This one if for yesterday. I cannot BELIEVE I forgot to post it. So here it is a Valentine's bookmark. Hope you LOVE it. Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I’m on board! I tried to decide what type of design I’d want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable file that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

The Paper Mill Store and Pantone Color released the 2010: Color of the Year this morning on their Web site.

"Transport yourself to a tropical paradise with Pantone's color of the year — Turquoise. PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise is an inviting, luminous hue that combines the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green. Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well-being. . . ."

Whether envisioned as a tranquil ocean surrounding a tropical island or a protective stone warding off evil spirits, Turquoise is a color that most people respond to positively. It is universally flattering, has appeal for men and women and translates easily to fashion and interiors.

With both warm and cool undertones, Turquoise pairs nicely with any other color in the spectrum. Turquoise adds a splash of excitement to neutrals and browns, complements reds and pinks, creates a classic maritime look with deep blues, livens up all other greens and is especially trend-setting with yellow-greens.

In fashion, Turquoise makes a statement that can look elegant and dressy in fine silk and gemstones, or casual and fun in cotton and athletic apparel. Because of its versatility, Turquoise is a great accent color in jewelry, purses, shoes, hair accessories and even nail polish for women, and ties, shirts and sportswear for men.

So in light of this new announcement I thought it only fitting that today's bookmark be a monochromatic tribute to 2010! You can download the PDF of the bookmark here. Happy Reading! Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I'm on board! I tried to decide what type of design I'd want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

Okay, okay. I know, it took Day 10 for me to actually do a bookmark for ISOD. Crazy I know! Today, I'll take the opportunity to catch you up on some new happenings in my neck of the woods.

• I have recently updated the designs on Paige1Media.com. Some of the new stuff I've designed in the last 3 months have now been added to that site. Be sure to check out the business card, stationary and event design categories.

Paige1Publishing has been honored with the task of designing book covers for Ms. Ellen Sherril. Her first and second books are now available on Amazon: Search for the Whole Heart Series. In the next few months I will be writing guest posts for Overnight Prints' new designers blog resource for their customers. Look for my posts there as well! The 2nd Annual ISOD Student Identity Competition has now closed, and the judges will be making their decisions at the end of the month. Be sure to  watch for the 2010 winners! You can download today's bookmark here. Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I'm on board! I tried to decide what type of design I'd want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

This particular design was a lot fun and I let loose and just combined several unexpected elements into this bookmark. It's a series of patterns and shapes. I don't even have a lot to say about it. Just a free flowing project. Hope you enjoy it! Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I'm on board! I tried to decide what type of design I'd want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

Ninja Bookmark.

Here is my first day's design the design something every day challenge. If you missed the challenge upadte, you can read it below. To dowload a copy of the design as a PDF that you can print out, click here. Smashing Magazine issued the following challenge to designers for the new year, and I'm on board! I tried to decide what type of design I'd want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.  The first post will be available later tonight! I look forward to this daily journey with you!

Smashing Magazine issued the following challenge to designers for the new year, and I'm on board! I tried to decide what type of design I'd want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.  The first post will be available later tonight! I look forward to this daily journey with you!

Here is the challenge that was posted by Smashing Magazine:

As designers, we’re all trying to get better at what we do. We surf the Web daily for hours trying to find useful tips and tricks to enhance our design skills. But what if we spent less time surfing the Web looking for inspiration and more time creating and designing things?

The Challenge

Someone once said, “Practice makes perfect“. While that statement might not be completely true, I do believe that practice makes you better. That is why in this blog post, I would like to propose something to every designer: Why not try to design something every day for one year? Actors rehearse their lines until they learn them perfectly. Musicians practice their songs until every note is just right. Athletes practice their particular sport so they can excel. As designers, why can’t we do the same? Ask any successful designer in the community about how they have succeeded and they will attribute much of their success to practice. I challenge you today to design something daily. Take fifteen to twenty minutes that you would normally use to surf the Web today and devote it to designing something. Most of you are probably thinking that I am out of my mind for proposing this. How can you, as a designer working either for a company or for yourself, find the time to design something daily? More importantly, how will I come up with design ideas for a whole year’s worth of projects? Well, to answer those questions, here are some practical tips.

Tonight's #365 Design Everyday bookmark was inspired by Gas Pedal's "World of No Surprise" manifesto. From marketing guru Andy Nulman author of "POW! Right Between The Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise". So here's my take on "Surprise". Be sure to head over and read the manifesto, it's a great look at the opportunities that truly exists for today's marketer! You can download it here. __ Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I’m on board! I tried to decide what type of design I’d want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

My friend and fellow designer @akd623 has inspired me to learn more about the Mesh tool in Illustrator and learn to use it to create awesome realistic illustrations. Tonight I played with the tool a bit and thought the perfect shape to start on would be circles! so I created some marbles using the tool for adding color/shading and light. Yes, I KNOW that the light source is different on all the marbles. Yes, I know they are different sizes and on different planes. That's the beauty of "playing" I made the rules. =P Hopefully by the end of the year, I'll be able to do something more like the great tutorials found on vector.tutsplus.com.

Tonight's moral: Never Give Up. I made this one for myself tonight. The illustration of the bird and the frog is one I drew a while back for a client to use in her verbal presentations. She hands out the cards and says, "Remember, it ain't over til it's over!" I hope you look at this and chuckle too, remembering that no matter what you're facing, keep fighting and you can get through it. You can download it here. __ Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I’m on board! I tried to decide what type of design I’d want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

Simple yet profound.

As you finish up your design today, take a moment and ask yourself:

"If I had another hour, another day, another week to work on this, what would I do differently?"

Then write that down. Is it possible to incorporate those ideas into your current design? If the deadline doesn't permit any additional changes, you might want to consider keeping these ideas on the back burner in case you need them for future concept updates and changes.

In today's deadline-driven society, we as designers must struggle to avoid falling into the "production" rut that can easily occur when we feel rushed or too busy.

Sit down, relax and think through your next assignment!