Seven Questions for Leaders

I'm a fan of Seth Godin's daily blog. Most if not all if his posts are though provoking. I really appreciate how he keeps looking forward and urges each and every one of us to do the same. If you aren't reading his blog, you should be.

He recently posted the very thought-provoking "Seven questions for leaders".

I'll wait while you go check 'em out.

Done? Good.

Here's my personal addendum to his post: if you are going on job interviews you need to be asking these seven questions. If the answers are not to your liking, then you don't want to work with those folks. Move on and either find another company or better yet, start your own.

The Sketchbook Project: The Maiden & The Hawk Part 3

This is part two of a three-part series on my The Sketchbook Project entry. Read part one and part two on how I set up the sketchbook with new paper. The basic concept for the project is that when you sign up, you are provided a sketchbook to fill up with images based on a theme. I chose "Storybook" because I've always been a fan of myths and fairytales.


So I've got new pages for my sketchbook, I've got my concept storyboarded, and I had my characters defined...time to put it all together into the final illustrations!


I used my storyboards as my "bible" and pencilled each page as a spread (this spread is page 2 and 15):


After completing each sketch, I went back and inked each page with my trusty Pitt Artist Pens:

After letting the inked pages dry, I erased my pencil lines and prepared to color my pages with watercolors. I had kept a set of Dr. Ph. Martin's Watercolors from college and decided it was time to put them to use. 

Some pages turned out, "eh": 

While some pages really turned out beautifully:

You can view the complete set of pages on my Flickr page.

After all that, I still had to rebind the pages to the sketchbook cover. After a failed attempt at simply poking holes into the pages and sewing them together, I figured out that I could use pushpins to keep everything in register. So I got out my trusty old Artist's Tape and taped up the middle of the book and started over:

And here's how the center spread looks sewn to the cover with heavy duty thread:

After all that hard work, I'm still uncertain about how the project turned out. I've learned a lot along the way, but I feel that some pages just could have been done better. I would've loved to have redone the entire book, but time was short, so I had to move on. I guess the folks who check out The Sketchbook Project on its nationwide tour will be the true judges of how my book turned out...

Oh, and for those who've read this far, thank you. If you are interested, here is the full text of my poem that The Maiden & The Hawk is based on:

The Maiden and the Hawk

The Maiden stood at her balcony,

Weeping.

Hawk was soaring high

Over her castle

When he heard her sadness.

Hawk landed perfectly

On the small ledge

And asked of the Maiden,

“What troubles you so?”

The Maiden replied,

“My true love left me for another.”

And Hawk said,

“Mine too.”

The Maiden smiled

And her tears dried up.

Hawk then came to Maiden every night.

On his third visit,

He asked of her,

“The moon shines full.

Let us fly up to her embrace

And back again.”

“But Hawk, I cannot fly,”

Was her forlorn reply.

Hawk grinned knowingly.

“Tonight, my fair Maiden,

Dreams come true

And everything is possible.

Just close your eyes.”

The Maiden did so,

And off they went.

The wind in her hair.

The moon soft upon her face.

Hawk soared forever

Up there

Around the full moon.

And far too soon,

The Maiden and the Hawk

Returned to Earth.

The Maiden stood

Shimmering in the moonlight.

Hawk’s feathers

Glowed about him

In the most magnificent way.

The Maiden whispered,

“Thank you, Hawk,

For being you.”

She placed a gentle kiss

Upon his beak

And wished her wish.

As she did this,

Hawk stood up

And cast off

His feathered coat.

Japan Earthquake Poster - Please Help!

I'm sure you've heard about the devastating earthquake that hit Japan on Friday. I'm not quite sure why, but I've always had an interest and fascination with Japan and its rich culture. I would love to travel there one day after this disaster has passed.

Feeling helpless just listening to the news about the quake, the resultant tsunami, and the nuclear reactor problems, I decided to do what very little I could: I made a poster.

Prints are available for a limited time only from my Imagekind shop and 100% of the profits will be donated to the American Red Cross relief efforts in Japan. Please pass the word!

The Sketchbook Project: The Maiden & The Hawk Part 2

This is part two of a three-part series on my The Sketchbook Project entry. Read part one on how I set up the sketchbook with new paper. The basic concept for the project is that when you sign up, you are provided a sketchbook to fill up with images based on a theme. I chose "Storybook" because I've always been a fan of myths and fairytales.


After receiving my sketchbook and while I was making the new pages, I was thinking about what I would actually fill those pages with. I've always loved myths and fairy tales, so I knew I would focus on that aspect. I can't recall exactly what prompted it, but I began to think that I could do a version of Jack & the Beanstalk. My initial concept was to keep it simple: make a gatefold poster that would open up out of the sketchbook and tell the whole story in 2 images (front page and back page):


After some consideration, it just wasn't working for me for this project. So I worked up some storyboards on how I could tell a more traditional story with my take on Jack and the Beanstalk.

I sorta freaked out because it was the busy holiday season, I had tons of stuff going on, and I felt like I had to start over and that I didn't have time for it. But I put the project aside for awhile and let ideas sorta marinate. Then I remembered a poem that I had written in the early 2000s about The Maiden and The Hawk. I've always loved that poem and thought it would make a great illustrated fairy tale book. This was my chance! So I worked up storyboards based on the poem. I tried to get the story to fill the allotted 24 pages, but I would be stretching it to make it fit that many pages, so I settled on 16 pages instead. I also decided that while I had limited dialog in the poem, I wanted no discernible words on this version, so I made up a symbol based language to convey the dialog without using letters.

Now that I had the storyboards complete, I did some research on maidens and hawks and did some character studies to prepare for the real thing:

Now I was ready to create my sketchbook pages!

Coming next week: putting it all together.

The Sketchbook Project: The Maiden & The Hawk Part 1

This is part one of a three-part series on my The Sketchbook Project entry. 

I decided to enter the Art House Co-Op's The Sketchbook Project this year based on the link provided by my design friends over at the HOW Design Forum. The great thing about knowing a lot of folks in the design industry is the vast knowledge and resources they can share. The bad part is that you may be like me and want to participate in too much stuff. While I was initially excited by the project, it quickly became clear that this project was bigger than I anticipated. And because I had been so busy during the fall, it was time to start work on it right around the holidays. Whoops!

The basic concept for the project is that when you sign up, you are provided a sketchbook to fill up with images based on a theme. I chose "Storybook" because I've always been a fan of myths and fairytales. The provided sketchbook pages were very thin and there were a lot of them: 80 something if I recall correctly...

I spent a bit of time trying to wrap my head around the project and it was evident that I needed to cut the number of pages so I could have a hope of completing the project on time. I also decided to do my book in watercolors and that would require better quality paper. 

My first (and easiest) task was to remove the old paper. A few snips with the scissors and the old pages were free from their binding.

My next task was to choose a new paper to add to the sketchbook. I chose Canson's 140gsm Watercolor paper. It has a great texture and was the right size for the project. 

Next up, I figured out the number of pages I wanted my book to be and then I setup and trimmed the sheets to size. I originally figured that I would need 24 total pages (12 sheets), but that number would change...

Next up, and my favorite part, I wanted to do deckled edges. And I had no idea how to make them. So I just figured I'd draw a line where I wanted the edge to be...and luckily the edges of my desk are sharp! 

Here's how the book looked with the new pages inserted...

After all this, I was ready to work on my actual sketches and pages! 

Coming next week: ideas, sketches, and freak-outs, oh my!

Sweet! nsquaredesign in print: Creative Workshop

I was pleased to learn that I was going to have one of my pieces featured in the new book, Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills by David Sherwin published by HOW Books. David put a call for willing designs to be sent one of his challenges. Each challenge had a time limit and you could pick a category. However, you didn't know your challenge until David sent it to you.

I worked on two challenges and both were fun and helped me think a bit differently than normal. David let me know that my challenge made it into the book, but I had to wait almost a year to see which one was chosen... :S

I'm very happy that my "Creature Feature" website concept was the one pick for the book since it was my favorite and I had a great time working on it.

Be sure to pick up a copy today to hear all about my process and see how the other designers handled their challenges!

Say Something Poster Project

I was invited to participate in the Say Something Poster Project. Jason, one of the project founders, liked my work on the Haiti Poster Project and asked me to join in this new endeavor. This poster project gives designers the chance to "say something to inspire, motivate, and educate teenage kids." Phase one would include public voting to narrow the field down to 100 posters, which would then be narrowed down by judges to 25 semi-finalists then to 10 finalists whose work would hang in this year's charity of choice.

How could I resist? So naturally, I accepted. Then I realized that a) the project was due during the height of the holiday season b) I had a ton of other projects at the time and c) it was a short timeframe to work with!

My initial thoughts were centered around a "revolution" style poster, but with a hand holding an light bulb. Within the bulb, the filament would be illuminated and spread out sparks or stars that would illuminate the world. Somehow, though, it just wasn't coming along like I envisioned. I think the idea is solid, I unfortunately did not have time to explore that option more at the time. Perhaps I will revisit it later this year as a personal project.

I put aside the project for awhile and worked on my other priority at the time. After some thought, I remember a phrase I had made up based on an article I read: "Encourage change, be more revolting." It's a bit snarky and I thought an interesting play on words. I figured it would be best to keep a type only solution because of the limited timeframe I had left and because I wanted the kids to actually read the words and think about them, not be distracted by imagery.

Anyway, my thought was that kids should be encouraged to be rebels in that they should ask questions and push boundaries to shake up the status quo for the good of the world. I created a textured background that was cracked and broken as the base. I took the type and distorted it to give it a bit of energy and to keep it from being anything but boring and normal. I kept to a warm color palette to keep the poster vibrant, interesting, and energetic.

I just learned that I did not make it through the first round of voting, Looking back, I'm honestly not quite sure my true intent came through on the final design. However, I'm fond of it personally so it's hard for be to be objective. What do you think?

Holiday Card 2010

Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately. I've been quite busy this past holiday season with personal and freelance projects. Some I can show ya now, some I can't... ;)

So I know this one is a bit late in coming, but I just had to show off my holiday card for 2010:

Usually I show sketches of the process I used to arrive at any given design solution. And I wish I could show you snapshots from my head, but this year's card was really simple and came about very organically. It was November and I was in the midst of several projects and realized I needed to prepare my holiday card. I looked at my previous year's cards and sketches to see what I had (and hadn't done).

I put everything aside and got caught up in the holiday buzz and rush and just kept the notion of "gotta get my card done" in the back of my head. Then I saw a great piece of type driven design and it struck me that was what I had yet to do for my holiday cards! I had be using the wish of peace, love, and hope in my cards from almost the very beginning, so I knew what it would say. And I knew the doves would play a role somehow, it wast a matter of tying them all together. I wish I could tell you exactly how I arrived at the bracket turned sideways as the solution, but I honestly don't remember, it just flowed from the few very simple sketches I did do.

I chose green as the color because it is calming and conveyed the sense of the holiday season without being too "Christmasy" Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but not everyone who's getting a card celebrates, so I wanted to be respectful. The final touch was a fantastic texture by my buddy Von, author of Crumble. Crackle. Burn. (Shameless plug: it's a fantastic texture resource for any designer. I might be biased since I know Von, but this book has been a boon to my design projects since I picked it up. End shameless plug...).

I even got brave this year and turned my card into a print, a greeting card, and an ornament over at my Zazzle shop so that others could send wishes of Peace, Hope, and Love too.

That's it for now, more to come soon, hope your 2011 is off to a great start!

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.