Lipstick & Bruises

Posted in Adventures In Daily Life on June 30, 2009 by Kris Heding

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a birthday party aboard a party bus. It was for Michelle, who turned 21. Michelle is my boyfriend Nic’s sister, and she’s a riot. Now, I had seen these party buses around the Twin Cities on Friday and Saturday nights, especially when I’ve been downtown to see a show. They’re converted former school buses, which have been painted in bright colours or animal fur patterns. There’s a toilet on the buses, an area for a keg, and rope lights and disco lighting all along the ceiling. It’s pretty crazy.

The bus we went on was called “The Pink Panther” and it was bright pink. I loved it. In fact, if I owned a vehicle, I would love to drive a gigantic pink school bus.

While I didn’t have much to drink over the course of the evening, I had fun dancing around and holding onto the seats for dear life so that I wouldn’t get thrown across the bus. Unfortunately, there are no bars to hold onto on the bus like there are on city buses, so at one point, the driver stopped suddenly and I went flying across the bus. I landed directly on my knee, which hurt, but it didn’t really start hurting until I got home at 3:00 A.M.

That photo was taken the next day, and I thought it looked terrible then. A few days later, the bruise had spread even further and started turning various shades of purple and green. Two weeks later, it still hurts, and it looks even more frightening. Granted, I bruise really easily, and it takes ages for bruises to heal. Gotta love it.

All in all, it was a fun experience. I’m not really a fan of bar-hopping, but just hanging out and having an impromptu dance party on a giant pink bus is pretty amazing.

Almost as amazing as the guy outside of a bar downtown at bar close who pulled off his shirt and twirled it around his head while we were blasting Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and singing along.

Phaedra’s Love

Posted in Graphic Design, Theatre on June 23, 2009 by Kris Heding

I finished the postcard and poster designs for Red Letter Theater’s production of “Phaedra’s Love.”

(Postcard Design)

(Poster Design)

I’m quite happy with how these turned out. It was fun to play with grunge brushes a little.

Missing Star “Life Moving Backwards”

Posted in Graphic Design, Music on June 2, 2009 by Kris Heding

I just finished up designing an album cover for Missing Star, and I’m happy with the results.

John Moore had very kind words to say about me:

“I have dealt with many designers throughout my years of performing music and Kris and her work rose above all of them. Her professionalism and patience are fantastic. You won’t find better artwork for your musical project at such an affordable price.”

Warm fuzzies!

Breast Cancer 3-Day Postcard

Posted in Charity, Graphic Design on April 5, 2009 by Kris Heding

A friend of mine is participating in the breast cancer 3-day walk, and she asked me to design a postcard to promote her team’s fundraising event.

The design is based around the current 3-day logo the Susan G. Komen foundation is using to promote the 3-day walk. I had to re-create it, and then add the additional text.

You can find out more about the 3-day walk at the Breast Cancer 3-Day website.

The Comedy Craze

Posted in Graphic Design, Other on March 23, 2009 by Kris Heding

I recently completed a project for Behind The Wheel for a comedy showcase in Madison, WI.

Galileo

Posted in Graphic Design, Theatre on February 23, 2009 by Kris Heding

I recently finished designing the postcard for Theatre Pro Rata’s upcoming production of Galileo.

The photo was taken by the talented Charles Gorrill, and I added in the planets, star field, and text. The production begins on April 4th, so if you’re in the Twin Cities area, you should definitely come see it!

Words So Leisured

Posted in Graphic Design, Music on February 13, 2008 by Kris Heding

This is the page I designed for the book, Words So Leisured: An A-Z of Franz Ferdinand by Helen Chase.

There’s also a wee paragraph in the book about my involvement with the Franz Ferdinand fan club. Hurrah! (I hope it’s alright with Helen that I’ve typed this out here.)

“In keeping with their interest in all things retro, and their desire to communicate with the fans, the band readily agreed to Mark Hathaway’s suggestion that they should set up and old style fan club. The band’s commitment to it was demonstrated with the first issue when fans received a vinyl copy of Swallow Smile, couples with and acoustic rendition of Take Me Out recorded exclusively for the fan club. Franz Ferdinand fan Kris Heding was approached by Mark and asked to help with the graphic design aspect of the fan club, towards the end of 2005. She says, “Of course, I agreed to do it. At first, I didn’t realize how much involvement I’d actually have, but I’m pretty much responsible for everything ‘arty’ relating to the fan club. I’m very interested in the styles of art that have influenced the designs of their album/single artwork and videos — Constructivism, Bauhaus, Suprematism, the Russian avant garde and the art of twentieth century Soviet propaganda. I’ve been able to create designs that are unique to the fan club, but still reflect the band’s artistic style. The artist Aleksandr Rodchenko has been the biggest inspiration for me. I based the artwork for the Swallow Smile single and the cover of the second issue on his work. Designing the single artwork was the most fun, as it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Designing for the fan club is great fun and it gives me an opportunity to gain a lot of experience in the graphic design field.”

You can order the book from HMV, Amazon and other music retailers in the U.K.

Metamorphoses

Posted in Graphic Design, Theatre on February 13, 2008 by Kris Heding

I recently finished designing the postcard for Theatre Pro Rata’s next production, Metamorphoses. The source photo was taken by Charles Gorrill. I basically just added some visual effects and text to it.

For those of you in the Twin Cities area, you can check out the play from March 21 – April 7, 2008. Details can be found at Theatre Pro Rata’s website.

Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi

Posted in Graphic Design, Theatre on September 28, 2007 by Kris Heding

One of my most recent graphic design projects was to design a postcard and poster for the play, Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi for Theatre Pro Rata. It was a fun project! They printed up nicely, too.

If you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, you should go see the performance.