Silver Lining Catching December Light

Whew, would ya look at that *blows smoke off of the left-handed finger gun*

As we turn in to the end of the year, my mind has been opening up like a crumpled piece of paper. Unraveling its crinkles and sweeping my hand over the textured sheet, I’m looking at the results from a year filled with tragedy, solitude, and, unsurprisingly, growth.

It’s a peculiar moment to feel such weight from the year (and what’s to come ahead in the near future) while nurturing the self-reflection and forward-thinking bits, with the intention that the significant life-lessons and prized-moments/work float to the top.

So, looking at the elements that were fruitful from the year-that’s-felt-like-5-years, I can put my finger on a few things that really strike the satisfied-cord. My work with Susan Hyatt Inc., of which I am the Creative Director and Lead Designer, has brought some of my most challenging and rewarding work to-date. This year, we had a monolith of projects. With the small studio that we were/are, the amount of creativity, quality of work, and sheer number of projects surpassed what I thought I was capable of. (Hello, imposter syndrome.)

Point is, this year may have knocked me + pretty much every one on the planet off of their feet, but there were things that were produced, invented, fought for, worked on, and learned about that create the ever-remarkable silver lining that everyone’s always talkin’ about.

I’ve compiled some of my favorite logos that I’ve done this year (and a couple from before that need a little more daylight). Now, mind you, these are mere pieces of the full brands that they belong to. They all have their own color palettes, associating word-marks, typographic treatments, concepts, etc. that creates a more robust brand. But how fun it is to see them all monochromatic and pinned to a mounting board, like butterfly specimens.

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Well friend, I hope that the next month brings you silver linings on even the darkest of clouds. I hope that some rainbows start to reveal themselves, even if it’s still pretty overcast. If it’s hard to see light peeking through, try looking at what you’ve accomplished and/or survived this year. It’d be a pretty solid start. <3

XO,

HMC