IN THE STUDIO // HEARTEN, SPRING2012

Open publication - Free publishing - More bride groom

Hearten is the online magazine of the Independent Wedding Association. The purpose of Hearten is to inspire and educate brides in the Twin Cities metro area. To show them how a non-corporate wedding, done by vendors who are close to their work and care about their customers, can be. We take special care at Hearten to highlight the loveliness, quirkiness and cosmopolitan-ness (if it wasn't a word before, it is now) of Minnesota. I have the great pleasure of designing the magazine. It's more than a pleasure. It's a delight and a passion. I will post more about the specific spreads in the coming days and weeks but for now here's the whole thing. I have embedded a small version of the magazine above but to get the whole experience go to heartenmag.com

Check it out, use it and let us know what you think!

Photography by Emma Freeman Photography

Photography by Emma Freeman Photography

Photography by Studio Laguna

Photography by Jeff Loves Jessica

Photography by Emma Freeman Photography

IN THE STUDIO // OLD SCHOOL PORTFOLIO PLANNING

This is what has been dominating my time lately: my porfolio, both the print and online editions. A lot has changed since this girl looked for a job and so the need for both an online and print/book version of my portfolio is a necessity. Wow, does it take a lot of time and planning. The photo above is a page of layout ideas for my print portfolio.

So far here is what I have:
A professional photo of myself {thanks to Becca Dilley Photography}.

A logo for me as a designer, versus my business:

And so many social media accounts I can barely keep track of them:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Linked In

Behance

Pinterest

And, last but not least, here is a link to my portfolio web site:

amyarmato.com

So follow me, like me, check out my work and if you or someone you know needs a fabulous graphic designer think of me!

IN THE STUDIO // NEW LOGO

The last time I wrote I was frustrated by having to design a new logo for myself as a designer vs. myself as a business. Well I did it and I'm very happy with it. Go and see my design portfolio at amyarmato.com, won't you?

INSPIRATION FILE // WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU'RE STUCK

I've been stuck. I have to redesign a logo for myself, me, Amy Armato. So hard. The worst actually. So as a distraction for myself, here are a few places for a bride to go to get unstuck: the above photo was found on Snippet & Ink through a delightful interior design friend of mine, Holly Bayer of Haut Haus (of course I found this image on one of her Pinterest boards).

There are many places to find inspiration boards. The boards from BHLDN allow you to peruse theirs, see other's boards and create your own.

This photo is from Cecilia Levy via Poppytalk. Sometimes you need non-wedding things to get your wedding brain going.

Where do you go?

INSPIRATION FILE // CHURCH BASEMENT WEDDING REDUX

This post started out as a year in review type post. I did a lot of interesting jobs and projects last year and wasn't the best about blogging them. The first work I chose to look at was this photo shoot revisiting the church basement reception popularized in the 1950's and 1960's. This shoot was originally produced for Hearten, the online magazine of the Independent Wedding Association.

I couldn't boil down my work on Hearten or this shoot to a couple images so I'm turning it into an Inspiration File post. There are just too many good ideas that would make for a quaint and personal wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. I adore this invitation suite and though it was created for this shoot, I am just dying for a couple to love it and have it for their wedding. I have highlighted my stationery work for this post, but go and see Hearten for the full spread with more great ideas from this and other shoots.

Credits:

Stationery: Armato Design & Press

Food: Chow Girls Killer Catering

Pie on a stick: Cocoa & Fig

Flowers: Ashley Fox Designs

Apron: Roycraft

Photography: Becca Dilley Photography, Sarah McGee Photography

Alternative Guest Book Ideas

{guests fill out what their recipe for love is and leave a note for the bride and groom}

Recipe Card Favors

Invitation Suite

Guest Book Cards, Recipe Card Favors and Food Tags

Alternative Layout for the Cover of the Hearten Spread

Church Basement Buffet

Minnesota Shaped Pie-on-a-Stick

Floral Centerpiece

IN THE STUDIO // S A L E !

I am offering customers 10% off of my customizable letterpress holiday photo cards through November 6th, 2011. These cards are letterpress printed on 100% cotton card stock with choice of color, font and greeting and include white envelopes and self-adhesive, beveled photo corners. Check out the entire selection here.

Wouldn't these make a great engagement announcement or first-Holiday-as-a-married-couple card? Letterpress is a wonderful match for the artful photography that couples get for their engagements and weddings. Those photos are so special, couples want to share them and a luscious letterpress holiday card is a great way to honor the beauty of such a special time in their life together.

I have also had a number of people use these as a combination baby announcement/holiday card. At such a busy yet exciting time it is a great idea to send one card for both occasions.

These cards are especially nice for two reasons: first, they're letterpress. In a sea of canned photo cards it is so lovely to pull a hand printed piece of cotton paper out of an envelope. It's the best way to express warm wishes, I think. Secondly, and more practically (especially for engagement/wedding and baby photos), the photo is removable for use past the holidays. No more holiday cards stuck on the refrigerator taking up too much space, just the photo. And in the case of the reverse mounted cards the photos are frame size. The sender is not only sending a card but a small photo gift.

To get this great deal order at my etsy shop and then use the coupon code FACEBOOK. If you need larger quantities than what is there feel free to contact me at amy{at}armatodesign{dot}com.

Photo mounted on reverse of card.

Wallet size photo mounted on front of card.

IN THE STUDIO // HEARTEN

Open publication - Free publishing - More minneapolis

I'm so thrilled to be able to introduce to you Hearten, the online magazine of the Independent Wedding Association! This has been a pet project of mine for some time now. We started talking about it last spring, did the photo shoots this summer and wrote, designed and edited it this fall and now it's here! Take a look, won't you?

Hearten {whose tag line is "Encouragement & Ideas for your Twin Cities Wedding"} was born out of a desire to provide Twin Cities couples with education, inspiration and comfort. We wanted a magazine that was more than just pretty pictures {though there are lots of them too}. We wanted real content for couples to go to when planning their wedding from vendors who are close to what they do and LOVE what they do. So while we do have two glorious photo shoots with great ideas AND gorgeous photos, we also have features like "Glossary" which, in this issue, defines the terms used in floral design. Do you know what a pomander is? You will after you read Hearten. There are other great features in this issue that you'll have to see for yourself and there will be even more in future issues.

I will be posting more photos of the stationery I designed for the two shoots in the coming days. I hope you enjoy Hearten as much as we enjoyed putting it together and bringing it to you.