Blackwood Portfolio

A while back, I showed you the brochure I designed for Blackwood Management Group... and their crazy expensive business card. Well, they finally got their portfolios finished and this is where all of the pieces come together.

LogoLounge 6

The winning logo designers for the new LogoLounge 6 book have been notified and I'm glad to say that 25 of my logos have been selected. Click on the image below to get a better look.

I was also a judge for the book along with Bart Crosby of Crosby Associates, Hans Hulsbosch of Hulsbosch, Jeannie Servaas of Saffron Brand Consultants Inc., Jessica Hische of Jessica Hische, Marius Ursache of Grapefruit, Silvio Giorgi of Latinbrand, and Tessa Westermeyer of Landor.

Judging wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Since 34,000 logos were entered for consideration, it was a marathon process. I found it difficult to keep my criteria for judging consistent throughout the whole process. At each session, I would start out giving positive grades liberally. As the hours dragged on, I became more and more cynical. The inconsistency made me go back several times to correct previous grades which prolonged the process even more. Even so, I was honored to be selected as a judge and feel I did my best at grading a very impressive body of work.

Fellow Awards & 2010 MN AIGA Show

Prior to the big MN AIGA Design Show, dozens of people gathered to watch MN AIGA give out 3 more Fellow awards. Joe Duffy, Sue Crolick and Eric Madson now join the previous award winners, Tim Larsen and Peter Seitz... both in attendance. I tried to capture some of the attendees in photos.

Psalms 119:105

Here's a fun t-shirt design for a UK company.

Winsted Arts Council

I live in a small town west of Minneapolis. It historically has been a farm town. It is still very much a farm town but has in recent years grown with housing developments making it something of a bedroom community for the Twin Cities.

A group of local artists have joined together to create a Winsted Arts Council to foster the local art scene. The plan is to refurbish an old creamery in town to house exhibitions and create a meeting space for the arts. I was asked to design a logo for the new organization.

This idea of using a cow (representing our rural location and the creamery) with different spots to represent different arts was settled upon in a brainstorming meeting almost immediately. This could be the easiest logo I've ever worked on.

Final Freshwater Logo

Churches are the worst kind of business to work for. They need to act like a corporation in many ways, but even if they have some structure like a company, there isn't the culture of corporate America.

I was tapped a long time ago to redesign my church's logo. To get a consensus, a committee was formed. After perhaps a dozen different logos, the project was shelved because no one could agree. Finally the pastor stepped in and we pushed through the logo below... which is really just an advancement on the old logo.

If this story sounds familiar, it is because this type of thing happens all of the time... not just in churches but in companies large and small. The reason is employees/executives all have different ideas on what the organization is and/or where they are going. My friend Jonathan Wiese of 3.2.1 www.ThreeTwoOne.com helps companies define their brand so decisions at every level can be made confidently and quickly. Not long ago I worked on his church's logo (Westwood Lutheran Church) and the process was completely efficient and effective. I can't recommend Jonathan's process enough.

Banana Cabana

Here's a snapshot of an image I recently finished. I would love to be one of those bananas right now.