// xkonstantine

// New blog location…!

kate powell — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:39:52 +0000

Thanks to everyone who has followed by blog, and for leaving me comments throughout. I’ve moved my blog to a new location and am in the process of giving it a massive overhaul. I’m pretty happy with how it’s looking now, and I’ve removed some of my old blog posts but still have the tags and categories to sort out. Hoping to resume normal service again relatively soon…!

In the meantime, you can read what I’m tweeting about (and add the new url to your blogrolls!)

// Aloha!

kate powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:13:24 +0000

I love the fact that the state abbreviation for Hawaii is “HI” and it’s true to its word. Every where you turn, there are people greeting you. Smiling, saying hello, being generally friendly. Considering I live in anonymous London, and given the fact I find it bizarre that people who live in the countryside talk to strangers, I have to say I actually loved it!

I loved the fact that everyone is nice and that it’s such a calm, laid back place. I loved the sunshine and palm trees; turquoise water and golden beaches; live music and mango margarita’s. I miss Maui A LOT.

I intend to get back to the land of blogging soon – I do miss it (and I actually have some things to post), but I’m currently trying to readjust to being back in England; the grey days, cold dreary weather, and eight hour days in the office.

I’m TIRED, and in contrast to Hawaii, I really don’t like England very much.

Anyway…I’ll be back soon! Miss you all xo

Tagged: hawaii, HI, kate powell, maui, xkonstantine

// Hipstamatic (III)

kate powell — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:49:49 +0000

The latest Hipstamatic instalment…I’m supposed to be in Hawaii at the moment, but the snow you see in these photos, and the snowy photos in this post kept me in this cold icy country. Not impressed doesn’t quite cut it, but we have a rescheduled flight to catch tomorrow, the snow and ice is starting to thaw out, and Heathrow has been getting flights out on schedule, so here’s hoping…

_{1. Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Glasgow International 2. Foil balloon for my dads 60th 3. Sixty cake, baked by my mum 4. Wandering up a mountain in Scotland 5. Book worm 6. US Dollars, that I haven’t had the chance to spend yet! 7. Temperature in my friends car – it dropped to -8.5°c before we got home 8. Snowy tram lines at Ampere Way 9. Drinking wine to drown my sorrows the night we found out our flight was cancelled 10. Drinking more wine…to drown my sorrows 11. Carr Lodge Park, just outside Wakefield 12. Pink champagne on Christmas morning}

Tagged: hipstamatic, kate powell, photography, xkonstantine

// New discovery: Path

kate powell — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:09:43 +0000

This morning I managed to stumble across Path when browsing the iPhone app store.

It’s described as “The best way to capture and share photos of your life with close friends and family”. As it stands, I have no friends or family following my Path (Username: ka-pow), but I’m currently loving the wonderful Path for iPhone interface irrespective of the fact nobody is aware I’m posting!

There were some negative comments within the reviews about the fact that Path now allows you to browse to your iPhone library to import older photos, rather than simply forcing you to use a photo taken through the app in the exact moment, but I have to disagree; I’ve enjoyed importing photos from the past couple of months (and it labels them as older photos, so there’s no confusion as to what’s current and what isn’t), and I also fully support the fact that this allows you to include photos taken through third party apps such as Hipstamatic, which as you all know, I’m a huge fan of!

Anyway, to give you a little look at the interface I’ve raved about, I’ve taken some screengrabs of my own path in action…

The idea is to upload photographs as “moments” on your path, which other users can follow. When you upload an image you have the option to assign tags for People, Places and Things, and this is how it labels your photograph! For example, in the aeroplane image above, “Easyjet” is the Thing, and “Gatwick Airport” is the place.

I love how you can see a snippet of your photos in a scrollable list, it shows you the tags and also how old the image is within the timeline. When you click into the image you can see where the photo was taken on a map, or (I presume) see which of your friends and family have viewed your picture. It seems like such a cool little tool, and potentially the next thing in the Photo Blogging world.

Tagged: kate powell, path.com, photo sharing, photoblogging, photography, xkonstantine

// Hipstamatic (II)

kate powell — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:58:13 +0000

I doubt the amount of snow we’ve had in the UK over the past few days has escaped anyone’s notice, and it’s a definite testament to the fact that Christmas is most definitely coming, and winter is in full swing; the temperatures are sub zero, Starbucks has never tasted better, trains are cancelled and the country grinds to a near halt. And now, it’s Hipstamatic time:

_{1. “Christmas music will start…” in the Starbucks in Reigate 2. Starbucks tastes so much better when it’s bitterly cold outside. FACT! 3. My beautiful pink Converse pretty much hate me after I wore them in the snow. They are not waterproof and my toes were numb! 4. Snow covered tram line 5. The husband and I had our new couches delivered through several inches of snow. Good work DFS! 6. Spot the car! Good job we didn’t need to go anywhere, or we would’ve had to dig her out!}

Tagged: hipstamatic, kate powell, xkonstantine

// Designer Geek

kate powell — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:17:05 +0000

No, that’s not designer clothing, but rather than profession of being a designer, and all things designer-geek that go with the territory…

As you’ll have no doubt gathered by now, I do have a bit of a ~thing~ for ampersands (and other pretty design related things), so these are yet more beautiful pieces to add to my ongoing designer-geek-wishlist. I know for a fact that these stunners would be lovely additions to the accessories corner of my bedroom:

Tagged: ampersand, typography, xkonstantine

// Things I love (VI)

kate powell — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:22:50 +0000

Loving the muted, pastel shades of these photos, and the warmth they omit. I’ve linked them all back to weheartit so that any users of that site can heart any of these images they like. Enjoy ♥

Tagged: color, colour, photography, things i love, weheartit, xkonstantine

// Wedding design work

kate powell — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:49:52 +0000

Two posts in two days?! Told you I’d missed blogging! Before I disappeared, I told you I’d share some of my wedding designs once my big day had been and gone…

This heart (click for larger version) took me hours and hours to complete. When it comes to designing, it transpires that I am my own worst enemy as I simply wasn’t satisfied, despite my other half telling me it looked good.

“I’ll just move this a little bit. Maybe I could swap these two things and see how that looks. What do you think? Should I put it back to how it was before?”

It was never ending, and I don’t know how he put up with me!

The heart contained a series of wedding-centric words and phrases, including our own names and the wedding venue, and was used on the front cover of all our invitations (day and evening), as well as at a reduced size on all the interior pages. We also used it on our table plan, and followed the same theme for all our table numbers.

Our colour scheme (trendsetters that we are, haha) was turquoise with hot pink accents. We’re seeing turquoise everywhere at the moment, and it makes me laugh that our colour scheme —which we chose in 2008— it what 2010 is all about.

Tagged: wedding stationery, xkonstantine

// Hipstamatic (I)

kate powell — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:17:01 +0000

Oh, how I have missed blogging. I have a colourful array of excuses for why I’ve been away…getting married, never having the time, moving house and not having the internet all fall under that category. I’m happy to say I’m now a wife, have a fair bit more free time, am living in our new house AND have the internet installed again. Happy Kate!

This post is inspired by my lovely friend Lauren, who is also a bit of a Hipstamatic fan (and who undoubtedly has more in-app lenses/film than me)! I’d love to know if you have any favourites amongst this first batch of Hipstamatic photos.

_{1. UP! My pink Converse and jeggings 2. Starbucks addiction 3. John Lewis phone 4. Waitrose cupcake 5. Old shoes I had to part ways with 6. Starbucks Christmas cups have arrived! 7. We moved out of Flat B 8. Rainbow over Croydon 9. My best friends brothers birthday cake – his parents took him to Las Vegas for his 21st (not at all jealous!) 10. The husband with a signed Grant Holt shirt (stained with blood, sweat and er, grass) 11. FL Office dog 12. Drinks in the office during a particularly harrowing final push to hit deadline.}

Tagged: hipstamatic, kate powell, xkonstantine

// Wedding Prep

kate powell — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:08:20 +0000

As some of you will know, I’m a designer who’s getting hitched at the end of August. It makes perfect sense that of course I would design everything that needs to be designed. Invites, table plan, guestbook, you name it, I’m making it. My invites have of course been created and mailed (I mentioned them briefly in this entry), table plan is designed (but not printed), table numbers need to be designed and I need to ‘make’ the guestbook*, so these last six weeks are looking to be pretty hectic.

I don’t fancy giving out details about the wedding to all and sundry, so once the big day has been and gone, I’ll consider posting some of the design work on my blog. Since creating them, I’ve actually been approached by the sister of the printer I used to create her invites in the same style. We got a lot of compliments for the design, but there’s no bigger compliment that others love them as much as I do when they want to use your design for their own wedding. I’m really chuffed!

*I can’t take credit for the whole book, as I’m actually going to be customising an existing scrapbook.

Tagged: graphic design, kate hines, xkonstantine

// Things I love (V)

kate powell — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:15:37 +0000

“Rearview camera? Why on earth would I need that?” | “Leather seats? Seriously?” | “Plenty of head room they said. Well what about neck room?”

I’m fairly sure I’ve mentioned my love of Typography Served previously, and here it is, the source of more awesomeness. I bloody love giraffes, in case you didn’t already know!

These beautiful posters were created by One Horse Town Illustration Studio.

Tagged: behance, fantastic concepts, graphic design, kate hines, things i love, xkonstantine

// Fonts: ligatures

kate powell — Sat, 29 May 2010 11:35:21 +0000

I’ll keep this brief, but I’ve been baffled recently when working on a logo development project (freelance) as to just how many typefaces don’t include a simple ‘fi’ ligature.

I’ve mentioned in the past just how enamoured I am with typographic ligatures, but these are mostly the discretionary ones such as the c/k and s/t shown on the Calluna sample, which I appreciate aren’t integrated into every typeface in existance.

They make those letter combinations simply beautiful, but those combinations also work fine as they are; to me, the f/i combination sans-ligature looks somewhat unsightly, not to mention awkward.

_{Image credit: Daniel Ullrich}

Tagged: fonts, kate hines, ligature, typography, xkonstantine

// Presco Print Finishing Supplies

kate powell — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:51:46 +0000

I just wanted to take the opportunity to post a quick review.

As a designer, who is getting married in August, it seemed only natural that I would embark upon the challenge of designing my own wedding invites, and my, what a challenge it was. I’d never fully appreciated before how difficult it can be designing for yourself – but now I know! Repeatedly hearing “You don’t need to change it – it looks fine” from my fiancé was not enough; apparently I’m a perfectionist at heart, and I spent hours making sure it was (in my eyes anyway) perfect.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to create something a) in a booklet format and b) a little bit different, so I discarded the standard binding of ribbon and decided to go with some binding screws. I knew of the concept, but it was one of my Directors who told me what they were called (so simple…!) before recommending Presco to me – and I’m so glad he did, as the customer service was fantastic.

Delivery was anticipated to be 3-4 business days, however payment was taken at 2pm and they arrived before 11am the following day. Not only this, but when I was so anal to count the parts (I wouldn’t normally, but I needed exact numbers!) I emailed their sales department, receiving a very prompt response saying some extras would be dispatched – which I received the day after. I am one very happy customer! Thanks Presco (and in particular James Nunn who dealt with my enquiry).

The invites look pretty amazing, if you’re curious!

Tagged: kate hines, presco, presco print finishing supplies, review, xkonstantine

// It’s been a while…

kate powell — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:51:31 +0000

I really need to get back into blogging. I’ve really missed it, and I have so many things I’d like to write about, it’s just finding the time to do so. Work has been very busy recently, and I’ve been putting in the hours in to keep up with my workload.

I’m really enjoying it, and despite the long hours the days are over before I know it because I’m so busy. I realised the other day that I’ve been living in London now for over six months which has totally flown by, and I realised how lucky I was to get such an amazing job. I work with a brilliant group of people, I’m learning new things and the work is varied.

All is well in Kate-land (apart from the lack of blogging)!

Tagged: kate hines, work - employed, xkonstantine

// Things I love (IV) – Limited Edition Posters

kate powell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:43:40 +0000

As I’ve mentioned before, I get weekly emails from Typography Served. This week I enjoyed The graphic sentences collection by Harmonie Interieure; a short series of limited edition posters (numbered to 100), 45 x 55 cm and printed on 250gsm. I would love to get a set of these, if it weren’t for the small fact of not having anywhere to display them. They’re beautiful though, and I bet they’d be a real treasure to own (and see on your walls every day). You can make your own mind up as I’ll share visuals below:

What do you think? Which is your favourite? Will you be purchasing one of these posters, or even a complete set?

Tagged: available for purchase, design, Harmonie Interieure, kate hines, limited edition, posters, print design, typography served, xkonstantine

// Nike Plus

kate powell — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:33:09 +0000

At the weekend, my fiancé and I made what I would class as an ‘investment’. We bought a new pair of Nike running shoes (you can see mine here), and a Nike+ sportband each. Naturally I got the white & pink one (pictured), and he went all manly and got the grey and yellow one. Technically they are grey & pink / black & yellow, and whilst mine might be very light grey instead of white, there’s no way on earth the grey is black!

For those of you who aren’t in the know, the wristband comes with a sensor which you slot into the sole of your left shoe (underneath the insole) and you sync the two pieces of kit together. The sensor in the shoe transmits details of your distance, pace and calories burnt to your wristband, which you can plug into your computer (via USB!) and upload to the Nike website to track your progress!

Sounds pretty fantastic, doesn’t it? I’ve only used it twice so far, but I’m already impressed, and plan to use it regularly for the foreseeable future!

From a design point of view, the wristband is sleek and attractive, and the incorporation of a removable USB device to share your runs is ingenious. The sensor is a design marvel in itself, from the way it slots into the sole of the shoe, to the fact it’s cleanly branded with Nike & Apple making it not only a nifty tool, but visually pleasing too (considering it’s not on show!).

Furthermore, I’m loving the infographics on the website; it shows your runs according to the date, and each individual run in graph format based on speed and distance, with icons to map how you were feeling, the terrain upon which you ran, and also a route for the run. I’m looking forward to getting some more information logged over the next few days so I can start seeing my progress!

Tagged: apple, fantastic concepts, general, kate hines, nike, nike plus, product design, running, worthy mentions, xkonstantine

// Numbers

kate powell — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:30:14 +0000

I get weekly emails from both Typography Served & Photography Served. This week, rather than the typography, it was actually some of the showcased photography which caught my eye – in particular the series below.

When they’re reduced to small scale as below, they aren’t instantly recognisable for what they are; the naked human form (all female), artfully arranged into numerical forms. Whilst this series of number is entirely female, there is also a set of male numbers on the creators website (featured below). I love how fluid the numbers appear, and see no reason why the sequence couldn’t be expanded in the future to also include letterforms.

I feel like this concept is the kind of thing which could work really well within a Sanex / Vaseline ad campaign; their television adverts lean heavily towards imagery of nude models, so in my opinion this would align perfectly as a headline typeface or similar. They’re eye-catching to say the least!

_{Sequence of numbers created by Arjan Benning | Credit to Kimberley Chan for reminding me what the naked-adverts were when I’d come up against a total mind block.}

Tagged: body, creative, fantastic concepts, fascinating, general, human, inspiring, kate hines, naked form, numbers, photography, typography, xkonstantine

// Things I love (III)

kate powell — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:44:40 +0000

This is my first (of hopefully many) ‘Things I love’ post of 2010. You can check out previous posts from this category by clicking here. We heart it has been difficult today, so this entry has taken a lot longer to piece together than it should have. Consequently it’s shorter than I would’ve liked!

What are you guys loving right now?

Tagged: kate hines, things i love, xkonstantine

// Top 10 fonts of 2009

kate powell — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:41:47 +0000

Those who know me will be aware that Calluna is way up there in my [proverbial] list of ‘favourite fonts ever’. Now, I don’t actually have a list, but if I did I think that Calluna would be sitting proudly in either 1st or 2nd. I’m obviously not the only one who noticed it; it was selected as one of the My Fonts Top 10 fonts of 2009, an rightly so!

Designed by Jos Buivenga from The Netherlands, Calluna was crowned most successful serif text font of the year. Calluna was initially a by-product of the design process leading up to Buivenga’s popular Museo typeface. While trying out different serif shapes, the designer chanced upon the possibility of giving his font “slab-serifs with a direction.” Instead of using the resulting asymmetrical serifs for a new Museo version, Buivenga incorporated the concept in a completely new typeface. Calluna was the designer’s first serifed text family — a robust, clean and contemporary face with interesting details and a forward flow. Its recent use as a book typeface has demonstrated that it works perfectly even at small point sizes; thanks to its striking details it also acts as a display typeface font with personality.

Despite the fact I’m not always a fan of serif typefaces, I love the overall look of this one, not to mention the beautiful ligatures (both standard and discretionary) — a topic I intend to dedicate an entire blog post to at some stage.

The other top nine were Champion Script Pro, Geogrotesque, Liza Pro, Memoriam, Alright Sans, Ivory, Narziss, We Love Nature & Aphrodite Slim Pro. To be honest with you, none of these jump out at me the way Calluna does, and though they have their own merits, Calluna has landed a number one spot for me.

_{Information source: My Fonts January 2010 newsletter.}

Tagged: fonts, kate hines, ligature, typefaces, xkonstantine

// Colour of the Year II

kate powell — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:05:48 +0000

Since my initial Colour of the Year post at the beginning of December, we’ve entered into the actual Year of Turquoise (♥), and Pantone have pinpointed some more turquoise products — this time it’s kitchenware, available from Cuisinart and Le Creuset.

I actually saw some of the turquoise Le Creuset range last weekend whilst shopping in Debenhams with the boy, so I’m pleased to see it’s on Pantone’s radar also.

My favourite:

_{Kone Kettle & Traditional Whistling Kettle – Le Creuset}

Tagged: color, colour, colour of the year, coty, kate hines, le creuset, pantone, turquoise, xkonstantine

// Christmas by Colour

kate powell — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:54:41 +0000

Just before Christmas, I stumbled across Christmas by Colour. I think (correct me if I’m wrong) Christmas by Colour came about in 2008 to try and escape those bog-standard Christmas colours we find ourselves inundated with from some time in October.

As the website says, Christmas by Colour is an exploration into the colours that shape our Christmas. Frustrated at the plethora of Christmas reds, whites and greens we decided to explore the colours people really associate with their Christmas.

A brilliant idea, I’m just disappointed I discovered CBC and their fantastic greetings cards (& wrapping paper!) too late to order any. That said, I did take advantage of the wallpapers available for download, and ‘Sprouts’ graced my desktop at work until I left the office for Christmas holidays on the 22nd.

Some of my other favourites (not all of which made the cards) include ‘Bank balance’, ‘End of the Sellotape’ and ‘Going to/from work’. Which do you like the best?

_{1) My twist on ‘Sprouts’ 2) Original ‘Sprouts’ by John Dowling 3) ‘Going to/from work’ by Greig Anderson}

Tagged: color, colour, fantastic concepts, kate hines, xkonstantine

// Colour of the Year

kate powell — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:31:03 +0000

So, turquoise just got crowned Colour of the Year, 2010 by Pantone. In 2007, I got engaged, and during 2008 we decided our main wedding colour would be turquoise. Since I get married in Summer 2010 I’ve found myself ‘on trend’, for what is possibly the first time in my life!

_{Cufflinks, fold out chair, M&Ms}

It goes without saying that I love this Pantone colour, it’s one of my favourites! Do you have one colour you love, or several you like?

Tagged: color, colour, colour of the year, coty, kate hines, pantone, turquoise, xkonstantine

// Things I Love (II)

kate powell — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:28:26 +0000

Following on from this ‘things I love’ entry, I promised to make it a regular thing, and here is my second posting. Not strictly design related this week, but just images which made me stop, and look again, or look more closely. Basically images which have something about them, from fake clouds and macaroons, to birdcages and rubber ducks. Enjoy!

Tagged: kate hines, photography, things i love, xkonstantine

// Portfolio design

kate powell — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:59:01 +0000

I spent some time during the last couple of afternoons looking for portfolio designs – very few of which were anything to write home about, and a vast array use Lightbox technology. Sure, it looks pretty nice and I used to be a massive fan of it…until it started cropping up everywhere. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen it in action the last couple of days, but as soon as I saw that telltale overlaid image opening up, I clicked that little cross in the corner of the window — you know the one I mean.

It’s only recently that I’ve begun to delve into web design, and perhaps in light of that you think I’m probably not ‘qualified’ to judge other peoples attempts, but I think it’s exciting to see something fresh and different; something unique; something that makes you think “wow”. The first time I saw Lightbox in use on a webpage I have to admit I thought “Hey, that’s pretty cool”, but after the hundredth time I have to try and suppress a yawn instead.

My rooting around in the depths of The Internet did bring some level of success; there were a handful of websites which I deemed interesting enough to add to my substantial collection of bookmark folders. I’ll share the favourites with you below:

_{Marc Anton Dahmen Images}

_{Thibaud’s Portfolio}

_{Nisgia Interactive}

Obviously I’m not saying “these are the only people who have created a portfolio like this”, I’m merely stating that from the sites I’ve seen over the last two days (and there have been A LOT), these are the three I would regard as the most original, and visually interesting. Let me know what you think, and if you have any personal favourites.

Tagged: creative, inspiring, kate hines, online portfolio, portfolio, portfolio design, web design, xkonstantine

// Things I love (I)

kate powell — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:27:28 +0000

This is partially inspired by Gala’s ‘Things I Love Thursday’, but also by the fact there are such a lot of things I see online which I love, but have no real ‘outlet’ for, apart from to add them to my we heart it when I get the chance, so I thought I might made ‘Things I love’ posts a regular thing here.

It’s probably also worth mentioning the fact that my Action Book arrived yesterday, and I am super excited to have used it the past couple of days. I love it already and genuinely think it’s going to prove to be a super useful tool.

Tagged: action book, behance, behance action book, kate hines, things i love, weheartit, xkonstantine