MICHELLE CHIANG

Feel-Good Shopping

I love shopping for things I don’t need! It makes me feel less guilty if I can attach some meanings to my purchases. Now the holiday season is approaching, I thought I would share some of my resources.

For Charitable Causes:
Many companies offer products that part or all of the profits will be donated to or used for charitable causes.

Brighton
Every year in October, the company comes out with a limited-edition, ‘Power of Pink’ jewelry to support Breast Cancer Research and Awareness. This year, it is a bracelet. $5 is donated for each bracelet sold.

M.A.C
Viva Glam was introduced in 1994. Sales from Viva Glam lipsticks and lip glosses support the M.A.C AIDS Fund. This collection has had many celebrity spokespeople. There are many color to chose from. The Viva Glam I is my favorite.

PUNJAMMIES
“PUNJAMMIES (by International Princess Project) are created in after-care facilities for women who have been rescued, released or escaped from a life of forced prostitution.” These women’s drawstring pajamas are comfortable and cute.

Vera Bradley
The company established Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancerin 1998 and contributes approximately $1 million annual.y from the sale of their products. Certain colors are dedicated to the cause. The newest one is ‘Ribbon’. Isn’t it pretty?

From Small & Local Businesses:
We all know small and local businesses give back to their communities. Also, the products are often unique and can be customized.

Soapy Soaps
Soapy Soaps makes small batches of cold process handmade soaps. They also make lotion bars, lip balms, and face creams. People instantly warm up to me when I hand them my customized signature soaps for my business. I keep a stash of Soapy Soaps products on hand. It is great when I am invited to a party at the last minute, or when people do something nice and unexpected for me.

Signature Soap by Soapy Soaps — Signature Soap

From Local Artists:
I am attracted to works by local artists. Even though I don’t often purchase, browsing through art shows always make me feel inspired. I enjoy chatting with the artist and share their passion.

Calabasas Fine Arts Festival
This annual event takes place the first weekend of May.

Studio Channel Islands Art Center
The center has about 40 artist studios. The first Saturday of every month is ‘Open Artists Studios’. Many artists offer classes at their studios. There is also a Gallery.

The Los Angles Brewery
This is one of the largest art colonies in the world. Twice a year, the public can visit the studios at The Brewery Art Walk.
The Los Angeles Brewery

Yingge Ceramics Museum 鶯歌陶瓷博物館

Yingge is a town in the NewTaipeiCity that has long been famous for its ceramics production. The Yingge Ceramics Museum opened in 2000.

The design of building is very modern. The mainly lobby is a four-story high open space with lot of natural lighting.

The museum has exhibits that tell the history of ceramics. It also has changing exhibits displaying modern works.

The gift shop is filled with unique ceramic products.

This was my personal favorite! The bather is actually a spoon!

The building behind the museum is the visitor center that is also a store showcases products from local artists.

The popsicles sold here are special because the sticks are plastic forks with little ceramic decorations!

Reblog: “Lighting 101 – Lighting Work Surfaces”

Great information on task lighting!

The Texpat Starling

Task lighting or undercabinet lighting is an important part of any modern kitchen or office. Unfortunately it’s done improperly just about as many times as it’s done right. As an example, there’s a popular pin on my Pinterest feed (that I decided not to show or link to) that drives me crazy to look at. According to the pin they didn’t want to interrupt their tile backsplash, so they ran conduit under the counter to keep the lines clean. This also meant they didn’t have to make any weird cuts to the tiles and freed them from having to run wires in the walls that weren’t there to begin with – major savings most likely. Finally, it allowed them to put lots of plugs. All this is very practical. In fact, I think it’s an interesting solution. The picture above is similar except for one crucial detail. They reversed the…

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Take Control of the Business!

It seems so common that self-employed designers work day and night, weekdays and weekends. Many designers feel obligated to be available whenever and wherever their clients need them. Not me! I figured I had to take control before I go insane.

Having regular business hours was important to me. People can call, fax, and/or email me Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Meetings outside business hours must be pre-arranged. Although I work from home, I make an effort to be in office by 9, properly dressed with hair and makeup done. This way, I look forward to the end of day to get off work, and I look forward to weekends to enjoy my personal life.

Another compliant I hear from designers is they can never find time to learn new technology, go to seminars, or attend industry events. Well, you don’t find time, you MAKE TIME. I do spend part of my business hours doing things that do not bring profit but are important, i.e., lunch with a colleague, networking, and hanging out at some trade events. Unless absolutely necessary, I will not replace those appointments with last-minute client meetings.

I take my one-person operation seriously. Some may think I am inflexible. I believe I function the best when my business is structured.

‘MICHELLE CHIANG’ is a Brand

As a design professional, I feel it is important to market my own style. There are tons of people with the same design and drafting skills I have, and many are more advanced and experienced than me, but nobody has the exact same style as mine.

My style reflects on all aspects of my life: the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the TV program I watch, the things I collect, the music I listen to, the places I visit, …etc. Marketing my own style is what I call ‘branding’.

Like many designers, my business is simply an extension of myself and my individual ‘brand’. My style dictates how I operate my business. I believe when designers ‘brand’ themselves, they will attract the clientele that is suited for them. As my business expand, a clearly defined brand image will attract the right talent to work with me.

I am not there yet. But I look forward to the day people in the industry see ‘MICHELLE CHIANG‘ and immediately think hardworking, dedicated, honest, ethical, and intelligent. I also don’t mind to be known as ‘the woman with killer hair‘. 😉

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