"Top 10 Reasons Why to Vote for Me"

Okay world wide web. I hate to be a pest, but I still need tons of votes to move my home into the 2nd round of the "The Selby CB2 Contest". And the best way that I thought I can convince a few of you is by doing my version of Letterman's Top 10 List. Have a read and make a difference in my life. :)

1. Voting never hurt anybody; it's you're legal right.
2. Did you know, you can vote for more than one person in the "The Selby CB2 Contest".
3. By the time you finish reading this sentence, you could've voted already via Facebook.
4. You support me, and indirectly, you are supporting my boutique design shop.
5. Just maybe... you like me since you did befriend me on Facebook.
6. You think I actually have some interior decor skills.
7. I've kept your attention this long! Might as well vote.
8. You're making a difference in a person's life — that would be me. ;)
9. I am a creative, my home is creative, and I am creatively amusing you.
10. I freakin' made a "Top 10 List Of Reasons Why To Vote For Me!"

I hope by the end of the read you chuckled a bit, and you voted for "Townhome with Style". I seriously would appreciate it. And if you voted – THANK YOU!! But there is one more thing you can do that just takes 2 more seconds of your life. The vote doesn't have to stop with you. Please REPOST this on your Facebook wall, amuse others and convince your friends vote for me, too. Click here to VOTE for Chon

DWC Work: Interior Decor Moodboards

So here's what I have been up to lately the past couple of months – decorating! It's one of my newest services to the Design With Chon company. Ever since I decorated my own home, I have received several compliments and requests by individuals for me to guide the look and feel of their homes. And today, I am sharing with you guys some of the moodboards that I have put together for my various clients, and I am still currently working on evolving their spaces. Real images of the actual places will be posted later in the year.

Although my background is in graphic design/advertising, there are design qualities that can be bridged between graphic design and interior decor – color, texture and balance. Those three key words that I just described truly reflect my design aesthetic. Whether it's the color of Pantone inks printed onto 100 lb. cover weight Strathmore paper for graphic design, or Benjamin Moore paints onto a wall contrasted by a bold, patterned fabric wing chair, both creative fields require an eye for color, texture, and making sure all the elements work & balance each other in totality.

Chic Condo in the City

Asian-inspired Master Bedroom

The Ecclectic Urban Home

{Interior Decor Moodboards designed by Chon}

I do love the very clean-edged, minimal & modern style similar to Jeff Lewis from Flipping Out on Bravo TV (A great show by the way. You all have to watch it!), but at the end of the day when I am done designing, I want the furniture, color, art and sentimental items to reflect the personality of the homeowner. Who doesn't love coming to a home that feels like it's totally theirs and not a page in a furniture catalog? I know I don't and if you don't either, get in touch with me anytime. We can take the existing furniture in your home in combination with some new key pieces, fresh paint, fun accessories and transform your place into something totally new. You will look forward to coming home even more and just sitting in your very own space. :)

If you like what you see and think I have talent, please support me by voting on my place that I have entered into the "The Selby in your Place" CB2 contest. Click on this link: Vote for Chon. It's real easy, and it takes only seconds!

Featured Photography: Feather Love

It's Friday! And getting back to posting some good photography on Fridays again. Today, we have Feather Love with a recent engagement session shoot. The photographer appreciates all things vintage, and you can see it come through in her photography, but it's seen through a fresh & modern eye. Her framing and composition in her subjects is unexpected, but as you can see, they are quite beautiful and timeless.

{Images are from FeatherLove.com}

Wedding Invitations that Say It All!

I wanted to share with you all some fun, innovative wedding invitations that are well designed and each one truly reflects the style of the wedding to come. How fun would it be to receive one of these invites? I couldn't toss any of them since since I see them as forms of art. And a lot of them have one thing in common – the oh-so-beautiful letterpress print technique. It's my most favorite form of printing.

Flora Grubb – The Untraditional Arrangement

I have been in love with succulent plants for awhile now and my intrigue for succulent varieties became stronger after I discovered Flora Grubb. They are a very cute shop based in San Francisco and offer locally grown, garden-style floral arrangements for home, business and occasions. Click on Floral Portfolio to see their collection of work.

I love their nontraditional, eye-catching floral-like arrangements, and the fact that they are green conscious is even more lovely. Just look at some of ideas for table settings at these special events.

Not only are they innovative with special events decor, they have great ideas for the home, too. I totally want these glass Wall Bubble vases seen below! – very affordable, and it's like having sculptural art on your walls. You can stuff these bubble vases with other cool finds such as colored sand, stones, sea shells, etc.


They also have a glass bubble that can suspend from the ceiling – Hanging Terrarium Succulent Hanging Kit. Just another cool product that they sell on their website. Visit and explore FloraGrubb.com and they are sure to inspire you do something pretty original for your home or next special event.

{Images are from FloraGrubb.com}

Design w/Chon: Direct Mail Promotions

Back from vacation and as always playing catch up for the week that I was gone. It's good to be back since I was vegging way too much in the sun and eating way too much. Time to get back to normal and continue with posts to inspire you all. One last client project work to post, and then I will be moving on to the creative posts related to decor and wedding and whatever else pleases me... :)

This print project has been done for awhile. It just took some time for me to get it up. The My Travelscape business cards for Nisha turned out awesome (click here to see), and the stationery/promotional letter to promote the start & reveal of her new business venture was subtle, personal and clever for being a direct mail piece.

One thing about direct mail is that people get a lot of junk in the mail, and most of the time, it goes unnoticed and advertising money goes down the drain. So how does one stand out without looking like everything else in the mail? Personally, I toss everything, but the ones that I do happen to investigate further happen to look like personally addressed stationery in a formal envelope. There is one specific company that does this well, and I always seem to open their mail – Tiffany & Co. With that in mind, Nisha at My Travelscape is all about personalization and catering to her client's travel needs so I thought it would be perfect to use that same idea for her direct mail by combining her company's stationery and direct mail promo. In turn, it also cut down printing costs since we printed everything on press all at once.

For the direct mail promo, I wanted it to look natural as possible to the human touch. Visually, I wanted all the elements to come together and feel as though Nisha solely wrote, collaged and sealed this letter to her potential clients. To achieve this, we went with a stationery-like size, A6 envelope with a quaint letter-sized paper (6" x 8.5"), used a handwritten font with a lot of character to communicate her message, and blind embossed & spot varnished the polaroid photo to give it the tactility of a "real" polaroid. The only thing that really needed hand production from Nisha was the attachment of her business card with a paper clip and to seal and address the envelopes. She was sending these out to around 250 close friends and family to spread the word of My Travelscape.

This next direct mail insert/promotional flyer was a quick job for Pure Dental Spa. (Click here to read more on Pure Dental Spa.) Dr. Rajul Patel needed an easy, informational flyer that she could use and easily hand out to her customers to spread the word of her new dental office, new patient incentives and communicate her brand. She needed a mass quantity of 5000 double-sided card stock flyers in 8.5" x 5.5" size which can be used for direct mail or handouts. For the overall design, I maintained her identity & brand essence and highlighted all the key points about her dental office to attract potential new clients.

{Direct Mail Promotions designed by Chon}