CurlyRed, as drawn by the Pink Samurai

So a few years ago, we were fortunate enough to have the extremely talented Becky Pool (now Becky Helms) intern for us. We were blown away by passion for design,  her dedication to her craft (which also includes silkscreening, illustration (she draws her own outfit each day!), and crazy amounts of crocheting), and her sunny, sweet disposition. We simply adore her!

Becky's outfits in April. 

Becky (aka The Pink Samurai) has recently moved with her husband to her hometown of Austin, Texas and has a bit more time to do her signature illustrations for a few friends.

She agreed to make one especially for CurlyRed's president and principal designer, M. Kendall Ludwig! It's absolutely fabulous and might just make it on to the wall of CurlyRed's newly painted office! Stay tuned for more renovated office news—we hope to be blogging all about it soon!

Monthly Pinterest: Let's Go O's!

So as much as we love the Ravens, the Baltimore Orioles have always had a special place in our heart. Oh no, here at CurlyRed there are no “fair weather fans.” 

As nice as it is to have the O's playing so well after such a long dry spell, we've always enjoyed going to the beautiful ballpark, crackin' open some peanuts and drinking a cold beer on a hot summer day.

We also love that the classic O's bird logo is making a huge comeback. Seeing all of the throwback t-shirts, hats and other accessories make us long for the Cal Ripken, Jr. era—in a good way.

For us, summer is officially underway. Enjoy!

Designer/Developer Bowling Showdown in ONE WEEK!

If you're a Baltimore area designer or developer, it's time to prove your skills (in bowling, anyways.) This should be a great time, but spots are limited, so please register here today: http://bowling-showdown.eventbrite.com/

We hope to see you there, CurlyRed will be rocking the Red (naturally)!

Client Spotlight: Imani

CurlyRed, and it's president, M. Kendall Ludwig, is passionate about stopping human trafficking around the world. And we've been looking for an opportunity to assist an organization that is focused on addressing this serious crisis.

So a few weeks ago, after seeing a post on B'More Creatives, we reached out to Sarita Hartz Hendricksen. She's the founder of both Zion Project and Imani, and was looking for design assistance for ads promoting an upcoming Mother's Day sales event. After we read Imani's story, we knew we wanted to help:

In the war-torn region of northern Uganda, there are many Congolese refugees, child soldiers, and girls forced into prostitution, brothels, and the sex-industry due to poverty and lack of options.
We seek to free women from the global sex trade and alleviate poverty through healing, empowerment, and fashion design.

We partner with women escaping the sex trade to create jewelry which is handmade from indigenous materials. All jewelry is hand-crafted in northern Uganda and women receive fair trade wages, which empower them to provide for their families and educate their children.

Imani also offers trauma counseling, savings and business classes, and English classes to all the women we employ in an effort to see them reach their potential.

We believe each of these women is worthy of receiving love and knowing that she is valuable.

Every piece of jewelry you buy keeps her free!

If you're able to support this great cause and want to get your mom something fabulous for Mother's Day, please head over to http://www.imanilove.com now.

Good thing we like to talk!

CurlyRed is thrilled/humbled to announce that M. Kendall Ludwig, president and principal designer, will be presenting at 2 conferences in April! Wow!

On Saturday, April 6th, at the Center for the Arts at Towson University (Kendall's alma mater!), Kendall will be presenting at AIGA's Ink and Pixels Student Design Conference. Here's our topic:

Everything I Have Learned About The Business of Design I Learned from Tim Gunn

Should I work for someone else, freelance, or start my own firm? What's networking and where do I begin? Should I use a contract and what should it say? These are just a few of the questions we will address in this session. We will take a look at one woman's path from a graphic design major at Towson University to being the president and principal designer of a 6-year-old firm, what she's learned along the way, and why the Tim Gunns of the world can help you "make it work."

AND then a week later on April 13th, also at Towson University, Kendall will be speaking at the Women in Leadership Conference! Our topic for that one:

My Journey from Artist to Entrepreneur
Are you planning for your life 10 years from now? Are your choices based on where you are going or where you want to be? And more importantly, what's the "why" behind it all? This session will take a look at one woman's path from a graphic design major at Towson University to being the president and principal designer of a 6-year-old firm, what she's learned along the way, and the "why's" that have set her apart. This session will show students how to take an objective look at the choices they have now to best prepare them for the future, and how to become a leader where they are now.


Holy moley, we better get going on putting these presentations together. We are planning on using Prexi, an awesome and free tool that beats the pants off of PowerPoint, and allows the user to design a completely non-linear, interactive presentation!


If you'll be in the Towson area in April, please come say hi!

Monthly Pinterest: Bring on Spring!

Ok, you caught us! We missed February in our Monthly Pinterest feature. So here's one for March, bright and early for your enjoyment.

It's not a secret that late winter is NOT our favorite time of year. But we are already seeing the overflow of yummy Easter candy take over store shelves and the days getting a little longer. And before you know it, flowers will be blooming, birds will be chirping, and light-jacket-only weather will return once again!

At CurlyRed, we love that spring brings new life, new color, new design inspiration. This year, we are especially excited to see Monet-esque prints in fashion—might be time for a wardrobe update!

CurlyRed's president and principal designer named Wednesday's Woman!

Kendall and Kristin

Our dear friend and PR writer, Kristin LeFeber (visit her personal blog here), was approached by Sperk* to choose a woman to write about for Sperk*'s weekly feature, Wednesday's Woman.  Kristin chose M. Kendall Ludwig, president and principal designer of CurlyRed to feature! We feel so honored. Please take a moment to read the entire blog post here.

Here's a small excerpt: 

“Rock star that she is, she followed her dreams and began working for herself, on her own terms, as soon as she could. She took a risk to pursue her passion; that everyone deserves to look good, especially small businesses and nonprofits with great vision, but limited resources. With her artistic, creative strengths, Kendall had to step out of her comfort zone to learn the fundamentals of running a successful firm.”

Here's a little more about Wednesday's Women:

“A little over a year ago Wednesday’s Woman began when I found out my friend was helping her neighbor, a hoarder, clean out her house. The story astonished me, not because I was surprised by my friend's willingness to help, I knew her to be that way. I was amazed because I could not imagine saying more than a brief “hello” to my neighbors. Actually lending a helping hand seemed huge. I thought it was a story that needed to be told to honor my friend and to help mobilize kindness in our world, in my world.

As the year passed, Wednesday’s Woman grew from the stories shared by guest bloggers. Some women honored were not well-known, some were celebrities. All deserved the light that was shed on their work. All inspired me to keep going, to keep writing. During times when I did not feel I had the emotional energy to write, knowing Wednesday’s Woman was due kept me mobilized.

Today, Kristin, a great writer who blogs at Kristin Has Two Eyes, brings Wednesday’s Woman full circle, back to its beginnings, by honoring her friend. I am grateful for this reminder to stay awake and aware, for a Wednesday’s Woman is always close by. We just have to be willing to acknowledge her presence and her impact on our lives.”