“Lovely Items” is a concept that I got from years of watching anime and reading manga.  It’s the idea that a character needs a lovely item to endear them to the other characters within the story and with the viewing audience.  There’s a good discussion of this in “Ouran High School Host Club” in which the Host club tries to make the son of a yakuza boss more approachable.   The idea of a lovely item can be as abstract as a personality quirk and as concrete as a signature piece of jewelry.   In essence, a lovely item is something that gives an object or and individual a distinct personality and facilitates approachability.   And so, that is what I want to do with my Lovely Items website.  I want to share the lovely little graphics that I make with who ever wants them so they can add some personality and friendliness to whatever web or print project they are doing.

This idea was born out of a little discussion I had with my Dad last week.  I had just finished redoing my personal website and I was feeling very empowered.  I wanted to do more work on websites and expressed to him that I’m willing to do it voluntarily for the experience.  Our concern, though, had to do with my “cute affliction” in that if I can’t get passed it, the range of customers I can design for will be limited.  My feeling is practice, practice … but at the same time, I should get the most out my cute affliction and develop it.  So here are some short term and long term goals for myself with this website:

1. Give away lovely graphic items I design for web and print (practice makes perfect and spread the joy while building a portfolio and credibility as a designer).
2. Do some voluntary design work — web, print, and vanity books to get experience and recognition
3. On a limited basis take on web, print, and vanity book projects for actual paying customers.

This is something that I would like to do on the side while having full-time career.  I figured that now while I’m looking for a job and while jobs are scarce I should use the time to learn new skills and develop my innate talents.  I would love to do this sort of thing, too, for a company, focusing on the usability and visual appeal of web, web-to-print, and print-to-web projects.

So please stay tuned as my Lovely Items adventure begins.  One of my good friends suggested that I start by making some lovely wallpapers for mobile devices like the iPhone and cell phones … :).

www.lovely-items.com coming soon to bring loveliness one pixel at a time.