I often get asked by people how they can learn graphic design if they don’t have expensive computer programs like Photoshop. And while knowing the Adobe suite is definitely needed if you want to go into graphic design professionally, it’s not necessary to start practicing the basics. In my new video Graphic Design Without a Computer, I went over drawing found typography using tracing paper and magazines. This is a great way to get really familiar with all of the letterforms in various typefaces and styles, and it’s fun to make new compositions using only found type from magazines or newspapers or other sources. I definitely had a lot of fun getting off the computer and drawing typography by hand again – it’s been way too long since I’ve drawn with charcoal or tried to be really precise with graphite, and so it was great to get back into it.

I also began to cover page layouts and their hierarchy in the video, which I’ll be delving more into in the next episode. For now though, just tracing the layouts and separating the content from the design is a great way to get back to basics and start understanding the way the eye moves around a page and how all the different elements fit together.

I hope you guys like these drawings I did for the video, and feel free to send me your own on Twitter or Tumblr!

The exercise I did sophomore year of RISD, which inspired this video.

More layouts coming soon…

When I was making my Recommended Books, Blogs, and Music video a few weeks ago, I had the idea to recommend a set of books not based on their content but on their spine and cover designs and how they would look on a shelf together – an idea which I’ve termed Visual Playlists of Books. Just like music playlists are made up of different songs that go well together or tell a complete story, I tried to organize these books by color, size, and length, though of course I was limited by the books I already own.

As always, click any of the photos to see a larger version. I’ve put together a few different sets, but I’d love to see what else you guys can come up with using your own personal libraries! Feel free to send me photos of your own Visual Playlists on my Twitter or Tumblr, and thanks so much for reading!

Two weeks ago, I went to the Fire Dancing Expo in Union Square, San Francisco, organized by the Temple of Poi. Armed with a photographers pass and my T3i, I got a ton of really great photos and video. All of the performers were incredibly talented, and it was the first time I had seen real fire poi routines, especially by teams in large choreographed groups.

I took some photos of the performers the normal way, but I also had fun taking abstract photos of the fire swinging around and making crazy patterns in the air. I experimented with changing the zoom while the shutter was open for shots with several-second-long shutter speeds, and some of the photos look like something straight out of science fiction.

Thanks to Isa “GlitterGirl” Issacs for organizing the show, and be sure to check out Temple of Poi for more information about the sport. Thanks for reading!

When I watched Charlie McDonnell (charlieissocoollike)’s video Don’t Break the Chain last week, I knew that I had to design a calendar to try it out for myself. The idea is that you set a task and a minimum time for something that you want to do every day – whether it be exercise for 30 minutes or study French for an hour. Every day that you complete the task, you X the day off the calendar, and as you get a longer and longer string of X’s, it becomes more motivation to do that task every day so that you don’t break the chain.

Originally I had wanted to draw the whole calendar by hand, but as I began sketching it out, I knew that it would take far too long and I’d never get it done by May 1st. So, I hopped on Photoshop and laid the whole thing out in one of my new favorite fonts, which I originally bought for last week’s style videos. I decided to only design it in black and white so that people with only black and white printers wouldn’t get a sub-par product, and also so that people could customize it however they wanted, like this or this.

Fun fact – on the night April 30th when I was finishing up the design, I had a terrible headache, but I really wanted to get it done by the 1st. So, I ended up squinting at the computer lining up numbers and editing photos while clutching my head in pain. But I’m so glad I got it finished that night and I think it came out really well!

And finally, to answer a very frequently asked question, I will indeed make a full-year version. Just send me a reminder in December, and if there’s still interest, I promise I’ll design it by January 1st :)

You can download the PDF of the calendar right here and check out the original Tumblr post right here. Thanks so much to Charlie for making the video that inspired this, and I hope all of you find it useful when trying to stick to your goals!

It’s been a long time in the works, and it’s finally here – my new personal style videos and spring photoshoot. As you can see in the main video, I began defining my new personal style by deciding on a new color scheme. I’ve been wanting to make the switch from red to lime green as my go-to color for a while now, and I finally made that leap. Along with the green, I’ve also really been loving sky blue, goldenrod, sepias, silver, and of course, black and white to add a much-needed graphic and bold element. This color scheme has been influencing many aspects of my life – from my apartment design, to my social media branding, to my clothing, and so much more. Maybe I’m just crazy, but if my twitter icon can match my shampoo, and my nail polish lives in the same design scheme as my dining room table set-up, I feel so much more put-together, and inspired to continue making more and better graphic design.

I also wanted to make a video defining my new personal style. I ended up splitting this up into four videos – a main video with an overview of the project; a video about my clothing, apartment, and photoshoot; a video about my favorite books, blogs, and music of the season; and a video about my Spring Resolutions. Some people will probably find them boring and excessive, and skip over them in favor of my more specific graphic design videos, but I find defining all of this on video helps solidify it in my mind, and I hope it’s inspiring to at least part of my audience if they decide they want to undertake a similar project.

As you can see in the video about my new Spring Resolutions, I will be updating this website design over the next few months. I try to update my site design about once a year, and it’s definitely overdue by now. I want to allow for much larger photos on the homepage, and update the Portfolio page with all of my newest projects, since it’s about a year out of date by now. And of course, brighten up all the colors to go with my new personal color scheme. I will continue posting about all my new projects on here in the meantime, but if there are any new features or information you’d like to see in the new site design, feel free to let me know either by commenting on this post or on Twitter.

And finally, the spring photoshoot. I haven’t taken a nice set of matching, high-quality photos of myself since Halloween, and while those were fine for the winter, they’re a bit costume-y and dark for the spring. I asked my friend Alex to help me with another photoshoot, and below you can see the results. I’m really happy with how the photos came out, and I’m so glad to have a new set of updated photos to use across my various social media platforms.

I’d love to know what you think of the photos and the videos and my new style make-over! Feel free to get in touch either through the comments of this post, in the comments of the main YouTube video, through Twitter, or over email: karenkavett@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

I love making typography 3D, and papercraft is an easy and fun way to do this. After a year of my viewers asking for it, I finally made the video tutorial of the method I’ve developed. Click through to the video description on YouTube for a list of materials and instructions written out. And I hope you enjoy the video and the additional photos I took of the final product!

Over the past few months, I’ve had a lot of fun creating decorative wine bottles, so I wanted to make a video showing everyone how to make my favorite one – the map collage bottle. I’ve been really inspired by content posted to various map-related Tumblrs lately, and collaging the maps in this way makes for a really interesting and beautiful texture. I also had fun using the macro lens I borrowed from a friend, and may have gone a bit overboard with the gratuitous focusing. But, I hope you enjoy the video and additional photos below, and let me know if you decide to make one!

A week ago, I had the idea to make a video about one of the most hated typefaces in history: Comic Sans. Whether or not you think it’s well designed, it’s had a big impact in graphic design over the past decade, and I was curious about who designed it and where it came from. The story actually ended up being really interesting, so I’m glad I got to share it with my YouTube audience.

After the success of the Comic Sans video, I decided to make a video about the backstory of the other most hated font of recent times, Papyrus. While I definitely am not a convert to using either font, I’m glad I know more about the story behind them. And also glad I got a chance to use Gunnarolla’s brilliant Comic Sans song in a video. Check out this playlist if you want to see more of my graphic design videos, and be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss any of the new videos I post (I already have an awesome one planned for next weekend!).

The view from underneath my dining room table.

Ever since I got my new camera (the Canon T3i), I’ve been posting photography on my Tumblr, but I thought I’d gather some of my favorite photos here, so they don’t get lost in the netherworld of Tumblr archives. Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

Last week, I went on a business trip to Zurich, Switzerland. It was my first time to Europe, and even though I was only there for a few days, I had a great time. Luckily, I had the whole day on Saturday to actually see the city of Zurich, rather than work all day, and I wanted to share the photos I took. Many thanks to my new friend Judith for showing me around!

(Click on any of the photos to see a larger version)


Apparently Zurich has more fountains than any other city in the world. However, it was so cold that almost all of the ones I saw were frozen solid.

Our fancy breakfast, where I ate the best omelet and hot chocolate I’ve ever had in my life.

I’m so inspired to recreate this design somewhere in my own apartment!

Even the sale decals on the shop windows were beautifully designed.

This shot got a bit covered by my glove, but it was too pretty not to share.

I loved the 3D letters in this window display!

Bacon thin crust pizza. Again, absolutely delicious.

I spotted this guy on top of yet another fountain.

Some gorgeous posters outside a theater.

At one point during the day, we stopped into an English-language bookshop, where I just had to hunt down a copy of The Fault in Our Stars (sadly not signed).

This is a board game designed to teach you about Switzerland if you plan to move there. I love the box design!

With Judith, who volunteered to show me around Zurich after she saw the video where I mentioned I would be visiting.

I attempted to take this photo while standing on the above-ground subway/train thing (not sure what it’s actually called over there). These were the cleanest trains I have ever been on.

Back on Swiss Air to head home. Honestly, I never want to travel on any other airline again. They give you so much food it’s kind of crazy, and everything is beautifully branded.

Thanks for scrolling all the way through my photos! If you’re not sick of me yet, check out my newest video, which has a bit of footage from Zurich as well: