Hush Hush

This year I've been fortunate to work on some high-profile projects. Target has graciously allowed me to work on some small, but fun elements promoting their movie tie-in products for Speed Racer, Hulk and most recently Clone Wars. Several other clients have requested me to agree to non-disclosure agreements as well.

So as much as I would love to show you the work, I'll leave you with this fun piece instead... but I won't say who it was for! (:

Illustrator Wizardry

For most of my career, I've been a Macromedia Freehand devotee. Even though Illustrator has been an industry favorite, I remained stubbornly committed to Freehand. Not long after Freehand was bought by Adobe and subsequently discontinued, I realized I simply must make the switch. Now, having made the transition almost a year ago, I'm in love with Illustrator. I especially love the transparency and dropshadow capabilities. To achieve those results in Freehand, I needed to import elements from Photoshop... time consuming and awkward. I also love knowing that Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign are siblings. The transitions are seamless.

Logos Galore

As you know, I've been uploading logos to www.LogoLounge.com. Bill Gardner made my day recently when he called to say that some of these marks will find their way into his next book collection, Logo Lounge 5.

To celebrate, I designed a digital poster of nearly 200 logos and icons created mostly from the last 7 years of my now 20-year career. If you would like a PDF of the 11" x 17" poster, please email me and I'll shoot you the file as soon as possible.

Limited Color

Here's an image I just finished intended to be letterpressed. If you're not familiar with the letterpress process, visit www.StudioOnFire.com to see some lovely examples. Letterpress printing is very tactile and very beautiful to feel and see.

I don't handle printing much anymore, but when I was a graphic designer years ago, we would regularly select colored paper and print Pantone inks. After we started using Epson printers (with white paper) to mock-up projects for client approval, and 4-color printing became much more economical, our design solutions evolved into ever increasingly 4-color process designs printed on white stock. Today, where full color is everywhere, I think it's interesting that limiting your designs to one or two colors actually allows your work to stand out in the crowd.

Moose Heads

To follow up an earlier post, the Moose Head Hunt was held last night at the B.A.N.K. restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. Nearly 30 Moorhead State University design alumni showed up to reconnect with old friends and pay tribute to "Moose", Professor Phil Mousseau. Those in attendance were, Karen Schwarz, Amy Crews, Bret Hummel, Michael Byzewski, Susan Hofmeister, John Tschohl, Cory and Jessica Docken, Chris Cornejo, Jeff Johnson, Cedric Hohnstadt, Mark Lofthus, Travis Olson, Jon and Amber Erickson, Brent Gale, Eric Vermilyea, Jason Rysavy, Karl Peters, Nicki McCracken and Charles Youel, Scott Thares, Sarah (Nelson) and Jon Forss, Barry McCullough, Roland Eidahl, Sandy Mousseau, along with my wife, Leah and I.

I was struck by how much impact one person can have in this world. This group was just a fraction of the talented designers that came through Phil's program... and yet these alumni are some of the most talented and successful designers in the Twin Cities.

Click on the photos for a larger view.







These photos were from my own camera. Sandy Mousseau shot many more and when I receive them, I'll update this post with selected images from her.

Two Birds with One Illustration

Von Glitschka (Vonster.com) asked me to design "something" using one of his texture designs. I believe the point was to use the illustration/design as an example of how his textures can be used in commercial graphic design. Von is one of the best illustrative designers in the U.S. so I wanted very much to find an appropriate project to showcase his cool texture. Luckily, a new client of mine asked for a fresh Christmas design to be used in their new holiday bag collection. I was able to incorporate "Thorn Blossom" into the border treatment. Click on the image below to get a much closer look at the detail.

Missed The Mark

I was asked to produce one idea for a new investment company. From all of my questioning, I thought I had a bead on what the client wanted and needed... and I delivered this idea. The watering can, I thought, was a great metaphor for the tender care needed to grow investments. The client didn't agree.