Ski Designs and New Techniques

by Amanda Guy -- Our Designer

​Happy ‘pre-Friday everyone! As we approach the end of yet another week here at the Wheelhouse, I’m happy to report that things have really been coming up Wheelie! From office updates, to fun and new designs, we are fired up for the weeks, months, and year ahead.

THE OFFICE

This week has been wonderful due to the face that it is officially “quiet” around here. Granted, we get a little riled up on occasion, especially when new contracts are signed, and projects are completed, but it has been quiet and we love it!​

The last few weeks, the office has been under construction as painters worked on the south facing side of the building filling in holes and covering the siding in a fresh coat of paint. Roofers have been stomping around putting new cedar shingles on and fixing leaks in this historic, old place, and we could not be happier with the outcome. 

We’ve been told that next summer the rest of the office exterior will be painted and Wheelie we be all sparkly and fresh. We’ve really grown to love our office space over the last 8 months. The space is really feeling like our own as of late, and we are getting back into the groove of things. More decorating might even be happening in the near future on the interior.

WHEELIE DESIGNS

Recently we’ve been able to find a bit of time to dedicate not only to our portfolio, but to some fun designs created specifically for our in-house archive.​

I was beyond stoked when Lisa approached me a few short weeks ago and asked me if I’d be interested in working on some Ski designs. Obviously I wanted to do this and I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve had several ideas rolling around in my head for the last year about snow gear and design, and to actually be able to put pen to paper and mouse to artboard really raised the stoke level around here.

I started with sketching some things on paper and then worked with a few textures, fun, poppy colors, and created a few different designs that I’m pretty proud of. You may have seen a few of these on our Wheelie Instagram account recently, but here are they are again for you to take a look at. 

The most recent pair of skis, The Wheelie DZ, referring to the ‘Drop Zone’ was extremely fun to work on because I learned some new tricks in Illustrator with a super fun online tutorial—(Lisa likes to yell at us to get in the DZ at least once a day when she wants to Air Drop files to us. You see, us design nerds refer to Air Drop as the DZ (Drop Zone) and like to use it for other references as well, whether it’s for mountain biking, skiing, or snowboarding)--Anyway, like I was saying, I learned some new techniques, like how to utilize brushes, patterns, and swatches all together at once. I used skills that I’ve learned in the past to work on this design, but there were shortcuts that I may not have necessarily used before, and I’m always excited to learn new tips and tricks in Illustrator. Creative Cloud is constantly updating, and new features come about that help our workflow even more.

A LITTLE CONTINUING EDUCATION 

I talked a bit about learning in that last paragraph, and I want to share with you all, once again, how much I love working at Wheelie. The learning aspect is one of the biggest reasons for this.​

I know in a lot of careers, continuing education can seem sort of boring, and not overly exciting. However, for me, it’s one of the best parts of my work week. I'm encouraged to take some Amanda time to design for fun at last once a week and try new things. I love sharing the things I’ve learned with Lisa, Dan, and Courtney. These new techniques keep us innovative and current. Popular design techniques are constantly changing, and the more and more we learn what’s current and will work with timeless design traits, the better we are at our jobs.

If you’re interested in all that Wheelie has to offer, check out our services page, give us a call, or shoot us an email at highfive@wheeliecreative.com.

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GIVE BACK TO GLACIER WEEK IS THIS WEEK!!!

As a lot of you already know, we work with the Glacier National Park Conservancy, and with this week being GIVE BACK TO GLACIER week, they are collecting donations to help with the many projects to help make the park even better. ​

Celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service. This week only, you can double your gift. Thanks to a generous match from the Windmill Foundation, every dollar the Conservancy raises this week will be doubled, up to $50,000.

Text GLACIER to 406.206.0336
or visit GLACIER.ORG to donate today.