How to Create a Stunning Example of Beautiful Designs

Over my 12 years of graphic design I came to discover in my creative process that whimsy, irony, satire and edginess are not my strong suits.

I have learned, however, that I can create full on, no excuses beauty. So that's where I went with my next in a series of videos featuring my designs. I used the prettiest colors, pleasing dimensions and lovely music.

If it's in my power to put forth beauty in the world, I'm gonna do it!

How to Present Floral Designs in an Innovative Way

I first found Animoto when wanting to make book trailers for Loveweaver and The Maiden Seer.

It occurred to me early on, though, that I could make a video using large images of my designs set to music. I plan to make several, each showcasing a different genre of my designs.

I love the results!

Dynamic Auto Painter

I'm not one for specialty software for creating art. I use CS6 Illustrator, the master program that allows me to design vector patterns with mathematical precision. And I use Photoshop for a few subtle effects, but mostly for formatting raster files.

It's highly unlikely that I'll ever learn to paint, though. So, I was intrigued from the start with Dynamic Auto Painter for $99 - on sale for $50. After thinking about it 6 months, I bought it.

Gosh, it's fun! There are a lot of painting styles to choose from and countless custom options for tweaking the process. But I just like to pick a style, click play, sit there and watch it paint whatever image I've opened!  Be assured this is not like Photoshop filter.

For $50, I got more than my money's worth. Only time will tell if it will be useful to me professionally. (Click on my images to enlarge them.)

Here is a photo of the lake I see from my back door:

Here's what it looks like after I used the Van Gogh Starry style:

Here's a closeup. I started with a high res image and ended up with fantastic detail:

Book Trailer for The Maiden Seer

It's not my usual line of work, being a writer. I learned early on I probably wouldn't make a living from it.

That didn't stop me from writing 5 books, however. Two of them are available at Amazon right now.

Loveweaver and The Maiden Seer

I came across a book trailer and decided it was something I had to try. So I did!

Here's the book trailer for The Maiden Seer:  https://youtu.be/tTtyAYpmX7o

Another in a Series of Tracy Miller Design Ads

Based on a floor wax ad, I'll let the image speak for itself:

New Cover for Loveweaver

My first Loveweaver cover achieved my purpose, but over time, especially after I created the cover for my upcoming book, The Maiden Seer, I felt the need to make a new one.

I wanted the two covers to have the same style.

Without further ado, here it is:

Needlepoint Flasks and Wallets

Graphic designers who create repeating patterns dream of seeing those patterns on products. I've been lucky enough to see my designs on Kleenex boxes, rugs, fabric, paper, sheets and blankets.

I'm certain, though, for every 500 pattern designers, there's one client looking to buy. This means the odds are not great in making a sale. Do you give up being a graphic designer in the surface art arena?

Heck, no.

I took on freelance jobs that were a bit outside of what I normally did, and learned a ton of new skills that I now put to use for a list of great clients.

One of those clients is Seth at Needlepaint.  I've blogged about Needlepaint before when I did a series of Christmas stockings.

My recent contribution is the wallets and flasks which turned out to be some of the most fun I've ever had designing professionally. There's just something about pixel art, which is basically what it is, that appeals to me. Elements in an image are pared down to the most essential, and the color palette is limited, too.

As of this posting, all the flask designs at Needlepaint are mine. I'm so proud of this work. And there's scarcely a repeating pattern in sight.