Mary Lankester Clearly Creative

And

I'm so excited! The website I've been working on is live! Check it out! https://childrensguild.org/

Home - The Children's Guild Alliance

I was very happy to see my logo design used to promote public schools around the country, as well as a stats layout and infographic

Shortly before her grand opening, the owner of a Beard Papa bakery in Georgetown approached me and asked me to make a menu board and flyers. Since Beard Papa—a Japanese franchise—specializes in cream puffs, she gave me some images of cream puffs as well as the menu. There wasn't a style guide, so I learned about the brand by examining what other franchisees had done. It was all over the place! I determined that their color scheme was yellow and navy and sometimes light blue. Their font was Bauhaus (both regular and Heavy). Working within the available dimensions—the wall area that would support the menu was a tall soffit behind the cream puff case. I presented the client with two options, and she selected her favorite. Later, I visited her store to see see the menu after it was up.

And yes, I bought some cream puffs while I was there; ohmigosh they were so delicious!

My daughter is in her high school’s theatre program. Often, when she is cast in a school play or musical, I am approached to design the poster, programs, and cast t-shirts for the show. The first time I was given this task was for the 2016 production of "You Can’t Take it With You" by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, about an eccentric family named the Sycamores who refuse to sacrifice their dreams to get ahead in life.

The show’s director and I had a lot of back and forth over how to design the poster. The original idea was to squeeze the Sycamores’ Victorian home between two apartment buildings, to show how they stay the same among a changing world. Unfortunately, the title of the play takes up a lot of space, so the apartment buildings had to go.

In the end, the title became part of the Victorian home, comically rendered to make parts of the house form the letters. (For example, a round window became the O in “You.”) Then—partly to make the poster easier to read, partly to catch the eye of the public, and partly because bright
colors just scream “Sycamore Clan”—the letters in the title were filled with solid colors in contrast to the black outlines and white background. As a finishing touch, I added little details that represented the different hobbies of the family members, such as fireworks (which Mr. Sycamore makes and sells) shooting out of the chimney. I also included Grandpa Sycamore’s pet snakes, and made sure to make them look as cute as possible.

The design was altered accordingly before being copied to make the shirts and programs. As my daughter tells me, the shirts proved to be very popular with the students; some kids even worked their show t-shirts into their regular school wardrobes. Needless to say, designing for "You Can’t Take it With You" began a regular gig volunteering for my daughter’s productions.

Photos from Mary Lankester Clearly Creative's post

We Win APD Award!

Mary Lankester Clearly Creative is proud to announce that, in partnership with Alizah Epstein of Epstein Creative, our MyselfBelts illustration has won the American Package Design Award! This design was one of 350 winners out of over 2,000 entries, and I couldn't be prouder!

For those who are unaware, MyselfBelts are fashion-forward belts with a one-handed clasp that makes it easier to open for young children, disabled people, and more. They come in a variety of styles, from expressive patterns to classy solids that are perfect for more professional settings. Just like their website says, "Say farewell to droopy drawers!"

My job as the illustrator was to use a supplied photograph as a reference and to render it using a simple outlined style. The illustration would demonstrate how the belt worked. This drawing also had to be flexible, so that it could be manipulated to fit the constraints of the printing area of the packaging.

Not only does an illustrative design look fun while being informative, it's also inexpensive. Without the costs associated with photography, the client was able to save money on packaging production.

Thanks again to Epstein Creative and the MyselfBelts team for their collaboration. You can go to https://www.myselfbelts.com/ to learn more about the product.

Mary Lankester Clearly Creative

Reposting from an earlier date..."I made this up for my kids for their upcoming graduation, and thought perhaps others may appreciate it." It is available as a pdf download (11″ x 17″) herehttp://marylankester.com/…/u…/2014/05/be-mentally-strong.pdf

Here's a personal project I'd like to share, an infographic of one of my favorite movies, "Casablanca."

Home - Brooklyn Tub Laundromat

Here is the website I made for Brooklyn Tub Laundromat:
http://brooklyntublaundromat.marylankester.com/

brooklyntublaundromat.com Our Services Laundry Service We provide same day service of wash & fold per the pound for both residential and commercial customers, pick up and delivery service or you drop off. We carefully sort all laundry into whites, lights and darks, and check for stains. Read More Ironing Do you need to dress…

About Abimbola and Brooklyn Tub Laundromat

Originally from Nigeria but having lived and worked many years in the U.S., Abimbola still burned with the same passion as a new Immigrant with the dream to start her own business. She learned that laundromats were an attainable investment and found one in the Brooklyn area of Baltimore, Brooklyn Tub Laundromat.
She came to me needing help with her identity, her website and a little marketing. The space itself had little to recommend it. We finally decided on an identity that would give her laundromat some character, promote the service aspect and touch lightly on the history of laundry service.
The website gave me an opportunity to do some photography and styling again, which was fun. Because her immediate need is to grow the service side of her business, we came up with this referral card that rewards customer referrals with a discount on laundry. Boy could I use that! Wish I lived closer!

Last September I designed a logo for the High School Reunion. So Seventies!!!

Here is some of the work from last summer, didn’t want to post until their event was over. These illustrations were done in partnership with Epstein Creative for an event invitation for MCAEL (Montgomery Coalition for Adult english Literacy). The event was for an adult Spelling Bee. I had lots of fun with the concepts even though they ultimately did not use them. "MCAEL envisions a culturally diverse community where dreams are achieved through the power of literacy."

In partnership with Epstein Creative, this proposed logo design is for the
t-shirts to be worn by the FHI 360 softball team."FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions."

It's been a very busy summer, but I managed to work on a few projects: designed in partnership with Epstein Creative, here is one where I illustrated the tree. "Hearts & Homes for Youth helps emotionally-troubled, abused, neglected, homeless and runaway youth through a variety of residential and supportive programs." This piece is promoting their upcoming fundraiser.

What can you do when it's 4:30pm and you say "I need a logo yesterday!" Who ya gonna call? Clearly Creative!

This is the proposed poster design.

Well they didn't think middle school boys would want to wear a t-shirt with three little maids, so I drew them one bad Mikado.

Proposed design for a t-shirt for my daughter's school play.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. You can help spread the word by using this as your profile image today.

Put together this little "leave behind" for my meeting tomorrow. It's a clear little packet that holds eight postcards showing my work. The front has a little clear pocket that holds my biz card. Kinda sweet!

A 40 page cookbook I designed using healthy gourmet recipes culled from the foodie blogosphere.

Yay! New biz cards arrived today!

A three double-page spread listing 26 self-written stories by jobholders presented in alphabetical order. Features one adapted and several original illustrations.

State of Oregon, Design and Publications

Sandy Actors Theatre

Eleni's Restaurants

She Flies With Her Own Wings