It’s been a month since Lettering Works relocated from Peoria to Chicago, Illinois and a lot has happened from colorful and creative client work to fresh inspiration to new personal project planning to a fully funded Kickstarter.

Client Spotlight

In June, I worked with Perring Landscape, Grow Your Green Lifestyle, LifeLine Pilots, and Black Dog Metal Arts to further develop their brands with custom graphics and updated logo designs.

Perring Landscape started with a custom lettered yard sign to spread awareness about their organic landscaping work in the yards of current clients. The project quickly grew to include a logo redesign to elevate their branding to match their quality of service.

Joyce Day of Grow Your Green Lifestyle approached Lettering Works with an interest in developing a custom set of stickers to promote and sell with her DIY cleaning solutions. I developed three designs for her at the beginning of the month - and they were such a hit with her following and at the Farmers Markets - that she returned for two new designs mid-June. The full collection of five designs represent her different DIY cleaning products and build upon her brand with strong ties to her color palette and the approachable nature of her work.

Lettering Works has been working with local non-profit LifeLine Pilots to analyze and improve their branding over the past few months. After diving into creating brand guidelines to outline usage, I saw a need to update their logo. It is essential to have a vectorized version of your logo to allow for effective translation to a variety of applications. LifeLine Pilots original vector file had been lost in the shuffle during their nearly forty years in existence. Their new logo stays true to the original layout, with minor updates to simply and bring the brand up to a more modern feel.

Jam Lovell of Black Dog Metal Arts has been working in Peoria’s art community to create new opportunities for both women and those interested in learning the art of metal working. She has coordinated an Iron Pour as part of Arts Partners’ Citywide Celebration of Women in the Arts, happening this November. It will be the first all-female iron pour that has happened in Peoria. She wanted a special graphic to promote the event and to use for t-shirts that reflect the creative nature of the project. I had so much fun creating this new design for the art community and can’t wait to see it in use as the event gets nearer.

Fresh Inspiration + New Projects

Simply put, there is just so much to explore and do in Chicago. From the many summer street festivals to the plethora of interesting restaurants and bars to the expansive parks to extensive public transit to everything in between. I have been so inspired by all the new things and energy I am surrounded by. It has been really refreshing to be in a new place. Aside from the postcard and sticker design development that I’ve been focused on for the past two months, I’ve been planning my next passion project: 100 Days of Chicago. I am in the researching and sketching phase of the project and will be sharing more details once I have a better idea of the anticipated timeline for the project.

Kickstarter Funded

In just 25 days, 28 backers pledged $772 to help bring the Chicago Style Postcards project to life. I offered a variety of postcard and sticker rewards - all of which will be available for sale in the coming month on letteringworks.com. This project will serve as the foundation of Lettering Works Chicago product line, which I have plans to continue to expand over the next several months. The pieces created as part of this project will serve as an opportunity for me to connect with other local creatives and businesses.

To summarize, it’s been a really wonderful first month in Chicago. A couple discussions about some potential opportunities are in progress and I hope they work out so I can share more details soon. I have taken this month to relax and refocus, which I think is much needed after three years of consistent growth and hustle in Peoria. If you are interested in working together, please get in touch with me via the online contact form.