Design challenge, day 23, Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland

If you live in the Orlando area and have never been to the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, you should make a trip out. It’s only $5 to get in and they have all kinds of raptors – owls, hawks, falcons, eagles. I easily spend more than an hour there.

When you visit, they usually have one or two “Ambassadors” — the more well-behaved, resident birds. The staff take the ambassadors out into the public areas on their gloved arms and you can get up close and personal with them. The first time I went, I was amazed at how big some of the owls were (and how small American Kestrels and screech owls were)! You can get about a foot or two away from the small birds of prey they keep together at the back of the building, like the American Kestrels and small screech owls.

I had this picture of Olivia in my Flickr account and looked through the center’s Facebook and found that she died two years ago – don’t be too sad, she lived 14 years, which is about 11 years more than the average lifespan of a wild American Kestrel. The volunteers and staff at the center do an amazing job of taking care of these beautiful birds. Since 1979, they’ve treated over 12,000 injured or orphaned birds of prey, releasing more than 40% back into the wild.

 

Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, Maitland, FL

Design challenge, day 22, Odd Jobs Gin

I’ve got a subscription to Crunchy Roll and John and I have been watching Gintama, a light-hearted anime about this lazy dude that does odd jobs (poorly). John had the idea to do a Gintama-inspired design challenge today.

Odd Jobs Gin, Gintama

Design challenge, day 17, seating chart

Another piece for the wedding. We had our final meeting with the caterer today – gave our final headcount, picked out our table settings – things are really coming together.

We need to talk to our venue to see if this layout could even work in the space we’re in, but we’d love to have the sweetheart table in the middle of all of the tables.

A wedding seating chart

Design challenge, day 16, Coffee and the Quill

John started a blog this year to both work on his writing and to try to get his writing out into the world. His blog is titled “Coffee and the Quill”.

I wanted to create a logo/header for his blog. We discussed adjectives he’d use for his writing and himself: relatable, concise, and uninhibited were words that came up.

Gill Sans, to me, feels concise – it’s very to-the-point, no-frills, while still a bit round, so it has an air of friendliness. I also wanted to portray that ‘uninhibited’ feeling, so I used Bickham Script, which could have been written by the quill. And of course, the espresso coloring has an obvious origin.

Coffee and the Quill

Design challenge, day 15, Animal Crossing steals your life.

We got John an 3DS for his birthday, along with Animal Crossing, and it’s taking a lot of will power for me not to spend all of my free time playing.

I made this mock advertisement for the T&T Mart, where you can shop in Animal Crossing.

T&T Mart, Animal Crossing

And as a bonus, I found this awesome Animal Crossing rap when I was searching for ideas. It’s got some cussing, so don’t watch if you’re offended by a few little words.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UERzZzOHU9w&w=560&h=315]