June 2016

We've been working hard and learning all kinds of new things while creating for Resurgam Coffee. We're creating a website with e-commerce aspects, forms that automatically send intake info to a spreadsheet, fluid layouts that will work correctly across a variety of platforms (smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops... though I'm not bothering with Apple Watches. Sorry.) And this past week has included laying out the design for their coffee bags and labels.

It's been fun, interesting, and sometimes stressful as we learn how to integrate all the things that need to happen for a multi-purpose site to work well and still convey the message of what Resurgam Coffee is about. In the meantime I highly recommend going over and checking out the Resurgam Coffee Facebook page and visiting Lemonade International to see why this is more than just coffee and what Resurgam means in real life – The Latin translation is "I will rise." (Which is an extra dose of random awesomeness seeing as how there are many mornings when coffee is the only reason I'm able to rise 😉)

So with regard to S2 Art & Design for me personally, I thought I might be more concerned that we don't yet have an official logo or website or business cards or other business-y things. But as I'm writing this I'm realizing some things. 

#1, I have yet to actually be inspired by a strong idea for the S2 logo and don't want to throw any old thing up there just so we have something. We want our first impression to be intentional and Rusty and I are still thoughtfully working through what S2 means to us and for us and, we hope, for others. As an example of what I consider intentional or meaningful, Resurgam is a good example. The logo is a visual representation of the word itself. And to be honest, I didn't come up with it the idea on my own – I had a dream and sketched it out the next day (yes, I do consider it Divine inspiration.) Again, if you haven't checked them out, go on over and read up on why Chris Marshall started Resurgam Coffee and you'll have a better idea of what the logo means.
 
#2, letting go of that feeling of "immediate need" and being ok with not having a solid idea of what I want S2 to look like leaves me free to put in the time and effort (and trial and error) to create for someone else.
And #3, I've been doing graphic design in some form or another since I was in high school (and I'm 43 years old so that's a while.) I have B.A. in Fine Art, did a desktop publishing internship at the University of Maryland, have done web graphics and animated banners and print work and have references from people who seem to like my abilities and... and... and... 
...and all I've been focusing on is what I can't do lately. Instead of saying, I'm a failure because I can't perfectly create, on my first try ever, something that needs to function a certain way. 
I need to remember to say I can – and am – learning. I'm making mistakes but figuring out why it didn't work this time. Then I'll try it again and it will work. And it does work.

Rusty and I have been blessed to be doing this work for someone that sees the God part of this and is showing us the grace to do our best, figure it out, and create something bigger than ourselves or even than Resurgam Coffee as a business.  So back to work!

Disclaimer: This is not like me to be ok with uncertainty and having to try something without being 100% sure about what I'm doing. But I'm starting to see the process as two steps forward, one step back... then two more steps foward.

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