DLM 2010 Food & Wine Show Poster

At my day job at Dorothy Lane Market (an upscale grocer here in town), I'm the only designer on staff. It can be quite demanding at times, and like all design jobs, some projects are cooler than others. Once project I look forward to every year is the Food & Wine Show poster (and related advertising materials). I've designed every poster since the event started in 1998, so it is a real challenge to come up with a fresh idea every year. And let's face it, some years might have been better than others.

Typically, I've stuck with a color palette the reflects the fall season and red wine or night and the moon (since it gets dark earlier in November when the show is held). This year, after looking at my previous years' posters, I realized that I had entirely overlooked the lighter side of wine (and color). So I went inthe complete opposite direction: I made it my mission to explore a color palette the revolved around "white wine".

Along the way, I developed a few ideas that I presented...

The first was inspired by one of my research photos of grapes glowing in the afternoon sunlight, so I added some texture for a Tuscan-inspired concept...

For this concept, I went a bit more stark/fine art simplicity...

Derivative with different background texture and altered bottle color...

And last but not least, champagne colored background with a "leaf glass' (thanks to my buddy Von and his fantastic book, Drip, Dot, Swirl.)

The unanimous choice for this year's poster was the last one: the champagne background with "leaf glass", and after only 1 day of it being posted, I've already received quite a few comments (1 from the owner who said it was my "best ever", guess I get to be employed for awhile longer!) I must say, that honestly, I was rooting for the Tuscan inspired version, but I do think there is a appeal in the simplicity of the "leaf glass" that does work better since it is a fall event.

Artisan Economy

I've never been much of a cook. If you ask my friends, they will tell you that the microwave is my best friend. In fact, one of my best buddies was shocked when he learned that I actually use the stove on occasion.

Well, when I first was out on my own I did not own a single pot or pan to cook with. I cooked using the Stouffer's method. But when I decided to buy some pots and pans, I went for a set that featured a saucepan, skillet, and larger pot along with a lot of cook looking utensils that was a great price. These little cookware pieces lasted several years and were of decent quality.

However, when I decided to replace them this year, I decided to look around and spend a bit more for something of higher quality. I ended up purchasing a great T-Fal 2-quart saucepan along with their eco-friendly non-stick 12.5 inch Saute Pan.

So what does this have to do with an "artisan economy"?

Well, I got to thinking that I didn't value the cookware I had, it was disposable because I had only spent a modest sum on it. Then I started thinking about things like the apps in the app store, or office supplies, you know, the little things that are cheap and how if it breaks, you just buy a new one.

Really, when you think about it, can something that costs a dollar or less really cost less than a dollar to produce? In some cases yes, but what about something that is five dollars or even ten? When those items break, we usually discard them too.

But what would happen if we spent more for something of a bit better quality? What if that five dollar toy was ten and was built a bit sturdier and of quality materials instead of cheap plastic? Maybe your kids would value their toys a bit more and want to keep them longer. (Ok it was worth a shot... :P) Or maybe that nice utensil that you bought for $10 that was made of metal instead of plastic would last longer and do better for your needs.

As I've gotten older, I've learned that I'm willing to pay a bit more for quality. Maybe if we all were willing to spend a bit more less often for quality items, then our economy would improve as we need to fill positions to make all this cool stuff.

Ironically, soon after I had this revelation, Eric Karjaluoto over at Ideas on Ideas had a great post about the very same topic. Maybe, fingers crossed, it's the start of a good trend....

(btw, I'm not affiliated with Eric, smashLAB, or Ideas on Ideas other than I enjoy Eric's posts and once had a fun conversation about design conferences with him on Facebook that he probably doesn't remember...)

Deaf Monty Illustration

Over the summer, I was asked by my longtime friend Leslie (who co-owns the Innport B&B with her husband Jeff) to illustrate their dog, Deaf Monty for a new business venture. They are hoping to obtain a liquor license and open a small wine tasting bar at their bed & breakfast. They have a small dog, Monty, who is a cute cross between a Westie and a Maltese. He really is deaf and he has a penchant for cheese and red wines, so they figured he'd be the perfect way to advertise their new wine tasting bar.

So my job was to illustrate the ultra-cute, ultra-fuzzy Deaf Monty for a logo-esque usage. I started out by meeting the clients and Monty at Innport. I took some photos and the client also sent me some shots they had taken so I could have reference to draw from.

I reviewed all the reference photos and I Googled "westie" and "maltese" to see the breeds that are a part of Monty to see how I could best capture his personality.

After I narrowed down the photo reference to the few shots I thought would best convey Monty's personality, I began sketching with pencil. My first few attempts were very sad...but that's the whole point of sketching, to practice learning to draw your subject. After about a half dozen or so attempts, I sketched out this version of Monty that I felt captured him pretty well...

Reference photo...

My sketch...

Clearly, it is not 100% there yet, but I felt it was at a stage to get some feedback from the client. They replied that it was close, but not quite there yet, they felt the ears and snout still needed work. So back to the sketchbook for me.

Usually when sketching a subject, you get better at it the more you sketch it...well unless you don't. I just couldn't seem to re-capture the "magic" of that previous sketch. Here's one of the later sketches that was worse than what I presented to the client...

So what the heck do I do now? I had to take a break and think about what my next step would be. After some contemplation, I thought I would review the other reference photos to see if I should try a different angle on my sketch.

After re-reviewing the photos, I choose this one to sketch...

And here's my (quick) sketch from the photo...

I showed the client both the crappy "second version" as well as my new angle. They replied back that they really still liked the first sketch, but the third one (the new angle directly above) was very good too, was there any way to combine the best traits of each?

Most designers and illustrators probably would gasp in horror at this moment. But I didn't because by combining both sketches, I was able to resolve all the issues of the first sketch and was better able to capture the "true Monty".

Here's a rough digital composite I made for the client to review...

The client loved the composite and so I proceeded to make the sketch digital. In order to do this, I took my composite file and imported it into Illustrator where I used the brush tool and my Wacom tablet to retrace my pencil lines. I also decided to add a "wine stain" as a background element to help Monty stand out against a white background.

Here's the first version of the "digital Deaf Monty"...

The client overall liked the this version, however they felt the mustache was a bit too heavy handed and they had another suggestion, one that I wish I would have thought of. Since Monty is a dog who "nose wine", the client suggested I make the nose and mouth a subtle wine glass shape.

Here's my first attempt...

The client thought it was good, but not great, so I refined the linework and the nose/mouth area a bit and here is the final illustration...

The client loves the final result and is looking forward to using their new illustration to promote their new wine bar once the liquor permit is approved. I think this project was a great one in that I was able to help out longtime friends and with their input and guidance, I was able to take a good illustration and really make it awesome!

HZ-14: Coffee

After a short hiatus, the HOWiezine is back and to the theme for issue 14 was Coffee. Personally, I'm not a coffee fan, but I couldn't miss a chance to participate, so I signed up without being inspired as to what I'd do.

I did something thinking and I figured I could use my aversion to coffee as a part of my concept. I've also seen more Star Trek than I'd like to admit. The Borg are a great enemy and they have an awesome line they use when they encounter civilizations who try to beat them as they go around conquering the universe: "Resistance is futile." Now we're talking...with that in mind, I began to sketch.

After getting the coffee beans down, I wanted to create an old-school "hypnotic" effect with a coffee at the very center. Sure, I could've used lines spiraling inward, but the idea of using a coffee "stain" as the rings seemed better.

Since I don't drink coffee, I substituted hot chocolate to make the rings. The original rings were a bit light, so I had to darken them a bit in Photoshop.

I then converted the "coffee" stain to black and white so I could better blend the rings into the background in Photoshop. Here's an early stage composite of the layout:

Next up, I took my coffee bean sketches and digitally inked the best one in Illustrator. I added color for the bean. I also added a red "eye" like a cyborg to give it a more menacing feel.

I layered in the coffee bean, added a background texture, duplicated and blended the coffee rings into the composite image. I decided to add in the type "Resistance is futile." It started out bold, but I gradually blended the type so it was a bit more "subliminal". Here's how it looked before I finished blending and adding the lighting effects:

Next I added blending and lighting to create the final image for page one:

Now my dilemma: I had a great page one, but no clue as to what to do for page two! As I was working on page one, I kept thinking of how I could tie in the second page. My previous 'zine entries had a poem as the second page, but it didn't seem appropriate for my chosen concept.

I had finished page one and still hadn't had a good idea for page two yet. I went on to work on another project and let the idea marinate in my subconscious for awhile. When the solution came, it was so simple I should've thought of it sooner: take the cyborg coffee bean and duplicate it to fill the entire back page. I had considered making several different coffee beans for variation,but in keeping with the cyborg theme I simply used the original bean. Here's the resulting image for page two:

Another fun HOWiezine project under my belt! Can't wait for HZ-15!

Even A 3 Year Old Knows Branding

As a designer, I do my best to make sure that the solutions I develop for my clients are appropriate and meaningful to their target audience in order to help them sell their wares or services. For the most part, I believe that it's not evil, however when even a 3 year old makes judgements based on brands, I think it's time to re-think all this advertising we're doing. Is it really such a good idea to push so much crap, most of it what people don't need and won't help them feel better in the long run.

And now their little kids apparently are already judging who they'd play with and how they feel about themselves based on branding. This is unacceptable. We as designers need to spend more time using our skills for good and helping others. Maybe it's time for less is more and the smaller the logo, the better.

I'm sure corporate America will never go for this, they are in it for the money and recognition after all. But maybe if enough folks start one by one designing better solutions without branding the hell of it, maybe it will catch on and we can have kids that can just enjoy being kids and not worry that they won't have any friends because they don't have the "right" toys.

Peace on Earth

Wishing you the gifts of peace, love, & joy.

Hope your 2010 rocks!

Doodle Swap Round 3

I participated in the third round of The Doodle Swap Project. Again, the theme was open, and while that sounds great to have the freedom to do whatever I want, it is a bit intimidating. I thought about a couple of different directions before deciding to do an idea that had been bouncing around my head. I've been thinking of these silly two-word rhymes all summer and this was the perfect chance to illustrate a few.

I sketched out the images and inked them with my awesome Faber-Castell Pitt Pens (ah, I LOVE these pens!). This time I broke out my Dr. Martin's watercolors that had been gathering dust on my shelf. I had a blast! I had forgotten how much fun and how easy it was to work with these colors. Now I need to do more watercolors...

Below are a few of my Doodle Swap cards, or you can see the entire set on Flickr.

You can view all of the doodles for round three on The Doodle Swap Flickr page.

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Cool Ink Initiative Prints Help Raise Money for Good Cause!

My buddy Keith from the HOW Design Forum makes hand screened prints for a good cause over at The Ink Initiative had a sale in early July on his limited edition, hand screened prints. The best part? The money from the sale of the prints goes to help out a great cause:

"The concept is simple: Each year we will choose one non-profit organization. We then will design and hand print posters to sell and donate the proceeds from each poster sold to the chosen non-profit organization. No money from sales will be used for personal profit." (quoted from The Ink Initiative website)

I couldn't resist these cool prints and a sale, so I picked up a set of "Outer Space" and "Shutupsicle"...

Sweet! The package has arrived!

And here are the fantastic prints! Hand screened, hand signed and numbered, limited editions.

Thanks to Keith & Jen, excellent work!

Reply to the "Death" of Print

Recently at the Visual Ambassdor they had a post entitled The Death of Print.

Take a second to read the article (it's short, I'll wait....)

Back? Oh good. I just can't see how the death of print a) equals a devaluation of art nor b) equals the death of "real journalism" as the author states. Art is more prolific on the web that has ever been before. There are dozens (and dozens) of sites for artists to not only display their work, but sell it too. No longer is the artist bound by an agent or gallery that takes a percentage of their profits. Most museums are online, some even display parts of their collection online. So please tell me how this is killing art?

The author's second point is that hard investigative journalism is dying alongside print. What? We're entering the age of power to the little people: everyone now has a voice to call out the evil misdeeds of weasel corporations and it will be seen, heard and Facebooked or Retweeted to the entire world in minutes. Compare this to printed newspapers where it would take days (or even longer) for news to spread. This is bad how?

I understand that a big change like the death of print might be scary to a journalist who will need to adapt to this new reality and maybe have to learn some new skills. But if this truly is the death of print (how long has this been promised now, like 10 years?), then I say bring it on, things are getting better not only for artists but for the average person and that's a good thing.

kNOwHOW

A few of the HOW Design Forum members who were unable to attend this year's HOW Design Conference in Austin decided to have a "kNOwHOW" conference. Nothing fancy, just a few designer friends getting together to share knowledge, friendship and food. Our host, Karma, along with her mom, and fellow HOWie Patti really went all out: we had food, a creative exercise (doodling monsters!), a photobooth, and schwag bags!

It was a great bit of creative inspiration and friendship, well worth the 9 hour drive from Ohio to attend. Enjoy the photos on my Flickr here.

HOWie Poster 2009 Edition

I participated in the second somewhat annual poster made by and for members of the HOW Design Forum. The theme this time around was "stamps". Other than that, we were free to do whatever we wanted. I thought about different subjects and since postcards are typically used to send correspondence from people who live in different states, and since HOWies live in many different states, I decided on celebrating my home state, Ohio.

That still left a lot of room for narrowing and I originally considered doing an art deco-esque postcard design. However, it just wasn't working out. I had happened to just have visited my local park where we have 3 very old trees (500 years plus), called the Three Sisters. I just love these trees, they are magnificent and very calming. So I decided to use one of my photos of one of the Three Sisters.

New Zazzle Ts: Designer Math

New t-shirt design available from my Zazzle shop!

If you thought Algebra was hard, then you're probably a designer. We might have a job that's more fun, but our math isn't much easier, just different. Available in Men's and Women's sizes on my Zazzle shop.

T-shirt reads:
Can you place the Illy file into ID and try to either print it from
there or make a PDF and print the PDF?

Can you walk and chew gum at the same time?

Perhaps if you feed it cookies it will be all better? Or better yet,
feed you cookies and come back to it?

Did you export the AI file to make the PSD or JPG? What happens if
you just open the AI file in PSD?

Did you try doing a Save As, deleting the custom fills and seeing if
it will print?

Maybe you could photocopy it instead? :P