On becoming a pseudo-designer

You guys, I have been busy busy busy becoming a regular tech/creative genius over here.  (At least that's what it seems like to me.)

Here's a little snapshot of the design/tech projects I've been working on during the past couple months:

• Designed a logo for CrossFit 673 Jerudong.  Learned how to use Adobe Illustrator and took advantage of their 30 day free trial to create a logo for free!  I am no trained graphic designer, but this was seriously fun! If you missed it, check out the logo reveal in this post.

• Created our Christmas cards online (just Walmart.com) + Year in Review infographic using InDesign (hopefully this came in the mail to our friends + family already, sorry it was a little late!)  It was my first time using InDesign also, and I'll be using it again soon to work on a publication for Reebok CrossFit 673 so it was a good trial run/learning experience.  Also used the 30 day trial FOR FREE.  Seriously consider taking advantage of this-- you can get a lot done in 30 days!

• Revamped Reebok Crossfit 673's website using WordPress.  First time to work with WordPress since I'm a Blogger gal, and I have to say I think I liked it better??  (I won't be making a switch anytime soon, though.  Not ready to throw away all the work I put into half-learning html while trying to make this one look semi-cute.)  Below is what the site looked like before (a little boring & blah) and here it is now!  Still a work in progress at the moment, but a big improvement from what it used to be.

• After learning WordPress for that project, worked on creating a website for CrossFit 673 Jerudong too.  Haven't spent too much time on this one yet, so it's still looking a little rough around the edges, but it's a start!
• Made improvements to our own blog too.  Created a new header using Illustrator before my trial ran out that I like a thousand times better than the old one.  Learned what a favicon is and made one for us (P for the Paynes).  Added hovering 'Pin It' buttons to pictures in the blog.  Not that I currently have that much content that is pin-worthy, but it seems like the cool-kid blogger thing to do.  And maybe someday I'll get some more DIY or design posts up that would be worth pinning.

So there you have it!  I've had so much fun creating over the last couple months and it's genuinely exciting for me to recognize that I've learned SO MUCH through working on these projects and to share the results with you!  More to come soon!