Cocoa Creative

New Site!

2010-11-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

It's live: www.jocelynedin.com I'll be closing up shop here and moving all design updates to the new site from here on out. Thanks to Ben Schaaf for helping me out with Wordpress. There is so much more to learn, but at least now I have a hip workspace to do that (this blogger site is so 1997, says Ben).

New design blog coming soon...

2010-09-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

I'll be ditching Cocoa Creative and going back to my roots, jocelynedin.com that is. I decided to buy it back, delve into Wordpress, and see what I can teach myself in the process. Do I have any free time for this? Absolutely not, but I'll squeeze it in somewhere. Oh and a little something for gwenedin and emmettedin.com too! Ha!

The Top 1Q Things I've Learned as a Designer

2010-05-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

A list of the top 10 lessons I’ve learned as a designer, during the 10 years I’ve been with Q. Written for the Q blog, enjoy!

You Gotta Be

2010-03-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Britta and I have been putting together and raising money for a Komen Race for the Cure team for the April 25th event in Lansing. It was her idea to make this happen and I'm so proud of her for doing this and so excited about the whole thing. Our families have been so deeply affected by this disease; it's time we came together to try to make a difference. We've set up our Komen page to provide all the info needed to support our team. In my position, I thought it only fitting that I design a few really nice t-shirts for the team to wear and sell to raise more money for the cause. Thank you to everyone who has already supported us, and for the hundreds of others who will be there on April 25th to run, walk, hug, cry, and rally together to beat this disease.

The Decade's 14 Biggest Design Moments

2009-12-29T13:40:00.001-08:00

A nice compilation of momentous design; be it graphic, product, game, etc. We've all been affected by at least a few of these. In my world... Obama design, Etsy shopping, and Apple's amazing iPhone. Brought to you by Fast Company.

What the F?

2009-11-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

So I've been meaning to post about my Ann Arbor Art Center logo being turned into a 3D sculpture and mounted all over town (its main function as a bike rack). It was pretty fun and exciting...until today when I discovered someone else had a ton of fun with it for themself! Apparently, this stinky new version is all over town too.

The Changing Media Landscape

2009-09-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

Very well done video explaining how things have changed in the world of technology and media. Some of these stats floored me...one teen, over 2,000 texts a month! Being that my phone is a basic piece of poo that's a few years old, I send about 3 each month!!!

Play Ball // Rock Out!

2009-08-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

This year for the 3rd annual DeWitt Old School Shootout, Jay asked me to work on the t-shirt design for him. How could I say no? This is the type of thing I love. Here's the result, turned out great. It ended up being a manipulation/combo of stock illustrations. That's what I'm good and speedy at. Someday I'll have more time to actually draw. Sigh.

Ah, the future...

2009-07-31T06:43:00.000-07:00

Just came across this site about a digital newspaper that you hold, read, bend, read, flip, read, etc. Gestural design, it is the future.

ele3 ad

2009-06-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

I haven't had much free time to read about design, let alone design anything! But, I did work on an ele3 print ad a few weeks back. It turned out well. Now if only I could get to the flyer that I owe them. I need a nanny!

Legacy Land Conservancy

2009-03-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

Through Q, I designed the interface for a local non-profit that protects land and maintains nature preserves. The client, their mission, and now their site are all lovely.

Shanna L. Tomko, CPA

2009-02-12T10:53:00.001-08:00

In the last few weeks I've been working with Jacob's cousin's wife Shanna on a new identity for her accounting company. She wanted a fresh, new look because it was time and she now has a new address in Washington. This is what I developed. I also created a fun stationery package and a clean, modern web site for her. My friend Ben helped and produced the site.

my supa coo bro

2009-01-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

Rex redesigned and reconstructed his personal web site recently. He's such a talented guy. Plus he's blogging so we can all benefit from his insightful and entertaining updates. Good work Rex!

Happy 25th Birthday Mac!

2009-01-25T04:15:00.000-08:00

The Future of Multi-Touch Interfaces

2009-01-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Pretty amazing. Check out this video of Jeff Han's presentation.

going mobile

2008-12-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband gave me an iPod Touch for Christmas. I actually haven't spent that much time playing with it yet but I am super excited. Besides the techy coolness, there are practical reasons I was wanting one too. I need to be designing interfaces for mobile devices, yet I had only ever peeked over friends' shoulders with their iPhones or Blackberries. I'm pretty sure I'll be wanting an iPhone after awhile (isn't getting connected anywhere the whole point?), but I'm taking the first step. Thank you Apple (and Jacob)!

Don't Forget Etsy!

2008-12-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

This holiday don't forget Etsy for your shopping needs. It's like an eBay for artists, minus the auctions. I've purchased a few things and it's really easy, the products are totally unique, and it's a win-win, supporting artists while giving away fabulous custom gifts.

Jocelyn Warner

2008-11-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

Design*Sponge has enlightened me again. I just discovered another fabulously talented Jocelyn who specializes in wallpaper. While I'm sure her products are way out of my budget, they are wonderful inspiration. Beautiful!

and Obama dingbats

2008-11-13T18:12:00.001-08:00

He has some big fans that are designers. Link to the dingbats.

Designers for Obama

2008-11-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

Lots of great poster design for Obama here: Designers for Obama This one is my favorite so far, I laughed out loud. Gotham is the typeface used in all of his materials. From the beginning I've felt the campaign has been branded so well. More proof that Obama is a smart man, he cares about design.

And if you're intrigued by this topic, here's more critique (and support) for the design elements of the campaign:

- the web site
- the logo; an analysis, a comparison

ele3 Events goes live!

2008-10-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I have been helping the women of ele3 Events develop their new company graphic identity, stationery, and web site. This morning the site finally launched! I am very happy and excited for them. I am confident that they will do well and create amazing experiences for hundreds of clients in the future! (A dose of sweet branding never hurts either!)

Q in the News

2008-10-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Q was featured in a small article in Concentrate.

One Lucky Helen!

2008-10-16T20:18:00.001-07:00

Design*Sponge exposes me to new artists all the time. One such illustrator is a woman (and mother of 3), Helen Dardik. I've started visiting her blog weekly. Such fun, new work, great resources for other wonderful things in the world of design, and cute anecdotes about being a parent. Makes me want to start drawing!

Helvetica

2008-09-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

I finally saw the movie this weekend. Of course I loved it. I love type. I love working with it, thinking about it, listening to people talk about it. The perspectives given from well-known designers were most interesting to me, getting a feel for their personalities and the different impressions of Helvetica during very different moments in time.

New Q

2008-09-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

Q launched a new site yesterday. A fresh look, lots more work, and fun, new bio pages.

Zoe Bradley

2008-09-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Look at what this woman can do with paper. Utterly amazing and beautiful.

Baby Jake Announcement

2008-07-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Another cute baby, another cute card design.

Font Conference

2008-07-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Funny video.

Twin Announcement

2008-05-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

A postcard announcement design for my adorable twin nieces, Raina & Lauren.

Clustarack

2008-04-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

All for one of these. Fantastic promo video. Watch it here.

Mac Love

2008-04-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just got a new Powerbook and I'm in love. Thank Q! It's so nice to have all of my design tools at my fingertips. And speaking of fingertips, the multi-touch feature (from the iPhone) rocks!

Addy Award

2008-02-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

My Forte Belanger stationery won a local Addy award. All the extensions for this company identity were very fun, very oooh.

Happy Valentine's Day to whoever stumbles across this post :)

Mood Boards

2008-01-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

I love mood {inspiration, clipping, reference} boards!

Q Retreat 2007

2007-10-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Q Retreat 2007

Q had a company retreat this past Friday in Chelsea on Lake Cavanaugh. We've been there twice before and I love it, especially in the fall. It was cozy, yet productive. We had an icebreaker where we shared childhood toys. Mine was my monchhichi of course. We talked about marketing and the future of Q. Made me happy to be part of the team. Go Q!

Design Sponge

2007-10-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with the redesign of the Design Sponge blog. Plus, I love the content too!

Q in Metromode

2007-09-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

I was the official Q photographer.

Article here.

Forte Belanger

2007-08-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

Recently designed a new identity for Forte Belanger catering in Troy. Very fresh, modern, and yummy.

O Plus D

2007-07-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

Just rediscovered this wacky and fun card company.

Enspire Dental Blog Post

2007-07-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Q was hired by Farah & Associates to rename and rebrand their practice, now Enspire Dental. I was the lead designer and helped to develop a very strong, effective new look for them. A co-worker discovered a blog post today discussing this brand work. Thought I'd share.

Type Tastes Good

2007-06-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Fun movie.

Explaining Web 2.0

2007-06-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Less Can Mean More

2007-04-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Around the holidays, I wrote a small piece about design and giving for our Q newsletter. Thought I would include here.

Cocoa Creative Begins

2007-04-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

This will be a home on the web for my design musings, inspiration, and portfolio of work. "Cocoa" for that magical, brown sweet stuff that I've been hooked on for years. A creative pick-me-up needed at least once a day.