Greeting Card Business Class in Santa Rosa, CA

Ginger McCleskey, a sales representative with over 20 years in the greeting card/giftware industry, will conduct this 3-hour workshop, which will take place on Sunday, March 27th from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m. at Riley Street Art Supply in Santa Rosa. The $65 workshop fee includes a valuable resource book. Pre-registration is required. For further information, or to register, please: e-mail: gingerx@pacbell.net

Topics to be covered include: • Greeting card industry standards • Designing for your market • Sourcing supplies • Manufacturing methods • Market trends • Where and how to find customers

When: Sunday March 27, 2011, 03:00PM PDT
Location: Riley Street Art Supply 103 Maxwell Ct. Santa Rosa, CA 95401 US
Price: $65
Website: http://rileystreet.com/classes.html

Kate Interviewing Ginger


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On Fridays, I sometimes like to display samples of products I've designed.
Here is a sample from a new card line just released from Amber Lotus Publishing called "Bright Spots."

Tips for an Online Design Portfolio

Here another article I found interesting. Note: This is only excerpt. To read the entire article go to the blog post at Instant Shift Blog

Tips for Creating Your Ideal Portfolio

The tips we have put together for this post apply to all kinds of portfolios, no matter what field. An online portfolio is a quick and far-reaching way to market yourself as a designer. Even offline freelancers find that a website not only is expected by clients, but is a critical marketing tool.

A killer portfolio does more than showcase your work: it turns visitors into clients. Now let’s dive into some tips that will take your portfolio to the next level

article continued....

Unusal Tshirt Designs

Here an article I found interesting. Note: This is only excerpt. To read the entire article go to the blog post at pokkisman

Artist Publishes Children's book for E-Readers (Kindle and Nook)

Readers: I asked designer Patti Gay to talk about her experience of publishing a Children's Story e-book. Patti is a member of our Eastbay Art Licensing Support Group. Here's what she had to say about the experience. -Kate
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Patti: I have become an e-book convert, and I am very excited to announce my first children's e-book picture book, called "Amanda and Max, Friends". The book can also be read on many devices such as the i-pad, PC, Kindles, Nook and android device, but what's really great about the Nook is that it is in color.

Everything came together to make this right time for me to delve into this venture. After spending the last couple of years in an SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) writing critique group, I wrote and designed a couple of books I felt were polished enough to move forward on.

When the economy hit the publishing industry hard, I started focusing more on my art licensing work instead. I really love the Amanda and Max characters, so I put the big orange tabby cat and the wee dachshund pup on an array of product design ideas. The images work beyond the children’s market since they are all about friendship, and the illustrations and words ring true for both adults and children. For instance there is a page with Amanda pushing Max on a swing. The page reads, "Friends give you a push when you need one".

When I started reading about illustrators creating apps and e-books of their picture books, it really lit a fire under me so I finished the art for "Amanda and Max, Friends".

Although I still love the feel of a real book in my hands, I can see the advantage of having a reading device instead. If you are traveling with a child, it’s great to have several books in an e-reader instead of dragging a stack of them around with you. It is just a different reading experience.

As a companion to my book, I have created a blog with the voices of my characters. I plan on putting up coloring pages soon, for kids to color, and then posting their art on the blog. I'm just getting started, but I have a lot of fun ideas to expand it.

It will be interesting to see how this ebook publishing experience evolves. Some of the apps I've seen are more like games with a lot of extra bells and whistles. My biggest issue with doing the e-book was with formatting. In the end I had to hire someone to do it. They put my book in an html file and converted it into e-pub and mobi formats (epub for the Nook, and Mobi for the Kindle).

I hope to follow this up with another Amanda and Max book. I am currently working on a second one with many fun animals, and I hope to have it available in a month.

This is so much fun! -Patti

PATTI RECOMMENDS

The Illustrated Section http://www.theillustratedsection.com/
This site is dedicated to supporting artists, not only by helping them sell their works, but also by furthering art education and the business of illustration. That’s why the site also provides how-to’s, tutorials, and guides related to art.

E is for Book http://eisforbook.com
A coalition of respected children’s trade book authors developing their books for electronic media

SEE THE BOOK
See her Book on the Barnes and Noble Nook Bookstore and is also Amazon for the Kindle Bookstoree , both for $2.99

ABOUT PATTI
See Amanda and Max's Blog: http://amandaandmax.blogspot.com

Patti Gay's Website
http://www.pattigay.com/

Patti Gay's Art Blog
http://pattigay.blogspot.com/

Video Interview with Patti Gay
http://kateharperblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/interview-with-licensing-artist-patti.html

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New Card Line with Amber Lotus

On Fridays, I sometimes like to display samples of products I've designed.
Here is a sample from a new card line just released from Amber Lotus Publishing called "Bright Spots."

How to Make a Proper Email Signature Line

Something I never gave much thought to until I realized I didn't like my own email signature (contact info at the bottom of emails) was the etiquette of what to include and exclude. So, I did some research and found some great tips on how to make a good signature. I never realized there was a whole etiquette around it.

I don't do all these things but I did find it made a big improvement in my own sig:


1. Use the standard delimiter, which is two dashes -- and a blank line in between that and the beginning of the text (see sample). Don't add a row of dashes or other distractions.

--

Kate Harper Art Licensing | Gift Design with a Sense of Humor
www.kateharperdesigns.com | kateharp@aol.com

2. Avoid using bullets. I've noticed they get translated into the apple symbol upon return emails, and it looks like an ad for Apple Computer.

3. Don't use images. This can cause your email to be blocked by spam filters, and it can be confusing to people receiving it when they think you are sending an attached image file.

4. Keep it simple: Only use 4 lines. Don't add insightful quotations, a long list of social media addresses, too many phone numbers. Stick to the basic contact information. If someone really needs to know all your social media addresses, they'll find it. Also, quotations can be misinterpreted or can give the wrong impression.

5. Use Simple formatting. Avoid fancy fonts since you don't know how they will get transformed on the other end after you send it.
- Use Arial Bold 10-point, for the first line and
- Use regular Arial 9-point for all the other lines.
- Use Black and avoid colors

6. Include your email address. I've seen different opinions on this, but the one that made the most sense to me as an artist whose art may get printed out from an email, is that sometimes your sig will be printed out also, or it may be cut or pasted to identify the card. The email is critical, so it should be there.

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