Noteworthy creative = Postworthy creative...

Yes, this coffee is for a good cause and it’s a bit bigger than the daily”wake up Austin” cause. Unfortuanly, it’s a 6 hour drive to Fayetteville, AR where Mama Carmen’s Expresso Cafe is located. Though, I hope to make my way up there sooner than later in order to contribute a bit of my addiction to building a better world.

From what I understand, Mama Carmen is a woman in Guatemala who has started an orphanage and takes care of nearly 100 kids with basically no income —which is where the Cafe comes in. Someone anonymously donated a coffee farm to Mama Carmen and the cafe buys all their coffee from her farm. So, now Mama Carmen has money to care for the orphans and we have a great way to donate in a small way every morning, afternoon and evening.

Now, there is one really big reason why this story made it onto my blog. The design of their packaging and this incredible video. How many small start-ups have such great design as well as a totally creative and fun video, Mama Carmen\’s Expresso Cafe, with over 1,500 views so far. I would love to know more about the designer(s) responsible for this. If you know, fill me in!

Oh, and the website is a perfect fit as well: mamacarmen.com

-Austin

I’m currently designing a rack card for Sweet Gourmet in Tyler, TX and got the chance to do the photography for the project. I dropped by one afternoon for about an hour and snapped a few shots for the card. It was a bit tricky because I was only using the store’s available light, but I was able to get the shots I needed and they turned out great! Continue Reading →

Now, I’ve only had Honest tea a few times, but when I do, it’s always a treat. In this case, though, it’s not the tea that interests me —its their advertising. Continue Reading →

It had just been too long since my last cup of Starbucks coffee. It’s not that I’ve been skipping my morning coffee, I’ve actually been roasting my own. However, yesterday morning I was completely out of my home-roasted coffee which meant Starbucks was the only suitable replacement. Continue Reading →

Hello! First of all, I must take just a moment to thank you for at least reading this far into my very first blog post. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I wanted to write about first and came to the conclusion that a short introduction was begging to be placed here.

So, here’s the short version. My name is Austin Phillips and I’m a creative designer. I also do enough commercial photography and illustration to consider myself to be a photographer and illustrator. I completed my B.A. in Graphic design from John Brown University, and have studied E-Business at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Although, I would love to write my entire life story in this first post… I think I will save a few things for a later date. Have a great night!

-Austin