A year of risks, reward, and sometimes awards.
2015 has been quite the whirlwind experience, both professionally and personally.
After making some big decisions in 2014 and accepting a job offer in California, both Caitlin and I picked up and moved nearly 3,000 miles away to San Francisco's East Bay to explore west coast life. And explore we did! 2014 and 2015 were filled with unforgettable travels and the memories to last two lifetimes. We immersed ourselves in the many rich cultural experiences California has to offer, from new friendships, endless winery tours, spectacular city views, and hiking in Yosemite National Park, to the wintery wonders of Lake Tahoe, the excitement of Los Angeles, and all those offbeat towns and adventures in between.
But it wasn't all fun and games. It was also a lot of work.
In addition to my full-time position at E&J Gallo Winery for the year and a half we lived in the East Bay, I continued to take on more (and more) freelance as I have done for the last ten years—often averaging 65+ hours a week when all was said and done. (Where did I find the time to do all that exploring, right?!)
While in California, I was hired by Todd Parsons of State Street Honey in Redwood City, CA to create an exciting brand identity and package design for his award-winning honey. What a fun project this was! Not only did I enjoy the entire process of working with Todd to create an impressionable and lasting logo for him, but I've also enjoyed seeing the design earn prestigious recognition in the creative field ever since, as it's garnered "buzz" on TheDieline.com (among other design blogs) and earned a GDUSA 2015 award for logo design. I'm really looking forward to designing his ever-growing product line and continuing to help turn his business into a full blown apiary extravaganza in the coming year!
In addition to the work I've done for State Street Honey, I've also enjoyed creating a plethora of logos, print collateral, and packaging for countless other great clients.
Below is a sampling of some of the logo and package design work I've developed in 2015.
At the end of the day, home is where the heart is.
While we cherished our time in San Francisco, we had certainly left our hearts in Philadelphia when we moved...So we came home to reclaim them. Since our move back east in October, I've officially taken the plunge into "Full-Time Freelance Design" and Caitlin Riley continues to work with me to provide her invaluable copywriting services to a variety of clients—masterfully sculpting and giving brands their voice. Check out her creative and copywriting work at cbriley.com, and check back in with Jess Glebe Design in the near future to see the latest work I've posted to my portfolio.