Blog
New design experiments!
Check out the new work posted under experiments. Here are some of the great ideas that my clients didn’t pick.
Pumpkin Designing
Its that time of year again when the vacant spot in your local strip mall turns into a fantasy land filled with outrageous costumes, decorations and more, and a flood of candy hits every isle in the supermarket. Yes, its just a few short days until Halloween and to really get into the spirit I put my carving skills to the test.
In order to recreate the thrills of my childhood, my sister and friends got together to carve some pumpkins. I must admit, I haven’t carved a pumpkin in at least a decade, so this was really a treat. Being nostalgic and all, we purchased the $5 pumpkin carving set, you know the one with the plastic knives that you always break half way through your design, and picked out some a template and got started. The templates have really come a long way as far as quality goes and that made me thing, who is out there designing these? Unfortunately, I haven’t come across the answer to this question, but it just goes to show that design is everywhere!
And the finished product? Here’s a snapshot:
Halloween just isn’t for kids these days. Artists everywhere are getting in the spirit and making designs that are really out of this world! Here’s a collection of a few of my favorites:
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Seasons are changing
As I pull out my winter sweaters and dust off my warm and cozy jackets I am reminded that the seasons are rapidly changing here in Chicago. Reflecting back, summer flew by and I was on the go for most of it. So, like many of my clients, here I am making excuses for the reasons I haven’t been blogging. It is a slippery slope, but I am determined to claw my website back up to the top of my To Do list. First thing on the list: put new work on the site. So that’s what I will be doing throughout the week. Please check back to see all the exciting things I have been producing in the last 3 months.
New work posted!
I just posted the artwork that I did for Jansport at the 2009 Forecastle music festival. What you will see is the tent design, event signage, photo booth printouts and a rotating banner ad for Jansport’s homepage. Here’s a quick link to see the work!
Also, Jansport is promoting its 3rd Annual Battle of the Bands Contest to send one lucky band to the 2010 Forecastle music fest. Check it out and see if one of your favorite bands is on there list and vote for them.
More pictures from the event to come soon!
New work coming soon!
I just completed a couple projects for Jansport, yeah you know the backpack folks, and will be posting it as soon as I can catch my breath! Check out the link to the homepage and look for the rotating banner ad for Forecastle. That’s mine! More pics of the tent artwork and event signage to come soon! Stay tuned!
E-commerce Science Experiment
Lately I have been working on several websites, one of them being an e-commerce site that is due to launch Aug. 1st. As the deadline draws nearer and nearer I have found myself anxious to see what will become of this site. Will it blow up and be the next hottest thing since ebay or will it fail miserably after 2 months or rather, will it live in the middle ground with consistent sales and traffic. It’s quite the social experiment and I’ve been racking my brain with hypothesizes.
As any good scientist would do, I am conducting research. There is a ton of great information over at Shopper Culture and here are a few excerpts.
According to an Integer® and M/A/R/C® monthly shopper update, “The Checkout”, in February, deal-seeking was consistently ranked as the primary motivator for shopping. In addition, when looking at people’s primary shopping goals, spending as little money as possible (28%) comes in way ahead of spending as little time as possible in store (6%).
The poll is intended to be a fun way to see how shopperculture.com visitors compare to the rest of the country. One question we asked recently was how much you used certain digital media in your shopping habits. Here are the results:
image from www.shopperculture.com
A recent PriceGrabber.com Consumer Behavior Report states: “When shoppers decide that they’re ready to buy, they often turn to the Internet, albeit clicking for very different reasons in recent months. The basic human needs of people stay the same, even during a recession. Consumers want to learn about the best products and services for their needs, and spending time online saves shoppers time and money. As a result of the tough economy, 93% of online consumers spent more time or the same amount of time shopping online.”
It seems as if online markets aren’t nearly as affected as traditional retail in the present economic downturn. Things are looking good for e-commerce in late 2009.
Another trend on our side is “small is the new big”. The stereotypical over-consuming American ways are fading out as the public realizes that maybe this isn’t the best thing, not only for themselves, but also for the planet. Consumers everywhere are looking to reduce their carbon footprints and we all know the move towards “green” goods is hot. Markets are down and while most are looking to stretch a buck over the next week, many are looking at the long haul and investing in products that will save them money over time. Don’t get me wrong, consumers are still trying acquire such goods at the least cost possible! See where you can save a buck and check out lots of online coupon codes at: retailmenot.com
Overall the trends are running right and combined with a solid eco-friendly product I am predicting good things. I can’t wait to report back after the site is up and running for a few months. Stay tuned for the site launch!
Freebies or No Freebies
Ah what is soon becoming an age old question, to take freebies or not? It seems like marketing has taken over our whole lives to the point at which we feel cheated when something isn’t on sale or there isn’t something extra or ‘free’ thrown in on the side. Quite frankly, its just sad. What happened to hard work and feeling proud and accomplished for saving up to make that purchase. Now I’m just left thinking to myself “hmm…I wonder if I could have bought this online cheaper?”
Regardless of the fact that I continually feel cheated by mass marketing and mass production that is continually driving prices lower and lower, as demand makes the raise higher and higher, I have found a bit of retail salvation. Now that I am out on my own as a freelance graphic designer and don’t have endless budgets to spend, (keep in mind I’m saving up for a new Apple cinema screen) I find myself looking for ways to cut corners. But how do you cut corners without cutting quality of design? Really, its quite simple.
Tip #1: There is almost always a coupon code. I have found endless sites for coupon codes out there. One of my favorites just happens to have places like istockphoto.com, vistaprint.com and overnightprints.com on their list. Where is this place? Of course I will share the love! Go to: www.retailmenot.com and check it out, you can also get a discount at newegg.com, restaurants.com and bananarepublic.com while you’re there!
Tip #2: Freebies. It’s that simple. There are tons and tons and tons of free artwork out there. Now to all of my clients, I am not recommending that you go out and download as much free stuff as you can to build your own ad campaign. I’d like to think that corresponding with your favorite graphic designer, web designer and marketing team brings about new, exciting and fresh ideas that aren’t just floating around on the internet for anyone to scoop up for free. There is a reason we all paid the big buck for our college degrees! If you want to grab a few sweet things, check these out:
1. Free icons – tons of design styles courtesy of WebTreats, Etc
2. Free Textures – awesome textures for any new project, courtesy of WebDesignLedger
3. Free Vector Graphics – tons of different vector downloads, courtesy of Vector Tuts
That’s all for now. Happy designing!
Battle rain with laughter!
On a day like today in Chicago when the clouds are out and its about to start raining at any minute I start to feel a slight twist of pain in my side for ever leaving Denver and its infinite rays of sun. But none-the-less here I am in the cozy confines of my overly priced apartment, busily working away on some really great projects. Really great graphic design projects, I know it sounds intriguing, but I’m sorry, I just can’t share them with you yet. What I can say is that in the next month something HUGE is about to launch. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know when it happens. Ok, now that I’m off on a tangent, let’s get back to the real reason of this post: something funny. When the weather is gloomy, like 90% of people in the midwest, I tend to suffer from seasonal depression. So to battle this ridiculous “disease” instead of buying a sunlamp, I prowl the internet for something hilarious. Today’s clip is one of my favorites that always brings a smile to my face.
Please keep in mind that I’m only poking fun. I think we all need to laugh at ourselves once in awhile. To all those in the advertising world: laugh it up, shake your head in despair, start to cry and then get back to work! To those on the client side: take it lightly, have a chuckle, but watch it closely, there are a few good points in here too!
Blogging shoutouts…
As a newbie, or “noob” as the kids call it these days, to blogging I have found myself perusing the web for blogs hoping to pick up a few pointers. One of my favorite blogs just happens to be written by a fellow creative here in Chicago. 15 Ideas by Kevin Lynch is a hilarious running commentary on all things related to the world of advertising. For those who live in Chicago, you will take a special interest in his posts, as about 50% of them relate back to this fine city. Here are my top 3, well or 4, (too many to choose from!) favorite posts from the blog:
1. Predicting the final 4 by branding…followed up by and then there were 2….yes I have a bias as well!
Hope you enjoy and laugh just as hard as I did! Its great to work in a industry that has an endless supply of content to analyze, ridicule and recreate.
We’re up and running!
Hey guys!
Thanks for putting up with the construction and the mess this past week and a half. Its been a pretty smooth transition from version 1.0 to 2.0. I have to give a huge thanks and shout out to Mr. Rob Bowman (www.opuscule.com & www.imhilarious.com) because without him I wouldn’t have been able to make this happen!
I’m pretty thrilled about the new site. If you like it as much as I do, I’d love to hear about it. If not, keep your comments to yourself! Ha! No, bring ’em on! I’d love to hear the criticisms too, as this is an ongoing work in progress to make the site better and better!
Keep coming back, I’m going to have a lot of exciting stuff up here soon, as well as lots of rants and raves!