#and bailey!! I also redesigned him recently

[ghoul--doodle]

cateyes and Augustine were the same character??

Originally yes! Augustine started as just an adult version of Cateyes

But the more I started to develop her as an adult I realised they felt more like entirely different characters rather than the same person

And I probably could’ve written that into a story somewhere?? But I felt like having them as the same character took away from what I loved so much about Cateyes in the first place

(These were all drawn at roughly the same time I was debating separating them I think)

The name “Augustine” popped up because that’s Cateye’s last name, she was supposed to shift from using her nickname to using her surname

But Augustine herself ended up becoming entirely her own thing and it just felt more natural to separate them than force anything. I love them both individually as characters but as one person it felt off

I did!! Keep them as relatives though!

Augustine and Cateyes are Aunt and niece

Augustine does still go by her surname

Cateyes now has a different adult design

[michaelfallcon]

Coffee Design: Broadcast Coffee In Seattle, Washington

This week we take a look at Broadcast Coffee Roasters that just debuted a brand refresh after 11 years of business in Seattle, Washington. Inspired by the fashion world, beer world, and Handsome Coffee Roasters, Broadcast Coffee’s new line of packaging is striking and sleek. We talked to Sales and Marketing Director Timothy Graham to learn more.

Tell us a bit about your company.

The heart of our company is our founder, Barry Faught. He hails from the expansive wheat fields and deep blue skies of Idaho. His father, Bill Bailey, was a radio DJ and local celebrity in Boise. After college, Barry ended up in the family business of broadcasting. But his yearning for adventure eventually led him to Seattle.

The coffee scene attracted Barry’s attention. And before long he was fantasizing about having his own cafe. After working his way up the corporate ladder he was making good money, but feeling unfulfilled. Visiting new coffee shops went from hobby to obsession.

In 2008 Barry traded in his salary for his own independent coffee shop, Broadcast Coffee Roasters, named in honor of his dad’s lifelong passion for radio. The goal from the get go was to spread love and acceptance through hospitality and delicious drinks. We now have three cafes, a stellar roasting team, and a growing community of friends, baristas, and business owners, who drink and serve Broadcast coffee. We’re at a really fun stage where we’re growing, but still super connected and have that family vibe.

A coffee company is more than a founder. We’re really lucky to have an amazing staff of intelligent, empathetic, and hardworking friends. Our GM, Natalie Walker, is truly the model of a leader who lives to serve. She’s the best! We’re having a ton of fun and I’m excited to see the company continue to grow and build infrastructure for long term health and sustainability.

When did the new branding/packaging debut?

May 2019

Who designed the package?

Eric Fisher.

Honorable mention to Ryan Hunt for the stellar product photography.

Describe the vision/vibe/look behind the new design.

I got the idea to have a series of bags from the fashion and beer world. An apparel designer will often pick one fabric and make a series of silhouettes, or they might pick one silhouette and make it with a handful of different fabrics. In a similar way, a brewery will release a different design with each of their styles of beer. I wanted to do the same thing with coffee bags. Essentially, I wanted to create a collection that would look really good displayed together as a set.

I also really thought Handsome Coffee was clever when they divided their whole menu into either Comfort or Adventure coffees. I wanted our blend bags to have a design that was distinct yet classic with a broad appeal, as we have a diverse range of wholesale accounts. They needed to fit in anywhere from classy bars to punk rock dives. Then on the other extreme, I wanted our East African bags to be as bright, playful, and exciting as those coffees often taste. We also have a bag for Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia.

From there I helped the team narrow down their influences to midcentury modern for colors and general shapes. I also love texture, going back to the world of fashion. I’ve followed Eric’s work ever since we worked together back in 2015. He’s a bit of a legend in the design, music, and restaurant world here in Seattle. Recently he’d been doing some really clever work with warping lines in a kind of psychedelic and playful way. We let Eric run with the concept and he blew us away with the execution. He over delivered and we got to pick our favorite five designs.

How is the design different than the previous branding/packaging?

Originally we just focused on what went into the bag, and so we simply stamped our logo on craft paper bags. Now we have a design that is a reflection of our character: playful, whimsical, artistic, and each design connects with every other one. The paper bag is gone, instead our new packaging is made from more sophisticated materials with an air-tight heat seal. We’re intent on competing with the big players in the business.

How long did the redesign process last?

Four months

Why are aesthetics in coffee packaging so important?

Folks taste with their eyes first. It’s important to show some personality as well. We’re in a wonderful era in coffee where so many people are really doing a great job. Design can be the thing that helps someone choose what vibe matches their business or home. It’s also a great way to impart that extra touch of respect to the amazing product that coffee is. It’s also really fun to share coffee as a gift for a friend or loved one and have packaging, which is essentially wrapping paper, be gorgeous and in a way part of the gift.

Where is it currently available?

We’re selling wholesale nationwide, as well as proudly serving our coffee in Seattle at our three Broadcast Cafes and through our amazing wholesale partners.

Thank you!

Company: Broadcast Coffee Location: Seattle, Washington Country: USA Design Debut: May 2019 Designer: Eric Fisher

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge.

The post Coffee Design: Broadcast Coffee In Seattle, Washington appeared first on Sprudge.

Coffee Design: Broadcast Coffee In Seattle, Washington published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

[shebreathesslowly]

Coffee Design: Broadcast Coffee In Seattle, Washington

This week we take a look at Broadcast Coffee Roasters that just debuted a brand refresh after 11 years of business in Seattle, Washington. Inspired by the fashion world, beer world, and Handsome Coffee Roasters, Broadcast Coffee’s new line of packaging is striking and sleek. We talked to Sales and Marketing Director Timothy Graham to learn more.

Tell us a bit about your company.

The heart of our company is our founder, Barry Faught. He hails from the expansive wheat fields and deep blue skies of Idaho. His father, Bill Bailey, was a radio DJ and local celebrity in Boise. After college, Barry ended up in the family business of broadcasting. But his yearning for adventure eventually led him to Seattle.

The coffee scene attracted Barry’s attention. And before long he was fantasizing about having his own cafe. After working his way up the corporate ladder he was making good money, but feeling unfulfilled. Visiting new coffee shops went from hobby to obsession.

In 2008 Barry traded in his salary for his own independent coffee shop, Broadcast Coffee Roasters, named in honor of his dad’s lifelong passion for radio. The goal from the get go was to spread love and acceptance through hospitality and delicious drinks. We now have three cafes, a stellar roasting team, and a growing community of friends, baristas, and business owners, who drink and serve Broadcast coffee. We’re at a really fun stage where we’re growing, but still super connected and have that family vibe.

A coffee company is more than a founder. We’re really lucky to have an amazing staff of intelligent, empathetic, and hardworking friends. Our GM, Natalie Walker, is truly the model of a leader who lives to serve. She’s the best! We’re having a ton of fun and I’m excited to see the company continue to grow and build infrastructure for long term health and sustainability.

When did the new branding/packaging debut?

May 2019

Who designed the package?

Eric Fisher.

Honorable mention to Ryan Hunt for the stellar product photography.

Describe the vision/vibe/look behind the new design.

I got the idea to have a series of bags from the fashion and beer world. An apparel designer will often pick one fabric and make a series of silhouettes, or they might pick one silhouette and make it with a handful of different fabrics. In a similar way, a brewery will release a different design with each of their styles of beer. I wanted to do the same thing with coffee bags. Essentially, I wanted to create a collection that would look really good displayed together as a set.

I also really thought Handsome Coffee was clever when they divided their whole menu into either Comfort or Adventure coffees. I wanted our blend bags to have a design that was distinct yet classic with a broad appeal, as we have a diverse range of wholesale accounts. They needed to fit in anywhere from classy bars to punk rock dives. Then on the other extreme, I wanted our East African bags to be as bright, playful, and exciting as those coffees often taste. We also have a bag for Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia.

From there I helped the team narrow down their influences to midcentury modern for colors and general shapes. I also love texture, going back to the world of fashion. I’ve followed Eric’s work ever since we worked together back in 2015. He’s a bit of a legend in the design, music, and restaurant world here in Seattle. Recently he’d been doing some really clever work with warping lines in a kind of psychedelic and playful way. We let Eric run with the concept and he blew us away with the execution. He over delivered and we got to pick our favorite five designs.

How is the design different than the previous branding/packaging?

Originally we just focused on what went into the bag, and so we simply stamped our logo on craft paper bags. Now we have a design that is a reflection of our character: playful, whimsical, artistic, and each design connects with every other one. The paper bag is gone, instead our new packaging is made from more sophisticated materials with an air-tight heat seal. We’re intent on competing with the big players in the business.

How long did the redesign process last?

Four months

Why are aesthetics in coffee packaging so important?

Folks taste with their eyes first. It’s important to show some personality as well. We’re in a wonderful era in coffee where so many people are really doing a great job. Design can be the thing that helps someone choose what vibe matches their business or home. It’s also a great way to impart that extra touch of respect to the amazing product that coffee is. It’s also really fun to share coffee as a gift for a friend or loved one and have packaging, which is essentially wrapping paper, be gorgeous and in a way part of the gift.

Where is it currently available?

We’re selling wholesale nationwide, as well as proudly serving our coffee in Seattle at our three Broadcast Cafes and through our amazing wholesale partners.

Thank you!

Company: Broadcast Coffee Location: Seattle, Washington Country: USA Design Debut: May 2019 Designer: Eric Fisher

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge.

The post Coffee Design: Broadcast Coffee In Seattle, Washington appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge https://ift.tt/2XajwLG

[180abroad]

Day 84: Dover Castle

Today we took our first day trip from London: Dover.

Since we’d arrived in England, we’d talked to several people about our plans for places to visit while we were here. For most of these places--like Bath or Oxford or Stratford-upon-Avon--everyone got excited and told us what a great time we would have. But without exception, none of the Brits we talked to seemed excited for us to go to Dover.

Having been there now, I guess I can see why--but we still had a great time.

The city has always derived its importance from being the gateway between Britain and the continent. But now that Dover has been largely bypassed by high-speed underground railways running directly from London to Paris, the local economy seems to be suffering a bit. It doesn’t feel grim or dirty at all--maybe just a bit tired.

Getting to Dover proved a bit tricker than we expected. It took a while to navigate through St. Pancras station from the King’s Cross metro stop, and we arrived at the platform with only a few minutes to spare. But when we tried to go through the turnstile, our tickets were rejected.

It turned out that the tickets Jessica and I had bought were only good for the slow trains, which departed from a different station--or would have, if they weren’t out of service that day for maintenance. I could feel the precious seconds ticking down until the train we needed--just a dozen yards away--left without us. Luckily, the gatekeepers were able to upgrade our tickets for a reasonable fee, which we scrambled to pull out as quickly as possible. Through the gate with our upgraded tickets, we hopped onto the train seconds before the doors closed.

Thankfully, the rest of the ride went by without incident, and we arrived in Dover a couple hours later to find the sun on our faces. My mom was especially excited to share the adventure with Jessica and me.

Dover castle is up on a hill overlooking the city. It would be a tough walk just for me and Jessica. With my mom, it was out of the question. And it was still a ten-minute walk to get from the train station to the nearest bus stop in the center of town. Whereupon we learned that the bus up to the castle only ran once per hour, and we had just missed it.

It was around lunchtime anyway, so we grabbed some sandwiches from a nearby shop and enjoyed a bit of people watching on the sleepy main street before catching the next bus up to the castle.

The castle is staggeringly huge. Concentric moats and ring walls spread out almost as far as you can see.

It is also staggeringly historic. It was the first proper castle was built by William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings, but the site had already been settled by the Saxons and the Romans before them.

As the geographic gateway between Britain and Europe, the castle’s massive scale was as politically important as it was defensively important. When foreign kings and nobility came to visit, the English needed their first impression to be one of unchallengeable strength.

It seems to have worked. Unlike most other medieval castles, Dover Castle remained an important military asset well into the 20th century. And our first must-see stop in the castle was from this more recent historical era: the secret WWII tunnels.

During WWII, the Royal Navy realized that the extensive tunnels dug underneath Dover Castle during the Napoleonic wars would make an ideal secret headquarters. They were as close as possible to the front line and deep enough to be safe from German bombing.

The tour was interesting and entertaining. After a short wait outside, we were guided down a steep, barely lit tunnel into a series of rooms where clever multimedia demonstrations quickly summed up the years leading up to WWII. Projecting animated maps onto a tabletop, the exhibit showed how the combined British and French forces fought fiercely for three brutal weeks as the implacable German blitzkrieg drove them ever-backward toward the coast.

In the end, the Allies were contained to the seaside resort town of Dunkirk, where shallow waters and intense enemy attacks kept the British transport ships at bay. Finally, Churchill and the Royal Navy launched a daring operation to rescue the stranded soldiers using any boat they could get their hand on--military and civilian alike. It was called Operation Dynamo.

(Despite the funny implication in Darkest Hour that Operation Dynamo was named after a fan, no one really knows for sure what inspired the code name.)

We saw the rooms where operation Dynamo was run from. Also saw the massive radio switchboards that were used to run the counterintelligence campaign that successfully tricked Hitler into believing that the main Allied invasion force would land at Calais, not Normandy.

We also saw the cliffside walkway where Churchill would stare out at the occupied continent, which was just barely visible when we visited.

Back on the surface, we made our way toward the castle's medieval keep. The route we picked was much steeper than we expected. It was a bit hard on my mom, but fortunately it took us right by the National Heritage office, where Jessica and I upgraded our tickets to a National Heritage card. That card ended up saving us a ton of money throughout the rest of our stay in the UK and Ireland.

While my mom went on in to find a place to rest inside the inner bailey, Jessica and I took a detour up a nearby hill to see the remains of a ruined Roman lighthouse and a restored Saxon church.

After peeking inside of both, we turned back and headed back into the inner bailey to meet up with my mom and see the keep.

The keep is visually striking. It looks a little like the Tower of London, which we learned was very much on purpose. It was designed by Henry II, a 12th-century king during a time of political instability and infighting within the royal family. At one point, his wife and three of his four sons were all in open rebellion against him.

Trying to project the stability of his great grandfather William the Conqueror, Henry II had Dover Castle’s keep redesigned in the style of William's most iconic castle. The design was actually outdated at the time from a military standpoint, but that wasn’t the point. It was meant as a statement of royal power, not military power.

When Jessica and I went inside the keep (my mom wasn't about to try the steep spiral stairways), we saw firsthand how it was built more as a royal residence than as a defensive stronghold.

Making our way up the spiral stairs past spacious bedrooms and spidering service corridors, we eventually emerged onto the rooftop. And of course, the view was spectacular.

As we looked around, I may have done the ever-so-slightest, teensy-weensiest bit of damage to this medieval masterpiece. The mortar between the castle stones was filled with these tiny, sharp flaky bits of stone. As I ever-so-gently touched one of these stones, it fell right out into my hand.

At that point, it honestly seemed like more of a waste not to keep it. 

Anyway, with the clock pushing well into mid-afternoon, we called ourselves satisfied and headed back to London.

The ride back was as uneventful as the ride out (though the toilets at the Dover station proved to be a bit harrowing).

Back at St. Pancras station, we stopped to pick up a treat we had noticed as we rushed by that morning. St. Pancras is also the station that the Eurostar  bullet train to Paris leaves from, which is probably why there are a lot of French chains there.

Including Laduree.

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