Smack Happy Design » News

Massive Portfolio Update!

Nicole — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:42:10 +0000

I’ve been super busy since I last updated the site. Here are all the projects I’ve been working on. There’s more too, but it was just code work – not much to show there

Web Design

Illustration and UI

My Freelance Story

Nicole — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:06:46 +0000

Back in December I submitted my story to Freelancers Union and promptly forgot about it. I just checked in and discovered that they published it at the end of December.

Here it is for your reading enjoyment, please keep in mind that I am a designer, not a writer

Dog Walks and Cupcakes

More Wonderful Web Sites

Nicole — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:32:56 +0000

First is a political web site for Alicia Aguirre. Next, we have Bassnite.com, a site for partying New Yorkers. After that, Live Local Card for those San Franciscans who like to support local businesses. Third is still a work in progress, Wecision. Then we have SWAle, a non-profit that needed a facelift. And last is another SF non-profit, Blue Greenway. Enjoy!

Latest Projects

Nicole — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:39:26 +0000

Yikes, I haven’t updated the Portfolio since November! And here’s why…

Mission Stands

A local company in the Mission District, San Francisco. They make laser-cut cardboard stands for laptops.

Cupcake Cachet

Located in Houston, Texas, these guys make some fantastic cupcakes! I know because they sent me some as a thank you gift

Hear Me Rev

Making t-shirts for ladies who ride motorcycles, because someone had to finally do it!

Capri Cleaning

An eco-friendly residential cleaning service in the Bay Area. Super friendly too!

Zinch

Ads promoting Zinch to high school students trying to decide on which college to attend.

Wigged Out Invitations

A party invite for the Golden Gate YPO.

Smack Happy Facelift

Nicole — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:28:27 +0000

In much the same way that an interior decorator might redecorate her house often, I have decided to redesign this web site. I’m not too fickle though because the original design lasted a whole two years. As I continue to create web sites (over 13 years now!) my design skills mature and grow, and this web site needs to reflect that. I’d like to share my process with you.

Thumbnail Sketches

I begin with thumbnail sketches. In my head I look at these tiny pencil drawings and see color and texture. As I lay things out I think about what I want to focus on, what the viewer should focus on when they see the site.

Color Sketches

Then I create a more fleshed-out color sketch. I play around with a color palette and continue thinking about the focus and the content. Part of the goal in this redesign was to focus what I offer as well as the visual elements. I was really happy with the colors of this sketch.

Photoshop Mockups

After that I move on to Photoshop. The first attempt was quite a bit too dark and unfriendly. I reassessed the situation and lightened it up significantly, settling on the design you see now.

WordPress Theme

Then it was just a matter of creating a new WordPress theme and turning it on. Viola! I should also note that I was excited to upgrade the code

Web Design Portfolio Overhaul

Nicole — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:04:04 +0000

It’s been quite a while since I updated the old portfolio with new designs. So here we have a whole slew of new web design, logo design, user interface, business cards and print collateral. Phew, what an update!

Web Design:

Graphic Design:

Logo Design:

Concepts:

In This Economy, Small Businesses Can’t Afford To Skimp On Design

Nicole — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:08:25 +0000

Just sent out a press release through PRLog: Stand out from your competitors with a great website. Smack Happy Design offers small businesses a complete set of design services at affordable prices, including user-friendly website design, complete WordPress customization, and user interface design.

Read the entire press release at PRLog.

Berkeley Sourcing Group Redesign

Nicole — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:08:47 +0000

I recently redesigned a web site for my client, Berkeley Sourcing Group. The site is setup and customized in WordPress.

Help my client out by bookmarking the site in delicious or digging it on Digg.

You can check out the new live site here.

I also illustrated some graphics for their process map:

Happy ChrismaHanaKwanzikah

Nicole — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:16:48 +0000

New Artwork

Nicole — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:26:49 +0000

We recently added a few more pieces to our portfolio collection. A new logo along with concept for Achievement Advisors, and an illustration of Dr. Cloud for HealthLoop.