I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to be typing here. When I first decided to freshen up my shop, blog and graphic design site I honestly thought it would be a one month ordeal. I imagined small tweaks, some re-organizing, and an easy logo change… all things I love to do everyday for clients. But the minute I put the “under construction” page up I kinda panicked. Not because I wasn’t ready for change – I certainly was – but I had become so used to designing for others that I kind of forgot how to do it for myself. Every time I would come up with something new I would second guess it and focus on another client’s project. I was pretty casual about putting off my redesign at first, but after a couple weeks without any inspiration I did what any 25 year old girl would do… I had a panic attack and called my mother.

As a fellow “artist” my mother is my biggest critique and champion. She has this wonderful way of making life look so effortless that I often call her for advice. As I whined into the phone about “I can’t design this” and “I dont want it to look like that” I could hear her tapping her finger on the side of her martini glass waiting for me to finish. She took a deep breath and said “make everything as simple as possible, but just dont make it simple.” There was a long pause as my agitation from her making up such brilliance at nine in the evening bubbled to the surface. She answered my snippy “did you just make that up?!” question with a “No dear, I believe it was Albert Einstein.”

After that conversation with my mom I developed a love of the suggested quote and the beginnings of the new logo and layout you see here. After three months, I settled on a classic typeface with “dictionary dots” that serve as a reminder of the GADABOUT definition I fell in love with in college. The logo is not inventive or incredible but it feels honest. The blog is not tricked out or terribly attractive, but it does allow me a clean enough slate to be straightforward with you. And though it aires on simplicity, I hope you will find bits of sophistication hidden in the corners.

I can honestly say I am so excited to be connected with you all again. I hope you enjoy the new series I have planned out and though I am still working on my SHOP and STUDIO sites (shocking) the BLOG is back in business as of today! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you sticking with me through all of these changes!

Happy Monday!