2011.20/52

Let them eat Cupcakes!

Since I am of French ancestry I like to throw a Bastille Day party — it's a different spin than the 4th and you can play up the Frenchiness a bit and act posh. Last time was a bit of a chore feeding people and being a good host, so this year I thought an after dinner cupcake party might be a bit fun, perhaps trying to pair the cupcakes with different wines.

I was inspired a Gucci script logo for the headline, but my original idea was a bit more similar to the Hostess cupcake coily pattern in the type. I created custom type design for Bastille Day, inspired by the blades of the Guillotine. And the information at bottom uses an ornate blade style box housing some classic Didot typography.

2011.19/52

Mosaic Summer Sunrise

A project I started last year, maybe an interesting concept that might inspire some further exploratory.

2011.18/52

Super 8 Wedding Video for Brie & Pat

My In-Laws were married on the Oregon coast in 2009. I finally got around to developing the film, transferring it, editing it, etc,.

I like how Super 8 captures these rough, almost painterly impressions that leave a lot to the imagination — it's not so sharp that you relive the moment within the video — the film inspires your own memories.

2011.17/52

Canal Street

I took a couple photos I shot from our vacation and over-layed them in a style that captures the crazy, tropical, kind-of-retro adventurous energy of New Orleans.

2011.16/52

Analog Analog Series #3
Water Colours

I'm not sure if I like where this series is going... It's looking a little "Middle School Art Class." I'm trying to free myself up a little bit and break away from the tightness and artificial-ness of the computer. The top image is a completion of a painting I started on the beach of Cozumel in December of 2008. The image below is is a series that was inspired a bit by Keith Haring where a fun, loose sketch quickly captures a scene like a hand-done polaroid...



I might try to find some fashion examples where loose, gestural lines are combined with splashes of color.

2011.15/52

Analog Analog Series #2
View from Eden Park: Coloring Book Version

Last year I had a great time making a coloring book for my nieces and nephews. When I was thinking about making a drawing of my film photographs, this funny idea of a coloring book came to mind. The only downfall is that I am going to have to find imagery that kids will enjoy, while my Holgas are typically void of humans and animals — typically focusing on nature and architecture.

This image is one of my favorite views on my bike commutes to and from work. Sometimes I ride through Cincinnati's Eden Park and you can look out over a bend in the Ohio River. I stop for a sip of coffee and a quick stretch before heading into work.

2011.14/52

Story Quilt Icons

I became obsessed with making a system of icons while working on a probono project at work. This may be part of a identity system for a public works project. So often I work so diligently on something that doesn't see the light of day, and all my passion went into something I can't share with anyone due to confidentiality.

That's why I created this project (52 in 2011) for myself. So at the end of the year I can say "look at all this art/design/photo/film I created."

I love artists who are obsessed, and like Mies van der Rohe I also believe "God is in the Details." Sometimes, creatively, obsessions with styles can be costly if you miss the mark. Fortunately everyone likes this so far. Hopefully the client will too.

2011.13/52

Bird Rescue Logo

A while ago I worked on a logo for a bird rescue. Some days I feel so witty, like a freakin' genius. I noticed the serif of a B looks like a bird beak, and a R looks like a wing. So I created this fun bird icon, the top part is bird, the bottom says rescue. I thought this was clear, simple, elegant, witty. Then I got to the internal review and was blasted out of the water by constructive criticism. Wankers.

2011.12/52

Creative Juices Poster

This isn't really for anything. Someone said creative juices the other day, made me feel a little gross. This image of the c & j letterforms popped in my head and they looked a bit naughty. Perhaps some day the AIGA will need a poster for a design conference/orgy...

2011.11/52

Cincinn-ARTY

Dustin, a colleague at work curates and seeks submissions of artwork for AEQAI, an online journal of Cincinnati's visual arts.

He contacted me about created a Splash page visual for the April edition of AEQAI. I wanted to create something specific for the magazine, so the idea of Cincinnati's landmarks becoming tools for making art popped into my head. A cold modernist building like the Kroger building is a ruler, the Carew Tower is a number Ca2ew pencil, Central Trust is a can of spray paint sky-writing AEQAI, the new Great American building is a brush and Union Terminal is a boom box (part of graffiti culture and performance art). I was kind of inspired by New Yorker magazine covers.

I'm excited to be part of a group of my favorite local designers like Dustin, Keith Neltner and Tommy Sheehan.

2011.10/52

Analog Analog Series #1
Saint Louis Cemetary Tomb

If my last post was the beginning of my "Analog World" series — then this is a spin off where I draw versions of my favorite analog photos. Applications could be paintings, coloring books, silkscreen posters...

This process of going more analog with something already analog seems unique to me because on a daily basis I create design artwork in the computer, sometimes basing it on digital photographing. It's like getting sick of racing a Ferrari and choosing to drive a horse and buggy to "find your soul"! But in all reality this is old hat to anyone practicing art more than a few years ago. In some ways I have a similar inclination to the Post Family from Chicago featured in the Typeface movie.

As you can see my hand skills need a wee bit of work but it's fun to liberate myself. On a side note, I need to up my art production: if I am to produce 1 piece of art per week for an entire year, I should of produced 15 pieces of art by now...

Also, here is a process pic showing my under drawing:

2011.9/52

How the West was Won

I visited Austin, Texas a little over a month ago to see my sister. We visited the State Capitol building at sunset and the light was really hitting this statue in a beautiful manner.

I shot a holga as well as the polaroid below.

2011.8/52

Saint Louis Cemetary Tomb: Deaf Prayers
Holga 120mm, Custom Frame, 400sp Fuji Color, Cross-Processed in C41 chemicals.

I have always loved photography. It was a real pleasure to learn how to develop my own film, setting my shutter speed/exposure settings. Sometime around 2002 I embraced film again as a reaction to poor quality in inexpensive digital cameras. Then I was introduced to Holgas and Polaroids. My interpretation of these tools was that they were punk, lo-fi and DIY — and the grit, blurriness and light leaks reminded me of the poorly transferred French films I watched as a teen.

Film makes you focus (no pun intended). You got 10 Polaroids, 12 Square Holgas. Is this shot going to be worth the cost? In 2006 I went to Europe with only a Polaroid — I didn't want to live behind the camera lens. Sounds nice. In theory...

My lovely wife and I just went on a trip to New Orleans. I new there would be killer scenes to photography. I went overboard and took three cameras: my new digital SLR, my Holga and Polaroid.

Someday I hope to compile these photographs into an exhibit. My working title is currently "Analog World."

2011.7/52

In A Rut

I'm not super sure about this one yet... It's an amalgamation of Nikki McClure and Michael Schwab...

The idea is create a strong image of a rider riding through a muddy/icy rut. An image that could be easily manipulated by the colors chosen for the silkscreen — feeling like winter using blue tones or late autumn using browns.

2011.6/52

For the past few months I have been creating my own typography out of simple Illustrator stroked paths. The effect is a very fun and friendly typestyle.

2011.5/52 Snowy Creek

I've been playing a lot outside — cycling, running and hiking in the snow. I find the snowy woods really beautiful and I am grateful I live in a pace that gets al four seasons and that we have had a lot of snow for the past two years.

These shots are from a few weeks ago. I was inspired by a Holga I shot two years ago and I hope to convert these pics into a cool graphic landscape (see Holga and an old poster I created below).

2011.4/52 Winter Sunsets

I was walking my dog in the woods and I was really inspired by the stark contrast of the bare branches and the progressing sun setting on the horizon. I took a photo and extracted the branches — intending to make a silkscreen plate from this. This one plate with a dark brown or black ink could be printed over various skies made by smearing ink and/or printmaking.

I would see this as a continual scene (tryptich) or one cropped scene printed over a series of skies. This silkscreen plate would also be cool if I traced the photograph in ink — giving the branches and trees a rougher impression.

2011.3/52

A couple weeks ago I took advantage of a gloomy morning to capture the bar down the street from where I grew up. There were times in the past where it was notorious for being rough — so I played up an underlying sinister feeling in my photography.

2011.2/52

For my second week/art piece of 2011 I created identity variations on the Educational Foundation for the Colorado National Guard. I love this part of the process — creating simple solutions that are very effective and use a combination of symbols to create a new meaning to creating something abstract and poetic.

The logo I featured is a book (closed, as if finished, symbolic of graduation), tilted upwards for optimism and also to symbolize flight. I created dynamic energy within the icon which begins to imply the E anf F letterforms.

In future rounds of work I hope to create custom logo-typography as well.

2011.1/52
I was inspired to make this "Kings of Cross" poster after attending a cyclocross race at the old Kingswood Golf Course last weekend. I love the image of a King holding a bike over his head while attempting to clear a barrier, kind of Picasso in its bending of perspective and Escher in its symmetry. I drew the playing card inpired art with sharpie and scanned it in to arrange the elements.

You can find more of my posters at Flickr.