Monthly Archives: February 2010

wishing you a weekend full of pancakes

by Erika Firm Posted on February 26, 2010

painting by Dear Weekend

Good morning, darling readers. It’s Friday already, can you believe it? This week was full of highs: I met a ton of fellow designerds at the North County Graphic Design Meetup; secured a new project with one of my favorite clients; and made time to lunch with a dear friend, to name a few. Unfortunately there were a couple of real lows, which I won’t go in to other than to mention that I had to review my old law books from Journalism school days to brush up on libel and slander. Ugh. I’m shaking it off. Don’t worry.

I have to say, though, that one of the best parts of my week was to receive an email from an old client, Elisabeth Klos. One of the many joys of working with brides is meeting brides! Last year I had the pleasure of working with Elisabeth on her wedding invitations.  She told me then that she was interested in exploring her creative side. She told me she was a painter at heart (she was working in sales at the time, if I remember correctly), and was positively itching to get back to it. Of course I encouraged her whole heartedly to pursue her passion. I’m so happy to see that she has followed through and is now painting full time! The wonderful pancake painting above, by Elisabeth Klos, is sold in her brand new Etsy shop, Dear Weekend. I hope you’ll visit her shop when you have a moment. You can read more about her technique in the shop (she incorporates collage … pieces of ingredient packaging peek through the paint).

Enjoy the weekend. Wishing you a lazy couple of days full of love, laughter and pancake breakfasts with your families and friends!

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bookshelf: often wrong, never in doubt, by donny deutsch

by Erika Firm Posted on February 25, 2010

For the past few days I’ve been reading adman (and maybe one day NYC mayor) Donny Deutsch‘s book, “Often Wrong, Never in Doubt.” Not that it’s a surprise (you have seen his fantastic CNBC show, The Big Idea, right?), but the book is stellar. Every chapter I find myself learning something, nodding in agreement, annoying John by reading something aloud. So many things in the book are quotable, but a few I just read are really sticking with me

On putting clients first: “‘What would I do if this was my business?’ How going over to the other side will better your own bottom line.”

And on fear: “You can’t be crippled by the fear of failure; that truly is in the definition of not succeeding. If you do nothing, your failure is guaranteed.”

And one more, because I can’t resist: on women and “The doctrine of female superiority”: “Women are superior beings. It’s that simple. Give me a choice between a woman and a man with the same talents, I’ll take the woman every time.”

On it’s face, this book is about a simple question: “Why not me.” But it’s really about going beyond believing in yourself, and doing something about it. It’s about action. It’s also about the crazy ad world (the behind the scenes insight is entertaining and enlightening, to say the least). It’s about how to be a great boss. How to deal with clients. How to deal, period. It’s about facing fear, not backing down, being bold. Being authentic. Yes, it’s inspiring, but beyod that, it’s motivating. It’s a call to action. Oh yes, and it’s about branding, too. I highly recommend this book to anyone in business, not just creative types.

By the way, sorry, Donny, that your face is covered up by a sticker … silly librarian. What were you thinking?

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blog love: for the love of type

by Erika Firm Posted on February 24, 2010

Yesterday I stumbled upon a lovely blog, For The Love of Type. Oh, my, WORD. Wonderful! Why yes, that is Mr Eaves XL Sans Ultra Italic  on the cupcakes. The blogess (she calls herself Mrs. Eaves, which, if you’re a  nerd like me, you’ll find funny). Her real name is Gemma O’Brien, and she is an Australian designer. I especially like the “typespotting” posts — sort of a spotted in the wild sort of column. If you love type, this blog is a must read. There’s a great video of Mrs. Eaves “tattooing” herself with a Sharpie on the streets of Berlin (? at least it looks like Berlin to me) on the blog. I’ve seen the whole type all over the body thing before (mens magazines seem to love this concept), and of course Stephen Sagmeister’s famous razored type poster, but seeing Mrs. Eaves write all over herself brings it to a whole new level. Pretty amazing. I’m seriously blown away. Am I gushing too much? Take a look at the site and you’ll understand why.

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snazzy iphone cases

by Erika Firm Posted on February 23, 2010

My iPhone case is looking a little worse for wear and I’ve been searching for a cool new one. I’m having a hard time choosing, so I think I may end up with a couple of them. Who says you can’t change your iPhone case depending on your mood? I have several tote bags and purses, why not several iPhone cases? Here are some of my favorite iPhone case designs:

:::1::: Handmade Ultrasuede iPhone case by Joy by Mel Lim. It’s fabric, but since it’s Ultrasuede it’s stain resistant and easy to clean. Plus, ever one is unique — no repeats on the designs! :::2::: This might be the coolest option: upload your own artwork (the one shown is by Marco Cibola) onto a custom iPhone case at Uncommon. :::3::: Griffin Elan Form Chilewich  iPhone case in grey. It just looks tough, doesn’t it? I think this one will stand up to handling by my kindergartener (he likes to play games on my iPhone). :::4::: These adorable owl iPhone cases get the cuteness award. By Sydney Angel on Etsy. :::5::: Chic black, white and yellow soft iPhone case by Seaside Sew on Etsy. :::6::: Ultra cool gold chrome iPhone case by inCase. So shiny. So fancy.

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ask me anything … via formspring

by Erika Firm Posted on February 22, 2010

left + center photo ©Peden+Munk; right photo ©delphine

Yes, that’s right. Ask me anything. I signed up with Formspring quietly last week. Almost daily I get emails asking for advice or my thoughts or my suggestions on lots of stuff (mostly about running a design-centric business). Now I can answer questions in a public forum. It’s like a public FAQ. Awesome.

So go ahead … ask me anything. (Well, not anything. I mean, lets keep it decent, okay).

 

 

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wish list: pill keychain

by Erika Firm Posted on February 12, 2010

On my wish list: Jonathan Adler’s new enamel heart pill storage keychain. I am constantly shoving my Excedrin Migraine meds in my pocket (gross).

BYW, at NYIGF last week John nearly ran over poor Jonathan Adler in the aisle. Sorry, Jonathan!

 

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excursion: delphine the café

by Erika Firm Posted on February 11, 2010

I think I just discovered the perfect place to take my Mémé Delphine (my grandma and the namesake of my company) for a lovely lunch: DELPHINE at the W Hotel in Hollywood. I’ve already scoped out the menu and they have all my favorite French bistro fare, like croque madames and steak frites and niçoise salad. Mmmmm.

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inspired by: inpiration pages

by Erika Firm Posted on February 11, 2010

I’m often asked “what inspires your designs?” That is such a difficult question to answer since anything and everything inspires me. Fabulous window displays, swoon-worthy place settings, adorable kids clothes, spectacular art exhibits … and mundane things like tree branches, sugar packets, rain boots all inspire me.

I do enjoy seeing what inspires other people and reading how they answer that age old question. Anthropologie has devoted an entire new(ish) website to inspiration. Kate Spade has a cool “behind the curtain” section on their site. Dwell Studio allows their visitors to take a peek at what inspires them with a special section, too. Our inspiration section on the Delphine site has photos of “stuff we love, admire and treasure.” I haven’t updated it in a while, mostly because I put a lot of what inspires me here on this blog. I also keep a giant sketchbook/journal, where I paste in bits of inspirational ephemera (like cool hang tags, interesting receipts, tear sheets from magazines and ads).

Just because “everything” inspires me, that does not mean that I never suffer from creative block. Having this blog and my sketchbook/journal is invaluable! Whenever I feel stuck I often take a break, go for a walk or a drive, run errands. And when I get back if I’m still stuck I peek through old sketchbooks … and soon I’m sketching new ideas. On my recent trip to New York I accidentally left my book behind and I felt completely lost! What works for you?

 

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small business tips

by Erika Firm Posted on February 10, 2010

Here at Delphine we are truly honored to have been chosen as a featured vendor on Abe’s Market. Besides being a great concept (eco-friendly goods all in one spot!) and having one of the cutest logos around (a shopping bear!), Abe’s Market is run by a super team (smart and nice!), determined to help each of their vendors rise. Last week John and I tuned into a webinar hosted by Abe’s Market during a lunch break from the NYIGF floor. The speaker, Perry Abbenante, is the former lead buyer at Whole Foods Market. He had lots of great stuff to say, but I am so thankful that he threw out this gem:

“It’s simple: spend the money on great packaging. You won’t regret it.” I wish I could put that little snippet on tape and play it at the beginning, middle and end of every meeting with a design client!

Pictured above: some of my personal favorite examples of fantastic packaging design: MOR Cosmetics and IZZE soda.

 

 

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merci beaucoup

by Erika Firm Posted on February 9, 2010

Dear Readers,

A quick time out to say Merci Beaucoup for your support! Thank you so much for reading my blog, for all your questions, comments, love and support. I really appreciate that you take the time out of your busy days to keep up with what’s going on here at Delphine. If there is something you’d like to read more (or less) of, subjects you’d like me to cover, things you’d like to hear about … just let me know. Thanks again for your support!

Best,

Erika & the entire Delphine studio

P.S. if you’d like to subscribe there is a RSS feed button at the top of the right hand column : )

 

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quoted: marketing + business

by Erika Firm Posted on February 9, 2010

I read Tribes, by Seth Godin while I was in New York for NYIGF. It was the perfect book to read while attending a gift show. While on the surface the book is about leadership, it’s full of lots of super insights on marketing. The overarching themes I took away from the book are that it’s okay to question the status quo (“be a heretic”) and that change & innovation are keys to success.

I have to return my copy to the library, but I’m already planning a visit to my local bookshop to pick up my very own copy.

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wish list: urban totes

by Erika Firm Posted on February 9, 2010

I spotted Property Of at NYIGF last week and fell in love with their bags. I could tell that a designer was having a blast with this line — everything from the booth design to the hang tags to the business cards … to the bags themselves are executed flawlessly. There are not too many cool guy’s bag lines out there. After nearly a year long search John finally settled on a rather ugly and uninspired bag from Target for his computer bag. Had we known about these awesome bags I think he’d be much happier toting his gear around! The two I’ve shown here are made of waxcloth. Love them. I think they’d make cool diaper bags, too. Check out the Property Of site (well designed, easy to navigate, full of cool stuff… yahoo!) to see the rest of their range of bags.

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