New Industrial Design Blog: "I.D.Mommy!"

I'd like to introduce my latest blog project, "I.D.Mommy.com!" Here I will write about how and where industrial design meets motherhood. Being a work-from-home industrial designer with 2 boys, I find that the two constantly intersect. You can expect to see honest product reviews with my unique perspective as a user and a designer, as well as other items like fellow "MOMtrepreneurs," recipes, personal stories, DIY projects, and more. So, swing on by and check it out when you get a chance!

Portfolio Additions: Powerpoint Design and Personal Projects

While I did just have a baby 6 weeks ago, I've been back to work designing for my clients since 4 weeks ago! Things are definitely still hopping here as usual at the GF Design studio. Being that it's the weekend though, I thought I would put a little bit of time into updating my website, adding a few more items to my portfolio.

One is a project that I worked on last year, designing a powerpoint sales presentation for Acrylic Design Associates. Having seen many, many bad Powerpoint presentations given to me by vendors while working for Best Buy, I was really excited to see a vendor who realized the importance of presenting good design to designers, and couldn't wait to get started on this one.

So many salespeople overlook the design of their actual presentations, not realizing that something as small as a strange font, pixelated web image, or misaligned graphics can distract a designer's attention enough to cause them to miss the entire presentation. I know I have spent many presentations as a viewer with the only thoughts going through my head being, "why on earth did they use that font?," "Why did they use such small text and so little contrast on a Powerpoint?", or "why can't they find a higher resolution image of their own logo?"


So, as you can imagine, I was thrilled to be able to help design a sales presentation that would be clean and clear, and solve all of the issues that I knew distracted me from others' poor presentations in the past. Utilizing graphics, buttons, colors and contrast, the new design was able to present a wealth of information without overwhelming the audience, and let them know where in the presentation they were at any moment.

Along with this project, I also have added a couple more to my online portfolio: a space wall mural, and the space/robot-themed bedroom that it was created for...another fun design project done within my own home! While these were not done for "paying" clients, of course, they are fun examples of projects that I literally live with every day!

New Fixtures...and Pottery!

It's been a little while since I've blogged, which means a lot has been going on in the GF Design studio! This month I was excited to see a couple fixtures I designed with Lynx for the new Tony Hawk Ride video game release. Here is the endcap display currently in GameStop stores:


...and in-line display at Toys-R-Us which features a wood halfpipe:


I also had the opportunity to bring in my amazing graphic designer and illustrator sister Heidi Panelli on the design of the overhead graphics for the entire wall of gondolas here in Toys-r-Us:


It's been in the works for a while and is always exciting to get to the point when everything is out in the public! I'll be adding more photos to my web portfolio soon.

I've also been working on some more product and packaging design, as well as some more graphic work. So, there have been no shortage of projects to keep me busy this winter, in addition to preparing for Christmas, my son's 2nd birthday party (day after Christmas), and the arrival of baby #2 due in 6 weeks!

In addition to my design work, I've just completed a 6 week course on the pottery wheel at the Bloomington Art Center and had a great time. I still have a few more pots that need to be fired, but here is a sampling of some of the pieces I have been able to bring home over the past couple weeks:


I had a lot of fun, got a chance to get away by myself (precious time for a work-at-home mom!), and even got to make some Christmas gifts.

So, that's what has been going on in my design world lately...hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

New Product Design Project: Safe Sizer Choking Prevention Plates

I am excited to be able to share the results of a great collaborative project that I've been working on this year...Illustrations for the Safe Sizer Choking Prevention Plates. I have had the opportunity to work with David Zak of Midwest Monkeys for several years now on his child safety-related designs. This summer I was given the opportunity to work on some new and more modern-looking designs for his line of SafeSizer plates. If you visit his website's product page, you can see the original "nature series," and below that the new "animal series."

In a nutshell, I was asked to create some more modern designs that could better fit into someone's kitchen...not as bright and "kid-ish" as the original designs. After some research into some patterns and color combinations that were relevant to the market, I presented David with several options, ranging from geometric patterns to basic colors to animal illustration.


After we landed on the color schemes and this idea of "animals and the foods they eat," I was very happy to have the opportunity to bring in my sister, Heidi Panelli of Panelli Design, to turn my quick concept illustrations into more professional final art. At first David was a little reluctant to bring in another designer, being that he was happy with the plates as they were. However, knowing her talent and expertise as an illustrator could take these images to a whole new level, I was fortunate enough to have a client who in the end, valued the design process and my opinions enough to allow me to bring in Heidi to complete the project.

Design direction as illustrated by GF Design:


Final art created by Panelli Design:


Taking the overall design direction and colors from my quick illustrations, Heidi took them all up a notch, giving them the professional, fun and playful look that David and I were after. The end resulted in a fantastic new line of plates to further differentiate David's great idea of the Safe Sizer Choking Prevention ring, molded into each plate.



Luckily for David and all of my clients, my ego is not so big as to prevent me from recognizing when someone I know would be better suited for part of a particular project. I am always looking for ways to give my clients the best work possible, even if it means passing off work to someone else. My clients have always been happy with the results on the projects that my sister and I collaborate on. I hope to do more collaborative projects like this down the road! Many thanks to David of Midwest Monkeys for being open enough to allow the design process to work, and for having enough faith in us as designers to allow us to do what it took to get to reach the best end product possible!

Book Review: The X and Y of Buy

As a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson publishers, I recently read "The X and Y of Buy," by Elizabeth Pace. I thought that this book would be beneficial to my work, especially with all of the retail fixture design that I do. Whether we like it or not, the fact is that men and women are different in the way they are wired. Understanding these differences will only make you better at designing for and/or selling to both sexes.

The first part of the book goes through the "hardwired" differences between Men and Women, such as their brain structure, and how Men's and Women's left and right hemispheres work together in completely different ways. Pace likens the way men's brains work to a file cabinet, compartmentalized and focused, with the ability to "turn off" and be 70% less active when at rest. The woman's brain, on the other hand, is likened to all of those files spread out on a large table: everything touches everything else, and the brain is only 10% less active when at rest. I could definitely relate to this myself, as I know my mind keeps racing with to-do's even when I'm trying to go to sleep. (I find it helps a lot to keep a note pad by my bed to jot things down, allowing me to forget about them for the night and finally rest!)

These hardwired differences translate into the completely different ways that men and women shop. Pace does a great job throughout the book, illustrating (through word, graphics, and tables) our biological differences, how they affect the way we shop, and giving examples of how a salesperson might interact with a male vs female customer.

The second part of the book is divided up to specifically address "the X of Buy" and "the Y of Buy," giving examples of how to work with and sell to men and women individually, which Pace calls "GenderCycle Selling" (TM). Here she takes you through scenarios for both men and women, both in the business-to-business sales and the retail or direct-to-customer sales situations. With tips on how to engage in and close off a conversation, and key words to use throughout the sale, Pace leaves nothing out of the process.

While I myself am not a sales person by title, I do find sales tips and techniques to be extremely useful in the design profession. Whether I am selling my services to a potential new client, or selling a design concept to a full board room of decision makers, sales is a part of my job. In addition to being armed with good sales techniques, knowing my customer (or end user of a product) is extremely important to the success of a design. This book has given me more insight into a very basic yet very influential part of my end users' identities, their gender, which gives me a head start right from the beginning. I would recommend this book to anyone who either works in sales, or simply would like to improve their understanding of and communication with both men and women.

Craighton Berman's Coil lamp

Most of my favorite designs are those that evoke the question, "why didn't I think of that?!" Craighton Berman's Coil Lamp is one of those designs.



By wrapping a 100' extension cord around a carefully designed, laser-cut plexiglass structure, Craighton Berman manages to turn an extension cord from the garage into an accessory worthy of prime tabletop space inside the home.

It's one of those products that looks so simple when the average person sees it, yet only those with a grasp of the Industrial Designer's profession understand the amount of work that goes into making such a great idea look so flawlessly simple.

(Via Core77)

Environmental Design: Space/Robot Themed Kids' Room

I love my job. I've always been passionate enough about design that I'd be willing to do it for free, which I guess means I went into the right field. But, it also means I jump at the chance to use my art and design skills across all aspects of life, especially for my family!

Among our recent home remodeling projects, in addition to my new office, was a new room for my almost 2-year old little boy (in my old office space). His "old" bug themed room will be used for the next kid, due in Jan! My husband wanted to go with a space/science theme, and I wanted to go with robots. Luckily space and robots go together like pb&j, so it was easy to land on a space/robot theme. I enjoyed finding just the right items for his room, while also making and recycling many items to save money.



Above is a shot of the new room, minus the bed which we will be custom building to look like a robot, of course, and hope to share in a future post. For now he's getting used to sleeping in the big bed. I did a space mural on the back wall and painted all the stars and planets, except for the moon, which is a hanging light I found online. It goes through the lunar phases...very cool!



I have been collecting space and robot themed toys and decor at garage sales and thrift stores all summer, which now live on a bookshelf built by my husband's great-grandpa (above). The dresser was my old bedroom set that came from my great-grandma as well. I bought some cool robot and rocket ship knobs to put on it, saving the original knobs for when he grows out of the room. It was a great way to re-use current and meaningful furniture that was already in the house, rather than buying more "stuff" we didn't need.



I found 3 canvases at a yard sale for $2, and painted cartoon robots on them to decorate the other walls. I thought it was a good way to add more themed art without making it as permanent in it's placement as the mural.


Some of the details:

A - Although a little bit pricey, I couldn't turn down this ceiling fan from Home Depot!
In the background is a light-up, moving, solar system mobile, $5 in the unopened box at a garage sale.
B - One of the robot paintings I did on a garage sale canvas.
C - Laundry hamper, $6 at a thrift store, painted to match the room.
D - Wall clock, $5 at a thrift store, also re-painted.
E - An old lamp I've had around for years, re-painted for the room.
F - Corner shelf, $1 from a garage sale, displaying a souvenir robot from a family vacation.
G - One of the robot knobs I put on the antique dresser. It's an easy way to make it fit the room, without damaging the furniture at all with permanent changes.
H - Robot clock I bought on our trip to Paris this past spring. (Yes, we took a toddler to Paris!)
I - Space themed pillow, $2 at a garage sale.
J - My husband's great-grandpa's bookshelf, full of robot toys I've collected all summer
K - Space themed rug that I purchased online.
L - Space mural, and hand-sewn curtains

In the end, I think it turned out well. My little guy loves it and that's what matters. It's full of crazy colors, which a kid room should be anyway, yet all pulls together on a common theme.