The Pen Scrappers

Description

Kwanzaa is a weeklong holiday, from December 26th to January 1st, honoring African heritage. Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration marked by participants lighting a single candle in a kinara (candleholder) each day and culminating in a feast and gift giving with seven candles lit.

Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to a single principle. These principles emphasize unity (Umoja), self-determination (Kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (Ujima), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), purpose (Nia), creativity (Kuumba), and faith (Imani). The greeting for each day of Kwanzaa is “Habari Gani!” which is Swahili for “What’s the News?” or “What’s New?” The response is each of the principles for each of the days of Kwanzaa, i.e., “Umoja” on the first day, “Kujichagulia” on the second day and so on.

When I chose Kwanzaa as my holiday theme, I knew I wanted to create a layout that would allow me to present all seven principles of Kwanzaa in a logical way. My goal was to allow each principle it’s own visual space, yet connect the spaces to create a cohesive whole. The circle, with its inherent sense of wholeness, completion and returning cycles, seemed the perfect symbol.

While I roughed out the layout at home, I was able to refine and finish my layout sitting at a table in my favorite coffee shop with my MacBook Pro and a Wacom Bamboo tablet. What’s great about the Bamboo is that not only is it ideal for drawing tasks, that are just plain easier with a pen and tablet, it’s just as useful as a daily tool, replacing a mouse in my design process. Nothing is more natural than sitting at a table, sipping coffee and creating a layout with a Bamboo, pen in hand.

For a peek into my process and to see how I built my page, check out my making of video.

Renee Pearson
Contact: renee@fertilepress.com
Blog: reneepearson.typepad.com