Jul
28
In my previous position at Boardoom, Inc., I mostly handled a lot of pre-press duties, but I also helped to design many mail pieces, not the least of which included several ‘tabloids’, which is industry-speak for a direct marketing brochure that folded out much like a city newspaper (i.e. The New York Post) — and also because of its supermarket-tabloid style of design.
Here’s a few examples of this sort of work (which you can also view on the portfolio page):
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As you can see by my examples, most of these pieces rely on a certain formula - sensational headline and/or accompanying image, followed by some enticing copy which hopefully leads the reader further into the tabloid.
The desired end result, of course, is for said reader to purchase the product after being enticed for approximately 17 to 20 pages. 
Nov
9
Photoshop is one of those applications that many people can certainly take for granted, and a lot of designers that have it could probably get away with using something a *lot* less powerful for their every day needs, myself included. However every once in a while (seems like a great while lately), I’ll get to catch up, stretch my legs, and bear witness to the truly awesome power that is Adobe.
Long story short, I was working on a recent cover test for one of my employer’s mail pieces. The copywriter provided headline & body text, and a general idea for an image. The piece had to do with the subject of aging and (ahem) virility, and the original stock photo chosen showed an older couple in bed with a bowl of cereal:
Aug
26
A few years back I got in touch with an old colleague and softball teammate of mine, and it turns out he was living up in New Hampshire and had just helped to purchase a music club called The Stone Church. Naturally I offered up my services as a designer, although I suspected the budget for marketing materials wouldn’t be anything substantial, seeing as they had just spent a ton of dough revamping all the plumbing and electrical systems…
Nevertheless, I went back and forth with him for a couple of weeks on some ideas. In the meantime I caught up on the history of the establishment, as well as what these guys were trying to do for the future. I had it in mind to create something with a bit of a gothic theme, the establishment being an old church and all…
This is another case where I like to say, “God bless Google Images”, because in a matter of minutes from the start of the project I had found *many* examples of stone arches as they related to my design concept. The first version of the logo above used the arch with the more intricate stonework, while the latter (and my preferred) version used the simpler, ‘blocky’ style for the arch.
Long story short, the logo wasn’t used — however I did end up with a fairly nice portfolio item that was a lot of fun to work on. I could definitely envision adapting it to a future project should the opportunity arise.
Jul
16
Sketchbook: JLoGwAfH
Filed: Cartoon, Sketchbook
A lot of material in my lil’ notebook is usually derived from some slice of everyday life or humanity, but the following obviously has no basis in any reality (none that I’m a part of anyway). I present for your approval, the Justice League of Guys with Appliances for Heads:
The reason you’re not seeing this on the shelf of your local comic book store is because I ran out of ideas for unique appliances — unless you’d actually *want* to see ‘Captain Garlic Press’ vs. ‘The Egg Timer’.
And who exactly is beating “Microwave Man” when he can simply melt everyone else…?