Meet Naomi of Willow Lane Notebooks
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Say Hello to Naomi …
Willow Lane is a new venture my sister Naomi and I are beginning. With a passion for notebooks, we have decided to combine my art and her graphic design to produce the kind of notebooks we would love to buy. We believe notebooks are like doorways to whole worlds of potential within you. That’s why our goal is to inspire the world one notebook at a time.
Today you get to meet the other half of Willow Lane. Naomi takes my art and turns them into glorious cover designs. She also designs the internals and, using her wonderful digital art skills, creates some of the cute little images or motifs we use as the footer of the lined pages.
Naomi currently lives in Queensland, Australia with her husband, two kids, a beagle, a few chickens, an acreage of avocado trees, a flourishing vegetable patch and handy parents in the granny flat next door.
Naomi took time out of her busy schedule for a questions-and-answers session.
What are your hobbies and interests?
One big hobby of mine is music – I play the piano and sing. I also love writing. I am yet to show anyone one of the books I have written, but I have finished some novels and love dragging them out to re-edit as I learn new skills.
I also love doing cross-stitching, though I am running out of places to display them all. I hope my friends like cross-stitches because I can see a few turning into Christmas presents.*
My favourite pastime would be curling up with a cup of coffee and a really good book. Especially if it involves staying in my PJs all day.
* “Yes, please.” – Lisa
How did you get into graphic design?
My journey into graphic design wasn’t really a straight line.
I actually worked for many years as a Java programmer, but during that time I was taught Photoshop and was asked to start designing the websites we were developing. That gave me the graphic design bug, but it was when Lisa asked me to design a cover for one of her novels that I really got a chance to spread my wings, so to speak. Realising that it was the career for me, I did a course by correspondence, quit my programming job and started up my own graphic design business, NB Graphics. That would have been fourteen years ago.
What’s one of your favourite designs you’ve ever done?
I have to say, I am actually pretty proud of this website. I think my favourite, though, would be a CD cover I did for Exeter Blues called The Road and the Rail. I sometimes have to remind myself that it is one of my designs rather than some super talented graphic designer.
What do you do when a client wants something you don’t feel is up to the Naomi standard?
I have had that happen before. It usually requires a very delicate conversation where I politely try to convince them that the design isn’t the best they can get. But at the end of the day, they are the one paying, so they get what they really want.
If you could only choose one colour scheme and you had to do all designs in that scheme from now on, what colour scheme would you choose?
Ooooh, tough question. I am pretty partial to autumn shades – the rusty reds, burned oranges and earthy browns. If I was restricted to one colour scheme, that would be it. But the thought of being so limited is killing me.
What do you love to use a notebook for?
Let’s see … I have notebooks that I use beside my laptop to scribble bits of information that I might need later. I have notebooks that I take with me to see clients. They get filled with information and sketches. But I have a couple of super special notebooks that are absolutely beautiful. One sits in my handbag and gets used for my “on the go” writing thoughts: that sentence that is perfect for my latest book; that word I have been trying to remember; or a line that could become part of the lyrics to a song.
My really big notebook – an old-fashioned one with a clip to close it up – sits on display on my desk and gets used for my new novel ideas. When I have a plot occupying my mind, it goes into that book and later I can look back on it and see whether it is worthy of becoming a novel or not.
What excites you about Willow Lane?
To be honest, I am really looking forward to owning my own copy of all the notebooks we are bringing out. I think they are lovely and I want, I want, I want.
Actually, Lisa showed me her artwork a few years ago and I kept telling her that she had to sell them because they were good enough for people to buy. I have loved being a part of sending her artwork out into the world so that others can enjoy them. ▪
As well as Willow Lane notebooks and my fantasy novel covers, Naomi designs everything from websites, to brochures, to book covers, to CD covers, ads, bookmarks and so much more. To find out more about Naomi’s graphic design services, or to discuss hiring her, go to www.nbgraphics.com.au. Click here.
About the Author: Lisa Saul
