A custom illustration for the newspaper cover of Caminada Sementi, the Lamone-based garden store.
Caminada Sementi's request
When I got the phone call I almost couldn't believe it, “Hi Debora, we like your style.... do you feel like designing the cover of our magazine?”
Those who know me know that I love gardening, vegetable gardening, and devoting myself to seedlings and flowers. Caminada Seeds is an excellently stocked garden center, conveniently located between my workplace and my home, and particularly active in presenting news and engaging people. That phone call therefore seemed like a dream!!!!!
After a friendly interview, where we had a pleasant and constructive exchange of ideas, we agreed to create the design for the cover. The ideas were clear right away.
Creating the custom illustration
The design I created for Caminada Sementi is a tree in a garden, lush, with gardening tools around it. Out of a hole in the trunk comes a horn, like a kind of megaphone, from which musical notes are spread.
It was a drawing I had done some time ago, and they were impressed with it. So I made a few sketches to evaluate some variations that had come to my mind, and then I went forward to the realization of the design.
The fact that they liked my style right from the start really helped: I didn't feel any pressure because I could just be myself. The subject matched the ones I usually choose spontaneously. The client is a brand I am fond of, so it infuses me with positive energy. It could not have been better than that!
Details of the illustration: a tree, a garden, and many cheerful elements
I wanted to find an interesting shape for the tree, one that was not obvious, but at the same time realistic: we know that trees often take strange and absurd shapes, but in those crooked shapes lies the secret of beauty. I wanted the tree to be authentic, believable.
Another characteristic we wanted to bring out is the healthy, lush garden, so not necessarily clean and perfect. When a garden is healthy, it is a bit disheveled. Grass, flowers and leaves are in motion, full of little animals intent on their activities.
The details of the gardening tools around the tree highlight the context of the Caminada Seed store, and speak directly to the people engaged in this activity-they will recognize each other as they step back to look at their work before tidying up.
The meaning behind the design
We wanted the tree to be emotional, to look like it wanted to communicate something. This was solved by adding this megaphone, or speaker, from which musical notes come out. The idea that the tree makes music because it wants to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Customer appreciation--and its customers
Being a garden store that I have been frequenting for years, it was extremely pleasant for me to do this work for Caminada Seed. An honor, for me, to be able to be on the cover of their first issue of the journal, hoping perhaps to replicate in the future with some other publication.
I was also particularly pleased with some of the messages of appreciation I received, from people who know me and received the magazine recognizing my hand and style.
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