theFourthStar.com :: Professional Design & Web Portfolio of Cara McKinley » Work http://www.thefourthstar.com Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:13:10 +0000 en hourly 1 Life is Art, for Studio Mathewes http://www.thefourthstar.com/2011/12/life-is-art-for-studio-mathewes/ http://www.thefourthstar.com/2011/12/life-is-art-for-studio-mathewes/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:12:32 +0000 Cara McKinley http://www.thefourthstar.com/?p=468 And work is art. No client is more fun for a designer/developer than one whose work nearly speaks for itself in creativity and talent. Studio Mathewes has been a wonderful client for me over the last few years, and in 2011 requested an updated site design from a site I originally built and designed a few years ago. I recommended moving the blog from the Movable Type platform to a full WordPress-as-CMS build, which would make it much easier to manage content, and in my experience has also been very amiable to maintenance and future updates. The gallery, which is built in flash for fullscreen performance, switches gracefully to an html/javascript experience on mobile devices. Clean typography, a fullscreen gallery, subtle interactive flourishes and improved content strategy let the work of this talented photography studio become the focal point.

See the work and read more on the blog at studiomathewes.com!

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]]> http://www.thefourthstar.com/2011/12/life-is-art-for-studio-mathewes/feed/ 0 Seasonal/Promotional Posters http://www.thefourthstar.com/2011/02/seasonalpromotional-posters/ http://www.thefourthstar.com/2011/02/seasonalpromotional-posters/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:24:08 +0000 Cara McKinley http://www.thefourthstar.com/?p=442 The Composing Room approached Big Wheel with a request for a promotional mail piece to send to their priority clients – something that would grab their attention, but also be a collectible that wouldn’t automatically be tossed into the recycling bin. We decided on a poster series, 1 poster to represent each of the four seasons in St. Louis and the variety of attractions and festivals available year-round. The local subject matter is not only a way to stress the fact that The Composing Room has been a local and family-owned business for over 20 years, but also is a way for the receiver to learn about all of the interesting things happening in their favorite city. The four separate posters can be combined to form one large illustration.

Download the large version (2000 px square)

Combined seasonal posters

]]> http://www.thefourthstar.com/2011/02/seasonalpromotional-posters/feed/ 0 Custom Type Illustrations for Studio Mathewes http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/custom-type-illustrations-for-greeting-cards/ http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/custom-type-illustrations-for-greeting-cards/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:54:47 +0000 Cara McKinley http://www.thefourthstar.com/?p=302 Studio Mathewes not only captures beautiful images for their clients, they also do a great job of following up with clients after the work is done.

In keeping with the flourishing-type motif established by the Studio Mathewes logo, I created these two hand-drawn type illustrations for use on greeting cards or in email correspondence.’Ever After’ belongs to a note celebrating the anniversary of a wedding, and ‘Many Thanks’…is fairly self-explanitory.

'Ever After' anniversary greeting

'Many Thanks' thank-you card

Closeup of the beautiful letterpress work

]]> http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/custom-type-illustrations-for-greeting-cards/feed/ 0 Studio Mathewes Leave-Behind Cards http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/studio-mathewes-leave-behind-cards/ http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/studio-mathewes-leave-behind-cards/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:21:33 +0000 Cara McKinley http://www.thefourthstar.com/?p=293 Studio Mathewes recently tasked me with creating a print piece to leave behind with potential clients that would be both a sample of work and provide pricing information. However, it was also important to Studio Mathewes that the materials be presented in a way that would be emotionally engaging, so that people would not be making hiring decisions based on prices alone. The talent, attitude, and style of Studio Mathewes should be the selling point.

After a few rounds of brainstorming, I decided to design a packet of 6 postcards, tied with a ribbon. A gorgeous photo is on the front of every card, with the exception of the pricing card. An evocative word/short phrase is on the back of each card, to accompany a related testimonial. Each word/phrase is embellished in a similar manner to the company logo, a motif which has been carried throughout other promotional materials.

Sealed packets

Photos can be viewed as individual pieces or as a whole group.

Custom type illustrations

Pricing card

]]> http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/studio-mathewes-leave-behind-cards/feed/ 0 Online Product Catalog & Site for The Composing Room http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/online-product-catalog-site-for-the-composing-room/ http://www.thefourthstar.com/2010/06/online-product-catalog-site-for-the-composing-room/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:11:27 +0000 Cara McKinley http://www.thefourthstar.com/?p=432 The Composing Room’s web site has historically not only functioned as a catalog for the general public, but as a sales tool for their representatives as well. The clean content organization and sales-oriented approach of this new site design created at Big Wheel serves to benefit both parties. Light-hearted page graphics and the leverage of existing technologies (ex. using the Flickr API as a photo gallery management tool) bring this site into the the more savvy world of the designers & marketers that are their primary clientele.

Home page

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Product Order Form & File Upload

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