Allison Doty Graphic Design

The wedding is over and now all we have left are our gorgeous wedding photos (thanks to Sara Gray photography!) our priceless memories of the big night, and a few bills.

We were able to save a lot of money on our invitations by designing them ourselves and having them printed on our own. Smartpress.com has some great papers and can accommodate pretty much any printing size.

I wanted to design an invitation that was modern an still had the retro feel of a 1940s big band wedding. I decided to have it printed front and back with an accordion tri-fold.

The official wedding materials included:

- Trifold invitation

- RSVP card with self-addressed and stamped envelope

- Location map

- Personalized thank-you card stationary

- 2×3 printed engagement photo of Matt and I (not pictured)

In addition to the “official” wedding materials I also decided to design a bridal shower and bachelorette party invitation that went along with the same theme (pardon the smudged out portions that included personal information).

If you love any of these pieces as much as I do, feel free to send me an email at hello@allisondoty.comwith the specs for your invitation and I will send you a design quote!

I did it! After almost 6 years, countless long-distance trips, many lessons in humility, and the luck of finding a great man, I got married! I am now Mrs. Allison Schexnayder.

I don’t know how to pronounce it either, so don’t ask

It was surprisingly hard for me to get used to the idea of changing my last name. I never really thought of “Doty” as being a part of my identity until I was faced with losing it. (It’s cause’ those Dotys are so damn awesome!) However, I have decided that my business will still remain named Allison Doty Graphic Design. I like knowing that the “Doty” is still there somewhere. And, let’s keep it real, who could Google “Schexnayder” correctly on the first try? Not me.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Now that it’s all over I have no idea what to do with my free time. When I was first engaged I thought that all bridezillas were just hyper-critical drama queens, but then when you get into the thick of planning you realize that those bridezillas used to be nice girls too, like I was. I have no idea how wedding planners do it.

I lost my shit multiple times.

Like, crazy, “think-you-are-going-to-die-because-if-so-and-so-sits-next-to-so-and-so-the-entire-night-will-be-ruined.” Lucky for me, I had great Bridesmaids who didn’t judge, an awesome wedding planner, and a bottle of wine on reserve in the fridge. Even with all that stress, the night turned out fan-freakin-tastic. Thank you to all my wonderful family and friends who came to share our big day with us.

We decided to visit Greece on our honeymoon, which was fabulous, sans the dirty douche bag who pick-pocketed me on the metro in Athens. Luckily Matt had our passports, so all in all, it could have been much worse. On the bright side, it will make a great story to tell to our kids down the road.

We spent about 4 days in Athens, and then another 6 on the gorgeous island of Santorini. It was a photographers dream. I kept kicking myself for not buying a big ol mamma jamma camera before we left. My little pocket Olympus seemed to do alright in the end, but now I know better for our next big vacation. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the trip:

It was a fabulous honeymoon, but it feels so good to be back home and into the swing of things. Idaho isn’t even a bleep on world-geography radar, but it’s my home and I love it here.

I do realize that I have been a total Fillmore calendar slacker, but know that I have a few in the pipes right now, (most of them vacation inspired) so it won’t be too much longer before I post another. And, stay on the lookout soon for a new issue of MarryThis! I am SO proud of this new publication. Please pass our link along to any of your friends who are recently engaged or currently in the wedding planning process. You can also follow us on twitter or facebook.

It’s that time of year again, and for me this Christmas season has been none like I have ever experienced before. I. Mean. Wow. This last month has brought me some Australia, some Oprah, amazing food, a little U2, a little Bon Jovi and even more. I have been working on a post with more detail that will come in a few weeks, and let me tell you, it is the hardest thing I have ever written. How do you write about a real life Fairy Tale without sounding like a total ass? I have found myself avoiding all things Christmas just so I can re-live my trip over and over again. But much more on that later.

For now, Merry Christmas! Please enjoy this Christmas card from me to you! Click here to download the hi-res version.

If you would like to receive a print of my Holidays cards via snail mail I would love to send one to you! Send your address to hello@allisondoty.com and I will put you on my mailing list for next year’s card.

Yay for my wedding! Oh, er um … “our” wedding … whatever.

Our Save the Dates are done! Well, they HAVE been done, but I figured it would be lame to post them on my blog for everyone to see before I actually mailed them. But the postcards are now in the mail, so I can finally show you.

I have been dreaming of dreamily dreamy wedding invitations since Matt slipped the ring on my finger a few months ago. I’ve spent more time researching, designing and redesigning our invitations than I have on all of the other wedding planning combined (including shopping for my wedding dress, which took a prompt 2.5 hours). Needless to say (in my humble opinion) these Invitations/RSVPs/Save the Dates/Infographics are going to be BOMB.COM!

My favorite part of these postcard Save the Dates was the stamp. I used Zazzle to make custom stamps out of our GORGEOUS engagement photos, courtesy of Sara Gray Photography. The custom stamps are more expensive than regular ones, but because we only needed .28 cent postcard stamps, it was actually fairly reasonable.

I will do a post with the full invitation in a month or so after they are mailed out. Enjoy!

Happy December everyone!

So, if you recognize this month’s wallpaper, it is because it’s a rip-off of my Christmas card from 2 years ago I just love this design and I thought it would be nice to re-use it for this holiday season!

I want to take this opportunity to say how grateful I am for all my wonderful clients, friends and family who happen to read this blog! My life is so great because of the great people that share it with me. So thank you.

Also, I make custom Christmas cards each year to send out. I try to make my cards more “artsy” than “Christmasey” so you can enjoy it all year! If you would like to be on my mailing list please send your address to me at hello@allisondoty.com.

Click on a desktop resolution for the full-size version:

With Calendar: 320×480 | 1280×800 | 1440×900 | 1680×1050 |1920×1200

No Calendar: 320×480 | 1280×800 | 1440×900 | 1680×1050 |1920×1200

Even though I started my freelance business a few years ago, this is the first season where I have really felt like a full fledged business. I have been so crazy busy (gratefully so) that I have felt at times like there weren’t enough hours in the day.

But, with new work comes new dilemmas (or as Mr. B.I.G. would say: “Mo Money Mo Problems”), and now I have a serious case of the ASAP blues.

Now, if I was a doctor, or vet… or a quick change artist, I would take every ASAP seriously. But I am a graphic designer, ok. I make things pretty. Depending on how vain you are, this might seem to be an issue of utmost importance … but if you really are that vain, then I am probably not working with you anyways (probably because you are prettier than me).

All in all, this country is suffering from an “ASAPidemic.”

Personally, I am torn, because while I love to offer great customer service I also hate the overuse of ASAP. So every time a giant obnoxious, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, “ASAP” rolls into my inbox, I want to go into a rage and eat all my feelings.

So, in an effort to spare the millions of lives that are being ruined by ASAP (and all the extra empty calories consumed), I have made an infographic outlying the cases when it is, indeed, appropriate to use “ASAP.”

Click here to download the hi-res version.

Today I had one of the most wonderful business experiences since my start in the freelance, make-it-on-your-own-or-bust world. I am now an official member of the Idaho Business Woman’s Network! Yay!

I was brought as a guest by a new friend and fellow blogger, Liz Amazon (who has a wonderful environmental blog), and attended with another new friend and fellow blogger, Ali Dawson (read her adorable blog , “A Pair of Aviators”).  I was absolutely thrilled with the outcome! I highly encourage all you other business ladies in the Treasure Valley to join.

There are luncheons once a month in Boise, Meridian and Nampa. Each luncheon consists of fun networking, guest speakers and business spotlights. Please let me know if you are interested in coming as my guest and I will sign you up to attend your first meeting with me! Please visit the IBWN website for more detailed information and follow IBWN on Twitter.

As a side note, I met my great new blogger friends through a new group that Ali Dawson started on Meetup for women in the Treasure Valley who love blogging and are interested in networking with other area bloggers. Interested in joining? Please see the group page on Meetup for more information.

A pretty big summer storm blew through Boise yesterday, and what do you know, my power went out. Lots of people all around the world go their whole lives without running water or electricity, and I couldn’t figure out a single thing to do yesterday besides tweet the whole incident. And it was only out for 45 minutes. Shameful. Positively shameful.

Here’s what transgressed over Twitter yesterday:

I basically ended up cuddling with the cat until the lights came back on, and it really gave me some time to think. Mostly about things I am eternally grateful for… on the top of the list, being running water, electricity and a career that is sufficient enough to provide me with the funds to keep the forementioned turned on.

There must be something in the water because such wonderful things have been happening in my life lately! I have had more new/potential clients contact me in a month than I have this whole past year, got the new website up and running (probably helped with the clients), built a business Facebook page, had my desktop wallpaper featured on Smashing,  joined some great new networking groups, watched my family grow from 3 to 6, my kitty made it through her surgery with flying colors, and my boyfriend and I have started discussing wedding dates for next year.  When life is so good, I can’t help but think that the bottom might be waiting to fall out (knock on wood)(wait — does it count if you knock on wood while typing “knock on wood?”).

That’s how great everything is right now. Unbelievably great. Dreams come true great. Kick you in the crotch, spit on your neck, freakin’ fantastic… great.

So, today this post’s purpose is to tell you all how grateful I am for you! I have such a wonderful group of family, friends, clients and supporters that my heart has been in a continual state of warm and gooey for going on a month now. I am sending all my happiest thoughts to you all.

xoxo

Allison

Well hello everyone! There’s been a few things on my mind lately, and I am so happy to finally be able to share them with you! First — I am now working 100% from  home! 12 hour days have not suited me so I decided to make a change and I cut my hours at the marketing firm. From now on I will be blogging for the company from home – for A LOT less hours a week, and working on my other freelance projects the rest of the day.

Monday was my first day completely working for myself and it was FABULOUS!! I love being able to cook a nice hot lunch instead of having a granola bar and an apple. And I LOVE being my own boss. Let me tell you – I never let myself down

Now that I suddenly have a normal-sized work day I can start my fun projects I have been planning forever! I will be starting a new blog (or two) and I will be getting back to my fun craft-stuff that I haven’t done in a while (I’m thinking a new Etsy store)!

In other news (Yes, I just used that transition!), my internets suck! It is impossible to have the cable for my internet and TV plugged into the same jack. My cable TV will work, but not internet. Has anyone else had problems with this? The cable company says that I need to have the right splitter (which I do, and it STILL wont work). I have heard that some people have to get a cable amplifier. Hmmm. What to do? Cause I have been changing the cables between watching tv and using the internets, and let me tell you, it AINT happenin’ much longer. Is is too much to ask to be able to watch Oprah and check my e-mail at the same time? COME ON!

Now that I am relying solely on myself to bring in business, lately I have been researching the different ways that I can market myself without being too cheesy, spending too much money, or plastering my picture and contact info to free Frisbees. So, naturally the first thing I did was google “Self Promotion for Designers” and look what I found: 120 Self Promotion Ideas for Graphic Designers and Freelancers It couldn’t be more easy than that. Thanks AllGraphicDesign.com!

While a few ideas on this list are quite inventive I think some ideas are worth discussing, because really, how far should someone go for some (shameless?) self-promotion? Lets discuss, shall we:

7. Shave your logo into your hair, or get a logo tattoo.

Sure to start a conversation, but while someone might start asking questions about your business, what they are really thinking is “What the *&%!? This dude’s gone done and went crazay! Where else is that logo shaved?”

11. Attach a magnet to your vehicle.

For me this suggestion is a total toss-up. On one side, I can see how this might work, but only if it was an AWESOME sign, because usually when I see car magnets they are for a maid-service or a repair shop. However, would a potential client really call you based on a car magnet or sign alone? I know I don’t have the agility to write down an address or phone number while I am driving, so all of those signs are lost on me. I want to know what you think! Has anyone had success with this?

28. Holiday Promotions

This is the only bit of self-promotion I currently do. I design a custom Christmas or holiday card with my contact info and  URL and then send them to family, friends and anyone I have worked with. So far I have attracted one client from this method, but mostly this is just a way to say “Hi! Merry Christmas! Don’t forget about me!” Plus, making cards is fun. I suggest going the extra mile and hand addressing each one. Downside to awesome holiday cards: Keeping track of addresses.

110. Print bookmarks and leave them at a local coffee shop or book store.

I LOVE this idea! I keep bookmarks forever because post-it notes or old receipts just aren’t as fun, so this promotion idea would totally work on me!

120. Be amazing and all the work will come to you.

True this, mamazita! (And a chipper attitude also never hurt anyone!)

What do you all think? Does anyone else have super fun self-promotion ideas or tips?

Thanks to AllGraphicDesign.com!