We are still accepting entries to the Simcha Logo Giveaway. If you or any one you know will be making a simcha in the upcoming year this is a contest for you. For more information about the contest follow the contest link. You can see samples of logos on the store website as well as in the cover design category.
Just a reminder that the simcha (celebration) logo give away is still on. One simcha logo and a runners up prize of $18 off a purchase here are up for grabs. Useful to anyone who is celebrating a rite of passage so feel free to send a friend a link to the contest. See the post about the contest for full details of the contest.
The recent news of the IRS/US Treasury extending the date for submission of the FBAR and amnesty to Americans with unreported foreign accounts (that according to US law require reporting) has led me to think that it may be worthwhile to extend the contest a bit. The extension for the FBAR was to help people who had trouble getting all their paperwork together in a timely fashion, and I am thinking that during holiday season people may have a similar problem. I’ll keep you posted about that.
Just wanted to post a recent project done for Ohev Sholom-The National Synagogue in Washington. Ohev Shalom is a great shul with a dynamic, innovative rabbi (disclosure- we are related, but I still think he does great stuff!) and welcoming community. I am always impressed with the types of programs the shul runs, the outreach in the community, and the issues the shul focuses on.
This towel was intended as a high holiday gift for congregants. From my end, it was really a very simple project- putting a logo, contact information and al netilat yadayim (the blessing after washing ones hands) on a towel. Really doing what the customer wants but with a nice Hebrew font.
There was discussion about which direction to print the details (so people could fold it over in thirds, and still see the information, vertical, horizontal etc.) in the end the printing was done horizontally.
I have done towels before, but not machine printed. I did a series of shibori dyed and hand printed towels in shades of blues, purples, reds, and green. The synagogue towels feel really nice and soft, and the screen printing is quite clear and pleasant to read. I understand that these towels come in a nice variety of colors as well. The printing work was done by Marion Aaron & Associates, and Marion was quite pleasant to work with.
I was thinking about towels that were embroidered in the past for Pesach hand washing, with all types of animals and Passover imagery while working on these towels. One of these days I’m going to do towels with appropriate iconography but not only a hand washing cup. I recently had an opportunity to see many of these during a roots trip in Romania and Hungary during which we visited many Jewish cemeteries. I’m thinking that beer Miriam,or Miriam’s well, would be appropriate for hand towels too. I have a particular affinity to that symbol and the biblical and midrashic stories surrounding it. Perhaps one time I’ll blog about that.
Comment » | Celebrations, Design, General, Holidays, Judaica
The Hebrew date today is the 17th of Tamuz, a fast day which marks the traditional period of mourning for the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem (for more information see the OU’s resources about the three weeks.
To commemorate this, I am including two images I created for a non-profit organization in New York. They wanted to design a tile as a fundraiser. The idea was related to the concept that when building a home a Jew should leave a part unfinished to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, Beit Hamikdash. The Tile could be placed near the unfinished area or wherever. The final design was a variation of the green design but with a burnt look to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem.
I wanted to use a recent order to talk about the process of developing invitations and birkonim. For an upcoming wedding in August I sat down with the bride and we spoke about her style, her hatan’s style and I asked if she knew what she would like. This is usually the hard part, as many people do NOT know what they want. Often they have an idea of what verse they would like to use, or perhaps they would like to create a logo.
This is not a problem at all. I usually pull out my stock of invitations, Jewish art history books and books on Ketubbot such as Ketubbah: Jewish Marriage Contracts of the HUC Skirball Museum and Klau Library
I prepared a selection of designs. I usually do the complete design myself, but in this case part of the design made use of an element from opengraphicdesigns.com. Simultaneously we were also working on laying out the text of the invitation, choosing English and Hebrew fonts, making sure things were spelled correctly etc. After going back and forth a few times, the design as shown was chosen.
Below is the Hebrew text layout too. It’s cropped to protect the innocent on the web. 
The Hebrew font is a non-standard Hebrew font.
We then started to work on the birkon design. Because the couple chose one color ink birkonim, we could use the same design in its entirety. The couple decided not to include the verse on the birkon cover, and instead included their names and wedding date. The couple sent the invitation design to a printer of their choosing, and the birkon cover design was sent to our printer. After a review of a proof from the printer, the cover is printed and the order shipped.
I wanted to talk about a recent design project I did, and also plug the project! I think that it would be useful to my customers.
This project was a logo design for a new website Fun in Jerusalem. This is a site which provides information about family friendly activities to do in and around Jerusalem. Extremely useful for tourists and residents alike.
My contribution is just the logo design and business cards, but I have been checking the site out quite frequently to find ideas of things to do with my family and friends.
Check it out and recommend it to people who might find it useful.
