Akula Kreative

Happy Mother’s Day to MOMS, new + young!

Hello design lovers,

Akula Kreative is officially relocating to Austin this summer! We’ll be closing shop around mid June, then re-opening in mid July (once we have our new business permits and studio in place). We’re very sad to be leaving beautiful Del Mar, but we’re looking forward to working in a city that’s bustling with creative energy!

At this time, we’re no longer taking on new clients. For the next few weeks, we’ll be wrapping up current projects then preparing for the move. We apologize for the inconvenience, but if you sign up for our email newsletter*, we’ll be offering a great discount to clients for the first 3 months in our new location. As always, spots are first-come, first-serve and we’ll continue taking on only a limited number of projects per month. Soooo, book early!

Other than the time we’ll be closed, our move shouldn’t affect clients since we work remotely with most people anyway…BUT, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us or comment below.

THANK YOU for your support, and we hope you follow us to the fastest growing city in the U.S.!

P.S. *Just in case you’re hesitant to sign up for yet another email list, don’t worry. We’re usually too busy to send them out, so we only push a few per year. Plus, we only send to the masses when we have vital info to share or there is some sort of discount being offered. :)

Since many of our clients use MailChimp for e-newsletters and such, creating graphics for branded sign-up forms is not out of the ordinary. We don’t do it every day, but we do tinker around when someone needs assistance. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been building a website for Define Bottle, and it was killing me that the header graphic on their MailChimp form was looking fuzzy. I must have created 10 different files trying to find a solution. I followed MailChimp’s online instructions to a T, but I was left baffled as to why my perfectly-sized graphic saved out at max quality was looking less than stellar.

Today, I found the solution and I’m sharing it just in case you’ve run into the same issue.

First, let me show you what the header graphic looked like originally when I uploaded it to MailChimp by using the “design header” option in their drag-and-drop builder.

Eww. Horrible. Even though MailChimp said I could upload a graphic with “any width x any height,” my 600 x 152 image made it look like I was trying to make do with something half the size. In another window, it told me I needed an image with a width of 600 pixels. Oookay, but my image IS 600 pixels wide!!

Then, I decided to start over and delete the header graphic entirely. My form builder now looked like this:

Instead of clicking on “design header,” I clicked on “use text.” A window popped up, giving me the option to insert an image:

After clicking on the image icon, another window popped up and I browsed my computer for the same header graphic I used previously.

After checking the dimensions, keeping the proportions, and typing in the Alt Text, I clicked Save. This brought me back to the form builder, at which point I hit Save and Exit. What do I see now? A CLEAR header looking just as it should!

If you’re looking for a quick, non-permanent way to decorate eggs, chalk pens work great on brown eggs. Best part is, if you mess up, all you have to do is wipe your egg clean with a damp cloth. (Just be sure the egg is completely dry before drawing again.)

Happy Easter, everyone! Eat well and travel safely.

Nothing makes snail mail more fun than a custom rubber stamp! Add personal touches to your correspondence with a professionally-designed return address stamp or sweeten your photography packaging with your custom logo or graphic!

We now [officially] offer rubber stamps for anything you can imagine, from a 1″ x 1″ mini stamp to a giant 6″ x 6″ masterpiece. If you’re a stamping newbie, the glory of a CLEAR rubber stamp is that you can see exactly where your stamping—perfect for those with OCD like me. :)

Free stamp design and a 20% discount comes with every branding package we offer. Contact us for details.

A small collection of ready-made stamps will soon be available in our Etsy Shop, too!

Who doesn’t love a good calligraphic type?! Emily Lime has some superb fonts and this week we are showing of Bombshell Pro. This font is great for announcements, it’s very romantic and classic all in one. Purchase today at My Fonts and have a ball!

// Rebecca

This week we are featuring St Marie Thin, a great font for headlines and other typography goodness. I LOVE the thin, clean lines that you don’t always see with a serif font. And for all you WordPress developers, it’s a Google Font, soooooo you can use it on your websites no problem! You can download the free version on Font Squirrel OR purchase it on My Fonts and you’ll find different variations there.

// Rebecca

You can download your very own at Font Squirrel. Happy designing!

// Rebecca

Have a LOVE-A-BULL Day.

xo, Nani

This is our biggest giveaway yet! Valued at $2000, your non-profit or volunteer-based organization could not only save big bucks, but it could also make a bigger impact with a new customized WordPress website. WordPress is a powerful, flexible platform that allows users to update beautiful, professional websites on their own. Sound awesome?

ENTER NOW for a chance to win!!!

We’re excited to help those organizations that do so much for our communities. Feel free to pass it along to anyone you think would be perfect for this contest. Good luck!

On Tuesday, Rebecca and I drove up to Malibu to say hello to Caroline Tran’s newest Propellers…as always, it was super fun and I love meeting other creative people. The left pic above is me giving a quick branding/packaging demo. (BTW // I was telling Rebecca afterward, “I have no idea what I just said…hopefully it made sense to people.” Apparently I have a tendency to just start talking and I don’t really know what’s coming out of my mouth.) The right pic is a shot of my Propel name tag, my favorite of the branded pieces we make for the photography workshops.

If you’re a student of Propel, here are a couple links to photography packaging ideas we’ve posted to the blog for previous workshops:

• DIY Photo Packaging I
• DIY Photo Packaging II

If DIY isn’t your thing and you have room in your budget, we can always assist you in putting together a professionally printed and assembled ensemble. From foil-stamped paper boxes to custom embossed fabric packages, we’re here to help.

And, just in case I rambled and forgot a few key points, check out our Guide to Getting Branded for inspiration, insights, and information. If you’ve ever wondered what goes into branding a business, this is a great starting point. After all, branding is much, MUCH more than a logo.

If anyone has requests for certain DIY packaging projects, comment here or contact us. I’m always up for a challenge! It was so nice to meet everyone and I can’t WAIT to see the photos that come out of this event!!!

If you’re interested in the Facebook promo and wondering what Pretty Peas Paperie is, click HERE to check out our small letterpress collection. You can choose any card and we’ll send it to you for free. Just be sure to message us with your address and card of choice. :)

Propel is a photography workshop by Caroline Tran, a wonderfully talented photographer based in Southern California. For more info, check out propelworkshops.com.