Susan Kurtz Graphics Blog

As the principal graphic designer for Open Gate Sangha, a non-profit in San Jose, CA, I work closely with Creative Director, Prema Maja Rodé. This collaboration always proves to be fruitful, and is often quite exciting. We have both acknowledged that it is in this process of collaborating that we can feel the “creative flow” as a living energy moving through us, effortlessly making choices not previously obvious to each of us individually.

While these collaborative insights often happen spontaneously on a project, the following Mandala Project was more slowly evolving, happening over a period of time, through multiple consultations and revisions. The subtle changes and refinements reflect a design all the better for the process.

The Mandala Project

Prema has been creating beautiful hand-drawn mandalas for many years, and has a gallery of these on her website. The mission was to take one of Prema’s mandala drawings and create a vector-based (scalable) illustration using the organization’s website colors, to be used on the web and in publications.

Here is the original mandala we chose for the project:

The first challenge was to interpret and simplify the mandala’s various elements into vector shapes, keeping the integrity of the original. Mandalas are used as a means of meditation: working on this mandala—choosing the colors and the gradients—was a meditative process in and of itself! Also, I wanted to create a feeling of spaciousness by creating a “window into emptiness” in the center of the mandala.

There are multiple versions between the first and the final. I will show just a few of the steps to illustrate the process.

Here is the first version:

The next version shows a change in the direction of the gradient in the center circle, plus a lightening and modification to the shape of the outside “petals” and the distance they are placed from the larger inside petals:

The final version shows an increase in the yellow glow on the large petals, a further refinement to the shape of the outside petals and another change to the distance they are placed from the inside petals:

Original mandala: © 2000 Prema Maja Rodé. Other mandala versions: © 2010 Susan Kurtz Graphics and Open Gate Sangha. All rights reserved.

Yesterday I went on an excursion to the seaside village of Carmel, CA with my friends Chris and Nicki. We had lunch and then walked around in the drizzling rain (under a huge umbrella) and explored the shops, galleries, and even a wine tasting room on an afternoon of sensorial treats and creative inspiration.

Here are some highlights of the afternoon:

• The exquisite black and white photography of Roman Loranc at the Photography West gallery.

• Smelling all the interesting, fabulous and sometimes bizarre soaps at Lush Life—a soap “deli.”  One of our favorites was the oats and molasses combo.

• Wine tasting at Cima Collina, a local artisan winery. Jane, the wine tasting manager, poured seven different wines for us. The grand finale was a rich, sweet Port accompanied by a piece of semi-sweet dark chocolate.

Lastly, I must thank Chris and Nicki for the pleasure of their company and for this memorable afternoon.

Read about the creation of the gorgeous graphics of the Vancouver Games in these two articles below:

Canada’s many cultures merge to offer fresh ideas and possibilities. The country’s multiculturalism inspires Vancouver 2010 to portray transformation and fusion as a major theme within the graphic identity. It also represents balance and connections between natural and urban environments, reflecting how Canadians live in and contribute to both surroundings.

~ quote from article, www.vancouver2010.com

The graphic identity of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics doesn’t speak to history. Rather, it’s entirely contemporary, taking what Canada is now, the differing layers and textures of society and art and life, and weaving that into an all-encompassing look. After all, the Olympics are about converging cultures—and so are the Vancouver 2010 graphics.

~ quote from article, www.howdesign.com

Just designed two new logos for two clients.

The first one is for Comcura (safety/management consulting):

copyright 2010 Susan Kurtz Graphics & Comcura

The second is for Mind Creates Body (biofeedback/hypnotherapy):

copyright 2010 Susan Kurtz Graphics & Mind Creates Body

Along with web design and development, I also offer web maintenance services on other sites, besides those I have created. For each new maintenance request, I offer a half-hour free consultation in order to first take a look at the site and the coding. I will offer suggestions for improvement on the site, for either the design, but most often to help streamline or clean up the coding for better website functioning.

Let me know if you would like me a free half-hour consultation and review of your site, and more information on my web services.