25 | THE NEW LOTUS&ASH
May 5, 2009
/// it’s here ///
24 | PREVIEW
April 1, 2009
LOTUS & ASH has been dormant for far, far too long… but the little ampersands have been busy coding something new.
something exciting. something a bit more custom, a bit more handmade, a bit more
LOTUS & ASH…
A NEW WEBSITE. TO DEBUT MAY DAY.
23 | NEW YEAR, OLD BLOG, SAME PAPER&DESIGN PASSION
January 3, 2009
LOTUS&ASH wishes you the happiest new year.
& CELEBRATES its website’s FIRST BIRTHDAY
It’s difficult to believe that lotusandash.com is one year old this week. Between the lines and photos capturing so much paper, design, travels, and aesthetic adventures, a pure love for all of the above remains. 2008 marked the beginning of LOTUS & ASH. 2009 holds the opportunity for more explorations, including an improved website, a CUSTOM PAPER : ORDER page, and a more comprehensive CUSTOM DESIGN space. And, of course, LOTUS & ASH is excited to continue sharing all those explorations at lotusandash.com.
| TUCK ANYWHERE CALENDARS designed for 2009 |
but before we move onto the new year, we can’t forget christmas…
It’s no surprise that the holiday season is the MOST FUN time of year for LOTUS & ASH. With plenty of opportunities for paper love, the season becomes filled with hours at the printer, cutter, and tying brown paper packages up with strings (this year’s present-wrapping theme) Since I was abroad this past fall, holiday designing and printing fell ALL in the month of December with a flurry of cards to design and print. Below, a few spirited snapshots of that favorite season:
| CHRISTMAS EVE taken 12.2008 |
| THE SIMPLE BRUNCH MENU designed 12.2008 |
| FLORENCE designed 12.2008 |
22 | A LOTUS & ASH HOLIDAY
November 24, 2008
As a thank you to old customers, and a warm welcome to the new :
LOTUS & ASH celebrates with a special gift for you…
Go ahead and open it…this is one present you can open early.
21 | LOTUS & ASH ABROAD
November 2, 2008
| LOTUS&ASH : : : OXFORD |
With a little more than one month spent in England, and a little more than one month left here, I’ve had enough time to be inspired by the centuries-old motifs, colors schemes, and designs I’ve encountered along the way, and enough time to really start missing my printer.
That being said, England has been a wonderful LOTUS&ASH experience. The black taxis, the red doors, Portobello Road in Notting Hill – they are all oh-so-LOTUS & ASH. There is something timeless, classic, and undoubtedly posh about London, and I’d like to think that LOTUS & ASH can capture that feeling in its own California way.
I look forward to returning to that lovely state with British influences swirling in my head, and get them onto paper, stat.
I never thought I’d be able to make it three months without any designing, or paper-ing, so when my roommate’s birthday came around…The celebration called out for a little paper love.
Using the outdated laser jet printer downstairs (which always seems to be out of toner), paper from the art store on Broad Street, and good-old, reliable Scotch double-sided tape, I created these invitations and a new stationery design for a very lovely girl.
| TEA & CHAMPAGNE designed 10.2008 |
The paper is blush, and the envelopes are lined. It goes without saying that I will be coming home with as many tissue-lined envelopes that will fit into my suitcase! An elegant touch, they are not for everyday use. But when the right occasion calls…they can make a note extra save-worthy.
| OXFORD CLASSIC designed 10.2008 |
20 | A CLOSET FULL OF LOTUS & ASH
September 25, 2008
T-SHIRTS are one of LOTUS & ASH’s favorite things to design. A good, unique T-SHIRT design can make an event or cause that much more attractive. And it’s always satisfying to wear a good font.
In the past month, LOTUS & ASH has gotten the chance to design three new shirts. Two were for philanthropies, and one was for the philanthropic branch of the Stanford Tree, the Tree in Training Program, initiated by this year’s tree, patrick fortune.
left : t shirt front & right : t shirt back
| THETABREAKERS 08 |
| TREE IN TRAINING PROGRAM |
| MUSIC FOR MATT . BENEFIT CONCERT |
19 | A SUMMERSET + VERY IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT L&A CUSTOM PAPER
September 5, 2008
| FAVORITE SUNSET . shot july 2008 . CANADA |
It’s the end of the Summer for LOTUS & ASH : and it was quite the summer.
With plenty of time for design and paper, LOTUS & ASH was able to add new designs to every category of paper – from celebrations to greeting cards, personalized stationery to hand-sewn books, the summer allowed for the L&A portfolio to expand gracefully.
Though the Summer is coming to a close, the Autumn is much anticipated. With the debut of the newly redesigned STANFORD INTERMISSION in September, a summer project by LOTUS & ASH, and the dates of the non profit events, including THETA BREAKERS, MUSIC for MATT, and IN THE LOOP, with designs by LOTUS & ASH fast approaching, it seems like the LOTUS & ASH SUMMER is becoming a LOTUS & ASH AUTUMN.
Lastly, BINARY PRESS is set to debut next month at the Cantor Art Center, the first letterpress project of its kind.
All in all, this summer has been simply splendid.
| COLLECTED SUNSETS . shot during Summer 2008 |
: : : NOTE TO ALL LOTUS & ASH : CUSTOM PAPER FANS : : :
At the end of September, I will be leaving California, to study at Oxford University until the end of the year. The good news? I cannot wait to spend countless hours in their libraries looking at ancient manuscripts, and studying their typography.
The bad news … I have to leave my printer at home.
WHAT IT MEANS : I cannot fill ANY paper orders while abroad, until December 15th when I return.
So, IF YOU ANTICIPATE NEEDING ANY CUSTOM PAPER BEFORE DECEMBER, please contact me as soon as possible, so we can create whatever you may need.
It’s me, myself, and my printer until I leave at the end of the month.
18 | PAPER DESIGN GALLERY LAUNCH
August 25, 2008
It’s here.
LOTUS&ASH(dot)com is proud to announce the launch of the
:: enter LOTUS&ASH : CUSTOM PAPER ::
Check out some of L&A’s favorite stationery, invitation, greeting card, and menu designs.
17 | PAPER . PRESS . HEAVEN
August 18, 2008
16 | LOTUS & ASH : CUSTOM CHARITY
July 31, 2008
LOTUS & ASH has always been committed to good design – and the belief that every cause deserves good design to help promote its message. Every year, LOTUS & ASH has and plans to take on a handful non-profit clients, and provide them with the branding and design to make their intentions known.
This month, LOTUS & ASH designs were featured on CNN, in an article about USC students who were trying to spread awareness about the dangers of chewing gutka, or bettlenut in Southern India. The SAY NO TO GUTKA project included a long logo design process. The logo eventually emerged as something that was not entirely in the LOTUS & ASH aesthetic, stretching the boundaries of how haunting an image can be, and was hopefully effective among the children of Hubli, India.
LOTUS & ASH is currently working on designs for the THETABREAKERS 2008 Run/Walk to benefit Child Advocates of Silicon Valley and the MUSIC FOR MATT benefit concert in honor of Matt Costa, a fallen Peace Corps Member and Tulane Alum.
Both events will be occurring this fall – stay tuned if you’re interested in attending or helping out!
15 | Favorite Things
July 11, 2008
| SUMMER on SKYLINE with a BIANCHINI’S PICNIC 07.2008 |
Summer has proven to be productive and relaxing – and, incredibly enjoyed with a few of my favorite things. Though time spent on Skyline, picnics, visiting San Francisco (the city I LOVE), and cooking pizzas in backyard ovens have cut into time in the LOTUS & ASH office, they are all well, well worth it.
The past few weeks have included designs for new LOTUS & ASH letterhead and proof and order forms, in support for launching a more online-based ordering system.
But good ol’ favorite paper fun did not stop with these administrative improvements. L&A celebrated a best friend’s birthday with a handmade and custom designed guide for Fine Living at Twenty. Always a fan of Moleskin notebooks, they serve as great canvases to make whatever journal one can imagine.
And, after a long time in the making, a sweet greeting card made its debut. Quoting a favorite STARS song, it can be reproduced in any size. Sometimes, though, the smaller, the more easily tucked away and re-read. And that’s the point of this whole stationery thing anyway, right?
Time working on L&A has been divided betweensailing in the bay and working on B I N A R Y P R E S S
Indeed, things are busy. But they are being thoroughly enjoyed.
| FOGGY GOLDEN GATE 07.2008 |
14 | A LOTUS&ASH SUMMER
June 26, 2008
it’s a lotus & ash kind of summer
before lotus&ash transplants itself to oxford for ten weeks this autumn, it needs to soak up all the northern california sunshine and air it can in the meantime.
the summer provides for perfectly-lit afternoons to have a paper & grass photoshoot, new and bright designs, and plenty of time spent in the new lotus&ash office.
plenty of time, eh? indeed. this summer, lotus & ash will be introducing new paper designs, and experimenting in web design with a revamped website.
also, i will be producing a cross-media project for the stanford cantor arts museum, provided for by the ASSU. BINARY PRESS will give me the opportunity to learn the craft of letterpress at the center for the book in san francisco, as well as develop my web skills further with a web documentation of my project’s progress.
this summer will definitely busy with so many design pursuits and explorations! but, there will also be plenty of time for relaxation, reading, visiting farmer’s markets, and cooking — everything that a summer should be defined by.
| FRESHLY CAUGHT TROUT with FARMER’S MARKET ASPARAGUS cooked 06.2008 |
stay tuned.
| ALL PHOTOS by LOTUS & ASH 06.2008 |
13 | from a bean to a bean
June 24, 2008
It was over 10 years ago that the nickname came into use - bean, the endearing name between my best friend, erica, and I has been long lasting. and, to celebrate her graduation from college, it was only appropriate to make her a bean-specific congratulatory card. thanks to the newest version of the adobe suite, making images for my greeting cards has been made SO much easier than before. illustrator’s live trace and paint functions have become a lotus & ash favorite.
there’s something special about custom work – whether it be a logo, an invitation, or a greeting card. custom means thought. custom implies a relationship between a designer, her product, and it’s recipient. that’s why lotus & ash specializes in custom work : to preserve the idea of thought in correspondence and communication. to get chuckles, shrieks, giggles, awwws and the like > > >
12 | graduations and celebrations
June 23, 2008
for lotus&ash this year, graduation was oh-so-bittersweet. but, designing and printing invitations and greeting cards distracted from the pangs of having to say goodbye to close friends. lotus&ash’s cards celebrated their four years in college and wished them the best of luck in the real world, sans problems sets and all-nighters, but reminded them that they’re always encouraged to come back and visit… often… very often.
graduation party invites came in three designs this year – a simple, and classy CHEERS!, a picture card that celebrated the friendship of three best friends, and the slightly more scandalous inside-joke invite that featured fond memories of pub nights, grey’s anatomy and bottles of $2 champagne.
party nametags made it known who the graduates were, and that they were, in fact, graduates with a simple check box at the bottom of the tag. and greeting cards were aplenty in the lotus&ash office, remaining blank until the actual graduation ceremony. pauses between the wacky walk, president henessy and oprah proved to be the perfect time to fill up the blank space.
