Archive for the ‘Green Couch Design’ Category
GCD: Princess Bride Themed Baby Shower [Invitation Design]
I’ve been holding this design hostage for a while, while we waited (anxiously) for the big day. Some of our dear friends are having a little girl and we got to design the wedding invitations for their shower. The theme was one of the coolest ones we’ve seen in a long time (besides our shower of course!). It was such a joy to be able to shower them with love and be a part of welcoming little Miss. Wiggles (her name remains a mystery!) into this world with love, gifts, and lots of tiny summer outfits (I seriously CANNOT STOP buying stuff for this little girl)!
It was couples shower so instead of playing cheesy games there were fun activities for the whole family! Included was an “As You Wish” decorate onesies craft corner, an “Inconceivable Sundae Bar”, a photobooth with a life size tree (that we had to cut down with a chainsaw just to get in the door), Iocane Powder (Pixie Sticks), a “Cliffs of Insanity” Cookie Cake, Grilled “R.O.U.S.” (chicken strips), along with the movie being projected on the wall. Believe it or not there were actually people who attended who had never seen the movie! Good thing we were able to educate them before baby Wiggles gets here.
Thanks to Karen and Kerry (the brains behind the operation) the shower was a smashing hit and one we will never forget! It has been so fun walking out this next phase of our life (parenthood) with some of our dearest friends.
Maybe someday their baby Buttercup will be calling our little man her “Farm Boy“. 
From the Farm 
* Review more work like this and others by visiting our graphic design portfolio at Green Couch Design.
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GCD Valentine’s Day Wallpapers: #3
The last saying in our Valentine’s Day Wallpaper Series is one of our personal favorites. When life seems to hit us hard and we are going through a rough patch we always say;
“Take my hand, let’s get outta here.”
As long as we have each other and our hearts are in a good place between the two of us, we can take on anything. The saying reminds us that regardless of how big the task may seem, there is an end in sight, this is just ONE season of our marriage, and it won’t be like this forever.
GCD Valentine’s Day Wallpapers: #2
Here is the 2nd desktop we designed with some of our favorite sayings about love. We say these to each other throughout the year and thought it would be fun to make wallpapers out of them.
Our version of a digital valentine, surprise your loved ones desktop, iPhone, or iPad as a unique way to say “I Love You”.
GCD Valentine’s Day Wallpapers: #1
Cale and I love, love. We love hearing stories about how other couples met along with romantic dates, kisses, and the kind of cute annoying stuff that makes you want to throw up a little. After being married for nearly five years we’ve learned a thing or two about celebrating love. Sometimes it’s not about the BIG date night or how much money you can spend, sometimes it truly is the thought that counts.
GCD: Comic Book Inspired Wedding Invitation
We recently had the pleasure of designing a custom invitation for Cale’s brother and his bride to be! I’m gonna be honest and say we were a little nervous when they told us they were doing a comic book themed wedding. I think we we’re both envisioning a wedding party with tights and capes. Meg was in full support of this since her husband was the Best Man but we both knew the rest of the family would totally disagree.
Once we sat down with Joy and Colin we were able to catch more of their vision for their wedding day and we soon realized that it would be anything but cheesy. They wanted a simple wedding invitation. One that showed off their unique color scheme while connecting the fun feel of their comic book inspired wedding.
To get started we asked them to gather up some of their favorite comic book, video game, and tv inspired quotes and decided to use them as statements about their relationship. Creating a poster/announcement like feel we designed the invitation on an over-sized sheet. It’s large format helped establish the wedding day vibe and takes the guest through a process of reading that is similar to a comic book/strip layout.
Overall we used the modern colors and quotes to convey the quirky personalities of this fun-loving couple. To enhance the feel of their simple, homemade, backyard style wedding we paired the bright wedding palette with a craft paper envelope.
Just for fun… here are the other quotes the couple originally selected:
- “Love is not a strong enough word, I luff you, I lurrve you.” - Woody Allen
- “Inertia forms two thirds of marriages but love forms the other third.” - Woody Allen
- “Allons-y!” (which means “let’s go” in french) – The Doctor
- “Elections are a good deal like marriages. There’s no accounting for anyone’s taste. Every time we see a bridegroom we wonder why she ever picked him, and it’s the same with public officials.” - Will Rogers
- “beep bloop beep” - R2D2 C
- “grrrrraaaaadddddrrrraaaaa” - Chewbacca
- “What keeps her up in the air? Love. You can learn all the math in the ‘verse… but you take a boat in the air that you don’t love… she’ll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down… tells you she’s hurting before she keels. Makes her a home.” - Capt. Malcom Reynolds
Look for photos of their big day coming soon!
From the Farm
* See more work like this and others by visiting our graphic design portfolio at Green Couch Design.
LIFE: A Season of Change
This week we dropped off the last bits of our concrete jewelry and kitchen line at Shop Good in OKC. It was a bitter sweet trip. For the first time we got to see each of our babies and compared stories as new parents. We have walked through a lot of life changes with Audrey and Justin. Shop Good was the first store to carry our jewelry line. From it’s humble beginnings in the Plaza District to it’s move to 9th Street their business has grown into something with full-time employees and an ever growing inventory of products supporting social justice organizations. We are so proud of what Shop Good is today and we can’t wait to see what is next for our friends (baby #2!? ).
GCD: Concrete Jewelry & Kitchen Line CLOSING SALE
It is today that we share with you a bittersweet announcement. As of July 3rd, 2012 we are officially closing our online shop and will no longer be selling our Green Couch Design products (If you want to skip this whole explanation and get to the sale scroll on down friends)!
This has been a very difficult decision for us and one that has been thought through again and again. For those you who don’t know Cale has been working full-time at a local architecture firm for the past year now. This was a big transition for us as Green Couch Design went from 2 full-time employees to 1. Ever since then we have been trying to balance products, production, marketing, graphic design clients, and blogging and to be honest it has been really challenging to keep up with everything. We have struggled with many pieces and parts of Green Couch Design feeling like we could not give our 110%. Within the last year there have been many nights where Cale would work late, come home mentally exhausted, and have to turn around and make jewelry, or create a blog post. It was during this time that we realized this was not the life that we wanted. Sure there are seasons where you work hard and push through but ultimately our hearts are for design and to be designers. Production is not our “thing” and the more we have jumped into our products the more we have realized how much production is needed to establish and maintain a great product.
Especially a handmade product.
And THEN we got pregnant (which was NOT planned)!
And Meg freaked out! 
And we realized that something had to change. Green Couch Design started with a heart to be a design firm not a production firm. We want to be a place that produces great ideas and if products come out of those ideas GREAT but we don’t want to base our business around products and the marketing efforts needed to truly see a product take off.
We are in a transitional stage and still defining exactly what that will look like. Don’t get us wrong, Green Couch Design is NOT shutting it’s doors entirely. We plan on focusing more on our blog and our design work. The products are the only thing that are taking a back seat while we get our brain and hearts wrapped around our new life with a baby. We will always be a husband and wife design team, pursuing the simple life. We still desire to have our kids playing under our feet as we pound out design work but it just may look a little different than what we expected. We feel blessed in so many ways that God has allowed us to walk out this adventure over the last few years and are so thankful for the MANY friends we have gathered along the way. We have learned so much from our retail friends at Shop Good, Dwelling Spaces, and The Onion Tree and we ask that you please continue to support them! There have been times your purchase of a necklace or an apron has literally paid our grocery bill and we seriously could not have made it without your love and support. We have had so many people behind us who have been cheering us on and it’s because of your encouragement and kind words that we have been able to find joy in even the most stressful of times!
So it is with a bittersweet heart that we close our product doors on July 3rd, 2012. For so long our products have been like a child to us and we simply are not willing to let that compete with the real thing!
We need time to breath.
To give Green Couch Design’s blog and design work 110%.
To know what it means to be a family.
To be in love.
And to truly enjoy this “simple life” we are so quick to tout about!
We are very excited to see what this next phase will look like. We hope that these changes will not steer you away but instead pull you alongside this adventure even more as we experience life as a real family (with babies!) and balancing our own business and NEW creative endeavors!
All from our 1910 farm house in a little town in Oklahoma!
Concrete Jewelry Line:
(Purchase Green Couch Design Concrete Jewelry here)
Kitchen Line:
(Purchase Green Couch Design Kitchen Line here)
Purchase the last bits of our Jewelry and Kitchen Line through our online shop till Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012! Enter Promo Code: GCDFREESHIPPING!
Leave us a comment and tell us what’s been your favorite Green Couch Design product over the years?!
From the Farm 
GCD: Air In Motion [Branding]
Today we are showing off our latest graphic design project for an upcoming heating and air company in OKC. It has been so much fun getting to know Doug and Becky as entrepreneurs and helping them establish a brand for their new company. Here’s to a busy summer of keeping clients nice and cool!
A family owned business Air In Motion (AIM) offers personalized heating and air care for both residential and commercial clients throughout Oklahoma City and it’s surrounding areas.
For the past 27 years Doug Glover has been the go to guy when it comes to servicing AC, heat, walk-in freezers and coolers, restaurant equipment, and basic repairs for several large chain restaurants. A certified HVAC Refrigeration Contractor Doug has built a reputation on honesty and integrity and now offers that same reliable service through AIM.
Logo Design:
Stationery:
Company Vehicle Wrap:
The new Air In Motion mark positions AIM as a resource of consistent experience and expertise for local heating and air service and repair. Associated as an industry standard an updated red and blue was selected giving the company a more modern and fresh appeal. Targeting residential and small commercial clients AIM’s clean white aesthetic paired with the vibrant color palette balances the company’s professional yet personalized customer approach. The consistent movement within the mark relates to AIM’s ability to diagnose and fix the problem.
The brand development provides a platform for AIM to launch their new company from while they pursue their long term goals of being a financially sound and self-sufficient business.
Are you local and looking for a reliable heating and air guy? Contact Doug and Becky today and we promise he’s the nicest, more genuine, repair man you’ve ever met!
Follow AIM on facebook.
From the Farm
* Review more work like this and others by visiting our graphic design portfolio at Green Couch Design.
Kara Paslay Designs “Inspire Me” Series: Green Couch Design
We we’re recently asked to be featured on an up and coming home interior design blog. Have you heard of Kara Paslay Designs? Well if you have not you definitely need to check out her and her husbands interior design company based out of Tulsa. They’ve always got lots of home projects going on with simple DIY’s perfect for any budget.
Kara asked us to share our story behind starting Green Couch Design, and the road we’ve taken to get to where we are today in a new series called “Inspire Me”. It’s a pretty heartfelt post, but one we’ve truly enjoyed putting together and going over some of where we have been and what we have overcome. Sometimes you just need to remind yourself of the process.
We hope it inspires you today as you pursue your dreams! Read the feature at Kara Paslay Designs and make sure you tell her we said hello!
From the Farm
Lesson #4: Have an Orginal Idea
I think for creatives, for anyone really, the hardest part is coming up with that truly “original” idea. But, sometimes it doesn’t take a truly “original” idea, it’s just looking at something that has been done before and finding a way to make it better and make it your own. How can you take a tea towel and customize it to your design aesthetic? Are there products that you love, but that you wish came in a certain pattern or function? Our entire Kitchen Line was started with a need for a modern Mixer Cover Design. When I couldn’t find the style of prints I wanted I decided to make and sell my own. I can’t tell you how many handmade stories I have read where entire businesses were started from an absence of a specific product someone was looking for.
To help define if your idea is original you have to be able to look at your product and/or service and answer the following questions (be honest now!):
- How can we make our products/service more original and uniquely our own?
- How can we make our products better and different than our competition?
- How can we make our products/service harder for people to copy just from seeing a photo or sharing a bit of our process?
For us the process of answering the above questions developed as we walked through the following phases in our product development: Phase 1: Materials, Phase 2: Production, and Phase 3: Value.
PHASE 1: Materials: While it’s ok to start with what you have it’s also important to think about the type of materials you are using, what do they say about your brand, the over quality they add to your products, and their availability? Stores want to sell and customers want to buy a product because of it’s unique materials and style. If you have to change your product depending on the materials available it can be harder to establish brand recognition and in turn see a consistent profit.
Originally we started creating our concrete jewelry out of materials we had found like: rope from the old pull windows we took out of our house, recycled wire, carved bones, found buckles in an old shed, and metal casings we purchased at a local craft store. All these materials worked great until we sold out of that particular style of necklace and people wanted more! It was at that point we felt stuck because we didn’t know if we could re-create a similar design without those exact materials. We decided to think of our first initial jewelry set as a sort of “test” round. Taking a step back we did lots of research and established new relationships with vendors that were reliable and could provide an unlimited quantity should we need to order large batches in the future. By slowing down our production and taking time to find quality materials that were available at our disposal we were ready to meet the need we had created within our own market, felt confident about the materials we were using, and also opened up the doors for both consignment and wholesale retailers.
High class design in overalls. It's the simple life of a farm through the eyes of a couple of crazy designers. We call ourselves Green Couch Design and we are Bringing Design Home.
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