down this street before. But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before da di da..."And the dialogue is really funny. Like the part where your character, Eliza Doolittle, explains to the snooty guests at the Ascot races: "Not her, gin was mother's milk to her. Besides he poured so much down his own throat, he knew the good of it."

All eyes on baby

Hey Audrey!

My friend Karen is having a baby soon, so we had a wonderful baby shower for her, in the form of high tea at the elegant Mount Nelson hotel in Cape Town. Regine, who organized the event, kindly let me help out on the creative side. I made some bunting out of bibs and mini-socks that we all bought in the colour scheme Karen specified: French blue, warm greys and red. I also had fun making the name tags and baby advice book, I love the little eyes I found at the fabric shop that gave every card its own personality.

Birthday beauty

Hey Audrey!

One of my favourite things about birthdays is creating the birthday invites.
Here are two images I created for birthday invites. One was a collage for a picnic in a beautiful park with a fish sculpture in a pond, the next one was for a traditional German coffee afternoon that my German mom made all the cakes and the cutest cheese hut for.

Hey Audrey business cards

Audrey in the 1963 film 'Charade', dressed by Hubert De Givenchy.

With co-star Cary Grant.

Hey Audrey

I just wanted to show you the business cards I designed for my design business called (surprise!) 'Hey Audrey'. I made some sketches based on some of your most famous movie moments, and on the reverse side used some of your famous lines, like the witty one from Charade (written by Peter Stone). I used 1 colour printing (my favourite red) on a recycled paper stock. I never grow tired of them, and I hope neither do you!

My cat as a computer

I love working on/in my bed: with my Macbook Pro and my beloved cat, Venus.

Hey Audrey!

One night, I was working on my laptop in bed and feel asleep. (I was working hard and it was late). My new laptop slipped off the bed, and when I woke up in the morning, I found it lying on the floor with a small but noticeable dent in it. Ugh, how frustrating! That's when I started wishing that my laptop were more like my cat, who I can roll off my bed and land on all fours. And when I roll onto her she just wriggles herself free an sleeps further. Now why can't a laptop be more like that. So I dreamt up this inflatable laptop. One can spill on it, jump on it, throw it across the room in a rage and it will be fine. I also submitted the design as a project for my Masters in Digital Art at the Wits School of Arts. One day Apple will think of this too!