Welcome! I am Kathy McGraw of KMG, a graphic designer, east coast gal transplanted to beautiful southern California/ San Diego. This is some of what inspires me. I like to think of it as a mix of west coast bohemian and east coast folk meets Mumbai meets Paris. I'm drawn to eclectic hand done looks with lots of prints and texture, particularly Indian prints and French style. I love branding, packaging, hand lettering, hand printed designs, block printing, screen printing, letterpress and illustration...
Friday, February 4, 2011 at 01:32PM I am totally in awe of the incredible talent of Dinara Mirtalipova. Her lovely, whimsical, yet beautiful work inspires me. Dinara grew up in Uzbekistan, speaks Russian and now lives in the U.S.
Monday, January 31, 2011 at 03:44PM I am really loving the quirky prints of Lush Designs' Marie Rodgers and Maria Livings from London.
Illustration, Lush Designs, Prints, design, silkscreen in Designer Love Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 04:39PM I am enjoying a fun light read called "Tales From the Yoga Studio". I really enjoy yoga and live in Southern California so this was a must read. I am getting a kick out of reading about the yoga scene in LA, and the celebrities. It's so different from the down-to- earth Encinitas yoga. If you enjoy yoga, you'll enjoy this...
book, inspiration, reading, yoga in Reading Now Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 01:15PM I simply love this Gypsy Girl's Guide Manifesto. It truly speaks to my own heart and things that I value. It is going to be a post and PDF's soon. The Gypsy Girls Guide is a website to share inspiration among free spirits and dreamers taken by wanderlust... cultural nomads, brave explorers, writers, journalists, photographers, surfers, designers, artists, athletes, performers... believing in global consciousness. Gotta love them... 
design, inspiration, print, typography in Design Love Monday, January 10, 2011 at 08:46PM A really awesome info graphic from Colourlovers. 1,000 people were asked to name what color they thought best described and embodied the Color of the Year 2010.
Monday, January 10, 2011 at 06:43PM Poster from Aesthetic Apparatus that I like. I love the background textures and overlays of screen printing.
design, poster, silkscreen in Print Love Friday, December 31, 2010 at 01:53PM I wish you all a very happy New Year filled with love, peace, health and happiness! I just sent out my first email campaign wishing my clients, friends and associates a Happy New Years. It was my first time using Mail Chimp and I was so scared... My New Year's resolutions include marketing myself more, and learning Wordpress web design to offer to clients in the future. What are some of your new years resolutions?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 02:30PM Some beautiful new hand crafted textiles from designer John Robshaw, using traditional printing techniques complete with the human element of wood block mis-registration and pattern overlap. More of John Robshaw. See Spring 2011 catalog. Originally seen on Once Upon a Tea Time...
John Robshaw, pattern, print, textiles in Pattern Love Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 02:20PM Some beautiful ceramic work from Samantha Robinson that I saw originally posted on Ada and Darcy. These lovelies can also be found in Anthropologie. 
Samatha Robinson, ceramics, pattern, print in Pattern Love Monday, December 13, 2010 at 01:51PM I first saw these hand printed giftwraps from Field Guide Design on Design Sponge. I love the hand printed or silkscreened design and thought they were so beautiful. The designs used hand carved Indian printing blocks for the initial patterns, that were then turned in to silkscreen block-printed images. 
handcrafted, pattern, print, silkscreen, wrapping paper in Hand Crafted Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 08:47PM Okay, so now I am truly in love. I found some designs by Erin Flett from my home state in Maine, and do I ever wish I was her. I love, love, love her handsilkscreened pillows... I only wish I had done them. I had been feeling uninspired lately, but now I think I am coming out of that...
Erin Flett, silkscreen, textiles in Designer Love Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 07:59PM 
30 days of Yoga the Karma Edition What makes this a ‘karma’ edition of 30 days of yoga? Firstly, every dollar earned from the 30 days of yoga in October will go to projects to support people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The money will be donated via the Engage Network, the parent organization and 501(c)(3) of Off the Mat, Into the World. Yup, every dollar. Not the profits. Not 10%. Not even 50% will be donated, every dollar you pay to these projects. Secondly: the October 30 days of yoga are on a ‘pay-what-you-can’ basis. The recommended price will be US$100 but you will be able to choose to pay less or more – knowing that all the money will be going to improve the lives of families affected by HIV/AIDs in South Africa. The intention is to give everyone a chance to take part, and at the same time allow people to be as generous as they can. So whether you pay $30 or $300, what matters is the mindfulness with which you choose how much you can pay. http://www.marianne-elliott.com/30daysofyoga/
karma nonprofit, yoga Monday, September 20, 2010 at 07:19PM When you hear the word Seva, what does it mean to you? Quite literally, Seva means service. In the context of faith, it means selfless service rendered as a community action, done for the goodwill and benefit of others.
Seva Café is an experiment in the shared joy that comes from humble giving and selfless service. Their wholesome meals are cooked and served with love by volunteers and offered to guests as a gift, paid for in full by previous guests.
As more participate in the joy of giving, the more the experiment thrives. It begins with a single gift: first given, then received... multiplied, and given again, in a growing chain of kindness and care. The hope is that this Circle of Giving leaves one feeling more nourished, and inspired to carry the experiment forward. Locations: Seva Café takes over Zephyr Vegetarian Café 340 E 4th St. Long Beach, CA, 90802 and Shopper’s Plaza, 4th Floor Opp Municipal Market, C.G. Road Ahmedabad, Gujarat India, 380 009
Karma kitchen another Pay-As-You-Wish restaurant. There are no prices on the menu and where the check reads $0.00 with only this footnote: "Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. To keep the chain of gifts alive, they invite you to pay it forward for those dine after you. That's Karma Kitchen, a volunteer-driven experiment in generosity. Run by volunteers, their meals are cooked and served with love, and offered to guests as a genuine gift. Location: Taste of Himalayas Restaurant 1700 Shattuck Ave, Berkley CA.
Other Pay-as-you-like Restaurants: There are an increasing number of pay-as-you-wish restaurant sightings around the globe!
Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 08:42PM 
I am currently reading "The Hundred-Foot Journey" by Richard C. Morais reviewed in the New York Times. It's the story of a boy who goes from Mumbai to Paris and becomes a great chef. I typically like just about any book about Paris, especially about culinary Paris, read "The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn, but "The Hundred-Foot Journey" is especially wonderful. I almost read the complete book on my flight home from Maine to San Diego.
My favorite excerpt quote from the book: "There are many points in life when we cannot see what awaits us around the corner, and it is precisely at such times, when our path forward is unclear, that we must bravely keep our nerve, resolutely putting one foot before the other as we march blindly into the dark."
The beautiful book cover design was done by one of my favorite illustrators of all time the incredible and prolific "Olaf Hajek," (see post below).
book, reading in Reading Now Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 08:35PM Olaf Hajek is currently one of the world's most successful illustrators with a client list of that includes the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Apple, United Airlines, Macy's, and many many more... His work is influenced by West African and Latin American and art from India. He combines reality, mythology, fantasy and dream. You can get a book of his work on amazon that represents editorial, commercial and fashion illustration. Olaf Hajek was born in North Germany resides in Berlin, London and New York. While studying Graphic Design he moved into illustration. His medium is acrylic on cardboard, paper or wood. He starts with a sketch and then cuts the cardboard or paper into the size he needs. He uses black color for the priming paint and then puts on different layers of background color and starts painting in the elements.
Friday, September 10, 2010 at 12:24PM Every year I try to make a visit home to Maine in August. I wanted to share a few of the pictures that I took while there. I grew up close to the coast and the Canadian border. In my opinion you can't beat it's beauty.
Maine, New England, travel, trip in Vacation Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 04:55PM Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us. Mycharity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. They use 100% of public donations to directly fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need. Go to the mycharity: water store http://www.charitywater.org/shop/index.php to purchase products: tshirts, wristbands, greeting cards, neckties…. The proceeds will help support charity: water operating costs and fund sustainable clean water solutions in developing nations. Alternatively you can create your own fundraising campaign http://mycharitywater.org/p/signin and collect donations to support the mycharity: water.
Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.
90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.
In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely to make them sick.
karma, nonprofit, water in Good Karma Friday, August 6, 2010 at 06:11PM I wanted to blog about design with a social conscience and how as designers we can make a difference in people's lives. This is something I have been trying to figure out on my own and what as I designer that I can do. I participated in the "Haiti Poster Project" and designed a poster to help raise money to rebuild Haiti, but my feeling is that this is just the tip of the ice burg in what I could be doing in between my freelance business and selling my designs on merchandise. Anyway I came across a few websites that promote design to do good and I wanted to share. I am sure there are many more out there and I just have to find them... If you find more please share and let me know...
DESIGN IS LOVE is a movement where your participation & support help to shape a community around the idea of “do good”. It's a heartful place where you're encouraged to develop real relationships with other members through three active areas: Helping Hand, the Design Fund and inwords. Design is love wants to provide stimulating opportunities for our members to explore their creativity through funded projects and engaging communication, along with a match-making system that brings creatives and non-profit organizations together—taking the positive energy promoted here and sharing it with the world at-large. As stewards of our profession, you can count on DESIGN IS LOVE to lead by example and uphold standards in work practice that are beneficial to both creatives and their clients.
A BETTER WORLD THROUGH CREATIVITY - Since 1995, DESIGN INDABA has been committed to a vision that is built on the belief that creativity will fuel an economic revolution in South Africa. As such, Design Indaba is a celebration of design in a country iconic of the triumph of the human spirit. Proof that even the most intractable problem can be neutralised by the will of the people, resurgent South Africa is a beacon to the world. Design Indaba typifies this can-do spirit through its belief in design and how it can help solve the problems faced by an emerging economy. With the right support, a better future can be designed. By attracting the world’s brightest talent, Design Indaba has become a respected institution on the creative landscape and one of the few global events that celebrates all the creative sectors - graphic design, advertising, film, music, fashion design, industrial design, architecture, craft, visual art, new media, publishing, broadcasting and performing arts sector. Besides the flagship conference and expo,Design Indaba has grown into a multitiered experience that incorporates an extensive range of elements such as events, publications, education, training, business, development and community initiatives.
THE WORKING PROOF seeks to promote art and social responsibility. Prints by artists are paired with a charity of the artist's choice, to which they donate 15% of the sale of each print - creating what they believe to be a product with not just aesthetic, but social value. Besides showcasing emerging artists and great artwork, the intent of the Working Proof is to promote a variety of charities and to expose them to new supporters through the appreciation of art and creativity. THE WORKING PROOF releases a new print once a week, on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm, EST. seek to give our artists full creative control of their work by having them produce and sign the work themselves. Most of the artists create, print (by whatever method they choose - screenprint, letterpress, linocut, giclee, to name a few), sign and number a limited-edition print run that is exclusive to the Working Proof.
Is a non-profit organisation that aims to foster a discourse on social design through our international online platform and the organization of and participation in projects, exhibitions, conferences, lectures, etc.
design, karma, social conscience in Good Karma Monday, August 2, 2010 at 02:00PM 
I know this work has been blogged a couple of times by others, but I really like the identity that Celeste Prevost came up with for Sweet & Flower a Brooklyn-based flower/candy shop. The rest of Celeste's portfolio is pretty amazing too!
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 01:14PM 
From Invited Ink.
For Studio Atticus, printed by Invited Ink.
Designed by Grace Edmands printed by Invited Ink.
Designed by allan peters | printed at nomadic press, shown on Share Some Candy.
business cards, design, letterpress, print in Letterpress Love