May: Ending and Beginning…
When I think of May, I think of my birthday. I can't help it because my birthday is at the beginning of May. I also think of graduations. It is the end and the beginning all in one. The end of a year alive, the beginning of another. The end of a school journey, the beginning of a new journey. What are you ending and beginning this month?
Business Ending & Beginning
I recently attended the Small Business Resource and Financing Fair in Grand Rapids. I had been Google searching small business fairs in my area and came across it. It was held by SBDC Michigan and their company helps small businesses at any stage: from starting a business to selling a business. There were a lot of other helpful booths and some I liked were:
In Michigan
Start Garden - monthly pitch contests for the chance to win 5k and yearly for the chance to win 20k
Grand River Makerspace - a place where you can use tools you might not want to buy yet such as a 3D printer
Michigan Inventors Coalition - like it sounds :)
National
Score - free business advice and mentoring
Comcast - currently offering grant packages for businesses in certain areas
Small Business Expo - like it sounds and offered in several major cities. This wasn't a booth but I wanted to include it and I'm going to check out the Chicago one next month!
Branding Beginnings
I was creating a print for a client that was inspired by vintage botanical illustrations. I remembered that a long time ago, I stumbled across an online section of the New York Public Library that had vintage archives and I vaguely remembered something about public domain artwork. I researched a little further and there are several different public archives that have public domain artwork. This is artwork that was created at least 95 years ago. It is open to the public to use commercially without needing a license. I took this knowledge and found a series of botanical drawings that fit the look and feel of my client's brand. I then cut them out in Photoshop, edited/cleaned them up, and created a print with them in Illustrator. It turned out beautifully!
One of the next projects I had was to create some branded fliers for a roofing company. I thought a vintage map of Michigan would look great as a background so I went to one of the archive sites and found one.
This is the beginning of utilizing a wonderful resource. Here is a great place to start:
And here are more sites to look at but make sure to check if it's in the public domain and license free. Some archives have a mix.
ANK Ending & Beginning
I just finished up a website design and build for The Lark, a wine bar in Ada, Michigan. It was a lot of fun getting to utilize the branding design work I had previously done and seeing it all come together! Check it out here:
I'm beginning a monthly custom design package service for companies that don't want to hire a full time visual designer but need help with certain tasks regularly. For example, The Lark signed up for a package that includes a tasting event menu design, tasting order form design, online and print menu update, and an online public events update. Let me know if you'd be interested in discussing a custom package for your business.
I hope that your spring season is progressing beautifully and the beginnings and endings in your life are going well.