tonight i emailed my first submission
(kin to my perv: local, organic).
dec. 2, 2009 update
two more submissions (they sent me 3 stickers)
available online for free
the amazing Evan Roth issued an open invitation to participate in his sticker project, with the resulting photos displayed on a loop at the elizabeth foundation for the arts one every day show in new york (which runs through dec. 19, 2009)
tonight i emailed my first submission
(kin to my perv: local, organic).
dec. 2, 2009 update
two more submissions (they sent me 3 stickers)
tonight i emailed my first submission
(kin to my perv: local, organic).
dec. 2, 2009 update
two more submissions (they sent me 3 stickers)
sf camerawork 2009 auction
the preview exhibition for sf camerawork's 2009 auction is free and runs nov10-dec4 (info).
i donated carney (argentina) [archivally framed]
"Highlights include: Berenice Abbott, Richard Barnes, Harry Benson, Ellen Carey, Keith Carter, Judy Dater, Robert Dawson, Larry Fink, Ann Hamilton, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Todd Hido, Pirkle Jones, Michael Kenna, Dinh Q. Lê, Michael Light, David Maisel, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Misrach, Catherine Opie, J. John Priola, Herb Ritts, Holly Roberts, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Larry Sultan, Hank Willis Thomas, Catherine Wagner, William Wegman, Edward Weston, Marion Post Wolcott and many others."
the auction is saturday, dec5th, @ 1pm
($30 or free with sf camerawork membership)
i donated carney (argentina) [archivally framed]
"Highlights include: Berenice Abbott, Richard Barnes, Harry Benson, Ellen Carey, Keith Carter, Judy Dater, Robert Dawson, Larry Fink, Ann Hamilton, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Todd Hido, Pirkle Jones, Michael Kenna, Dinh Q. Lê, Michael Light, David Maisel, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Misrach, Catherine Opie, J. John Priola, Herb Ritts, Holly Roberts, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Larry Sultan, Hank Willis Thomas, Catherine Wagner, William Wegman, Edward Weston, Marion Post Wolcott and many others."
the auction is saturday, dec5th, @ 1pm
($30 or free with sf camerawork membership)
Hoodlum Teaser
Cropped "Hoodlum" Editorial Illustration.
I love clients that give me complete creative freedom. The opportunity to explore and create in a direction that is fresh and new even though it wasn't what they had originally requested. Such is the case with this editorial illustration.
To read more about this project and view the un-cropped version of the above illustration visit my primary site.
Illustrative Stunt Double
Striking a pose.
When ever I need reference material for a creative project involving a male figure I call up my friend John Nissen. He was my best man and we've known each other since attending art school. He also has a good stereotypical body type which makes him my go to male model. ;-P
An agency hired me to create some linear illustrations for a campaign pitch. The topic was medical and they requested a few samples to use in their presentation.
Doctor with stethoscope linear illustration.
John is an Art Director at a local firm here in town where I live and does both design and illustration himself so he knows how to strike that perfect pose. In this case a doctor getting ready to listen to your heart via a stethoscope.
These were going to be animated just like the bank spots I've done in the past.
Acting for the sake of art.
Here John is posing as a sick guy looking for a cure online. Does he have H1N1 or is he just a Hypochondriac?
Googling for Rx linear illustration.
Like so much agency work this project died before it ever had a chance to be animated. Easy come, easy go.
From Inspiration to Illustration
"TRI 3Y3 Guy" character illustration.
Like the wind, inspiration can hit you at any moment from any direction, so I like to pay attention to the prevailing creative winds letting my imagination set sail.
Such was the case when I recently watched the movie Fargo. I hadn't watched since it's premiere back in 1996. The moment of inspiration came from an unlikely source, the forehead of actor Steve Buscemi.
Details of illustration.
So as I watched the movie I started drawing, a head start on an illustration project if you will. (Pardon the pun) The below video will take your through the entire chain of creative events.
"TRI 3Y3 Guy" t-shirt design.
Looking for that perfect give for your beloved mother in law? Look no further, nothing says "I love you!" more than a t-shirt of the "TRI 3Y3 Guy."
"TRI 3Y3 Guy" art print.
"TRI 3Y3 Guy" is available in three formats:
- Download PDF Art Print
- Download Wallpaper Files
- View / Order T-shirt
From Inspiration to Illustration
Brewing Design
I just posted a new project at my primary design site regarding a coffee label design I did for Rahzo.com. I had shown this label to twitter users a while back after I got shipped some printed samples and was asked if I'd deconstruct how I went about creating it.
Well that is what this blog post is all about. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the post.
Source Photo: Paris, France.
1. Source Photo
Because I named the roast "Noir French Blend" it goes without saying it needs to have a French flair to the approach. I sourced out this picture which has the Eiffel Tower in the background.
I also picked this image because the contrast was perfect for how I planned on using it too.
Compositing images via Photoshop.
2. Distorting Reality
I wanted the the Eiffel Tower to be a focal point in my composition so if reality doesn't work you do what every fashion magazine does and manipulate reality so it looks better than real.
Converting photo to a halftone.
3. Halftone FX
I converted the photo to a halftone. In a nutshell: Convert color photo to greyscale, convert to halftone by going to the menu image/mode/bitmap. From there you'll have to experiment in order to determine what size of halftone works best for you, it isn't a one size fits all process. Once you have the size nailed down you have to convert back from bitmap to greyscale then copy/paste it back into your PSD file.
If you're still scratching your head after reading the above try this link it might help you? Or my big dot tutorial might also explain this process better?
Halftoned photo integrated into layout.
4. Halftone Integrated
I nest the halftoned photo into my over all layout. Mind you this is screen res so it doesn't do the halftone justice. Make sure to view the larger image at the end of this post to see how the halftones enhance the look and feel of the design.
European Beauty.
5. Romance
I wanted drama in my design. It's Paris so it needed some beautiful romance so I sourced out this photo. Her eyes were captivating and that was what I was after.
Romantic dot gain.
6. Larger Halftone FX
Once again I used the same halftone effect, just a larger size and composited the romantic gaze into my design.
A lot of what I do when I use Photoshop is experimentation. Playing with transparency, blend modes and arrangement of content and via layers to achieve the look and feel I'm after.
Laying a graphic foundation.
7. Graphic Foundation
This historical ornament and banner dangler will serve as the foundation for critical content like type and iconography as you'll see in the following images.
...Like a big pizza pie that's moire.
8. Creating a Moire Effect
The design over all felt too stark to me. I wanted to blend it all together more. So I just opened another color stock photo (Any will work) gaussian blurred it, went to filter/Pixelate/Color Halftone, converted it to greyscale, copy/pasted it back into my PSD file, messed with transparency and blend modes and there you have it.
...You're in love.
9. Moire Effect Applied
Compare this image to step 7.
Adding more character.
10. Texurizing
To add more depth and interest I used a variety of surface textures from my "Crumble.Crackle.Burn" book.
Interesting diagram art.
11. Diagram Illustration
I wanted culture appropriate imagery to collage my design with so I did some research and found this great retro diagram illustration of a Vespa scooter.
The Vespa has been parked.
12. Diagram Illustration Integrated
I'm building my design layer by layer taking the various graphic elements and collaging them together. After all that is essentially what graphic design means.
Information added to the layout.
13. Typography & Iconography
It goes without saying that the type you choose need to work for the specific genre you are designing for. This design uses just two typefaces and I've added an iconic graphic of a coffee plant to lock up the design motif.
I also left room so we could work in Rahzo's logo stamp as well.
The label diecut.
14. Diecut
On this project we had the luxury of doing a custom diecut so I created this unique shape to frame my design. Of course I knew I was doing this from the beginning so I kept that in mind as I collaged my graphic content too so as not to loose anything when it was trimmed.
Piping hot design ready to pour.
15. Final Product
The final labels came out great and the product is now available.
Click here to view a larger image of the final label design.
If you'd like to deconstruct this project further just download the "Brewing Design Pack" below which contains a print resolution (150 dpi) layered PSD file. (CS4 file but will open in CS3 or CS2) You'll be able to click through the layers and see exactly how everything was set up.
- Download "Brewing Design Pack" (5 MB)
Well that is what this blog post is all about. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the post.
Source Photo: Paris, France.
1. Source Photo
Because I named the roast "Noir French Blend" it goes without saying it needs to have a French flair to the approach. I sourced out this picture which has the Eiffel Tower in the background.
I also picked this image because the contrast was perfect for how I planned on using it too.
Compositing images via Photoshop.
2. Distorting Reality
I wanted the the Eiffel Tower to be a focal point in my composition so if reality doesn't work you do what every fashion magazine does and manipulate reality so it looks better than real.
Converting photo to a halftone.
3. Halftone FX
I converted the photo to a halftone. In a nutshell: Convert color photo to greyscale, convert to halftone by going to the menu image/mode/bitmap. From there you'll have to experiment in order to determine what size of halftone works best for you, it isn't a one size fits all process. Once you have the size nailed down you have to convert back from bitmap to greyscale then copy/paste it back into your PSD file.
If you're still scratching your head after reading the above try this link it might help you? Or my big dot tutorial might also explain this process better?
Halftoned photo integrated into layout.
4. Halftone Integrated
I nest the halftoned photo into my over all layout. Mind you this is screen res so it doesn't do the halftone justice. Make sure to view the larger image at the end of this post to see how the halftones enhance the look and feel of the design.
European Beauty.
5. Romance
I wanted drama in my design. It's Paris so it needed some beautiful romance so I sourced out this photo. Her eyes were captivating and that was what I was after.
Romantic dot gain.
6. Larger Halftone FX
Once again I used the same halftone effect, just a larger size and composited the romantic gaze into my design.
A lot of what I do when I use Photoshop is experimentation. Playing with transparency, blend modes and arrangement of content and via layers to achieve the look and feel I'm after.
Laying a graphic foundation.
7. Graphic Foundation
This historical ornament and banner dangler will serve as the foundation for critical content like type and iconography as you'll see in the following images.
...Like a big pizza pie that's moire.
8. Creating a Moire Effect
The design over all felt too stark to me. I wanted to blend it all together more. So I just opened another color stock photo (Any will work) gaussian blurred it, went to filter/Pixelate/Color Halftone, converted it to greyscale, copy/pasted it back into my PSD file, messed with transparency and blend modes and there you have it.
...You're in love.
9. Moire Effect Applied
Compare this image to step 7.
Adding more character.
10. Texurizing
To add more depth and interest I used a variety of surface textures from my "Crumble.Crackle.Burn" book.
Interesting diagram art.
11. Diagram Illustration
I wanted culture appropriate imagery to collage my design with so I did some research and found this great retro diagram illustration of a Vespa scooter.
The Vespa has been parked.
12. Diagram Illustration Integrated
I'm building my design layer by layer taking the various graphic elements and collaging them together. After all that is essentially what graphic design means.
Information added to the layout.
13. Typography & Iconography
It goes without saying that the type you choose need to work for the specific genre you are designing for. This design uses just two typefaces and I've added an iconic graphic of a coffee plant to lock up the design motif.
I also left room so we could work in Rahzo's logo stamp as well.
The label diecut.
14. Diecut
On this project we had the luxury of doing a custom diecut so I created this unique shape to frame my design. Of course I knew I was doing this from the beginning so I kept that in mind as I collaged my graphic content too so as not to loose anything when it was trimmed.
Piping hot design ready to pour.
15. Final Product
The final labels came out great and the product is now available.
Click here to view a larger image of the final label design.
If you'd like to deconstruct this project further just download the "Brewing Design Pack" below which contains a print resolution (150 dpi) layered PSD file. (CS4 file but will open in CS3 or CS2) You'll be able to click through the layers and see exactly how everything was set up.
- Download "Brewing Design Pack" (5 MB)
Color Palette Refinement
My creative process is both analog and digital. I love the tactile approach drawing provides and the precision ease of use digital offers in regard to creating artwork and design.
I've had my battles with Illustrator over the years. And it more than anything else in my life is truly a love hate relationship.
Thankfully most of these frustrations and short comings have either been resolved now by Adobe or bypassed via helpful third party plugins that work better than the native tools.
That said, there is still room for improvement and that is what this post is about. I'm specifically talking about the the "Color Palette" in Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator 8 Color Palette.
It's been eons since Adobe seriously updated the Color Palette. The above image shows what it looked like back in Illustrator 8 running on system 9 prior to the advent of OSX.
Current interface appearance of Color Palette in CS4.
Not much has changed with the Color Palette since Illustrator 8. Being a former FreeHand user the GUI on this specific palette has always annoyed me.
Why did Adobe ever overlap the fill and stroke controls? OK, so that was a rhetorical question. It denotes which control you have in focus either fill or stroke. Having the overlap as it is now just makes selecting them more of a pain and slows down the build process IMO.
Overlap + Dark Colors = Problem.
The current overlap causes another problem, if you have darker colors it's hard to tell which one is selected, (See above image) so it isn't fool proof from that stand point making it slow you down again. I think my solution below is better. The overlap also gives the illusion of representing a hierarchy, which it doesn't in the actual object itself, that's what the Appearance Palette is for.
But the biggest issue for me in regards to the Color Palette is the fact there is no way to quickly color both the fill and stroke at the same time. (I miss that feature from FreeHand)
My suggested GUI and functional update to the Color Palette.
I think Adobe should re-design the Color Palette. I'm not talking about making the process fundamentally different, I just want to see what is already there improved upon. They should also add in the ability to color both the fill and stroke at the same time. Everything else would work the same as it always has.
Easier to select fill and stroke controls.
Want to color your fill and stroke yellow? Just click the multi-color control shown to the right of the fill and stroke control and then create your color and your done. (You can also drag a color to the multi-color control too) This would seem to be a pretty easy refinement the Adobe engineers could make?
Arrowhead to Identify which control you have selected.
Someone in the comments below pointed out the overlapping fill and stroke denote which one is selected. I realize that but it's still not needed. I could see why they might have done that before OSX and more robust application versions but it's simply not needed.
I propose that an active arrow appears along side which ever control is currently in focus be it the fill, stroke, or multi-color.
I know everyone has different ways of working but I'd use this simple function all the time if it were part of the app. FreeHand had it, Adobe owns FreeHand now so why not implement it? They've already done so with multiple art boards, new masking etc.
I've had my battles with Illustrator over the years. And it more than anything else in my life is truly a love hate relationship.
Thankfully most of these frustrations and short comings have either been resolved now by Adobe or bypassed via helpful third party plugins that work better than the native tools.
That said, there is still room for improvement and that is what this post is about. I'm specifically talking about the the "Color Palette" in Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator 8 Color Palette.
It's been eons since Adobe seriously updated the Color Palette. The above image shows what it looked like back in Illustrator 8 running on system 9 prior to the advent of OSX.
Current interface appearance of Color Palette in CS4.
Not much has changed with the Color Palette since Illustrator 8. Being a former FreeHand user the GUI on this specific palette has always annoyed me.
Why did Adobe ever overlap the fill and stroke controls? OK, so that was a rhetorical question. It denotes which control you have in focus either fill or stroke. Having the overlap as it is now just makes selecting them more of a pain and slows down the build process IMO.
Overlap + Dark Colors = Problem.
The current overlap causes another problem, if you have darker colors it's hard to tell which one is selected, (See above image) so it isn't fool proof from that stand point making it slow you down again. I think my solution below is better. The overlap also gives the illusion of representing a hierarchy, which it doesn't in the actual object itself, that's what the Appearance Palette is for.
But the biggest issue for me in regards to the Color Palette is the fact there is no way to quickly color both the fill and stroke at the same time. (I miss that feature from FreeHand)
My suggested GUI and functional update to the Color Palette.
I think Adobe should re-design the Color Palette. I'm not talking about making the process fundamentally different, I just want to see what is already there improved upon. They should also add in the ability to color both the fill and stroke at the same time. Everything else would work the same as it always has.
Easier to select fill and stroke controls.
Want to color your fill and stroke yellow? Just click the multi-color control shown to the right of the fill and stroke control and then create your color and your done. (You can also drag a color to the multi-color control too) This would seem to be a pretty easy refinement the Adobe engineers could make?
Arrowhead to Identify which control you have selected.
Someone in the comments below pointed out the overlapping fill and stroke denote which one is selected. I realize that but it's still not needed. I could see why they might have done that before OSX and more robust application versions but it's simply not needed.
I propose that an active arrow appears along side which ever control is currently in focus be it the fill, stroke, or multi-color.
I know everyone has different ways of working but I'd use this simple function all the time if it were part of the app. FreeHand had it, Adobe owns FreeHand now so why not implement it? They've already done so with multiple art boards, new masking etc.
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