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.

Variety

As I've been going through my archive looking for logos to submit to LogoLounge (see older post), I came across these six ideas I presented for a company called Mosaic Builders. I can't help but notice the variety of styles I incorporated. As I've evolved from primarily a graphic designer to primarily an illustrator, I'm finding my solutions for logos now are more illustrative in nature.

Isn't it funny that not having a style is advantageous as a graphic designer, but harmful as an illustrator?

Macy's Girl

Here's an illustration I just finished for an animation proposal for the department store giant.

Moose Head Hunt

I didn't hang out much during college. I was in such a hurry to get out into the work force, I missed out on the great experience of collaborating with the other design students. I deeply regret that mistake.

As part of my company "re-boot", I've been making an effort to reconnect with classmates from Minnesota State University-Moorhead. These reunions have been so fun I have been spearheading the effort to do this on a much larger scale... a real reunion of all alumni from Phil Moosseau's design program (Moose Heads for short). Here's the invite.

Logo Lounge

As a logo designer, I purchase logo books as a source for creative inspiration. Recently, I've been excited by the Logo Lounge series of books. Being a little dense, I didn't notice that the books are an extension of their www.LogoLounge.com website. It's now a database of over 70,000 marks that can be accessed much like you do stock photography... the only difference being these marks are not for sale. I've since joined and uploaded over 200 logos and icons of my own. Membership does cost $100 to view or submit marks, but for designers like me, this site and subsequent books are a valuable source for inspiration.

IT Hero

This was a quick illustration I did recently. My client wanted a geeky IT character looking something like a super hero. This is my solution for a compromise between geek and hero.