Fun table number idea

Sometimes here at Vivid City we cook something up that is so fun I can't help but share it right away! My dear Vivid City business partner Jamie is getting married next month, and we've been planning day and night. We came up with a super fun and easy way to make table numbers for her wedding.

We cut out cardboard numbers, and, with camera in hand, hit up some of Jamie and Bill's favorite Seattle landmarks. I love that some of them are classic Seattle (Pike Place Market), but some are more subtle (cheers-ing at their favorite bar, Kells). These will be framed and placed on each table at the reception.

Here's a sneak preview. Aren't they so stinkin' cute? I am loving this idea!

Pike Place Market flower stands

Pike Place gum wall--gross but awesome

Color!

I'm always interested in how advertising and marketing uses color to enhance, clarify, and create campaigns. In my past life as a photography buyer, I spent so much time doing photo research that I could pick out where most images in print campaigns I'd see around town came from. I am still on the email lists of quite a few stock photography houses, and I just recently received a case study from Aurora Photos about a campaign they did for a neighborhood bank in Maine. They did TV ads, print ads, brochures, and other collateral. I think the campaign has so much vibrancy and energy that they would have missed with a "quieter" color palate. The bank has even reported a direct return on investment. Check it out!

Photography Searching Made Easy

I've been meaning to post about this website for a while now, but I'm just getting around to it now. For two years, a large part of my job was purchasing stock photography, picking images for marketing campaigns and magazines, and being the general go-to-gal for all things photography at my company.

I'd spend hour after hour searching for that perfect image for a campaign. You cook up this visual in your head of the perfect image, and then it is almost impossible to find an existing image that meets your imaginary criteria.

I recently heard from a contact at Masterfile about their new search functionality. It has been around for a few months now. It is AWESOME. It was actually honored at the Webby Awards. They have tools called "SimSearch" and "Visual Matching" where you can take an existing photo, and it will recommend other images that suit it well. I don't know how they do it. Tiny elves? Magic wands? Some kind of potion? (see why I don't work in tech?) However they did it, they did it well. Check out these examples:

Masterfile has posted a demo video here.

Deeeee-licious

Earlier this summer I did a photo shoot for my friend Kari's website, Bling Cakes. She makes the most delicious cupcakes and sells them all over Seattle. 

I took some photos for her website--with the added bonus of getting to eat the cupcakes after the work was done!