So as part of my goal to express myself creatively this year (I get to express creatively for everyone else most of the time), I’ve submitted my first design at Threadless.com. You can see the design here, and I’d be most appreciative if you’d click this link and vote a 5 for my design. If it scores well enough, Threadless will print it and sell it. Then you can buy one, and I’ll be like, famous for about 30 seconds. Better than a reality show.
Rudy Vaughn
Cliff Marks Jr. Photography
We recently had the chance to create a fun ad design for a fellow creative, Cliff Marks Jr. Photography. Cliff is the exclusive photographer for the Treasure Valley Children’s Theater and this fun shot of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ that we used for the ad is perfect to show the fun side of photography. Cliff Marks Jr. Photography provides individual and family portraits, fashion, senior portraits, personal and professional headshots (Cliff got to photo the Romney campaign when they were in Idaho). Cliff also takes some wonderful natural and action/sports images, which you can check out by visiting his Facebook page at facebook.com/cliffmarksjrphotography. Thanks for allowing us to create this ad for you Cliff!
Stand Up America
Are you ready to Stand Up America?
On December 7, 2012 one of our clients, Derrick Boles began a journey of more than 1800 miles. Derrick and his Stand Up America campaign is an inspiring journey. Using an Elliptigo cycle, Derrick will ride from San Diego to New Orleans, with stops along the way to promote “the underdogs”, the non-profits, organizations and individuals that make a difference in their community. Often these “underdogs” are limited in funds, volunteers, and resources, yet they continue to provide, mentor, and make that difference.
After building the website for Stand Up America, Graphic Zen continues to provide ongoing support to Derrick by uploading videos to his site from his YouTube Channel. If you are interested, we encourage you to follow Derrick’s journey, and if you really want to help – consider making a donation to Stand Up America.
As Derrick says: Take the challenge, make the change and Stand Up America.
Social Media Integration
How do you share your blog posts with your audience? We are currently testing a service called dlvr.it (Deliver It) to see how well the service handles blog posts and places them into our social media accounts automatically. We were using Twitterfeed, though lately their service has been pulling old blog posts and not updating as it should. Both Twitterfeed and dlvr.it offer free services to start, and dlvr.it has a nice graphic interface that show clicks and network updates for your social media accounts. I’m going to give dlvr.it a try for a week and see if it handles posts like Twitterfeed. If it works well, I’ll stick with it because of the information in the graphic interface. Update to follow.
My Manifesto
I think it’s amazing sometimes that people in the same line of work find themselves on a similar path. Kim Doyal, aka “The WordPress Chick” recently posted her manifesto after experiencing some “creative frustration” (my interpretation). She inspired me to create my own manifesto, which I’ve added here. It doesn’t matter if you’re the creative type or not, if something resonates with you like it did with me when I read Kim’s, then I encourage you to create your own.
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My Manifesto
by Rudy Vaughn
I AM a Strong, Confident, Creative and Compassionate man. That’s who I was CREATED to be.
NO FUN, NO WAY.
I will CHOOSE the projects and clients that I want to work with.
I will CULTIVATE and DEFINE my purpose…and that’s how I will receive my income.
Being compensated for my talents is not asking too much. I am WORTH it.
I will always try to GIVE more.
It surprises people and makes them HAPPY.
LAUGHTER is much better when shared.
I ACCEPT responsibility for my circumstances.
If I don’t like it, I can CHANGE it.
My CREATIVITY increases when I share it with others.
I will SHARE more often.
I will SEEK THE GOOD in all situations, even if I have to look really, really HARD to find it.
Ambition, passion and creative fire need GASOLINE from time to time.
Alarm clocks have NO place in my life.
Exercise = energy.
I KNOW there will be days when I don’t feel like it.
There are 24 HOURS in a day.
I will NOT take that time for granted.
Nor the PEOPLE in my life.
LIFE is not a competition, I allow myself to be the BEST I can be.
I will never stop LEARNING and setting GOALS for PERSONAL GROWTH.
My COMPASSION and GENEROSITY is not a sign of weakness.
I will find the ZEN in projects I am involved in.
I will express my APPRECIATION to family and friends for who they are in my life.
It’s OKAY to cheat on the diet once in awhile. That’s why chocolate tastes good…and pizza…and ice cream.
I will keep an OPEN MIND so that new OPPORTUNITIES I have not yet DREAMED about can find me.
I will FORGIVE those that have wronged me, because SOMEDAY I may need to be forgiven.
SOMETIMES it will hurt. I will get stronger.
FAITH and TRUST will guide me on this journey.
Being “STRANGE” can be normal. It depends on your point of view. I’m OKAY with that.
I BELIEVE
In myself, in my wife, in being INSPIRED by others (thanks WordPress Chick), it’s okay to CRY, there’s no such thing as TOO MUCH Monty Python, people are generally good, MASKS are only for Halloween, without CREATIVITY I am nothing, that a COLD BEER with friends in the summer creates memories, that I WILL get better at golf, I MAY have to edit this from time to time, I will RUN a four hour marathon, letting go of fear EMPOWERS me to succeed, that I really CRACK myself up at times, I am a “10”, in reading BOOKS with PAGES that are PAPER and not on a screen, that I will watch an F1 RACE in person, FAITH carries me when nothing else will, “Big Trouble In Little China” is a CLASSIC MOVIE, in TEACHING others, leadership is defined by two words, “FOLLOW ME” and YOU should create a manifesto of your own.
Leadership 1st for America
Very happy to announce our working partnership with Derrick Boles and the L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. 1st for America organization. Leadership 1st’s mission is to engage, empower, educate and mobilize community based organizations through training, technical assistance and fund raising opportunities. We recently completed the first phase of their fundraising division, located at www.leadership1st.org. We’re now working on new logo designs for another division, Game Time International and hope to have those up soon for your viewing pleasure. 😉
Heal-N-U Day Spa
Update: March 2014 – An updated version of this site was just finished. Proud to feature one of our latest clients: Heal-N-U Therapeutic Day Spa in Meridian, Idaho. We created this website to feature the spa services, including online booking and gift card purchasing. This spa specializes in not only the relaxing benefits of massage, it also emphasizes overall health with its caring, attentive staff. We look forward to future work on this site, when the owner expands to the next phase of her business plan. Check out the Heal-N-U site here!
Looking forward to 2012!
Cleaning out some files for the new year, and ran across a handwritten sheet of inspirational thoughts gathered from various friends, sites and seminars. Thought I would share them with you as you plan for 2012. May it be your best year yet!
- Have a mind open to everything and closed to nothing.
- Be free of attachment.
- You’re not able to give away what you don’t have.
- There are no justified resentments.
- Send blame out of your life.
- Take responsibility for your life and situation.
- Don’t die with your best music left in you.
- You are not able to solve a problem with the same mind that created it. Change your point of view.
- Love a person or thing for what they are, not what you want them to be.
- Treat yourself as if you already are what you want to become.
- You are no accident on this planet.
- Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you. Shift your thoughts to empowering ones.
Everyone is creative – so let yourself go and express yourself!
Merry Christmas, etc.
Merry Christmas and all the seasonal greetings that come with this time of year. As we look forward to 2012, Graphic Zen will be debuting a revamped website, (work continues on it now), and some new service offerings. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the “snow” that is gently falling on our website. We thank all the clients, friends and associates for this past year, and wish you the very best for 2012.
Share The Scents Website
Just finished up a website for Independent Scentsy Consultant, Lisa Nelson. This site will be used by Lisa as a marketing and lead generation tool for prospective consultants and customers. This was a great site to work on because it educated us about the fantastic products and the story of the Scentsy company. You can read more about it by visiting Lisa’s site – check out the site here. Want us to design a site for your Scentsy business? Contact us!
Cougar Mountain Landscaping Website
Graphic Zen recently completed the website redesign for Cougar Mountain Landscaping. The new design features a “Video” page, where Cougar Mountain will feature videos of client landscape installs and DIY tips. Dave Wells, partner at Cougar Mountain said, “We really love the new design. It’s much cleaner and puts the focus on our projects through the use of many photos.”
The new site also features a comprehensive client survey – for those seeking a custom quote – that goes into great detail to provide Cougar Mountain with your landscaping wishlist. Once submitted, Cougar Mountain can provide a series of landscaping options to fit the clients’ budget.
You can visit Cougar Mountain at www.cougarmtnlandscaping.com