Paper Love

Good morning everyone.  Today is Wednesday and I recently had a chat with Fiona of  Fiona Designs, todays Artist in Focus. Fiona creates the most gorgeous cards, with a simplicity that just grabs your attention and says exactly what you feel. Take a look:

This Spring Joy card say's it all!

and then of course there is the Easter Card....just gorgeous!

And this Birthday card will put a smile on anyone!

and lets not forget someone who's sick, this would certainly cheer them up.

or if you just want to say hi...make it simple and to the point!

or if you want to be sophisticated, say thank you in french!

Oh I just love them all, you can see more of her designs here.
I was so captivated by her cards I needed to find out more about the creative force behind them. Here's my interview with the talented Fiona.

1. What inspired you to start your business?
I started designing greeting cards about eight years ago. I was spurred on by the fact that I never found exactly what I was looking for when card shopping. I wanted to create cards that were unique, elegant, simple and reflected my sense of design. This year I have added to my collection personalized stationery which is a nice compliment to my offerings. I enjoy working with my clients to create custom stationery and cards just for them.

2. Do you have any formal training?
Yes I do. The majority of my graphic design training was acquired on the job working as a Graphic Designer, Senior Graphic Designer and Art Director for a wide variety of corporations and non profit organizations. I continued to hone my creative skills by studying at Parsons School of Design in New York City where I earned a MFA.


3. What's your typical day like?
That is a really good question. I don't think I have a typical day as everyday brings new creative challenges. I try and balance my time between designing custom orders for my clients and creating new designs to include in my etsy shop. The majority of my time lately has been spent coming up with ideas for my personalized stationery collection which I mentioned earlier.


4. Where do you get your inspirations from?
So many things inspire me - the loved ones in my life especially - many of the sentiments on the greeting cards were created with them in mind. From a visual perspective I am constantly inspired and in awe of nature, flowers, birds, landscapes, you name it.


5. How do you come up with the color schemes?
For the color schemes I consider each piece individually. For the greeting cards I create one design in a variety of color schemes using pantone swatches as a guide. I then print out the many options and decide which I like the best. Often times, even after they have been sent as final to the printer, changes in color still occur at the last minute during the print proofing stage. With the personalized stationery in my etsy shop I have selected colors that I feel work with the design but also encourage clients to customize the stationery with colors that are important or appeal to them. 


You want to know more about Fiona, check out the links below:
www.etsy.com/shop/fionadesigns
www.fionadesigns.com/
www.fionadesigns.blogspot.com/
www.facebook.com/FionaDesigns
twitter.com/fionasdesign