Hello and Welcome to Serif ’76
This website has been a dream of mine for more than 20 years. It’s been lingering in my creative subconscious for so long, in fact, that a part of me can’t even believe it’s finally a reality.
I’ve always loved quotes. I love the power of the written word. I believe that the right words said at the right time can have a profound impact on someone’s life. Words can also be very harmful. After all, for every lightness, there is darkness. But I choose to focus on the potential for good. Far too often I feel we humans make life too complicated with chaos. If we could just sit and calmly reflect, what might we understand differently?
Yet as powerful as words can be, they can’t communicate everything. And when words don’t complete, a visual image can. The power of the imagination to interpret a graphic image from the singular unique perspective of the viewer interpreting it—and then it being reinterpreted a different way by someone else—allows art to become more than just a two-dimensional object. It comes alive. And with life comes possibilities.
With Serif ’76 I am merging these two great loves of mine, words and images, into my largest creative endeavor yet. I’ve had big projects on my desk before, but nothing this ambitious, personal, and in some ways, risky. But as I’ve learned approaching the twilight of my 40th decade on this planet, nothing is promised except the moment I am currently in. Or as wise Yoda said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
Crafting and love of images started young for me. Here I am gluing greeting cards into a scrapbook. I kept that scrapbook until I was in my late 20s. After all, not everything could make the cross-country move from South Carolina to California.
There are a lot of “best practices” when it comes to selling online. I didn’t follow a lot of those rules for this online store. I created designs from my own artistic eye and kept tweaking them until they felt done in my gut. In other words, I relied more on my own intuition than market research. And for this initial opening, I’m okay with that. I’ve got more than 300 designs already made and hundreds more in the pipeline. I have confidence that this shop will evolve the way it is supposed to. After all, 20 years ago I trusted I would somehow get to this launch…and now, here I am.
No matter how you found Serif ’76, thank you for scrolling by. Even though my designs reflect different parts of me, I hope that something in my store will connect or resonate with you, too. Feel free to drop me a line and give me some feedback, or just to say hi. I love hearing from my customers.
With gratitude and a creative heart,
— Jody
This is our beloved Alton who we had to say goodbye to on Nov. 4, 2024 at the age of 11. We raised him since he was a puppy, and he meant the world to me. Hence the Golden Love reflected in my shop. He will always live in my heart and soul. I love you Little Man.
A Little More about Me
When I’m not thinking up new designs for my e-commerce shops, I also like to write as a blogger. I earned my bachelor’s degree in journalism, and then went on to earn a technical degree in graphic design. I have occasionally freelanced over the years. You can see my portfolio over at my personal website, www.jodyyarborough.com.
In addition to my creative endeavors, I am a disability advocate and volunteer. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband. Together we like traveling, watching Giants games, playing scrabble, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen.
What’s In A Name: The Inspiration for naming Serif ‘76
The name for this shop was in a “workshopping” phase for quite a while. Then, one day, it hit me: Serif ‘76. Serif is a term that is common in graphic design. It is a traditional typeface that has a small line or stroke attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter. I like to think of them as caps or flags that ornament the tops and tails of characters. The ‘76 is the year I was born. Put them together and I just loved how it flowed.