A recap of Barbie's 65th Anniversary Celebration in NYC

Everyone knows that Barbie throws the best parties!

The Barbie shop inside the iconic F.A.O Schwarz toy store in Manhattan, NY was the perfect location for her 65th Anniversary. It was an event to remember, with an interactive activation that included live fashion sketches by Fashion Illustrator Deanna Kei (that’s me!) , and lots of other fun gifts!

Fashion Illustrator, Deanna Kei

The energy level inside the shop was off the charts! Everyone was so happy to be there! At the Barbie shop, fans can customize their very own Barbies with the help of a trained Barbie stylist. Each time a kid finished customizing their Barbie doll, the stylist presented them to the audience by name and everyone in the shop gave them a round of applause. The applause were going all day and had everyone smiling.

After guests chose their Barbies, they were treated to Barbie donuts and fashion sketches of themselves as a Barbie doll!

@deborahtroyannchester

It was a fun filled day full of cute photo ops! Shoppers were given a Barbie hat with their purchases and the large Barbie box at the front of the store made the best frame for photos!

Barbie shoppers who spent $75 or more were able to have a live illustration done of themselves. The fashion illustrations were framed with a pink Barbie box border. It was the perfect memento from the day!

Krispy Kreme joined in on the festivities with a beautiful donut display of their Barbie x Krispy Kreme collaboration donuts. There were 4 different flavors to choose from, each featuring a different design! The Barbie donuts are available outside of the event too!* See Krispy Kreme for details.

@Prinzechris

@prinzechris

Barbie fans showed up from all over, dressed in their best Barbie outfits. It was so much fun sketching everyone and chatting with them about their collections! There was a fun crowd around the sketch station and everyone was mingling with each other and showing off their Barbies and it was really just such an amazing day full of good, pink vibes!

The Barbie shop is located inside F.A.O Schwarz and is definitely worth a visit!

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Deanna Kei is a fashion and beauty illustrator who works with brands to create custom illustrations, and she also sketches guests live at special events. To book live fashion art for your next event contact: DeannaKei@gmail.com or see here for more details!

GUCCI Beauty takes the floor during the Nordstrom NY Anniversary sale

Gucci turned heads as they celebrated the launch of their brand new beauty counter in Nordstrom’s New York flagship store. The 3 day beauty activation took place on August 4th, 5th and 6th during the famed Nordstrom Anniversary sale.

All through the event every Gucci client who made a purchase had themself turned into a fun fashion illustration by Fashion Illustrator, Deanna Kei. With the gorgeous new beauty counter located in the center of the selling floor adjacent to the elevators, Gucci was perfectly positioned to draw a crowd. Many passing shoppers stopped to watch the illustrator and learn about the event. The artist was happy to explain the promotion and guide them to the Gucci counter on either side of her station, where they were met by the Gucci beauty specialists. Some new beauty clients were already fans of the brand. Others who stopped by to check out the event shared that they were shopping around for gifts when the sketches caught their eye. One woman who asked the illustrator “oh, does Gucci carry anything for men?” later left happily with a fragrance purchase and a sketch of herself. Another passing group who gathered around the illustration table expressed that they didn’t know Gucci had a beauty line and were excited to check out the counter. A family who came over to watch the artist also later left with a bag full of Gucci and their matching sketches.

By day 3 of the event, the entire Nordstrom store was buzzing about the brand. Employees from other floors had come by to shop Gucci and get sketched too after seeing others carrying their sketches through the store. One even brought their client from another brand to make a Gucci purchase. Nordstrom covered the event on the Nordstrom New York instagram page, and social media was buzzing all week as shoppers shared their Gucci sketches in insta stories.

The Gucci Illustration activation was such a creative way to get people excited and talking about the new counter, and to foster a feeling of connection between Gucci and its fans. Long time clients were able to experience the brand in a new way, and first time shoppers will undoubtedly fall in love with their new purchases and become lifelong Gucci clients!

Below are some photos from the 3 day event!

Deanna Kei is a New York based live event illustrator who turns guests into fun fashion illustrations, and also works with brands to create unique and engaging content featuring their products. She’s available to book for both live and virtual events. *To commission illustrations for your brand contact deannakei@gmail.com

Illustrator Deanna Kei draws Gucci clients during their Nordstrom NY event

photo credit: Jared, Influencer @MicahJesse

photo credit: Jared, Influencer @MicahJesse

Also read: Gucci Gives Clients The VIP Treatment.. Gucci’s NJ activation event, May 2021

18 Women artists are making a powerful statement about normalizing female positivity.

Introducing: Female Artist Collective

~ A collection of female positive works by women artists ~

Female Artist Collective is an art book centered on encouraging and normalizing self love and acceptance. It was created by a community of 18 women artists from all over the world who united in one goal: to spread a powerful message of love to other women and girls from the female perspective.

For Immediate Release: June 2021 (New York, US) The idea for this book was born on International Women’s day, in March 2021 in response to the need for more female-positive representation in the media, press, and the imagery we’re exposed to daily. NY based Illustrator Deanna Kei hand picked a group of talented women artists to unite their various styles with a common theme. The result was a beautiful collection of unique works, each highlighting female-positivity, daily life, and what it means to experience the world as a girl.

Female Artist Collective, Front cover

Female Artist Collective, Back cover

This book is all about encouragement and normalizing femininity, how ever that looks to each person individually. The art was created for females by females, but the message behind each carefully curated page is not: ‘this is an illustration of a woman or girl’, instead its: ‘this is a person, living their life as they want, who happens to be a woman or a girl.’ This book silently speaks out against the typical female characters you might find tossed into a movie, starring in a fairy tale, depicted in an art exhibit, or featured in a magazine ad. The solidifying goal behind this project was to illustrate women and girls being true to their selves, in both ordinary and abstract situations. This book doesn’t touch on the politics or social issues often associated with spotlighting women, but instead does a masterful job of presenting a low stress viewing of beautiful imagery, that promotes normalcy and the uniqueness of female life that any viewer can enjoy.

This art book features 57 full color pages of art highlighting women and girls, and a bio section spotlighting all 18 of the contributing women artists. Its 10”x7” size is perfect for exhibiting the artworks and makes it the perfect coffee table book.

Female Artist Collective is being exclusively distributed through Amazon and is available through all of Amazon’s international channels. The book prices at just $9.12US, making it easily accessible and very affordable. Neither the organizer nor the artists are drawing a profit from the sales of the book. “We felt that our message was important and we wanted to reach as many people as possible by offering our book at cost.”

The book can be purchased through the amazon link found at:

www.deannakei.com/femaleartistcollective

"We united in community and combined our talents to create this beautiful representation of female art. We believe in women supporting women. We hope that the art in this book encourages you to keep being yourself." - Organizer Deanna Kei speaks about the project

The secondary goal of this book was to really shine a spotlight on female talent. Each of the artists’ biographies and contact information are printed inside and readers are encouraged to join them online. The different works and styles compliment each other perfectly, and really strengthen the underlying message: collaboration over competition. “Female Artist Collective was created through community and we hope it will encourage and inspire others to reach out to each other and come together. Together we shine brighter”.

Featured artists include:

Deanna Kei, Beverley Hopwood Illustration, Ruby Michelle, Sanaa Fidahussain, Kelsey Linnartz, Eliana Rodgers, Rhodan Arts, Ashley Banbury, Ocean Take Flight by Helen Xue, Presents from Pascale, Anne Heffernan, Keerthana Rajasekar, Christina K, Stephanie Brodene, Victoria, Marie Sally, Monisha Ravindar, Natasha Joseph.

About Deanna Kei:

Deanna Kei is a Fashion & Beauty Illustrator, and Live & Virtual Event artist from New York. She works with brands to create custom story telling pieces and also performs live guest sketches during events. Deanna’s illustration style is heavily influenced by her background in fashion. She has been working as a designer for over a decade since her graduation from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Through her work she aims to promote style, confidence, and positivity.

www.deannakei.com – www.instagram.com/deannakei_illustrations

For Press Inquiries:

Contact: Deanna Kei

deannakei@gmail.com

www.deannakei.com/femaleartistcollective

Get your copy of Female Artist Collective on Amazon through the link below.

*This blog is part of amazon’s affiliate program and may earn a commission on applicable purchases through the links in this post.