Tip for back and neck pain

Remembering to move...


As a graphic designer I've found that sitting still in a chair for 8 hrs is very hard on your neck, lower back, and hamstrings. It's something that nobody really talks about, but I'm pretty sure it affects a lot of people. I was recenetly rear-ended which has amplified my pain. My chiropractor recommended a timer to remind myself to get up and move every 30 minutes. I went home and immediately downloaded this free timer for macs. It's very easy to set it up to chime every 30 minutes. It's a subtle reminder to nod your head yes and no and stand up for a second to stretch and to be more aware of your body so that you can sit with correct posture. Ahhh!

Other tips that work for me:
• Back bends such as camel pose to counter act the hunching forward. Laying on the edge of the bed with your head hanging off seems to do the trick for me too.
• Ice the area that hurts for 20 min.
• Wet heating pads help relax tense shoulders. Here is a DIY tutorial on how to make your own.
• Yoga is great for keeping the spine and overall body healthy. I use Yogatoday.com which gives me unlimited yoga classes streamed from the internet for 10$ a month.

What do you do to cope with your back/neck pain?

Typography + Chocolate

Two of my favorite things combined into one! These cute little moveable type can be found at typolade.

Inner Body Works New Identity

I wanted to share one of my freelance projects I designed last summer. Inner Bodyworks yoga studio came to me needing a new identity and website. I decided to get out the india ink for this project because the loose organic lines felt right for a yoga studio. After covering my living room floor with india ink sketches, I narrowed down to the best few and showed those concepts with the client. We ended up going with a simple abstract representation of the word innerbody. It can also read as a person with their hands interlocked above their head. I included a bit of my process so you can see what that is like.

The website is designed to be simple and easy to use while evoking the mood of the studio. The patterns used in the collage are from the studio. I also softened the photographs to communicate calmness.

Arabesque Graphics

I'm always curious about what is "good design" in other countries. I'm especially intrigued by the typographical styling for languages with a different character set.I came across Arabesque- the book here. It looks really cool from the few sample pages on the website. The graphics seem very authentic and they strike an emotional chord for me which is hard to achieve. Nice work!