Lettering Works Business Journal - February in Review
~ NOW BOOKING PROJECTS FOR MARCH 2026 & BEYOND ~ If you’d like your brand to be expressed in a creative, real way to get the attention of your customers, let’s chat.
BUSINESS JOURNAL: A PLACE TO CELEBRATE WINS & REFLECT - 74TH EDITION
February’s highlights included a week in beautiful Guadalajara, Mexico, joining Choose Chicago as a partner, submitting my artwork to multiple calls, adding a few new stickers, working on multiple projects and trades, adding a new museum client, and taking down my first solo art show in Chicago.
The Big Wins
Enjoyed a week-long vacation in Guadalajara. Highlights included a food and architecture tour with a local guide, exploring the local art museums, visits to a handful of art studios where we met local artists, a day trip to Tlaquepaque where we enjoyed live mariachi, a day trip to Tequila with a distillery tour and cantaritos, and a special anniversary dinner at Bruna.
Mexico is truly such a beautiful place with the kindest people and such a rich and vibrant culture. It has been incredibly sad to watch recent events and violence unfold. My heart continues to go out to Mexico and all those affected. Please remember to be diligent and discerning when viewing circulating stories, as many false reports and AI-generated content have gotten mixed in. It’s disheartening to see false information influence people’s perception of Mexico.
Joined Choose Chicago as a partner and attended their Annual Meeting. As I am focusing more on my identity as a Chicago Souvenir Designer, it made sense to get involved locally as a partner. I am excited to see what this partnership brings.
Lettering Works is a proud partner of Choose Chicago as of this month!
The Choose Chicago Annual Meeting was held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on February 10th
Postscript Gala for Comfort Station
My mom (and Daniel) joined for the after party at the Postscript Gala
New Chicago Snow Plow Stickers: “Abolish ICE” and “I Survived My First Chicago Winter”
New signage outside of the Chicago History Museum store
A collaborative sticker designed to replace a traditional business card for Uncommon Plant Guy
Taking down the last piece at Logan Square Pilates and Core after my three-month artist residency
Wooden signs installed at Penny Lane Studios
Introduced new Abolish ICE and I Survived My First Chicago Winter snow plow stickers as well as a new Chicago Transit postcard. These are available on my website and for wholesale purchase via Faire. In case you didn’t see the news, Chicago officially named one of its snow plows “Abolish ICE” as a result of their annual snow plow naming contest.
Added the Driehaus Museum as a client. I delivered 600 postcards to them and got to enjoy exploring the museum for the first time. I also worked closely with some of my favorite museum clients, The Field and Chicago History Museum, on some new things, and restocked the Milwaukee Art Museum. I was featured by the Field Museum for our recent sticker collection.
Submitted to Comfort Station’s Call for Artists. I also attended their Annual Fundraising Gala, Postscript, for the first time, where I was a sponsor. I tend to shy away from sponsorships since I have the Artist Trade Program and find my own ways to give back to the community, but there was something really special about seeing my logo on the screen supporting a local organization that I enjoy so much.
Enjoyed winter in Chicago by attending Chicago Theatre Week shows (Bodies of Matter and Così fan tutte) and hosting my mom for a visit where we attended one of Daniel’s Chicago Sound Collective shows. We also enjoyed a few, fun dinner parties with friends.
Collaborated with Austin of Uncommon Plant Guy on a cute Wabi Sabi plant sticker. Stickers are the new business cards. I’m excited for his workshop participants to get these cute stickers. I also collaborated with an artist in Portugal on a sticker (she did the illustration and I did the lettering).
Completed the first five stickers in my series of 10 stickers to celebrate 10 years in business. I’m not quite ready to share them, but I am currently working them into my very first sponsored post with Adobe. I also did a Q&A interview with someone from Adobe’s Content Credentials team.
Led a 1:1 consulting session with a local chef, wrapped up design work for my chiropractor, and onboarded another local business for a sticker design, all as part of my Artist Trade Program. I am continuing to accept requests on a rolling basis.
Took down my art show at Logan Square Pilates and Core after my three-month residency. The Read More sign found its forever home at City Lit Books and ten signs are currently on display at Penny Lane Studios, a beauty salon in Logan Square. If you are interested in purchasing a sign, I have a handful available and am also accepting custom orders here.
Reconnected with art opportunities in Peoria. This year will mark 10 years since graduating from Bradley University, so I decided to submit to a call for mural designs on campus. While my proposal was not selected, I did submit a piece to the Contemporary Art Center in Peoria that will be included in their upcoming “Art on the Offense” exhibition. I also attended a Bradley Basketball Pre-Game party in Chicago and brainstormed ways I could work with Bradley again.
Updated my 2026 work samples, and wholesale catalog. I’ve been focusing on intentional outreach and connection, as I’m dreaming up ways to reconnect with some of my favorite clients from the past ten years in business.
This may have been the most full February I’ve ever had between juggling attending local events, making progress on a big NDA project, fulfilling wholesale orders, working on some client and personal projects, completing trade projects, and visiting Mexico.
In March, I’m looking forward to continuing to make progress on all that I am working on behind the scenes and having some extra margin for rest. If you want to work together in 2026, please reach out. I will be prioritizing wholesale, custom merchandise design, and branding.
Thank you for being here, for supporting me, and for following along with my entrepreneurial journey.
PS - Have a project you’d like to chat about? Send me the details now to ensure your project gets on my calendar in 2026. Bring on all the logos, branded merchandise, + brand identity projects… let’s make some beautiful + impactful things together.
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