Feb
4
Career World cover
Filed: Print
The thing I enjoy most about having the ‘blog’ portion of my site is that it allows me to expound on any project from my portfolio, as well as present alternate versions or sketches that contributed to the evolution of the final design. Case in point: Career World.
At right is the cover that was published (final PSD file), as well an inside spread for the article which used many of the same elements. I submitted several ideas to Weekly Reader’s art director, who then presented those to the editorial team – and Editorial ultimately decides if the design is faithful enough to the original concept.
Of course it’s never as simple as it sounds – there were three distinct concepts worked up for the cover, and an awful lot of revisions for each (examples after the jump).
Jan
11
‘Garage of Pain’ sounds a bit like where the movie ‘Saw’ might have taken place, but it’s actually a nickname for a series of LAN parties that a friends and I organize and participate in. For the very first party (May of 2002), about six or seven of us set up our computers in the host’s garage (duh), and we spent the day competing against each other in FPS games such as ‘Medal of Honor’ and ‘Quake 2′
I had the cameras rolling as people screamed, laughed & taunted each other throughout the afternoon. The clip below contains the introduction to the Garage of Pain ‘highlight’ video, which I later burned to DVD for everyone who attended the party. (more info after the jump…)
Dec
18
IMP Soccer logo
Filed: Apparel
When I first started my career with IMP in 1997, it was as a freelance designer in their ‘Family Education’ department. While it’s always nice to start out on an hourly basis to get a feel for the office, the downside to working this way is that you basically reap *none* of the benefits that the company has to offer – holiday gifts, bonuses, passes for the parking garage, Christmas parties, you name it.
Another such perk I wasn’t able to take advantage of was to participate in the company’s recreational sports programs – at the time IMP had teams for softball, basketball & I believe volleyball as well. Now, I don’t consider myself the model athlete, but I like to think I don’t embarrass myself either. As soon as I achieved full-time status with the company, one of the first things I did was join the softball team, and later the newly-formed indoor soccer squad.
And it just so happened that the soccer team needed a logo for their uni’s – guess who volunteered to design it. Take a look (alternate versions after the jump):
Nov
30
Sketchbook: Violence
Filed: Cartoon, Sketchbook
We all have violent thoughts from time to time, but what separates us from homicidal maniacs is our ability to control the impulses that tell us to smack moronic retail clerks in the face, or to ram our car into the back of a beat-up minivan traveling 52 mph in the left hand lane. My outlet for such impulses happens to be my sketchbook – good thing for everyone else, huh? 
Any armchair psychologists wanna take a crack at these?