Dear Pennies & Pens,
I am so excited to announce that ISLP’s newest ink, Cruising thru Cali is now available here: (link). Cruising thru Cali is a digital travel guide created by ISLP. Cruising thru Cali offers an exclusive inside look on our press trip to California. We give you the low down on Cali’s best Vegan restaurants, dispensaries, wineries, breweries, and attractions.
Cruising thru Cali offers insight on what to do in Cali, what to eat, what to wear, and how to navigate the golden state without a car. Team ISLP is here to teach you how to cruise thru cali – especially if you’re on a budget.
We created Cruising thru Cali because for years we dreamed of traveling to the golden state but had no idea what we’d do when we got there. Realizing that there were probably other people like us, we decided to create a travel guide that would not only document our trip but provide real insight on what to do in Cali and how to get there.
Cruising thru Cali is a collection of original articles and photos that feature Vegan restaurants, modern + contemporary art, attractions like the San Francisco Bay, as well as Napa + Sonoma wineries. Cruising thru Cali is your digital tour guide to all things Cali. #InkWithUs.
But I’ll admit that for a while it seemed like we would never finish Cruising thru Cali. We got back to our respective destinations of Dallas, St. Louis, and Nashville on September 15th. And yet here it is, March, and we’re just now releasing this guide. What took so long, you ask?! Well first off, there were a TON of growing pains we had to go through.
We had over 2,000 photos to sort thru when we got back. We edited over 600 photos and used at least 150-200 photos in the guide. We also had to write and edit the articles. That meant sitting down and writing 500-1,000+ word articles in between working full time jobs. We wrote articles on our phones, laptops, and via text until we finally had some content worth editing. Then as CEO, I went thru everyone’s articles with a red pen until only the best ink was left on the page.
After that it seemed like the hard part was over. The articles were written and edited, the photos were edited, now all we had to do was design the guide, right?! WRONG!!! Design work is one of the hardest parts of releasing a new product. You can have great photos and well written text but if it’s not laid out in a clean manner then the reader won’t be able to digest it. And guess what?! This was the first time, I had ever designed or put together a digital travel guide. So, it took days for me to get into a rhythm when it came to designing the guide.
I’ve designed websites, blogs, and books, but never a travel guide. So, it was definitely a learning curve for me. However, since I have designed similar products, I decided to start with what I know. In essence, I created a wireframe of what I wanted the guide to look like on paper. I literally drew out where I would place the photos and the text. I knew I would veer away from that initial design but having some ideas on paper gave me some direction when I started working in InDesign.
Once that was done, I created the InDesign doc and went from there. After I got the hang of how I wanted everything to look, it became second nature.
I spent the entire weekend finalizing Cruising thru Cali. And I can honestly say that I love the way it looks!!! I think for the first digital travel guide ever created by ISLP, it looks pretty damn good!!!
Shop our ink and get your copy of Cruising thru Cali here: http://bit.ly/CruisingthruCali
And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.
