Slow Changes, But Getting There

So there is no sandwich making competition. It makes me very sad. It's probably too much of a hassle for them to try to put on. So, as far as creating events and helping Terra Java, I have basically only given them more contacts for music showcases and art sellings, along with an interview with Arcadia News. I feel just a little bit like a failure, but I still have hope! I am hoping that Suzy Lippman gets back to me over email (she is a barista at the shop) about an Art Show at Terra Java. It could be the presentation of all the new artists they have coming to Terra Java. Or perhaps an auction of art. We shall see.
So instead of working on a press release for Bobby heading to Regionals or the Sandwich Making competition, I will just make one for Terra Java's new hours and their Perky Hour (kinda like a happy hour for coffee). I will finish that this weekend and then email it off to local magazines, newspapers, radio stations, etc...
Also, I saw that Terra Java finally put up the sign I made! I was so excited when I saw it out front that I took photos for proof.
I met with the Las Dos Damas lady today. She likes what I have done with the logo (yes!). Here's the finished product via computer (it still needs work after we print it):

the next steps will be cutting and gluing on backgrounds, outlining the ladies, stamping the Las Dos Damas name on the front, and numbering the cards. Yes, it's non-traditional multi-media. It's pretty fun for artsy people like me.

Since I am done with that, I will be working on Trenz and The Noah Spencer Foundation. I am hoping to finish the Noah Spencer Foundation logo before April 8th so that they have it for media purposes. Wish me luck!

~Until My Next Adventure

Sandwich Competition will get a press release...eventually...

Hi internet people! Happy belated passover/early Easter! Today, I am going to talk about how to advertise events and how the many music showcases and my sandwich making competition idea have failed to follow these easy steps!

1. The idea is to think of the event well in advance of when the event will happen. This includes planning many details of the event, like date, time, and activities, and making sure it stays busy yet fun!
2. Then, whoever is coordinating the event contacts their advertiser/marketer/public-relations-er and sees what kind of advertisements to do and where.
3. After that, prep for the event and get all the little details worked out. This is the point where you may also contact people you know and get them interested.
4. Keep your advertiser updated.
5. Bring on the event's activities!

Guess which steps are not followed? 2 and 5! It seems that it is much easier to plan and advertise an event when the advertiser is involved. Go figure.

On the plus side, I now know how to do a press release! I got all the little details from a friend of a friend who works in public relations. I am hoping to do a press release on the sandwich making competition, perhaps another music showcase, or an art show/auction. I have contacted Suzy Lippmann about the art show idea and Bobby Keller (in fact, the whole staff, but bobby was the only one who replied) about the sandwich competition. I don't know if any of it will get done, but it would be a nice idea. Also, I think that if Suzy says no to an art show for local artists, perhaps I could contact a school nearby and see if they want to hold an art show at Terra Java. Just some thoughts...

Until something solid shows up, here's a pretty picture of delicious Easter basket goodies!

Alli the Easter Egg

~Until My Next Adventure

New Things for Spring

Sorry for not posting! I've been busy planning my big move to California to live with my dad in California. I will be driving to California on Easter Sunday (night). I will still be coming back to Arizona to visit on the weekends occasionally, and my senior project is mostly online, so I will still be able to work on my Senior Project.

This week, I have mostly just been updating the social networking sites for all the businesses I am working with. I have decided to make a press release about Terra Java's barista Bobby Keller and his adventure at the South West Regional Barista Competition (swrbc)! Unfortunately, he won't respond to my emails about either the sandwich making competition or the swrbc. Is it just me, or does only 20% of the population respond to communication now a day? Anyways, it seems like I am just going to have to do the press release without his help. But, if he wants me to do a press release about this sandwich making competition, he must get back to me soon. Otherwise, it's a no-go. 

Anyways, I have been working with the logos for Las Dos Damas, Trenz, and now the Noah Spencer Foundation. I am almost complete with the Las Dos Damas logo and just starting on the Trenz and Noah Spencer Foundation. For Trenz, I will be working on a cursive "T" logo (thinking about making it a cursive T made out of hair...still working on the idea and sketching it, though). I will be working on a "lucky star" for the Noah Spencer Foundation. I'm debating on a shooting star or a star with 8 points....I have too many ideas for this one. Also, the Noah Spencer Foundation (thenoahspencerfoundation.com) is working on another caving trip for Noah Spencer on April 8th! I will be doing a press release on that so they can get a little more coverage. But Noah seems to be getting a lot of coverage already! His last caving trip was covered by many different news programs and newspapers. For trenz academy, I will working on their website and possibly a facebook page for them. 

Here's an awesome pic of the logo that I am almost done with for Las Dos Damas:

I just need to touch it up, outline it in black, and frame it in a card border. (insert thumbs up here). Then I can start getting super serious with my other business' logos.

~Until My Next Adventure

Subliminal Messaging (youlikethis).

Perhaps that title wasn't subtle enough. Hopefully, this logo for Las Dos Damas is a little more subtle...

Alright, let's decipher this picture. The lady who is running Las Dos Damas also owns Botanica, a flower and  landscaping shop. She is selling her Las Dos Damas products in Ray Eyewear, which sells glasses. Any guesses yet? One lady is holding flowers and the other is holding glasses (I took away the purse), to resemble a sort of merger between Ray Eyewear and Botanica.
For this logo, I am changing the lady on the right to a different color and pattern outfit. She will have the opposite colors of the lady on the left. Her outfit will be pink/salmon and her accents will be blue. The background will be two cards layered over each other (as if the two ladies were positioned in the cards and then broke the confinements to join forces...or something like that). Then the lady who owns las dos damas is going to get a big stamp that is customized to whatever font design we like and we are going to print this out and stamp it. It will be a bit multimedia because once I am done with these ladies and their cards, we will be printing and gluing and stamping ink onto them.

For the logo for Trenz Academy, I brainstormed with the partial owner and she wants to do either a curly cursive T with some design hinting at esthetics, a specialty for their school, (a challange I am willing to take on) or perhaps a pair of scissors cutting hair for the T. I will have to experiment with this one....I don't know exactly what esthetics is (I tried googling it, but no clear answers came for how you teach or learn esthetics...). She also wants me to do a logo and perhaps even a press release for a charity called The Noah Spencer Foundation. Noah Spencer is her friend's son, and he has muscular dystrophy, which means that he cannot move and is not expected to live past young adulthood. But he is a strong kid. They call him the Lucky Star (another good logo idea). The foundation has done a lot for him, and hopefully I can help them out.

~Until My Next Adventure

Press Release...A How-To Guide On How to Guess How to Do a Press Release

So, I sent out a mass email to all the staff about how we should do a sandwich making competition....still no word from anybody on that. So that worries me. 

You know what worries me more than silence, though? A request by my boss to do something that I don't know how to do. To be very honest (and humble, I guess, considering how embarrased I am), I don't understand what a press release is, let alone on how to do one. I understand the rest: critiques, reviews, articles, mentions, ads, etc...but what the heck is a Press Release? I asked one of my friend's friends about it (she's in marketing), and she said that I basically have to make it appealing enough for a local paper to publish while also doing most of the work for them. I can do that. Only problem is that I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. I am going to need a lot of help on this. Either that, or I am going to go through a lot of trial and error, ridicule, and shame. I am hoping for the first option...

Oh, I didn't even tell you what the press release was about. One of the baristas there, Bobby Keller, is going to a regional barista competition. Pretty cool stuff. 

Besides this bit of hysteria, my week has been pretty good. I have gotten a lot of responses from the artists and musicians I emailed. It seems that half the Phoenix area is interested in doing an art show or a music showcase at Terra Java. I have also been working on Las Dos Damas logos. I met with the lady who owns it (well, actually, I found out that her sister really owns it but the woman I meet with is pretty much doing all the work...idk what is going on there, but I didn't ask too much). She really likes what I have been doing with the logo. Bonus! 

Here's what the logo looks like right now:

I will be working on it. Next blog, I will show you improvements and tell you plans for completed logo.

~Until My Next Adventure

Getting Down to Some Seriously Serious Business!

Today, I got super serious about working on the Las Dos Damas logo. Here's my prototype:

I am still debating on this kind of look, or if they should be back to back with arms crossed...I will have to talk to the owner and see what she likes best. In the typical card, the lady is wearing blue and pink. I was thinking that I would put bohemian patterns on their clothes instead. I am having trouble deciding a background, however. Will the card be held by a hand, will this card have some flowery pattern in the back, or will I put cards from the actual loteria game sprawled out behind it? I will wait for further notice from my boss.

Focusing on Terra Java now, I have finally heard from one of the artists. It was not actually about art, but jewelry. Still, it's the best news I have had about any art being sold at the store, so I will take it with a grin.

I am trying to think of a profitable way to have a sandwich competition at Terra Java....should I host it on March 17 (st. patty's day) and have a celebration of some sorts for that? Perhaps that holiday is too alcohol oriented for a sandwich competition...I just emailed all the Terra Java staff for more ideas on the subject. Hopefully we can put our minds together and think of something cool. 

Focusing on Ray Eyewear, they want to host a special event every month (kinda like a sale, but not...the details are still being worked out by the owners of Ray Eyewear and Las Dos Damas). I think a sale would be cool, but only during christmas and summer, like typical stores. I think the special event should perhaps be a showcase of new items in stock (almost like a fashion show without models). Though, now that I think about it, a fashion show would be fun, both for Ray Eyewear and Las Dos Damas....I will have to go over this with them.

~Until My Next Adventure