My personal logo

Ever heard of the old proverb - "the shoemaker's children go barefoot"? I am a classic example of that. I have worked on many logos, monograms, and artwork for others...but i could never settle on a logo for myself.

I've started and stopped...tried different things and still i have never really been happy with what i came up with. I came up with this a few years back. And it has been sitting in my computer for over 2 years! Yes, i know that is really pathetic.

I never actually had the need for any printed collateral since most of my work was by referral. But it's high time to use - even just for the mere fact of not wasting the time that i spent working on it. Maybe one day, i will get around to using this for print, but for now - i can consider this personal project DONE!

Logo in Black and White

Logo in Color

Alaska Cruise - here we come!

My extended family went on an Alaskan Cruise out of Seattle this past summer.  My parents graciously took their entire "clan" on a family vacation.  (Thanks, Dad and Mom). No easy undertaking with all the different schedules, took a year to plan - 39 PEOPLE!!

Our family decided to do a cruise teeshirt. Yes, we knew it was tacky but ironically, it was very useful. Many of us are texting dependent when it came to communicating with each other; and on a big ship where there was no cell service....the shirts made us easy to spot each other. Even as we boarded the ship, people were making comments about seeing us (some comments, nicer than other, of course!). Even my daughter, Madelyn, fondly called us "a freak show" when we wore all our shirts.

About half of our group on the cruise ship

It was my task to design the shirts. I did the calligraphy in black ink and scanned the pieces into Adobe Photoshop. I created the final logo and added the type in Adobe InDesign.

In homage to my dad, we used the Chinese character "YEE". The "established date" was the my parents anniversary year. The hardest part of the shirt was deciding the color - 39 different people, many opinions. We let my dad, our revered patriarch, decide - he chose RED...because it was most auspicious color.

Yee Family Teeshirt Artwork

Our group wearing our Yee Family teeshirts (young and old!)

Though the teeshirts may not get much wear now that the cruise is over, it is a wonderful memento of  our family time together.

Letter from the past - Jaki Svaren

My husband and i recently cleaned our garage - much neglected by years of busyness and collections of kidstuff that kept piling up. What an undertaking - 2+ weeks of decluttering. My husband and i sifted through boxes of items we didn't even remember we had, accompanied by music to match the era (Michael Jackson) from an old cassette player (with the respective cassettes, of course!)

I recently found this letter from Jaki Svaren in a box of miscellaneous papers. This letter almost made me cry when i found it.

I took a class from Jaki as a young calligrapher in 1988. Jaki Svaren wrote the iconic calligraphy book, "Written Letters: 33 Alphabets for Calligraphers". I remember poring over that book, trying to copy all of the different alphabets. I was so in awe of Jaki's calligraphic abilities; since I was at the stage of my calligraphic schooling where i ABSORBED anything that i could get my hands on. There was no internet, only libraries of books and classes/workshops. And Jaki's was one of the best calligraphic reference books at the time.

What she said resonates with me NOW, 25+ years LATER. "I'm sure your skill and great artistic sense will lead you in a right direction. Don't worry about it. Enjoy the process (the trip) without being overly concerned about achieving a GOAL. Achievement comes."

It made me consider what how i measure "achievement" after all these years? Can a measure of my calligraphic "achievement" be that i've had the privilege of working with the same people for 15 - 22  years....collaborating my calligraphic work with their graphic design studios (Rachel Brandzel Creative - www.rachelbrandzelcreative.com  and Real Card Studio -www.realcardstudio.com)? Or can a measure of my "achievement" be that i still find challenge and joy in holding pen to paper, excited and relieved when the thicks and thins turn out "just right"?

However, i choose to measure my achievement - i know that the process has been an amazing experience where i have grown as a calligrapher and person.

My letter from the past is now posted on my wall as a reminder to "don't worry about it and enjoy the process" now and in the future. A reminder much needed - every time i sit at my desk and pick up a pen.....

Personal Monogram

I have done many monograms for clients, but when it comes to my own? I've struggled over my "own" collateral for years - i have a collection of half-finished icons that I never was totally happy with.

Recently, Heather at Real Card Studio started an instagram account for me (#karenyeechan). She asked me what i wanted for my profile picture while setting it up. Of course, i didn't have anything in mind at that very moment - so she searched her files, and found a random ampersand (not a bad choice, Heather!), and said "now, you are an ampersand".

I've been thinking about changing the Instagram profile picture and thought of this monogram, which i did years ago. I still find this compelling (i occasionally get tired of looking at my own stuff  - especially when i think i can do better!).

The colors of this monogram reminds me of a Progresso Soup Commercial where a woman is wearing a hideous bridesmaid dress in this same color scheme. She absolutely hates the dress,  but "loves her sister." Colors are bright and cheerful - just what i need on gloomy Seattle days, not to mention the contrast of colors shows great on an iphone.

The making of letters in every form is for me the purest and the greatest pleasure,
and at many stages of my life it was to me
what a song is to the singer,
a picture to the painter,
a shout to the elated, 

or a sign to the oppressed.
It was and is for me the most happy and perfect expression of my life.

Rudolf Koch (1876-1934)