read, write, design, create
Shopping for the readers in your life can be tough. Do you buy them another book? More bookmarks? A gift card for a book shop?
I’ve scrounged the internet for stylish tote bags that would make readers of any genre swoon. So, if you’re shopping for a friend or need something for your next trip to the library, check out these enticing options.
Continue reading “10 Must-Have Tote Bags for Readers” at ElzaKinde.com
November is NaNoWriMo season! If you’re a writer, perhaps you’re already writing like the wind and going for the gold. My two cents? Think outside the box. Nobody likes a cliche.
Last year, I challenged myself to make art a priority and set a personal challenge in October to create beverage-themed illustrations. My Drinktober results were so fun that I made some of my favorites available on holiday stationery shortly after! Looking back after a year, I’m so proud of myself for letting loose, having fun, and making time for something I knew I wanted to improve in.
I guess I’ve always been meant for the graphic design life, because packaging has always interested me. I’ve collected tags, ogled advertisements, and always chosen my next read based on the jacket. If you’re an aesthetic-first reader, this design is for us both!
For me, style isn’t about being a trend-setter or keeping up with the popular crowd. It’s a way of expressing who you are and what makes you happy! The best thing about dressing in something super nerdy is that you tend to suss out other people who enjoy the very same thing. In a way, that’s what my Kindred Spirit design is all about!
One of the coolest things about designing merchandise for my shop is that I learn tons of new things while I work. I knew I wanted to letter all of Jane Austen’s novels for a design, but in doing my research, I learned her books were NEVER attributed by name during her lifetime. Her very first novel was simply billed “By a Lady” and the following books were “by the author of Sense and Sensibility“. Her success as an author during an era when women didn’t traditionally hold a career is even more awe-inspiring when you take a moment to look at all the things that stood in her path. This woman was a fighter!
This month’s featured design embraces all things bookish. While writers are generally told to avoid done-to-death sayings, I think cliches and idioms are a fascinating part of language and culture. So, while I might steer clear of them in my novels, I have a lot of fun making them part of my other creative ventures.
This month’s highlight is an original quote from yours truly! I love figures of speech and puns, so I toyed with bringing them together into something any word nerd would love. If you’re the kind of writer who likes to compare and contrast, I hope this style is speaking your language!
The fun thing about owning a shop is creating products that are specific to your very own taste and sense of humor. Lorem ipsum is placeholder text used by designers. While inspired by Latin, it doesn’t translate to anything coherent. In a way, it’s like putting a [text goes here] disclaimer on your design.
Doing business online is tricky. With scads of spammy pseudo-ads and shady-at-best businesses popping onto your feed every single day, many of us have reached a point where even mentioning our work feels like a total taboo.
I get it. You don’t want to sound like a phony door-to-door baloney salesman. But there are a few things you should know before arriving at the conclusion that promotion can only be the thinly-veiled, cheap-and-shameless variety.
Continue reading “3 Reasons Why Self-Promo Isn’t Bad”
Elza Kinde 