“live what you love, love what you do”

Hi! I’m Jenna Short and I am the founder of ShortbreadNYC. I am excited to share my photo tips with the Abe’s Market Community because I know that my sales have drastically increased once I put time and effort into my photography skills.

I originally started off as a graphic designer (I still am) with a minor in photography, so naturally aesthetics are something that is extremely important to me. Something I learned early on is that people eat with their eyes, then with their nose… and of course, their mouths.

When I was younger everyone always taught me to not judge a book by its cover. Well, in the digital age, we can’t afford to buy into that one bit. That’s ALL we do!

Having a brand and a visual voice is one of the most important things you can do for your company. Even if that means just having a logo, website and some stickers; that alone can create a seamless visual for your clientele. Think about one of the most successful brands out there: Apple Computers. They don’t skimp on anything as far as design and that is HUGE part of why they are so successful. Every aspect of marketing from the ads, colors and people working for you play a huge roll in the overall service you provide.

With that being said, you don’t need formal training to do any of this. There are so many great online “do it yourself” reasources from a quick fix, to a complete overhaul. If you do however seek some professional assitance with your brand, logo or website, our comapny can create that for you as well!

For photography, all you need is a good eye and attention to detail. For example; if you have a food blog and like to take photos but can’t afford the fancy equipment or SLR camera, all you have to do is be mindful of lighting.

DIY Photo backdrop:

• Supplies: Run to your local drug store and pick up a few tabletop prop mirrors,  some colored paper and black, white and gray cardboard from your local art supply store.
• Camera ISO Range: Turn off your flash and use your camera’s built in ISO. ISO range is available on all digital cameras and it goes overlooked for causal users. So what is ISO? Basically, ISO is the camera’s sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO number the more light sensitive the camera is being. In natural lighting (near a well-lit windo) place your camera’s ISO on the hightest number which will let you shoot with faster shutter speeds giving you less chance of movement blur.

• Backdrop: Use the colored paper as your back drops. You can tape them to a wall or create your own photo box like the image above. Be sure to take pictures by the window with all the natural sunlight you can get and use the card board and mirrors to reflect the light and get the contrast you want.
• Compose your shot: It’s easy to feel intimated by the composition (styling) of the shot but don’t be. Try different angles, close-ups and details. Think creatively and add details like raw ingredients, utensils or actions (cutting, sewing, etc) into your shots. Try everything and see what feels right for your brand.

Looking back if I could change anything up until now I probably wouldn’t. I think that every event in my life has lead me to the place that I am at right now! Every person I have met and place I have lived has made an incredible contribution to the success of Jshortdesigns & Shortbread NYC. (even though i think deep down my mom still wishes I was a dentist

The excitement around electric vehicles is contagious. We started talking about when we can offer EV’s on Abe’s Market or at minimum some electric vehicle accessories:)

The Chevy Volt, Better Place, Tesla and many other EV’s are turning the automobile industry on its head by performing, looking and making the owner feel, better than their combustible engine counterparts.

Proof that the world is going bonkers over EV’s …0ne of my favorite bands as a teenager, They Might Be Giants (try playing Istanbul next time you want to get the crowd on its feet), released an album called Here Comes Science with a song titled Electric Car. Check out the video:

My favorite lines : “Electric car, on verdant green – Invent a turn, invent a dream – Electric car, the new machine”

As we patiently wait (I am a Better Place man myself, hoping they can provide part of the solution to storing solar energy) lets enjoy what we have….

As an entrepreneur, I always love meeting other folks who have taken a leap to do something they really love to do.  This Tuesday I was in London and had the opportunity to meet with entrepreneurs at two inspiring companies.

Not on the High Street is a marketplace offering 30,000 items from 1,500 small British businesses.  Founders Sophie Cornish and Holly Tucker are passionate about unique, carefully-made products for their homes, their children, their friends and themselves.  And they’re passionate about creative small businesses.  In just 4 years, Sophie and Holly have built the premier online marketplace and gift site in the UK. Unfortunately, Not on the High Street is not available in the U.S., but for a fun online browsing experience, check out their site.

Holly and Sophie are in the middle

Whenever I give out a business card, it leads to a fun discussion.  I say something like, “Every seller on Abe’s Market has a story, and we help tell that story in everything we do, even our business cards.”  I say that because I have customized business cards, each featuring a different Abe’s Market seller on the back. My business cards are MOO cards.  MOO prints custom business cards, minicards, postcards and more. They’ve done a masterful job of taking commodity categories and infusing them with personality. If you’re in the market for wow-worthy business cards, check out MOO. Lisa Rodwell, VP of marketing, is a bundle of energy who had some great ideas to share.

Sophie, Holly and Lisa: Thank you for your time, energy, creativity and inspiration. I look forward to staying in touch.

There is nothing like an over the top video that goes viral and gets people talking about the subject…Below are three recent and remarkable videos covering three totally different topics.

1. Ives Behar reinvents the shoebox for Puma, cool and logical. Seems it will take retailers several months to understand how to deal with the change in shape. Our friend Larry at Larry’s Beans has a pretty eco-snazzy way of sending his beans.

2. Our Seller partner Beekman1802 shows they have fun while building their lifestyle brand – get ready for their new TV show…

3. Canada totally pushes the line with a disturbing and very memorable PSA to warn against keeping your car idling.

Enjoy!

(Because they are on their way to Hollywood stardom Green Planet requires us to watch the Beekman Boys preview on their site)

Me and a mid day treat

Most of us drink coffee – lots of it. (I take mine straight up. Black.) And coffee is a hot topic with regard to sustainability. The sustainability issues cover the life cycle from how coffee is produced to how it’s consumed to how it’s disposed of.

Working backwards, the issues aren’t too confusing. The best way to dispose of coffee grounds is to compost them. Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen and aid bacteria in turning organic matter into compost.

The consumption issue is also relatively easy. The main thing is to drink our coffee in durable mugs, not disposable cups. Carbonrally.com claims that Americans drink 100 billion cups of coffee annually, of which 16 billion are in disposable paper cups. Placed end-to-end, these cups would wrap around the earth five times and weigh around 900 million pounds, equal to the combined weight of 927, 747 airplanes. The estimate for 2010 is 23 billion disposable cups of coffee in the U.S. To make those 23 billion cups, 9.4 million trees will have to be cut down to harvest the 1.4 million tons of wood needed, equivalent to 352 Central Park’s worth of trees. The astounding stats go on and on, but the last one I’ll provide is that it’s estimated that 4 billion pounds of CO2 are released into the atmosphere during the production and distribution of coffee cups. If a single, mature tree can absorb an average of 48 pounds per year of CO2, it would take 83.3 million trees to soak up all the CO2 released in the cup-manufacturing process annually. It’s pretty clear: disposable cups = not good.

But what about coffee production? What should we really care about? Let’s start by discussing 3 common terms frequently associated with coffee. What do they mean?

Organic: The easiest one. Organic coffee is grown without the use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilizers. It makes for a healthier coffee for us to consume, and it’s safer for the growers and the populations in coffee-growing regions.

Fair Trade: Per Fairtrade.net, “Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. Fairtrade offers producers a better deal and improved terms of trade. This allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fairtrade offers consumers a powerful way to reduce poverty through their every day shopping. When a product carries the Fairtrade mark it means the producers and traders have met Fairtrade standards. The standards are designed to address the imbalance of power in trading relationships, unstable markets and the injustices of conventional trade.”

Shade Grown: Julie Craves, who blogs at Coffee and Conservation, writes in detail about the intricacies of shade grown coffee. Coffee has traditionally been grown in forested, shaded areas, which, “discourages weed growth, may reduce pathogen infection, protects the crop from frost, and helps to increase numbers of pollinators which results in better fruit set.” Shade grown coffee is also generally believed to taste better, as longer ripening times yield more complex flavors.

In an effort to drive faster, larger coffee yields, some coffee producers have taken to growing coffee in sunny conditions. Beyond the adverse impact to the coffee quality, growing in sunny conditions reduces the biodiversity of the coffee plantations. This has led increasing numbers of consumers to value shade grown coffee.

Organic.  Fair trade.  Shade grown. You decide for yourself how important each is to you.

As Lisa and I share a passion for coffee, we’ll be happy to wax poetic on it more later. For now, kick back with a cup of Larry’s Beans or Zoka Coffee or Cafe Altura and enjoy. In a mug.