Kalico Design Featured on Want2Dish.com

Yay! We were recently featured on want2dish.com, a "hyper-local online news magazine that serves up comprehensive and trusted local coverage of community-specific information and happenings." I'm thrilled to be featured in want2dish's Business: Best Practices section. The article discusses how I got into the business, what we do, and what sets us apart—check out the full story here. (And, again, my dog Kai makes it into the main photo…he's so photogenic!)

The Real Super Bowl Highlights

So, last night's Big Game was pretty good, but the real highlight of the evening was the commercials! Was I the only one glued to the tv during the game's breaks...opting to go grab a drink, eat more food or take a quick break once the game actually came back on? Is that a bad thing? I just didn't want to miss any of the great commercials! Here is a list of my favorites (not necessarily in any order):

1. Audi. Vampire Party.
What can I say, I'm a Twilight fan, I'll fully admit it. And this commercial had me cracking up as soon as the two vamps started climbing the tree (which is at the very beginning). View the full commercial here.

2. GE + Budweiser.
This ad caught my eye right at the get-go simply because I have family in Schenectady, NY. But, I also thought the cross promotion of two super large corporations during the Super Bowl game was just interesting. Apparently this spot is not getting a lot of positive feedback, but it still stood out to me. View the full commercial here.

3. Volkswagon. Dog Strikes Back.
I'll admit it, I think I was most looking forward to seeing VW Super Bowl commercial, especially after catching some of the teasers they released online last week including this one. (cracks me up, every time!) And, I actually really liked the VW Dog Strikes Back commercial, although I could've done without the Star Wars ending. (I get they were trying to reference their successful Star Wars commercial from last year's SUper Bowl...just don't know if they needed to). View the full commercial here.

4. Chrysler. It's Halftime in America.
There's just something about Clint Eastwood's voice that captivates me. I thought this commercial was smart, and took on a very different tone than most of the typical, expected Super Bowl commercials. So therefore, it stood out. It's definitely one I will remember. View the full commercial here.

Some other things I liked about the commercials: I liked that Coca Cola brought back the polar bears, and I loved that Bud Light added the promotion  "Help Rescue Dogs" at the end of their Weego commercial, even though these commercials didn't make it to my favorites list.

So, what were your favorite 2012 Super Bowl commercials?

Holy Hell, Where Did January Go!?

Seriously! How is January over already! Historically, January tends to be one of our slower months at Kalico, usually a nice and quiet month— a breath of fresh air after the craziness of December. But, not this year! This January we have been extremely busy with lots of fun projects such as magazines, logos, custom invitations, conference materials, etc. (see some examples above). Trust me, I'm definitely NOT complaining, I just don't know where it all came from!

As I've met with fellow designers and other creatives in my hometown, it seems to be the same across the board. Everyone is uncharacteristically busy for this time of year! What does it mean? Are companies getting smart and starting to put money back into their design, advertising and marketing budgets? Or is this just a surplus from last quarter (which, according to multiple economic reports was one of the fastest growing quarters in the past year...).

What do you think? Did it just happen to be a busy January, or is it a forecast for designers and related professionals in 2012?