We are so excited to feature the desk of one of our designers: Emily McCarthy designer of Twist! Her desk is fabulous and full of fun colors just like her designs for Twist! Thanks for sharing your office, Emily!
Background: A corner room in our little 1941 Bungalow home in historic Savannah. This room had the most windows! Lots of mementos like photos of loved ones, an old aqua trunk my grandparents used when they traveled across seas, favorite copies of magazines, books for inspiration, selections from my collection of milk glass pedestals, my kitty {Dallas}, my chocolate lab {Bailey} is usually pacing to go outside, giant lemon painting from a local artist, inspiration board and order form line-up.
The Desk: The desk belonged to my husband and his family. My friend, Elizabeth (www.shopsatchel.com) made the custom slipcover along with coordinating covers for the wing chairs.
Chair: A White banker’s chair from Ballard Designs with an orange zebra cushion for comfort. My large Longchamp tote hangs on the back ready for meetings.
Clock: On the mac.
Paper: Lots of paper around! Whether it’s new orders arriving or old samples for inspiration.
Calendar: I’m totally old-school and can’t seem to graduate to the digital calendar. I’m stuck with my old leather planner where I can see the month at a glance!
Charging: iPhone and Nikon camera battery
‘Thank You’: Believe it or not, my stationery is located in the kitchen by the stamps and embosser. I find it’s much easier to write a quick note and go!
Flat note or folded stationery: I like both depending on the purpose. Although it’s more traditional for women to have folded notes, I love the flat note. I love putting a bold pattern on one side and the greeting on the reverse. I have everything from Crane “Mrs. Patrick D. McCarthy, Jr.” to witty kate spade boxed notes.
Organization: File folders from Whitney English and the sticky note app running list on my desktop.
Handwritten or emailed: Depends on the purpose. Emailing for most business correspondence so I have a record of conversations, handwritten for thanking friends and family.
Favorite current trend: I’m loving this vintage look everyone’s going for right now. I like making it new mixing in bold colors and patterns. It’s funny, I have different trend favorites depending on what I’m designing. For Twist, I love chevron, lattice, ikat and bold geometrics. For wedding paper, I love vintage clippings mixed with traditional elements.
Books: Anything from home interior like Kelly Wearstler and Domino, to wedding inspirations like Tara Guerard. Also, love travel books to my favorite places like Capri and places I want to go like Ireland. Throw in a few books on etiquette and the kate spade style books and I’m set!
Color: Aqua, Turquoise, Hermes Orange, Burnt Yellow and Grey
Magazine: House Beautiful and Coastal Living, love the Wedding classics like Martha Stewart, Weddings Unveiled and Southern Weddings.
Favorite Stationery: Letterpress!
Last Party Invitation sent (and occasion): Baby shower for a friend of mine. I did custom liners to match and plan to accessorize the shower with signs, a banner, favor tags and utensil wraps.
Business: emma j design {weddings + branding + product design}, Twist Paper {A Whitney English Company}
Day-at-a-glance: Coffee! Check Email + Social Media. Design. Take Bailey out. Design. Attempt to make lunch. Make Green tea. Design. Sometimes have a Meeting. Wonder if it’s 5:00 yet. Pour Chianti at 4:59. Make Dinner. Spend time with the hubby!
Current Project(s): Twist Party { Entertainment ware line to coordinate with Twist Paper – available Spring 2011 }, custom Wedding Look book for retailers, a couple of branding projects, beginning stages of a few Spring weddings.
Planning: As much as it’s important to plan, you have to be a little flexible. In creating new designs, I have to wait for it to come to me before I can really start working on the computer. For instance, last night, I was trying to go to sleep and a client’s logo concept just popped into my head. Now, I can dive into Illustrator to start working on it!
Don’t forget to check out Emily’s design blog: A Savannah Red Top
Do you have a darling desk? We are currently looking for bloggers/designers/stationers extraordinaire to highlight in our “Desk” feature. Email us at whitneyenglish@yahoo.com if you’d like to share a photo of your desk with us, or to suggest other blog topics and ideas.
Do you have a darling desk? We are currently looking for bloggers/designers/stationers extraordinaire to highlight in our “Desk” feature. Email us at whitneyenglish@yahoo.com if you’d like to share a photo of your desk with us, or to suggest other blog topics and ideas.
I love seeing the desk of a real stationery designer! Thanks for the sneak peek!