LÍLLÉbaby Product Manuals

For about four and a half years, I had the pleasure of working for LÍLLÉbaby as a contract graphic designer. They’re a baby carrier company that sells a variety of babywearing products like infant carriers, toddler carriers, stretchy wraps, ring slings, and more.

Their original user manuals used photographs of an adult and a baby to show step-by-step instructions on how to use the baby carriers. Some of the photos weren’t very clear on how each step was performed and in some instances, it was tough to get the baby to cooperate (which is totally understandable!). Plus, if any of the photos needed to be retaken, it was very difficult to find another baby the same size/age to recreate an image and maintain continuity.

They came to me with the idea of having a simplified drawing for each step rather than a photograph AND a goal to make the drawings as clear as possible so there could be as little text as possible. When these products are shipped to different countries, they have to have the manuals translated into different languages. Some phrases get confused in translations, so if the drawings were very clear, then there would hopefully be less confusion.

We started with the stretchy wrap and ring sling carriers. These first manuals were fun to create as a single page that folded up to be a little bigger than a business card.

From there we slowly started rebranding all of the booklet manuals for their existing Complete and CarryOn carriers.

As the years went on and they launched new products, I was thrilled to get to create new manuals for them; from carriers and wraps to accessories like a rain cover and a snuggly winter cover. For most products, we eventually created an international version that included all of the translated languages in one, big manual.

LÍLLÉbaby carriers were already my favorites when my boys were babies, so my knowledge on how their products work was integral in drawing these as clear and concise as possible. Understanding safe and correct babywearing made it easy for me to create these drawings and be in compliance with safety regulations and reduce any liability on the company.

Each new product was a new and fun challenge and they were truly a pleasure to create.

Product of the Month - September 2021 - Squarespace

It’s time for another Product of the Month, and I’m almost running out of items to feature. At this point, I’m not sure if I can get through the whole year. My goal is to get through 2021, and then I’ll do occasional “Featured Products” or “Featured Tools” on future posts rather than one every month.

This month I’m featuring the company I use for my website: Squarespace!

While I did go to college to learn digital and traditional art, visual development, and graphic design, one thing I did not learn is how to build a website from scratch. I don’t know HTML or CSS or any other acronyms that involve website coding. I have a basic understanding of WordPress, but that’s kind of it!

Nothing was more frustrating when looking for a job about 15 years ago than seeing a job listing for a “graphic designer” and seeing HTML, CSS, and Dreamweaver listed under required skills. A web designer and a graphic designer are very different jobs!

Of course, these days, plenty of companies want their graphic designers to do it ALL… graphic design, print layout, email marketing, web design, UI design, social media marketing, and video content creation and editing. Oy!

I used to have a simple website that a friend set up for me years ago that I managed through WordPress. But after a few years it was hacked. and I lost a LOT of blog posts and content. I didn’t want to deal with another WordPress site and have to keep plugins updated and secure. I wanted someone else to handle that.

Enter: Squarespace.

Building my website was so simple and they made it so intuitive to make a really beautiful website. Does it cost more each month than I could be paying through WordPress? Yes. But having everything in one spot (theme, security, hosting, design) and knowing they are keeping my site secure is worth it.

Product of the Month - August 2021 - Canvas Lamp

A while back I raved about the little iPhone clip and ring light that I got from Amazon during the pandemic. Well, I’ve upgraded to something that is working better for me. Introducing my Canvas Lamp!

I first saw this awesome lamp through an artist I follow on TikTok. She did a video showcasing the top five products that help her run her small business. This lamp was one of them and she even included a code for 10% off. I was sold!

BTW, I’m on TikTok now, look me up! Alex Tebow

This is such a neat tool! The lamp can hold my iPhone 11 easily and it can be adjusted for a variety of smart phones, cameras, and even a GoPro. The base is heavy and sturdy and has no issues holding the weight of the lamp and my phone. I can pivot and adjust the position of the light for direct, overhead painting or I can turn it on an angle like I have been doing with my phone on a little tripod. I can even turn it around and use it in selfie mode if needed.

The Canvas Lamp also came with a clamp to let me attach it to the edge of a table if there isn’t room for the base or if I don’t want to use the base.

The ring light itself is awesome and the brightness is adjustable along with the color and tone of the light. It can be warm light, cool light, or somewhere in between.

Even if I’m not shooting a video of my painting, the light itself is fantastic just to work with and easily adjusted to where I need it.

I cannot wait to share some of the videos I’ve been making with this wonderful tool. Highly recommended!!

Product of the Month - July 2021 - Thermarest Compressible Travel Pillow

Earlier this year, I decided to start featuring favorite tools that I use in my work or even just in my adventures. I have featured art supplies and backpacks and tools. This month’s featured product is a pillow. Yup, you read that right; I’m sharing about a pillow. There are affiliate links in this post, in case you want to buy one of these products and Amazon will send me a few cents in appreciation.

Last summer, my son wanted to get into backpacking. Not wanting to drop $1000 on backpacking gear only to have us quit after just one short trip, I research the crap out of our options; especially on items that could make sleeping more comfortable for my 40-something-year-old body that hadn’t backpacked in more than 20 years.

There are lots of inflatable pillows out there that weigh next-to-nothing, but that very first trip taught me that I don’t like sleeping on an inflatable pillow. I need something more substantial than that.

Enter the Thermarest Compressible Travel Pillow. It comes in sizes from Small (12x16 in) to X-Large (16.5x27 in) and they weigh less than a pound. It’s a pillow filled with chunks of memory foam that can be rolled up and compressed down to a little less than half of its size. It definitely takes up more space in my pack than the cheap inflatable pillow that I got before, but this one is SO much more comfortable. It feels like I’m sleeping on a regular pillow.

My Thermarest Pillow strapped to my pack with a bungee kept it fluffy for my 3-night trip.

I ended up finding a size Small pillow on Sierra.com for $14.99 and then I bought a Large one from my local Scheels at full price. I just liked it that much.

When they’ve been compressed and rolled up, they do take a little time to puff up again. Depending on how long they were stored rolled up, it may take quite a while. When I went backpacking back in May, rather than roll up my pillow each night, I just strapped it to the outside of my pack so it would stay as fluffed as possible.

Little did I know that these two pillows would turn out to be wonderful and incredibly useful for much more than just backpacking. We take them with us camping and they are fantastic to have in the car on road trips. I’m a side sleeper and I like to sleep with a pillow hugged to my chest. When I’m camping, I can easily use the Small pillow and still fit in my sleeping bag. I have been trying to justify getting one or two more pillows for future trips.

I also take the small pillow for when we spend a whole day out at a lake. My husband and my kids will spend the day fishing and I paint, read a book, or take a nap in my hammock and the pillow is super comfortable to sleep on and easy to pack into my backpack or even just a tote bag.

Since we had that pesky pandemic last year, I haven’t tried these pillows on an airplane yet, but I’m willing to bet they would work wonderfully to help my kids or me get a little sleep on the flight; whether it’s leaned against a bulkhead or a loved one’s shoulder.

Once my pillows get out of the dryer, I’ll add side by side images of them open and fluffed and then rolled up next to a standard Nalgene bottle so the sizing can be compared.

The BEST part of all: these pillows are machine washable and go in the dryer. Nothing fluffs up the pillow more than throwing it in the dryer. Obviously that’s not helpful when I’m backpacking, but knowing these can get dusty, dirty, or fall into a lake (I know that from experience!) or…. you know… drooled on… and then they can easily be washed when I get home gives me so much peace of mind. Huzzah!!

Redbubble Store Merch

As much as I love being able to sell stickers of my artwork that I order and mail myself, I have been wanting to offer my artwork on a few different products. But I don’t want to have to buy the equipment to print on these items and then stress about shipping them. I already stress about the stickers and small prints I have, and they are pretty small!

So I have been looking for websites that will let me upload my artwork and sell fun items and I can make a few bucks when something sells. I sell a few t-shirt designs on Zazzle and I literally make $0.40-$0.60 on each shirt that gets sold. Yeah… that’s it. But it’s a place that people already know about to find fun t-shirt graphics.

So I’m giving Redbubble a try. I have set up a store with five paintings of my artwork. You can check it out HERE.

I’m just starting with a few right now. And once I have a handle on how it works, I may start adding new artwork that can also be printed on apparel. I love that you can get my paintings printed onto a coffee mug, magnet, water bottle, or a drawstring backpack or a throw pillow.

This artwork here on a drawstring backpack may be a new one for my fans. I made this painting of Delicate Arch from Arches National Park last year and gave it to a friend for her birthday. I am thinking of doing another sticker series like I did for “I heart Public Lands” and feature National Park Service sites and #npslover on them. I’m hoping to see more national park sites in the coming years so I can get more photo reference.

Anyone know of any other sites that work like this? I would like to sell prints through Redbubble, but they don’t let me pick and choose the print and poster sizes, and my images are too small for posters. I would like to sell greeting cards too, but they are grouped in with posters. I also would LOVE to find one site that does everything I want and not have multiple different websites where I sell merch…. someday.