I love having a routine.

WHEW. Glad this week is over. It wasn't too bad, but it sure wasn't easy.

One thing I love about being in school is ROUTINE. I loveeee having a routine. Most people think routines get boring (and sometimes I do agree) but for the most part, I think they're great. I feel in control, you know? Obviously it's fun to be spontaneous, and I certainly am on the weekends, but during the week having a routine is the only way I'm going to get any work done.

Also, I just thought you should know that I'm sitting at my kitchen table doing my homework by candlelight. It's autumn, and during autumn I feel like stuff after sundown should be done by candlelight. You know, because autumn is awesome and so are candles.

Anyywayyyssss... Have a great week!

-S

Five Things.

I have an hour before class so I thought I'd write a little blog post.

1) Fall is here! Which means I get to wear my favorite outfit all the time: jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. So comfy. Fall weather also means it feels like school has actually started.
2) And you know what? School HAS started! Last Monday. =)
3) The first week wasn't too bad, either. I went to bed before midnight every night! (Not usual for me haha). And I've started getting up earlier too. I feel like I accomplish more in a day when I use the early hours of it wisely. I like feeling accomplished.
4) First Com Design class of the semester was last Thursday, so this whole week I was thinking up names, logos, ad concepts and all that jazz for my first project. And in less than an hour I'll present them and see what people like. And then pitch my second project. And then have two projects to work on this weekend. Yay! =) It's a lot of work, but it will be totally worth it in the end!
5) Also: I'm shooting (with my camera) a wedding this weekend!! I've been waiting for this artsy, vintage, amazingly detailed wedding for months, and I can't believe it's actually here! I'll post a few pics from it next week. 

Okay, that's all for now.
-S

Steve Powers/Train Track Murals.

Remember way back in the day when I told you about the murals by Steve Powers that would be going up in the Near Westside? Welp, they're UP! (not all of them; they'll all be done by next week.)

These SERIOUSLY liven up the place. Everything looks happier, you know? Take a drive by to experience them for yourselves!

-S

Seeing Results.

This summer was hard for me because I knew everything we wanted to get done would take a while. Designing, asking for permission, getting the funds, blah blah blah. So, when I walked down West Fayette this morning and saw these banners, you can guess how excited I was! Ee!! If you're ever driving down that street, know that these banners are direct results of my design class's hard stinkin' work, and please ENJOY them!

<3S

Craving Some Autumn.

I'm assuming most people who read this blog are from the Syracuse area, yes? Well, if you are, then you know what I mean when I say Syracuse has the best autumn season ever. I'm not kidding! I'm from New England, and New England is known for their great autumns which resulted in my growing up absolutely loving autumn, so when I say Syracuse has great autumns, I mean it! (Don't worry, I know what I'm talking about) (Also: how many times can I saw autumn in one sentence?! haha).

Anyways, here's why I'm looking forward to another (maybe my last?) Syracuse autumn:
1) No more humidity! Thank the Lord.
2) I love cool autumn mornings when I can sit on my porch with my green tea and my Bible and be so comfortable and perfect. I can't really explain it. It's just a really great feeling.
3) I love sweaters and I get to wear them as much as I want.
4) Colorful leaves. (For some reason I like these more than I like the colorful flowers of summer.. not sure why)
5) School starts! Senior year! (Exciting yet at the same time, verryyyy scary)
6) Corn on the cob, pumpkins, and apple picking! BEST things about autumn, hands down.

And, since a blog post is boring without a picture, here's one from last autumn =)

-s

So Far:

16 fence panels done!

Installation Days 2&3.

So, the last post was about a fence. Guess what this one will be about.... a fence! (Hey, how'd you know?!) Ha. Anyways, here is a picture of day two (last Thursday) ::

 We made it around the corner! After today's progress, we've completed 11 panels of fence, 4 right in front of Blodgett School and 7 along Tully St. We also wrote the words "Skiddy Park" on the baseball cage, which added a nice touch. We're hoping this will help people relate to the fence art more, instead of it just being a random design.

Thursday, kids from PEACE Inc. helped me out with the decorating. They were so great, and they even brought a picnic lunch (yum!). This morning a few kids from the Huntington Center came and helped, and in the afternoon, kids and counselors from the Parks&Rec program came over to see what I was doing and ended up completing a panel! Thanks guys! I like visitors, so come by tomorrow from 4-6 to add your artistic touch to the fence!

-S

Fence Installation, Day One [[july28]]

We got four panels of fence done on Day 1 [July 28]. Further than I thought we would! Kids from the Vincent House came to help me out, and boy am I thankful for that because it's a slow process putting all those pieces in (and it was REALLY hot out too), so THANK YOU to all the kids and counselors from the Vincent House who came out today to help!!
-s

t-minus 9 hours...

'till day one of "project fence decorating' begins.
i'm a little nervous.
but i'll be sure to post some pics so ya'll can see what's goin' down.
cheers.

Checkin' Things Off.

Banners [from THIS post] ordered - CHECK
 All 6,200 fence design pieces ordered - CHECK
 Fence design days planned - CHECK - [July 27-29 @ Skiddy Park, COME HELP!]
 Steve Powers coming next week - CHECK 

Oh boy. This keeps getting better & better.

Hot Air Balloons!

This has nothing to do with my internship... but enjoy these pictures of the hot air balloons I saw this weekend! :)

It was the 35th annual Wellsville (NY) hot air balloon rally! Soooo much fun. You should totally go someday.
<3S

One Step Closer!

We got a test batch of the little things we're decorating the fences with and they're SO COOL and SO COLORFUL and I'm SO EXCITED to see the real thing get done by the end of the summer!! Whee!!!! [ Please, join me in my excitement, will ya? Thanks :D ]

Logo Evolution.

The Near Westside just started an organization, SALT District Business Development, that helps new businesses in the area get their feet off the ground and get going. The organization will also be a place for any business owner in the neighborhood to come and get resources, advice and support from other Near Westside business owners. I was asked to design a logo for this organization, staying within the SALT District brand colors and existing logo. Here was my process:

The first logo was just a sketch. The buildings were good to go, but they wanted the original SALT colored circle instead of the simplified one. They also wanted it to look more like a real city, and some sort of evidence that this organization helps build businesses in the community. The last one is basically the one they'll be using, but with a few changes. So there you go, that's how I design a logo. This one was a little easier because I already had a lot of elements to work with. It was fun. What do you think?

-S

What's Going Down.

Things that have happened recently:

the 4th of July, once known as Independence Day:

A heat wave took over the world:

My cousin got married:

I found my life calling:

Annnnnnd, that's about it.
Have a nice day!
<3S

Backstage Pass.

First of all, I want to thank those of you who read this blog. It means a lot to me that you care enough to check in on what's going on in your lovely city of Syracuse! Be proud of yourselves :)

Second of all, I want to apologize for all the posts thus far being the "work in progress" type of posts. I keep telling you about things that will be happening soon, but aren't quite there yet. Things like this take time, and so I just want to encourage you to keep checking back for updates and things like that. These projects WILL be real soon, as I mentioned in my last post!

Ok, on to the main point of this post.

I feel like I have a backstage pass in all of this. Have you ever been to a concert (or at least watched American Idol)?  If yes, you've seen all those people with the handmade t-shirts and posters proclaiming their love for the lead singer or the bass guitarist (lucky him). Sometimes someone thinks of a clever saying, slogan or design for the person they're "in love" with. (Think Taylor Hick's "Soul Patrol" or Justin Beiber's "Beiber Fever". Please don't ask how I know that one...) Anyways, my design class and I were those people with the handmade signs and t-shirts. We had some good, clever ideas for the Near Westside, and I just happen to be that one lucky person (with the good idea on my t-shirt) who gets to go backstage, meet the band, and show the good idea to the manager. I get to explain it, and maybe even help the manager out by calling the t-shirt company to get a quote for how much the good idea will cost to put on a t-shirt for the band to sell at their merchandise table. Soon enough, I'll see people walking down the streets of New York with our good idea sprawled across their chest on a heather gray t-shirt, and I can say "Look! There's our good idea! We did it!"

Okay, so you may think I'm crazy, but I'm talking about all this because yesterday I actually felt like I had a backstage pass to go meet the Near Westside band members, AKA, all the people involved in making good ideas become real. I went to a meeting with one of my co-workers at the Parks and Rec office of Syracuse and I wasn't just some girl sitting there listening to people talk; I was the one who got to talk about the projects and basically pitch them (again) to the one person who actually has the authority to tell me if these projects can be done or not. Exciting? :)

Things we discussed 
A) Regulations of city trash cans :: Who empties them and will the city pay for that? Where can they go? Every single street corner or only a few? What size do they have to be? Can they be colorful? ... etc. Direct quote from the guy we were talking with: "Trash cans are easy, that's not a problem. Let me know when you buy them and we'll get them installed." Yay!
B) Regulations of a neighborhood basketball tournament :: Is it actually possible and if yes, when could we do this? What are somethings we need to make sure we have before we go ahead with it? One thing he mentioned was that we need policemen/security guards because they want to make sure everyone participating in the basketball tourney is safe. TOTALLY an important suggestion and TOTALLY would not have thought of that before he mentioned it, so thank God he did.
C) Fences around Skiddy Park:: Which ones can we decorate? (They gave us free reign! Whee!!) Sidenote: We have a final design for the fences! It's cool. I'll show you sometime.

So anyways, I'm really glad I have this backstage pass. It's really fun to see what goes on behind the scenes... and I kind of feel important haha :) 

-S

This is going to be REAL soon: Sneak Peek.

This is a sneak peek of a banner that is going to be REAL soon!!! And by "real", I mean, not just an Illustrator file, but a printed, tangible banner that will be hung up in the neighborhood. Can you tell I'm excited?! :)

<3S

Murals on the Train Trestles.

This mural project is separate from the work my class did this semester, but it's something I'll be documenting from start to finish, and I'm really excited about it. Steve Powers is a muralist based in New York City, and his current project includes a series of 50 murals in the Westside of Philly, most of which you can see at this website. He's coming to Syracuse (!!) in late July and will start the murals in early August and will work for two to three weeks. He'll be painting three train trestles (six sides total) that all lead into the Near Westside neighborhood, for example:

Just imagine the possibilities for a empty canvas of that size! The cool thing is that before Steve starts a mural, he spends a week talking with the people in the community and then paints murals based on conversations he's had with them. So who knows what he'll be painting this time!

Alrighty, lots of things to do :) Come back for more soon.

<3S

Wedding Week.

This past week I went to three weddings. Three weddings?! you may ask. Yes! Three! All were of people I love and adore, and they were all so different, yet soooo beautiful. What a privilege it is to be invited to a wedding, to be able to celebrate something so lovely, perfect, precious with the bride and groom. Seriously, I can't explain it! I had a different role in each wedding: the first one I was a back-up photographer, the second one I was a bridesmaid, and the third one I had the privilege of reading a passage from the Bible during the ceremony. Thank you to each bride and groom for including me in your special days! :)

Because I was gone for a week, I didn't do anything related to this internship, but I just wanted to update you and reassure you that I didn't fall off the face of the earth :) Check back towards the end of the week for a progress update. THANKS!

And, because no blog post is complete without a picture :

Fences & Other Semi-Fun Things.

I hope ya'll had a great Memorial Day weekend! Mine was pretty awesome, and my birthday was Tuesday, so that just added to the fun :) 

Ok, remember in my last post how I mentioned our first project would be doing research and all the behind the scenes stuff so we'd be ready to put posters up in the neighborhood? Well, we're still doing that, but at the same time we're starting another project that will eventually involve the whole community: decorating fences! There are these cool plastic inserts that come in all sorts of colors that are specifically made so we can make designs on the fences. Yesterday I spent a good chunk of time walking around the neighborhood trying to figure out what fences we actually wanted to decorate. We liked the thought of a long stretch of fence because it'll be enough space to have a significant sized/length design. A large design means A) More people will see it and B) More people will get to help make it which is exactly what we want! Anyways, so today I dabbled around on Illustrator and threw some ideas out there. The one here obviously isn't done yet, but you can get an idea for what I'm going for. I'm still working on two other ideas as well [one relating directly to the "twine" aspect of the SALT District brand] and don't you worry, they're both equally as cool, promise.

 K, that's about all for now. I'll definitely keep you updated. Duh. Have a great day! -Stephanie

P.S. My roommate is making her world famous sugar cookies right now. Yeah, you can be jealous.

Holy To-Do List!

This is my freshly made "to-do" list for the first project we're going to tackle this summer: putting up some really great posters around the neighborhood. I haven't done much yet, but I'll let you know when something exciting gets crossed off the list :)

Hey guys, I'm Stephanie :)

Like the title says, I'm Stephanie, and it's very nice to meet you (whoever you may be). Let me tell you a little about myself. Currently I'm laying on my bed sweating like a pig because it's 90 degrees in Syracuse. Not cool. I mean, it's pretty cool, because that kind of heat means only one thing: SUMMER! But it's equally not as cool because that kind of heat also means I'm always sweaty and my hair is constantly poofy from the humidity. It also means I can't concentrate on anything because all I want to do is jump in a lake and cool off! Come on, don't tell me you don't have those kinds of days too.. :)

Anyways, so now let me really tell you a little about myself. This upcoming fall, I'm going to be a senior (AHH!) in the Communications Design program here at Syracuse. I'm originally from New Hampshire (Any other New Hampshire-ites out there?!?! Lemme know, we'll be best friends). I'm a big fan of photography, playing guitar, country music, mint chocolate chip ice cream and sleeping in past noon (never happens, so when it does it's a luxury). This summer is going to be filled with an internship, 3 friends' weddings, and hopefully/eventually a job.

My main reason and motivation for blogging is to tell you guys about my internship with the Near Westside Initiative. To make a long story short, my Communications Design class spent this WHOLE past semester brainstorming ways to improve the Near Westside of the city of Syracuse. The problem? The neighborhood is run down and isn't very aesthetically pleasing. The solution? A myriad of possibilities. (Click here to read about them all) And that's precisely what I'm doing during my internship this summer: I'm implementing all those sweet ideas we thought of and making them come to life! For real! Don't believe me? Here's the plan: We're putting up colorful posters, making sure there are trash cans on every corner, painting some houses and decorating some chain linked fences. And I'm going to be documenting every step of the way with my little Nikon D40. This blog is where you'll be able to see those steps, and hopefully want to join in the fun! (Also, there might be some other stuff about my life, like what I ate for dinner [Mac and Cheese] or what I'm doing this weekend [spending Memorial Day with my boyfriend and his family] or other things you probably don't care about, but that I'm going to tell you anyways [I just painted my toenails blue]).

 [this is a picture of the park in the neighborhood we're working in]

So there ya go, that's what my summer will be all about. Get excited with me?? :)

<3S

OH!! Also! I have my own personal blog where I'm posting one picture a day for a year. I'm around day 131 right now, so if you want to take a look that would be awesome!! You guys are great. Stephanie's 365 blog.