Hi there. How are you?
Celebrating your home is big in design right now. Sporting zip codes, area codes, and state shapes on t-shirts, pillow, prints, mugs, etc. is all the rage.
Personalization is big too. People enjoy having their name and place on their things.
I’m always a tad leery of hopping on design trends. By the time I’m recognizing this trend, is it too late to capitalize on it? But this trend, I really like, so I went for it.
I started with this drawing….
My Illinois state print started as this drawing in my sketchbook.
….And turned it into this!
Carbondale, Illinois print featuring a ballpoint drawing from my sketchbook. Click through to purchase.
Carbondale Love
Last spring, I started making state prints with my ballpoint sketchbook drawings. I started with my own state of Illinois. Using a really nifty Illustrator feature, I was able to “cut” my rectangular drawing into the shape of the state. I added a heart over my home in Carbondale and voila!
I printed and framed these cuties for a spring time market I did last year. As Carbondale is a college town, I thought it would make a good graduation gift. They went over really well, so I decided to make more states.
As it is the Bluegrass State, the Kentucky print had to be in blue.
The Bluegrass State
When my Kentucky friends saw my Illinois prints, they wanted in on the fun too. Of course this one had to be blue. Fun fact: I lived in Edgewood, Kentucky (across the river from Cincinnati) for a couple of years as a child.
Here’s the drawing that served as the backdrop for my Kentucky state print.
My Wisconsin state print had to be Badger red.
On Wisconsin
Next was Wisconsin which had to be in “Badger” red. Growing up on right on the state line, I’ve spent a lot of time in Wisconsin. We used to vacation every summer at a Wisconsin lake house, I attended University of Wisconsin-Madison for my undergrad and spent 3 summers working at a summer camp in Northern Wisconsin.
This sketchbook drawing that was the basis for the Wisconsin state print.
This California print marks San Diego with a heart.
Cali Love
This Christmas, I made California for my brother and sister-in-law who live in San Diego. I cut the California state silhouette out of the same drawing that I used for Illinois. Why reinvent the wheel, right?
Showing some south Florida love with this new state print.
The Sunshine State
This spring I decided to add a few more states to my repertoire. It seemed logical to make Florida next as my in-laws spend half their year living in Naples, Florida and one of my good buddies is about to move to Florida.
For my Iowa State friends, I made this Iowa print with the heart over Ames.
And lastly, Iowa
Even though, Iowa borders my home state of Illinois, I have never really been there. (Weird but true.) I have a lot of friends with Iowa connections, so that’s where I went next.
A custom Wisconsin print for a Beloit College grad.
All of these prints are customizable.
The heart can be moved to mark any location within the state. I’ve started to dabble with state color changes too.
I just made this custom Wisconsin print for a graduation gift. I swapped Badger red and a heart for Beloit College blue and a star.
All of the existing state prints are available for sale in my shop.
They make lovely graduation, wedding and housewarming gifts.
What state next?
I’ve had a lot of fun making these and they’ve been selling well, so I’ll keep going with them. What state should I tackle next? Do tell!
That’s all for now.
