#Design
Newspaper Design
Monday/April 28/2014 Filed in: graphic design
A few weeks ago I gave a presentation to a high school class and I dug out samples of past projects to show. I came across this one, a “newspaper” that was used as a hero prop in a film. I created the illustrations and elements at the top to emulate a newspaper and I asked a local newspaper to print it on newsprint.
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AIGA Exhibit - Birdhouse Theme
Wednesday/April 16/2014 Filed in: graphic design
This is my entry for the upcoming AIGA event called “Birdhouse: An Exhibition and Silent Auction.” The event runs May 5 - 10, at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For more details on the event visit http://newmexico.aiga.org.
Lately I have been inspired by many designers that use other mediums or styles to get new effects, other than using the computer. I made the drawing by hand, and then incorporated it into a Photoshop document. In this particular instance I wanted to keep the drawing looking a bit rough, so I did not convert it into a vector image.
Twenty Years as an Artist
Sunday/March 23/2014 Filed in: graphic design
Last week I was invited to give a presentation on graphic design to a local high school class. Coincidentally, this May marks twenty years since I graduated from High School. As I was standing before the students showing slides from my portfolio, it suddenly occurred to me that this was an awesome way to reflect on twenty years.
Three things I have learned at a professional artist that I shared with the students:
1. MATH DOES MATTER.
OK, I HATED math! When I was a student, I had this idea that subjects were separated from each other and that as an artist, I would never need to know this stuff. Then I became a Production Artist and Packaging Designer, and learned that to maintain the look and feel of branding from a small box to a larger box, I needed to understand and figure proportions.
2. THE COMPUTER IS A TOOL, NOT THE MAIN THING.
I started college at the time that the computer was emerging and I remember my first design class did not use the computer at all. We enlarged shapes by using a copier and other tools that almost seem obsolete now. Lately, I have come across some well-known designers that have looked at other mediums like photographing crumpled cloth for textures, and realized that to come up with new ideas, it can be fun and refreshing to step outside the computer.
3. LEARN DRAWING AND PAINTING
Drawing teaches you structure and painting teaches you about color. I know that I landed my first two design jobs out of college because I had drawing skills, but beyond that, many artists still sketch their ideas out before executing them on the computer. This saves time and energy.
Three things I have learned at a professional artist that I shared with the students:
1. MATH DOES MATTER.
OK, I HATED math! When I was a student, I had this idea that subjects were separated from each other and that as an artist, I would never need to know this stuff. Then I became a Production Artist and Packaging Designer, and learned that to maintain the look and feel of branding from a small box to a larger box, I needed to understand and figure proportions.
2. THE COMPUTER IS A TOOL, NOT THE MAIN THING.
I started college at the time that the computer was emerging and I remember my first design class did not use the computer at all. We enlarged shapes by using a copier and other tools that almost seem obsolete now. Lately, I have come across some well-known designers that have looked at other mediums like photographing crumpled cloth for textures, and realized that to come up with new ideas, it can be fun and refreshing to step outside the computer.
3. LEARN DRAWING AND PAINTING
Drawing teaches you structure and painting teaches you about color. I know that I landed my first two design jobs out of college because I had drawing skills, but beyond that, many artists still sketch their ideas out before executing them on the computer. This saves time and energy.