Author Archive

“Working mom” is redundant.

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Having a baby a little over a year ago had a certain effect on my work life: it got cut in half. Not the amount of work I had available, mind you, but the amount of time I had to devote to it.

Obviously I wouldn’t trade my son for anything in the world. He’s a rockstar. And I’m lucky enough to be able to do what I do from home, which means that I get to spend plenty of time with him. But managing work and being a mom is by far the toughest hurdle I’ve had to overcome in my life. Granted, it’s not hurdled yet, but I’m making headway. So I thought I’d share some of the decisions I’ve made that are making it possible. (more…)

Scenes from the life of a neurotic woman.

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Wednesday, February 10

“Valentine’s Day is Sunday. That means tomorrow is the kiddo’s last school day before VD. Wonder if I should still try to make cookies like I’d thought about earlier in the week? What are the odds I can get away putting it off until next Tuesday AFTER the official day? Probably not. Well I’ll just skip it this year and worry about it next year. One year olds won’t notice anyway.”

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Like if Tim Gunn and Steve Jobs had a baby.

Friday, February 5th, 2010

I met the president of my husband’s company today. She’s about five feet tall, maybe 110 soaking wet. And in five minutes I was fascinated with her. (more…)

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Monday, February 1st, 2010

So I’ve decided to choose a new name for my business. Why? Because I’ve never been in love with soulrinse. It was chosen haphazardly, back when my portfolio consisted of design AND art. The soulrinse name refers more to the art side than the design. (more…)

Evolution

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Ten years ago I was in art school at Auburn and working as a staff designer at the alumni magazine. I would have been a sophomore, taking figure drawing (I loved that class) and looking forward to drink specials on Wednesday nights.

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Custom Fields for Shopp Products

Monday, January 25th, 2010

I’ve been using the Shopp plugin for Wordpress on a site I’m developing. There are a lot of great things about Shopp; I’m planning a post in the coming weeks comparing Shopp and WP-ecommerce.

The latest problem I’ve been working out is how to add custom form fields for each product. Rickrackbaby.com offers custom monogramming, so I need a place for visitors to type in their custom text. To make it trickier, I actually need two custom fields for each product.

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Creative Math

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Last week I had the chance to speak to 6-8th graders at Prince of Peace in Hoover about how I use math in my job. One of my great friends is the math teacher, and has had several speakers over the course of the semester. She was particularly interested in showing the kids that even creative careers involve math on a daily basis.

So, inspired by Dick Hardt’s Identity 2.0 presentation I put together this little group of slides. If you haven’t seen the video of that presentation it is very much worth a watch. At any rate, the final product has little in common with Mr. Hardt’s presentation, but it was fun to throw together at midnight the night before and the kids got a kick out of it.

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Review: Threadsy (Now with invites!)

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Lately I’ve been getting annoyed with my email clients. For one reason or another, none seem to perfectly fit the bill. Even Gmail has it’s issues. So when I ran across Threadsy I was interested. Billed as a way to “pull yourself together,” Threadsy aggregates all of your email accounts plus Facebook and Twitter in one place.

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Rickrack Baby

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

rickrack baby web design by ginny shope fowler

the client: Amy Caire

the challenge: Amy creates handmade, custom embroidered baby items that she wanted to have available online, with the caveat that she didn’t want to accept payments over the internet.

the solution: We used ecommerce software to build an order and email it to Amy, allowing her to communicate with and invoice customers at her leisure. The design reflects the fun patterns and colors that Amy uses in her pieces.

Visit the site

Stop Telling People What To Do

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Jared Spool over at Johnny Holland Magazine has an article out this week about why making design recommendations is a bad thing. It’s true that critiquing a client’s existing materials, be it print or web, is a touchy situation. I for one am slow to judge another designer’s work. For all I know, he could be dealing with an owner telling him he MUST use purple if he wants to keep his job. Sometimes you do what you gotta do.

But when someone asks your expert opinion, you gotta say something, right?

Jared suggests a different approach.

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How I Got Things Done in ‘09

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Is it too late for ‘09 lists? Yes? Well, tough noogies.

Here are some resources that became indispensable to me over the last year. Not necessarily all design related, and not necessarily new in the grand scheme. But things I have come to depend on in my quest to create badassedry.

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Trinity UMC

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Trinity United Methodist Church, Huntsville, Alabama

the client: Narrow Gate Solutions

the challenge: The church wanted a homepage that allowed for a lot of information, while still keeping it clean and uncluttered.

the solution: Graphic buttons and a strong grid, with a collapsible footer that contains links to every section of the site.

Visit the site

Washed out colors in Photoshop

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Man, I have been trying to figure this out for ages and stumbled across it tonight.

When saving for web, I’ve always had trouble with my images being lighter and more washed out once saved than they are in Photoshop. Well here’s the solution:

View > Proof Setup > Macintosh RGB

Simple, right? This means you’ll actually viewing your files in RGB originally, so no color variation when you save them as such.

Rock on with your web designing self.

NextGen Gallery Tag Cloud Update

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Awhile back I came up with a helter-skelter way to show a list of tags for the NextGen Gallery, a feature that is oddly not built in. Then they went and updated the plugin, and it stopped working.

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Personal Projects 2008 #1

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

bobbylowder.com Website Design and Programming

the client: me

the challenge: To fill a domain I bought for the heck of it, without violating any copyright laws or committing trademark infringement.

the solution: The website profiles a public figure, and serves as a repository for news articles concerning him. The graphics were intended to be clean, professional and spirited. The site uses a basic Wordpress installation plus abundant widget customization.

Yet Another Email List

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

I know, I know…you already have an inbox overflowing with eBay, LinkedIn, Google, Twitter, and Facebook messages. So why should you register to get emails from me? Couple of reasons.

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ISO WP Support Ticket Plugin

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

I’m on the hunt for a plugin that will allow existing clients to request and approve a job quote. If there’s a support ticket plugin out there, it could probably be modified to suit my needs. (more…)

Cullman Economic Development Agency

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

Ginny Shope Fowler Web Design

the client: Cullman Economic Development Agency

the challenge: To convey Cullman’s geographic, industrial and employer assets quickly to businesspeople interested in the north Alabama area.

the solution: A prominent map of interstates and nearby cities, a rotating header highlighting available real estate and developing projects and modular links ensure the visitor will get the big picture as quickly as possible.

Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

dccweb

the client: Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce

the challenge: The Chamber needed a site that made a large amount of information easily accessible.

the solution: A sidebar puts important info at users’ fingertips. The modular layout allows content to change regularly while keeping the clean appearance.

Bridge Street Campaign

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

bstteasers

bstnews

bstposters

the client: Bridge Street Town Centre

the challenge: Introduce a hip, upscale shopping/living/entertainment complex to North Alabama.

the solution: Each pair of photos combines two aspects of life at Bridge Street to form a bridge between work, home and leisure. Vibrant colors, a playful attitude and famous quotes speak to an educated audience with a zest for life.

Bridge Street TV Spot

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

the client: Bridge Street Town Centre

the challenge: Introduce a hip, upscale shopping/living/entertainment complex to North Alabama.

the solution: Like the print portion of the campaign, each pair of photos combines two aspects of life at Bridge Street to form a bridge between work, home and leisure.

Plant Nanny

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Ordinarily my thumbs are black as coal. For example, last summer I bought a beautiful palm and it lived happily for months in my den. And then we went on vacation for a week, and my palm died a slow, parched death.

Fortunately, I now have a Plant Nanny.

olivebarn_2040_50188695

I got mine at Smith & Hawken. The best part is that you use a wine bottle to dispense the water…as though you need another excuse to down a bottle of wine.

The Logo Design Process

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

For me at least, logo design is one of the most time and thought-intensive things I do. I’ve got to represent an organization with one mark that is both visually strong and technically flexible, as well as sell the client on the rationale.  This article on Freelance Switch is a great look into how a logo is designed, especially if you’re the client. My process is extremely similar, including the part about how I usually start off with WAY more logos than the client actually sees. The thing is, just because there are hundreds of variations I COULD create for a company, they’re not all going to be the best. My job is to weed out the weaklings and give the client several strong options to choose from. If you’ve ever wondered why a professional, unique logo design costs what it does, here’s your answer.

Cletus’ Nursery

Monday, January 26th, 2009

A few pics from the nursery. I’m trying to keep things relatively spare at the moment because I know once there’s actually a kid in there, the toys and colors and craziness will get overwhelming.

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Live Wallcovering

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Surely someone I know could manufacture these. I’ve been looking for something to hang in my hallway, and a series of green plants would be very cool. Of course, I’d have to learn how to keep them alive.

greenwallpaper

Jack Bauer Facts

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

In honor of the new season of 24, I give you Random Jack Bauer Facts. My favorite so far is: My husband doesn’t wish he was Jack Bauer. He wishes I was Jack Bauer.

The Birth Announcement Dilemma

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Have I mentioned that designing for myself is stressful? Well I’m having a kid sometime in the next month, and people keep asking me if I’ve picked out birth announcements. The first level of difficulty is that we don’t know what flavor Cletus the Fetus is going to be, so I can’t really make a final decision yet.

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Picture Yourself in a Boat on a River…

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Some new photos are up on Flickr from our new Sony DSLR A300. So far I’m loving the camera, although my hatred of the flash and my husband’s tendency to steal the tripod mean lots of grainy photos.

I also feel like I’m not very good at getting things focused correctly. If you’ve got suggestions on how to improve on that or retouching tips, they’re more than welcome.

Designers and Recessions

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Great article at Design Observer about what happens to creative business during a recession, and what you can do about it. As a freelancer with very little overhead I’ve been fortunate so far; but there’s no telling what ‘09 will bring.

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It always starts out as gold.

Monday, December 15th, 2008

via Freelance Switch

The Purple Monkey Boutique

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

The Purple Monkey Boutique Website Design

the client: The Purple Monkey Boutique

the challenge: A new children’s consignment sale in North Alabama needed a website to provide shoppers with information and consignors with tools to make the selling process painless.

the solution: The fun graphics combined with great photography keep it upscale and funky. Consignors can log in and print tags for their sale items. Potential shoppers get a first look at what types of items will be available at the sale.

Visit the site

Working Remotely

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Recently I spent a week working from the beach. There were a few reasons for this; the two biggest were that I was offered a cheap trip, and I’ve been in the middle of a huge project for weeks and needed the change of scenery.

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Bug Fix – WP Theme Reverting to Kubrick

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

I noticed today for the second time since the relaunch that my site was loading under the default WordPress theme, and nothing worked. My first thought was that it’s a bug; my second was that someone was hacking it just to annoy me.

But then a little Google informed me that this guy had the same problem I did, and figured it out over a year ago. If you have this problem, here’s the solution.

Vacation, sort of.

Monday, November 24th, 2008

I spent last week working from a beach house on Dauphin Island. My family had originally planned a beach trip back in September, but it was postponed by Gustav. So instead we had a beach Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, the rescheduled trip was a terrible time to take vacation – the week before the actual Thanksgiving holiday, when everybody would be off, and right in the middle of a huge project. So instead of taking off, I just took work with me. The beach house had wireless internet as a feature, so I was counting on everything running smoothly.

And…it did. And as soon as I’m caught up on everything that needs to be done today, I’ll do a real post about it.

Getting Things Done

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

It has been a hell of a week. I’m working on one of those complicated projects that takes as much time to wrap your head around as it does to actually design the pieces. It will be exciting when it’s finished though.

Just now, on the radio, I heard a guy talking about Charles M. Schwab. Not the investment guy; the first president of U.S. Steel in the early 1900s. He  Apparently he was a superb businessman with a wild streak and a willingness to take risks.

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How To Create a NextGen Gallery Tag Cloud

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Disclaimer: I am not a programmer. I know just enough about coding to get things to work, but not enough to make it pretty or even usually be able to explain it to someone else. However, I thought this might be helpful.

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Reboot.

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

I am my own worst client. I’m an indecisive, know-it-all procrastinator. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the choices when you have no one to please but yourself. So designing, or in this case redesigning, a website is an arduous process. (more…)

Pencils.

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

When I was a kid, I had a theory that you could make more money by selling pencils for $.75 apiece than for $1.00, because more people would be attracted to the lower price and you’d sell more pencils.

Looks like I was right.
(more…)

Mad Men.

Monday, October 20th, 2008

I got to Mad Men late—missed the first season completely. AMC is one of my not my usual Sunday-night-channel-surfing stops. But after the Emmy’s, you couldn’t spit without hitting a blog post about the great period advertising drama.

At first I was unimpressed. Maybe because there was so much hype; but also, all the characters just seemed so stereotyped. Sexist men who cheated on their wives with anything that breathed. Flighty secretaries who seem perfectly happy to file their nails and nail their bosses. Everyone drinking and chain smoking because life is just so hard.

But it seemed like everybody loved this damn show. (Although I searched diligently for a review by a female, and came up empty.) So I kept watching. And after 12 of 13 episodes this season, I’m not so frustrated by the sexism as I am plain bored. (more…)

First Baptist Landrum Website

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

Church Website Design

the client: First Baptist Church, Landrum, SC

the challenge: FBC wanted a new site design that reflected their existing congregation, while inviting new members. The new site needed to make information about their activities easily accessible to all ages.

the solution: Texture and warm oranges make inviting graphics, and the sidebar prominently features important links. The pages have been restructured based on the church’s discipleship plan, which will be intuitive to church members.

Visit the site

Red Rain Business Cards

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Red Rain Environmental Store Retail Business Card Design Red Rain Environmental Store Retail Business Card Design

the client: Red Rain

the challenge: The new owner of Red Rain wanted a set of business cards that conveyed the hand-made, earthy feel of the establishment, while incorporating Art Deco elements. She also needed the card to serve not only to publicize the store, but her own endeavors as well.

the solution: A two-sided card that displays the store info on the front, and the owner’s personal talents on the back. The woodcut feel of the Red Rain logo, combined with the deco-style font suited the client perfectly. The cards were printed at twice the height of a normal business card so they don’t blend in with the crowd, but can easily be folded in half to fit in a wallet or pocket. Recycled, FCS certified paper was used.

Hospice of the Valley Tradeshow Graphics

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Hospice Hospital Tradeshow Graphic Design

the client: Hospice of the Valley

the challenge: A local hospice needed a trade show booth that showed it’s history and experience with care and compassion.

the solution: High quality photography and very little copy give that warm feel.

Parkway Medical Newspaper Ad

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Hospital Newspaper Advertising Design

the client: Parkway Medical Center

the challenge: Parkway needed to remind residents that quality heart care was at their fingertips.

the solution: Sometimes a straightforward approach works best – heart-warming photos and bold headlines convey Parkway’s concern for the community.

Scene Restaurant Magazine Ads

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Restaurant Advertising Magazine Editorial Design

the client: Monaco Pictures

the challenge: The Scene restaurant located in Monaco pictures needed to attract the lunch crowd, as well as evening movie-goers.

the solution: A series of ads that use a vintage look and clever copy combined with sumptuous food photos to make Scene stick out as a dining destination in its own right.

Monaco Pictures Ad Campaign

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Theater Theatre Advertising Design

Theater Theatre Advertising Design

Theater Theatre Advertising Design

the client: Monaco Pictures

the challenge: Monaco needed a visual and conceptual identity that could be used to in the local paper to advertise the theater, restaurant, and lounge.

the solution: Classic movie quotes are updated with clever endings. The black and white film panels coupled with rich colors convey both elegance and luxury.

The Bridge UMC Flyers

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Church Flyer Design

the client: The Bridge UMC

the challenge: An advertising campaign for a church geared towards young families, particularly men, to be placed prominently in a local mall. These flyers were to be placed alongside large backlit Duratrans displays for viewers to take home.

the solution: 4″x6″ postcard sized flyers encourage visiting The Bridge’s website.

The Bridge UMC Mall Displays

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Church Advertising Duratrans Design
Church Advertising Duratrans Design

the client: The Bridge UMC

the challenge: An advertising campaign for a church geared towards young families, particularly men, to be placed prominently in a local mall.

the solution: Photos that touch the heart convey the message of inclusion and togetherness on the two backlit Duratrans displays.

Red Cross Newsletter

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Red Cross Non-Profit Newsletter Design

Red Cross Non-Profit Newsletter Design

the client: Morgan-Lawrence County Red Cross

the challenge: The local Red Cross needed an updated look as well as quality information design for it’s quarterly newsletter.

the solution: A neutral brown makes the red pop, and clean typography allows each piece of information to be clearly read and understood.

Catholic High School Brochure

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Catholic High School Brochure Design

the client: Catholic High School

the challenge: Raising $15 million is never an easy task, but that’s exactly what Catholic High School needed to do to build a new facility to accommodate their growing enrollment.

the solution: An 8.5” x 11” brochure with a tri-fold center spread that displayed the architectural renderings of the proposed building project. The school’s existing brand was updated with subdued colors and clean typography. A full day photo shoot at the existing school facility provided images of students that helps the reader connect on an emotional level to the project.

Huntsville Hospital TV Spot

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Hospital Television Ad Storyboard Design

Hospital Television Ad Commercial Storyboard Design

Hospital Television Ad Commercial Storyboard Design

the client: Huntsville Hospital

the challenge: As Huntsville’s oldest and only not-for-profit hospital, Huntsville Hospital needed to remind citizens of who they are and what makes them unique and an integral part of the community. Within their brand message, they also wanted room to highlight individual departments.

the solution: Copy that ties the past to the present and resonates with young and old in the community. Images from historical archives combined with images from a photo shoot onsite reinforce the then-and-now theme.