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Laura Egley Taylor

Then a miracle occurs . . .

five crafty mamas

March 13th, 2009

craftyOur May-June cover story, written by Jean Van’t Hul, features five Midas-like mamas who go about their lives transforming the everyday into the breathtaking. To gaze upon their creations is to be first awestruck, then inspired. (And endearing them to me all the more is the fact that these woman are all talented photographers.)

Here they are, with links to their blogs and web sites.

1. Sally Shim. A mom of two who favors handmade goods for their originality, she often makes things herself because she just can’t find what she’s looking for in stores.

Check out Sally’s slideshow on how to appliqué on Mothering.com.

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amandasoule_studio2. Amanda Blake Soule is the author of The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, mother of four, and blogger known to many as SouleMama. Amanda’s studio (see photo at right)—let alone the things she creates there—makes me want to go and make stuff.

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erensanpedro-beginning3. Eren San Pedro says that rag rugs provide a way for her to stay connected to her grandmother—and to reuse stuff around the house. “I have one I’m working on right now that’s very much a family thing—I’m using my dad’s old blue jeans, my grandfather’s work pants, and some of the kids’ old bedsheets.”

 

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amykarol_place-setting4. Amy Karol is a mixed-media artist, quilter, mom to three girls, and the author of Bend the Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew. Shown here is a place-setting she made that even I, eschewer of all things dinner party (I refused to register when I got married, throwing all dining-related wedding gifts into the closet in my old room at home so my mom could have backup china, silver, and stemware as needed), could love.

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5. Stephanie Congdon Barnes finds much of her inspiration from nature, replicating out of cloth the things she and her two children find outside their home in Oregon.

Her book of photographs (a collaboration with artist  Maria Alexandra Vettese is A Year of Mornings—3191 Miles Apart: A Photographic Collaboration.

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Photos by Sally Shim, Amanda Soule, Erin San Pedro, Amy Karol, and Stephanie Congdon Barnes.

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Happy birthday, MLK!

January 19th, 2009

Would love to talk here about the design aspect of the O’Bama campaign but am under deadline and will have to settle for linkage: Check out Studio 360′s “The Making of an Icon” here.

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our brand new box of crayons

December 22nd, 2008

mothering-palette-2009

A bit more about the redesign. One element of the magazine’s look that underwent an overhaul was the color palette, that virtual box of crayons we pull from when designing anything Mothering-related. (Although we make occasional seasonal adjustments to the palette, we try to stick with the same family of colors for continuity and to create an association of the colors with the magazine.)

In updating the palette, we knew we wanted to make at least one big change: we needed a RED.

When I first started at Mothering five years ago, I felt that the palette should be lively but not too contrasty. It seemed important for the overall feel of the magazine to be one of quiet—a haven for harried parents trying to grab a few minutes of reading time. As I’ve grown more familiar with the philosophy of magazine and its readership, I’ve realized that, while I still think there’s a need for its pages to elicit a sense of calm, there also are times when we’re putting out a call to action—or, more accurately, a call for activism. We needed more red.

So Melyssa Holik and I pow-wowed about colors, met with the editorial staff, and discussed the idea of Peggy as the essence of the magazine. We played with hues and tones in layouts and logos, cutting the colors into little swatches and playing with various combinations (kind of like paper dolls) (well, kind of!), finally arriving at a palette that we felt good about. We handed it over to Peggy, who playfully named the swatches for things one might find at her house and in  her garden.

The result is above. Click on it to enlarge and see what you think!

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redesign: getting to the heart of it

December 19th, 2008

first-coverThroughout our 33-year history, we’ve made periodic changes to the design of the magazine to reflect Mothering‘s evolving identity and to keep in step with the changing tastes of the world around us.  (To get what I’m talking about with the latter, check out our very first cover, at right.)

Several months ago, feeling the need to freshen up, we began the magazine redesign process anew.

In my design training, I was taught that the “look” of an entity should reflect the essence of that entity.  In other words, before doing anything else regarding a revamp, we needed to take a closer look at the question: What is the essence—the identity*—of Mothering magazine?

peggy-handsashishaelizabeth-stretchSo, in addition to visiting newsstands, poring over other magazines in the market, reading up on design and color theory, and looking at lots and lots of typefaces, Mothering Editor and Publisher Peggy O’Mara and I met with our editorial staff to grapple with that not-so-trivial issue of identity. (Photos here are from one of those meetings.) Brainstorming, we arrived at a list of descriptive words to use as guidelines for the new feel of the magazine.

In doing so, the edit staff and I realized that Peggy’s spirit and personality—her fierce independence and integrity, appreciation for the up-and-coming and respect for the tried and true—are a key part of the essence of Mothering. Seems like a “no duh” now, but we discovered that Peggy, the heart and soul of the magazine for decades, was at the heart of the magazine’s identity.

peggy-melissa-laughkristina-candaceWe turned to Peggy’s personal style for further design direction. That kicky red wool jacket she wears, her curvy pumps that hint at the1940s, the jaunty way she sports that cream scarf. . .  We thought about the casual elegance of her cabin home in the mountains, the natural choices she makes, the beauty with which she surrounds herself. . .

This essence, then, is what we aimed for with the new look of the magazine. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think!

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*Quick word-geek aside: I just noticed that  identity = id + entity!]

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ta-da!

December 19th, 2008

our new doOur new design—and new logo—debuts on newsstands January 1 and should be in subscribers’ mailboxes next week.

Here’s a peek at the cover. . .

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intelligent design

October 21st, 2008

thinking-with-typeDid I mention we’re in a swirl of redesign action over here at Mothering? Yes, indeed. Both the magazine and the website are getting makeovers, and in my pursuit of new design input, I recently came across an exciting find: Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton. This beautiful foray into the world of typography is a delight to pore over, chock-full of typographical tips, informative examples of design principles put into practice, and info about the historical and cultural contexts for the development of type.

The fun-to-read appendix includes a section called “Free Advice.” Here’s a sample:

Think more, design less. Many desperate acts of design (drop shadows, gradients and the gratuitous use of transparency) are committed in the void left by a strong concept.

Make the shoe fit, not the foot. Rather than force content into rigid containers, create systems that are flexible and responsive to the material they are intended to accommodate.

Check out the Thinking with Type website for a peek at what the book offers, as well as some fun and edifying games and projects, all in the name of learning how to be a more intelligent designer.

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all in the numbers

September 18th, 2008

I really like the fact that many OpenType fonts include an option for proportional oldstyle numbers (also called expert numbers)—right there in the font. Check out the difference here. See how much more elegant the second line looks?

proportional oldstyle

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