Both designs I submitted were runner-ups (yay!) and will be for sale on Minted.com for the holiday season soon. Each of the designs have an alternate color combination, too.

There were more contest entries this time and so many wonderful designs!

You can view the winning designs and hear what David Turner of Turner Duckworth had to say about his selection. (Congratulations, Annie Clark!)

Most of what he had to say I had thought about and with templates it seems a delicate balance of pushing the envelope and accommodating the various permutations of customer-supplied imagery. Given that we were supplied with three images from which to choose, this contest as the previous, were custom designs and I thought many of the designers did a great job.

With any design job where photos are not created specifically for a job, the results can be a crap shoot. In fact, even commissioned photography can be a crap shoot though rare thankfully with careful, thoughtful vetting, assigning and editing. And as designers, we work within constraints and work hard to deliver fantastic results no matter what the challenges.

So in the case of photo card templates, photo guidelines for customers seems a way to help both sides. And really, spend a little more for high quality images. It’s worth it!

Here are my submissions for the contest:

Peppermint Spark

Oh Joy!

I’m among a group of some seriously talented designers.

Please head over to Minted and cast you vote. You can rate all the designs on a scale of 1 (Not so much) to 5 (Love it).

Voting is open until June 20, 2008.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that while I didn’t place in the top spots, Minted wanted to sell my design through their site as a runner-up!

Here is the design as it was entered in the contest:

The design had to be tweaked to just one photograph for sale and you can find the design at Minted > Weddings > Save the Date Cards.

It didn’t take long and that one hour away from concepts, mockups and code in the wee hours of the night was bliss.

(Apologies for May being so dry with a lack of postings. It really has been nutty!)

Here’s a sampling of some of my favorites from the pack:

Next up: Note cards, stickers and more Mini Moos!

So in print to web transition-land, I think I’ve said this before: Making the transition from print to web is not an easy one.

There is much more involved than I could have anticipated. I suppose because I’m also interested in understanding the technical aspects behind the design of websites, I’ve created somewhat of a monster of expectations of my self in the last 9 months.

Why? I’ve always had high expectations of my self. And I suppose I know how lucky I am to have had the time and funds to go back to school. With all that is going on in the world right now, learning web design may seem like a small thing and it feels like my safety net.

I finish the Spring term this week and have only one more required class during the summer to complete the Web Design Certificate from Portland State University. Hooray!

Of course, there’s much more to learn and I think I deserve a much-needed break before starting the next round

Visit fiftythousandshirts.com to help one person give hope, together.

Since then awareness of water in our lives is heightened and we have made greater efforts to be more conscious consumers of water.

For example, we make every effort to take shorter showers. We use more water-friendly soaps and detergents (and less of it since it so concentrated). For our garden, we make every effort to carefully choose non-invasive, drought-tolerant and low-maintenance plants. We compost rather than shooting things down the disposal or the trash and we use the dishwasher…

Those are just a few small things.

(A very cool video by NAU and GOOD magazine. Transparency: Water reminds me of what used to be MTV)

Still, awareness is one thing and the follow-through is a challenge when water and so many other resources seem so readily available. For those of us living in the US, we’re more fortunate than many others; however, as we continue to place more strain on the environment and our resources, Americans will begin to feel more than just a slight impact if not already.

Rick (Smolan) was persistent in reminding the editorial team: “It’s not just over there.”

My husband and I can do better as a household to manage our footprint and impact on the Earth. Living in Portland, Oregon helps. One great mission of this city is to encourage sustainability and being green. Not everyone does it and those who do find it easier to do so because we’re doing it as a community.

As a designer working from home, I don’t commute and there are still ways I can minimize resource consumption as a “soloist” and practice sustainable design.

While I practice the basics of recycling and have the thermostat down enough that my fingers are constantly ice cold (solution: fingerless gloves and layers), sustainable design is a relatively new concept for me and I’m learning more about it in my Strategic Design class at Portland State University taught by Dana Plautz.

It’s my hope that as I continue my path as a designer, the people — clients, colleagues, neighbors, friends and family — I collaborate with also see and understand the immediate and long term values of consuming, designing and utilizing sustainable products and technologies.

It’s a great challenge to create solutions with the whole in mind. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that what is created benefits our planet and takes steps to give a better legacy for future generations.

Tito Dupret, a Belgian photographer has been creating 360 degree panoramas of World heritage Sites for the past seven years.

It’s an amazing mission.

If traveling to see the sites in person is not an option, this is an excellent alternative and experience.

I was expecting the images to be made without people and was pleased to see many in the frames. The presence of people gives each site a wonderful sense of scale and context.

This is the beginning of an incredible resource for many and with a little help from all of us, it will be a lasting archive.

Sign up at WHTour.org to view the panographies full-screen (incredible on a 24-inch imac!) or print them out to fold and hold a 3D model.

Ron is a wonderful person and a exceptionally talented craftsman. Every time I look at his work, I am mesmerized and reminded of all things of beauty. And, I am a big fan of beauty.

This image is from his promotional post card.

His latest book, “Aurora“, published by Nazraeli Press, has also been released. A book signing is scheduled for this coming Saturday, April 5, 12 to 3 p.m. at the Froelick Gallery.

For more images, read my interview with Ron at COLOURlovers.com.

He was made known to many of us in the film, The Killing Fields.

Check out photographs and an interview with Dith Pran at NYTimes.com.

This is a nice quote by Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times:

To all of us who have worked as foreign reporters in frightening places, Pran reminds us of a special category of journalistic heroism — the local partner, the stringer, the interpreter, the driver, the fixer, who knows the ropes, who makes your work possible, who often becomes your friend, who may save your life, who shares little of the glory, and who risks so much more than you do.

Rest in peace.