edfredned's sketch blog

Groundhog's Day 2012

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Groundhog's Day!

What did you get me?

Another installment of my yearly Groundhog's Day celebration. I've been creating illustrations and cards for Groundhog's Day since 1992 (I skipped a couple of years somewhere in there) and this time I show what it would be like for either outcome.

You can see the last few years on this blog or check out my website HERE for most of them.

Excuse me- I have to go rent Groundhog's Day, the movie, and watch it over and over and over...

A Kiss for the New Year

2012-01-31T14:05:00.000-05:00

This is an illustration I recently created for a client's blog and newsletter. One of their articles talked about the Hershey's Kisses that the company's clients couldn't keep their hands off during the New Year's party so it was a no-brainer what the illustration should be!

This style is a little more realistic than my usual so it falls under the "FRED" section of my website.

My Slides for a Social Event

2012-01-25T09:59:00.000-05:00

Because creative people don't get out of the house much (at least not us freelance types and especially not those with a newborn like I have), AIGA Boston has put together a large social event - Cross-Org AFTA - for creative professionals in the Boston area. It's an opportunity to network, schmooze and compare drawing pen nibs.

I'll be there as a working illustrator/graphic designer and also as the co-founder of Creative Relay as we are one of the 12 co-host design organizations. Very exciting considering we've only been around since September 2011.

Here are all the hosts:

During the course of the evening there will be a slideshow of submitted work so I thought that I would post my slides on my blog. They run the gamut of kid's stuff to editorial illustrations to superheroes to design-y pieces with a little bit of illustration.

Looking forward to getting out of the house!

Tickle Monsters

2011-12-08T11:22:00.001-05:00

Here's a Sneak-Peek at Vanessa Trien's new stickers which will debut at her big Coolidge Corner Theatre show in Brookline, MA on December 11.

I designed Vanessa's logo, and her most recent CD, Carnival Day, a few years back and she's now recording a new CD. One of the most popular of her new songs is without a doubt Tickle Monster. In fact, after going to one of her shows, a friend asked me if I had a way of getting an advanced recording of that song since I have an 'in' with Vanessa!

Vanessa asked me to design some stickers (and tattoos later!) for her show and this is what I came up with in a very, very short amount of time. The text is all hand lettered to have a fun, organic feel to it.

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I’ve been doing a lot of character development lately and from time to time I’ll be displaying on my blog new designs. Sometimes they’ll be black and white and sketchy and other times full color and finished. If you want to see more from this series, just click the “characters”, tag at the bottom of this post. You can also see a collection of characters in my Behance portfolio or on my website.

Recent Book Illustrations

2011-10-14T13:53:00.002-04:00

I recently completed illustrations for a new book by a local (to Boston) author, Nancy Finn. The name of the book is e-Patients Live Longer and it is a book that describes how to be an e-Patient who uses the tools available in today's wired world to become empowered and knowledgeable about your health issues and take the proper actions and precautions that protect you from making critical mistakes. Yes, that's a long sentence but it describes the book so well!

I really enjoyed working directly with the author to work out what images would best describe the chapter and we went through a few rounds of sketches so I could refine the details before I created the final art.

Leo Monster

2011-09-16T09:49:00.000-04:00

My son started Kindergarten last week and a few nights ago we had curriculum night. The teacher left out paper and crayons for parents to leave their child a note and this is what I left Leo in his cubby.

Tan Lines

2011-08-09T10:05:00.000-04:00

I feel a little awkward telling you I went on vacation after I've already returned, but I guess it's better than announcing to the world that our home is unoccupied and available for plundering. We had a wonderful time and I was actually able to do some work between visits to the pool, the beach and, most importantly, the bed.

I did a number of sketches while away but I really wanted to show off the tan lines from my thongs first:

That's hot. I know.

And below is a drawing I did in my sketchbook (in a sketchier style than my usual) and then colored in Adobe Illustrator and finished in Photoshop.

It's good to be back!

Plaid Boy

2011-07-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

Plaid Boy! Able to match his shirt to the background!

Actually, this is me playing with some of the new tools in Adobe Illustrator CS5.

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Float Around

2011-06-21T10:23:00.000-04:00

From the sketchbook.

Changing the World- Tikkun Olam

2011-06-06T13:31:00.001-04:00

This is a t-shirt design I created for a summer camp in New York. The concept is based on Tikkun Olam which means 'repairing the world' in Hebrew. The idea behind Tikkun Olam is that we are all responsible for the world and society and must work to improve the lives of everyone around us.

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Some other designs before the client chose the final version:

I like this one because it's very straight-forward. There's the Israeli flag with the bottom (stylized) stripe doubling as the soil which is giving way to seedlings.

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This is a fun one and might make a nice poster with additional colors.

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Maybe too straight-forward? I like the figurative meaning of the earlier designs and this one requires no interpretation- it's a little too obvious. I included this concept because I like the symmetry of the design.

Icarus/Octopus

2011-06-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

My homage to Matisse's Icarus paper cut. A poster, print or postcard is available at DeviantArt.

Characters: Doodle Roll

2011-04-26T16:12:00.000-04:00

I received a call from Jan at Big Blue Dot (a branding company for kids I've wanted to work with for years) to create characters for a new product called Doodle Roll. I was given a lot of room to be creative with these characters and I hope you agree that they turned out fun and friendly! In fact, if you go to the Doodle Roll website (see below) you can watch them move (a bit)!

Below is a page of second round sketches from which the client chose the top 6 characters for me to create a final illustration.

Final illustrations were created in Adobe Freehand and Adobe Illustrator (I was in the middle of completing a switch to Illustrator at the time of this project).

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French Fries

2011-04-15T11:16:00.001-04:00

Supersized fries may be gone from McDonalds but there's still an expanding (pun intended!) need for supersized pants.

(And for a funny extra-large anecdote, check out this article on how a pair of over-sized pant(ie)s actually prevented a house fire. I guess there's some good in the bad.)

Buff's new shirt

2011-03-28T10:36:00.002-04:00

Buff's Pub in Newton, MA is selling a new t-shirt I designed. For those not from the area, the font is the same one used by the Boston Red Sox baseball team. The Pub is something of a mini sports bar so it just made sense to connect the two images (and in the interest of full disclosure, Dave M. from Buff's came up with the concept).

Now, I'm not suggesting you should go to Buff's just to buy the t-shirt, but considering Buff's has (in my humble opinion) THE BEST buffalo wings, it's certainly worth a trip.

And here are some long-sleeved shirts I designed late last year. Most of these shirts have sold out.

Update: The day after I posted this blog update, I got a call from Buff's to reorder the Sox shirts- the shirts are hot!

Business of Art

2011-03-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

Header illustration and modified design for an event I helped produce for the Boston Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild. I was highly influenced by Bob Staake who I mentioned before as an influence on my Eddie Spaghetti illustration. If you click Bob's link, turn off your sound. (People- please don't force visitors to your website to listen to music!)

The idea here is that creative people in general don't like to deal with the 'business' part of their business and that will only hurt them. So here's a guy deeply entrenched in being creative, who is worried about having to do the business stuff...

Character: 3-eyed Purple Jumping Monster

2011-02-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

Adobe Illustrator CS5 has some great new tools and I thought I'd try them out with this monster dude. While this guy's body looks painted, all of the color is actually vector! If you know the difference between vector and raster art, you'll realize just how cool this really is. To watch a tutorial on 5 of the new features, click here.

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Step Carefully

2011-02-17T13:42:00.001-05:00

When walking behind a slimy monster, be sure to carefully step over the tail. Don't do what Han Solo did to Jabba (54 second mark).

Groundhog's Day 2011

2011-02-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

It's that time of the year again when the Groundhog comes out of his den and looks for his shadow. That is, unless he can't get out of his home because the exit is plugged with icicles and covered with 4 feet of snow...

I live in Boston and we've been inundated with snow to the point where I'm running out of places to put the white (and sometimes yellow) stuff. And that's why I created this particular Groundhog's day cartoon this year. Enjoy!

By the way, you can check out the official website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club here.

Characters: Monster with Top Hat

2011-01-28T11:29:00.007-05:00

Here's a charming fellow I sketched up the other day. I was interested in creating a bit of texture on his skin which I continued when I added color.

I picture him saying: "Thank you for inviting me over. Your cat was delicious..."

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Dr. Brown's Cream Soda

2011-01-26T22:13:00.001-05:00

Mmmmm...

Monster Coffee

2011-01-05T10:00:00.008-05:00

Pieces of my new promo postcard highlighting

the character development and kid's book sections of my website.

You have to look closely, but there's a tiny little monster

licking up the spilled sugar in the last drawing.

And here's the final postcard.

Not Fake Poop

2010-12-20T16:46:00.000-05:00

Just having some cartoon fun...

Characters postcard

2010-12-08T12:49:00.000-05:00

I created some creature characters recently for Big Blue Dot (they do branding for kids) and it really lit a fire under me to create more characters/monsters/creatures. So I have a series of postcards in queue for printing and I just got this first one back:

This postcard is meant to reflect the "ED" section on my website's homepage and to also let clients know that I love (love love!) to create characters- be they humans, monsters, aliens or something new altogether (I'm picturing Scooby Doo saying "Ru-ro!" at that last part).

If you're not on my mailing list and you want one of these cards when I start sending them out, please message me and I'll add you on.

Snow Walking

2010-12-01T11:42:00.000-05:00

It's getting cold outside here in the Northeast and I'm starting to look forward to the snow... stay tuned for beach scenes after the first time I have to shovel out the driveway.

Illustration from my sketchbook, colored in Adobe Illustrator.

Detail from holiday card

2010-11-22T16:25:00.000-05:00

At the printer!
I just finished up a holiday card for a client and although it wouldn't be fair to show it before my client's friends and family get to see it, I thought it would be ok to show some details.

Here is some script hand-lettering I did for the panels of the tri-fold which incorporated some little playful icons describing the text. All the colors match the envelope liners I will be creating out of a beautiful hand-printed paper.

I have to say, I really got hung up on the script 'p'. I couldn't remember how to write it so I had to look it up online. The letter 'h' was my fave though. I could do that letter forever with all its wavy, intersecting lines! I'm looking for a client named harry h. hohner...

I'll post the actual card (and custom liners and envelopes and Zazzle stamps) sometime in December when my client (who is wonderful to work with!) says it's ok.

Dr. Sketchy

2010-11-17T11:42:00.001-05:00

I went to the Boston Dr. Sketchy's on Sunday to do some figure drawing and I brought my dad who has been getting into drawing again. Dr. Sketchy in Boston (Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School was started by Molly Crabapple and is now in 16 countries and 100 cities) gets its models from local drag, burlesque and performance art and it really makes all the difference!

The model, who goes by the name Madame Lapin (french for rabbit- get it?), posed in a variety of costumes: a pirate, a secretary, a bunny, and a couple other costumes that made me glance over at my dad a few times to make sure he was ok (he was).

The drawing above was done in brush pen and then when I decided it was too boring, I added charcoal which I think really adds an interesting texture. I did a lot more but this was the only drawing small enough to scan. Once I've photographed 1 or 2 I like I'll post those as well.

Dr. Sketchy’s Boston is every Second Sunday of the month from 2:30 to 5:30 at Great Scott: 1222 Commonwealth Ave. Allston, MA at the corner of Harvard St.

Sketchbook 11-4-10

2010-11-04T09:56:00.000-04:00

Gaffe

2010-10-26T20:46:00.000-04:00

My take on the GAP logo debacle.

Flying Cars are Here

2010-10-04T23:52:00.015-04:00

I attended an event tonight presented by Social Media Club Boston at Hill Holliday called Flying Cars are Here: The Futuristic Present of Marketing which was a part of FutureM in Boston. There were 4 terrific speakers/panelists and the presentations centered around social networking (of course) and the Recommendation model.
I brought my sketchbook/notebook and as usual did a few drawings/cartoons.

The first is self-explanatory. People make themselves crazy over whether they have enough followers (I was going to say "whether they're being followed" but that's a different topic) and the goal of getting comments.

The next was about Smart Objects technology and a case study in Israel where marketing agencies created a Coca Cola Village to bring 'Likes' into the real world by using an RFID-enabled wristband which held attendees' Facebook logins and passwords (you can read a little more about it and watch a video here) and allowed them to 'swipe' what they were doing. I thought this was very cool (and so did the teenagers who took part).

I also drew a couple of the presenters while I scrawled notes. The one on the bottom talks about the fact that although a lot of companies are gathering data they receive/find about their brand, only 1% of those companies actually do anything with that info. That's really going to start to change! Another thing mentioned was that there's an enormous amount of info being put out there by us all and going through it can be like going through trash in a dump.

It was a very interesting event, topped off by amazing infographics pooled during the event detailing stats on all the social stuff in the room, including, for example, the number of posts generated at the event (over 1300!). Nice job @djcap!

And finally, here's a photo I took during the panel discussion with my iphone.

Colored sketches

2010-09-13T10:48:00.005-04:00

Just for a change I thought I would color this page of sketches from my sketchbook. I'm particularly fond of the guy on the bottom (he looks so hopeful on this, my son's first day back to school), and the robot who seems to be discovering something.

Volunteer image

2010-08-26T13:00:00.004-04:00

This is an image I illustrated and designed as a header for a piece about volunteering. The background incorporates a close-up photo I took of a section of a very old painting. I wanted the brush strokes to add a texture to the piece to give it a more hands-on feel (which is just what volunteering is!).

What I've been working on

2010-08-22T14:16:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since my last update because I've been working on finishing a vocabulary book for Flash Kids/Sterling. I thought I'd show off pieces of some of the illustrations for this very interesting book.

There's a dragon, Dubai's tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa), shoes, a sunset, the U.S. Capitol Building, Minnesota, a BLT sandwich, Albert Einstein and 134 other illustrations!

Elephant print

2010-07-27T11:08:00.004-04:00

My goal here was to draw an elephant that was different from my usual kid's book elephants. To give it a very different look, I ran the illustration through some filters to get an imperfect press-printed quality. Click on the image to get a larger view- you'll see that the inks spread and the spot colors were printed a little bit off-registration. Fun effect!

My Sketchbook

2010-07-14T12:06:00.000-04:00

A page of fun little sketches in my sketchbook. I did some of these while watching TV (I get hairstyle inspiration) and others while watching my son play (and between putting together puzzles and playing with him).

The Amazing L Boy!

2010-07-06T13:45:00.001-04:00

My 4 1/2 year old son has been drawing superheroes non-stop for the last month. It's pretty amazing considering up until 5 weeks ago he never tried to draw a person and the strides he's made have been wonderful to watch.

We were sitting on the sofa watching his one cartoon of the day and I just started drawing Leo as a hero. Leo decided he wanted to color it in. And then the show ended and he was hungry for breakfast so he didn't color much but I really liked what he did:

And here are a few of Leo's original drawings:

Batman

Hulk

Not bad!

Toulouse Lautrec visit

2010-06-29T13:28:00.001-04:00

As President of the Boston Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild, I get to create some of the titles for our events and social gatherings. For this Trip to the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) image, I literally had about 30 minutes before I needed to send out an email announcing the event.

I started with a block similar in color to the MFA Boston's logo:

Added some text:

Next, I wanted to get some background going. I love texture, as long as it doesn't take away from the message. The most appropriate thing to use would be a Toulouse Lautrec image but, last time I checked my art vault, I don't own any and I didn't want to steal anybody else's photo of one of T.L.'s paintings.

Toulouse Lautrec created so much of his work in MontMartre (an area of Paris). Fortunately, I visited France in 2002 and a quick peak through my photos later, I had two iconic images: Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur:

Play with the opacity of the photos a bit, put it all together and you get:

And the email went out right on time!

More about the Graphic Artists Guild

More about the Boston Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild

More about the Toulouse Lautrec exhibit at the MFA Boston

Hey- That's me!

2010-06-23T13:49:00.003-04:00

*clicking the above image will take you to the Tech Therapy website to view the (short) video.

I was at the New England Business Expo last month and I met Jennifer Shaheen, The Technology Therapist from the Technology Therapy Group.

Because of all the concerns with Facebook's policies towards what you post on Facebook, I asked Jennifer: What is an Illustrator/Designer to do? How do we post our work and NOT give Facebook the rights to use it?

Her answer is very interesting:
http://techtherapy.tv/video/questions-how-to-protect-intellectual-properties-online/

Children's book scenes

2010-06-09T11:06:00.003-04:00

Below is a copy of the email newsletter I just sent out to my list of book editors and publishers showing off some of my illustrations of kids doing activities in various parts of Israel.

Climbing Mt. Masada; Visiting the Western Wall, Walking along the wall surrounding the Old City; Floating and getting muddy at the Dead Sea.

What I'm working on

2010-06-04T11:49:00.000-04:00

A sketch from my sketchbook of Zach Galifianakis in "The Hangover", a logo I delivered this week and another sketch to finish for a book for Sterling Publishing.

What I'm working on

2010-06-02T13:38:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd show some snippets of what I'm working on right now. Today it's mostly illustrations:

Above are a couple of illustrations from a book I'm working on for Sterling Publishing, and then a couple of illustrations I'm working on for fun (like the Hulk, drawn with just one line).

Here's another illustration for that book I'm working on. I started with a scanned sketch over which I drew my black line in Illustrator and then added the tones.

And that's been my day so far- how are you?

Cowboy Cactus packaging illustration

2010-05-25T21:04:00.002-04:00

This was one of those really cool jobs that I love to do. It was sort of like illustrating a Flow Bee ad!

I recently illustrated the label for a cactus dressed as a cowboy that goes on your car's antenna. What a crazy product but apparently this thing sells like hotcakes and it was time to update the antiquated packaging (see below).

And, before you ask, no I didn't get a free Cowboy Cactus so don't expect to be able to spot my car in the mall parking lot.

This is how the old packaging looked. How hard is it to read the text printed over the cactus? And what's up with that guy's mustache? My version makes it easier to understand where the cactus goes and although I offered an option with a less silly guy the art director chose to go without him.

Faces 6

2010-05-25T20:42:00.000-04:00

More faces and a whole tiger. OK, so I didn't draw the tiger- my son put a sticker on my drawing and I thought it was cute...

Campaign logo in orange and blue

2010-05-10T16:20:00.001-04:00

I recently designed the logo for candidate Jim Henderson for Secretary of the Commonwealth for Massachusetts.

Jim (an Independent) chose to keep away from the usual red white and blue and go for something a little less usual for a color scheme. Beyond that I was left alone to create a few different concepts from which Jim chose and requested revisions with the final version being the image at the top.
(BTW- in order to create this stylized version of the state of Massachusetts, I first drew an exact profile of the state, and let me tell you, it's a very wavy, inlet-y state! See all the way below)

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Since there would be occasion to print the logo on orange shirts I was asked to create a (nearly) reversed version.

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Jim's business card includes a number of bar codes (on the front and back) to allow people to scan the card to learn more, make a contribution, join the team or get a reminder to vote. Very cool.

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And then the sticker design for his campaign:

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Finally, the detailed version of the Mass. Map I mentioned above:

Let me know what you think!

(and if you're interested in learning more about Jim, here's his website: http://jimforsoc.com/)

Eddie Spaghetti with the Meatball Eyes

2010-05-03T08:22:00.002-04:00

My submission to theydrawandcook.com was accepted! You can find mine here or go to the main page to check out all the other recipes.

If you haven't see this site yet, it's a blog where artists submit a recipe they illustrated and already they've had submissions from all around the world. My friend, Lisa, turned me on to it and now I check in a few times a week to see what's new! BTW- Check out Lisa's Girls Rule prints. They're really beautifully designed.

The style of my illustration is a little different from my usual stuff- I was paying homage to a wonderful illustrator, Bob Staake, who uses very bold shapes to form his characters. So the chef is either made up of or cut out of a lot of different ovals. then everything was layered and shadows were added sparingly. Check out Bob's illustrations- I think you'll realize that you've seen him around (most notably on covers of the New Yorker).

Oh, and yeah- those are real meatballs. I defrosted a bunch that I had made, photographed them and then ate the evidence.

Ella's Thank You Card

2010-04-26T14:39:00.001-04:00

My niece's thank-you (folding) card.

Springsteen poster

2010-04-22T10:48:00.002-04:00

I found this old Springsteen poster at a home I was visiting and just had to take a picture of it. From what I can tell, it's from 1975 and what I love about it is that it looks like it was used to line some cat's litter box before it was framed. The wrinkles and tears really give the poster character. Last summer I found a great Frank Zappa poster that was in even worse shape!

In case you're a Springsteen memorabilia fan, I found this site that gives you what seems to be quite a complete Springsteen history with images of posters and tickets.

What I Did On My Vacation

2010-04-14T12:54:00.002-04:00

Recently, I was in Texas and New Mexico for a 5 day vacation. Just before I left I got a call from a senior manager at Scholastic who asked me if I would do some sketches for an internal presentation. They liked the quality of the sketches I had done for previous jobs (which I then went on to finish and color) and requested that these be done as sketches. Great! I knew I could fit in some work while I was away; what I didn't realize was just how many sketches there would be! It turned out that there were 4 pages of progressions (which they had sketched out very basically with stick figures) which illustrated how a certain segment offers important benefits to Scholastic.

So I started out with simple sketches with a ballpoint pen in my sketchbook (usually in the hotel room while my son napped) like this:

Which I then redrew with a nicer drawing pen:

When I returned to Boston I arranged the separate illustrations on the page and added halftones:

Another page:

A detail from the page above:

I was very happy with how they turned out.

Just before I got on the plane to Texas, I was asked if I could work on a sketched-out logo (same style) for their segment as well. The concept was Entrepreneurial ideas/Innovation and to include the words and phrases you see below. My client's wish was to avoid using the lightbulb cliche as a symbol of innovation, so I created a futuristic-looking device that is (pardon the pun) light years ahead of the bulb.

Well, I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed creating these illustrations and logo. The fun of my job is finding creative ways to express ideas and I got to do just that! And Scholastic was very happy with the work. I even got to draw an Ed version of Clifford for one of the pages!

Eviction cartoon

2010-03-31T08:09:00.000-04:00

3 Scarves, a Neck Tie and a Drawstring walk into a train...

2010-03-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

The T (trolley) is a great place to sketch. New people are always coming on and best of all, a lot of riders tend to stand or sit relatively still so I can get a decent chance at doing a drawing I'm happy with.

Looking over these sketches right now, I just realized each person is wearing something around their neck... I guess it's not so unusual for a Boston winter.

5 Faces: One Liners

2010-03-11T12:34:00.000-05:00

I have a section of my website I call one-liners (you'll find it as a category in the "ed" section) where each illustration is made up of, you guessed it, one line. These were some illustrations I sketched in my sketchbook before I transposed them to my computer and redid them with cleaner lines.

Sometimes I like to trace the lines with my eyes just to make me dizzy = )

Value vs Growth Investing

2010-03-02T12:05:00.003-05:00

Out this month in Black Enterprise magazine is a great article that I had the privilege to illustrate. It discusses the merits of both types of investing, Value and Growth, to help enable the reader to make better decisions.

I was asked by the editor to come up with a couple of sketch ideas that would depict the two investing options and this is the one that was chosen. I couldn't possibly convey how many poses I went through before deciding on the two in the illustration- I didn't want this to be too testosterone-driven or make it look like either figure has the advantage- so both men are depicted as if they had just been going about their usual day at the office when someone gave them some armor and a sword and told them to fight.

The article together with the illustration.

To read this article, check out the March 2010 issue of Black Enterprise Magazine or go here (my illustration doesn't appear on the online version).

On the Train

2010-02-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to see the Boston premiere of the movie: American Artifact The Rise of American Rock Poster Art. It was a good, not great, movie but the visuals were entrancing and the history of the posters was very interesting. If the topic interests you even slightly then it's worth seeing this movie.

I took the train to the screening at Emerson College in Boston and got to sketch people getting on and off the T. I love this time of year- there are always great hats and scarves that really accentuate angles and add flair to a drawing.

After the movie, the director, Merle Becker, did a question and answer session (and with the lights finally up I was able to do some sketching. See my sketches of the director, above).

Then it was time to get back on the train to sketch and go home where I'm now thinking about how and where to set up my own silk screening studio...

Faces5

2010-02-22T15:50:00.000-05:00

Another page of faces from my sketchbook.

Drawing on the Table

2010-02-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

I just found this sketch I did a few years ago.

I was teaching a cartooning class at a local museum school and some of the kids were interested in drawing and others (despite some valiant attempts on my part!) were just there to eat candy and do some doodling.

This particular student suddenly got really into what he was doing to the point where he got up on the table while still drawing and remained there for another 5 minutes finishing up a landscape to go with whatever creature he had done. I grabbed my sketchbook and recorded this quick sketch of him.

That was a good drawing day (for me and for him).

@CommunicateGood

2010-02-11T15:51:00.002-05:00

This is the stripped down view of the background

I recently designed this Twitter background for @CommunicateGood.

CommunicateGood is the Twitter page for Rich Polt which coincides with his blog, Communicate Good to talk about "...communications, doing good in the world and the intersection of the two."

Rich is the owner of the PR Agency Louder Than Words, a PR consulting firm, and a good guy doing great work. Or is he a great guy doing good work?

This is the view you get when going through Twitter

Happy Groundhog's Day 2010!

2010-02-02T00:01:00.004-05:00

Welcome to another Groundhog's Day. I'll just bet it's felt like so much more than 365 days since the last Groundhog's Day and I appreciate you coming by to check out my yearly GH card.

I've been creating a card for this rodentastic holiday since 1992 (To be honest, I've skipped a few along the way) and I'm happy to come back to it in 2010 despite the crushing deadlines, a sick 4 year old and lack of enough sleep. But enough about me...

See you again next year!
(And here's a link to last year's card which contains links to fave cards from years before.)

Jaws

2010-01-28T14:22:00.000-05:00

I had a night of insomnia recently and found myself on the sofa watching old movies. One of those movies was JAWS and I couldn't help reaching for my sketchbook. This is a (quick) sketch of the shark hunter guy who became lunch at the end of the movie. Behind him is easily the worst shark drawing I've ever created but it certainly needed to be included.

So I got to thinking about an artist I was led to by an instructor at RISD. I was beginning to experiment with a cross hatching style (you can see my more recent cross hatch illustrations in the FRED portfolio on my website) and my teacher sent me to the library to check out Murray Tinkelman. It seems he was plagued with insomnia (if memory serves) and did much of his work late at night while watching TV.

Check out Murray's stuff. It's so much better than my (quick) sketch above and he certainly would have drawn a better shark. http://tinkelmanstudio.com/portfolio.html

(I'll draw a new shark soon for a future post)

Optimism

2010-01-26T10:12:00.002-05:00

An illustration I recently completed about thinking positive. It's a new year, and despite tragedies occurring all around the world (Haiti immediately springs to mind), we all do our best work when there's hope/positive thinking. I read recently that approximately 50% of American households donated to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti- that kind of outpouring goes a long way to OFFER hope.

The quote I used in the illustration is a little pedestrian when considered with what I wrote above, but I just love the message it sends to us as individuals:

"The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser- in case you thought optimism was dead." -Robert Brault

Martin Scorcese at the Golden Globes

2010-01-18T09:14:00.001-05:00

Last night, Martin Scorcese accepted the Cecil B. DeMille award with a gracious acceptance speech (after a wonderful intro by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio). My wife commented that he looks like an exaggerated character- an actor playing Scorcese.

It was fun to draw him but since it was my first time I missed opportunities to really caricature his very black glasses and his rounded nose. Thankfully, this won't be the last time he wins an award...

New York sketches

2010-01-12T14:08:00.001-05:00

Illustrations from a recent NY Starbucks visit. The guy at the top kept nonchalantly touching his nose- the things you have to put up with when secretly drawing people at a coffee shop!

A series of quick sketches of people around me.

A couple of women- one seemed to think it was a good time to take a nap despite the lack of open tables and the number of people circling. BUt it was nice that she kept so still so I could draw her.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T12:46:00.001-05:00

This is the New Year's promo I'm emailing out to all of my clients and potential clients. There's so much catching-up to do after the holidays and the new year that I wanted to make it quick and simple.

Yeah that's supposed to be me. No, that's not really my hair and I (thankfully) do not own a tuxedo t-shirt.

From my sketchbook

2009-12-29T10:26:00.001-05:00

Holiday Card 2009

2009-12-22T13:39:00.002-05:00

On November 17 I received an email from a client asking me to produce her family's holiday card to make it into the mail by December 10. Sounds like plenty of time until you consider what needed to be done:

Conceive and design a tri-fold card (and in this case I was provided with wonderful photos by Steve Robb). Make revisions based on client's feedback.
Hunt for paper samples at multiple stores to line the envelopes and scan and email them for client to choose.
Order the envelopes.
Order the chosen liner paper (this took 10 days to arrive. TEN DAYS and the day before I received them I was informed that my order would be short!).
Find someone to address the envelopes (both regular and return addresses). Lauren Karp is a goddess.
Go away for Thanksgiving. Wait for printer to reopen and send approved design.
Get postage stamp options from which client may choose.
Design the outside of the envelopes using colors from the card as well as colors from the liner and the postage stamp.
Cut the liner paper. I did this by hand to make sure they were done right.
Assemble the envelopes (attach the liners and stamps- thank goodness for self-sticking stamps!).
Fold and stuff the cards (while keeping a critical eye out for any printing issue).
Lick (bleh!). OK, not really- I used a sponge to seal the envelopes.
Hand cancel at the P.O.
Send client the following photo taken at the P.O. with my phone so she could see the completed package as I was canceling them.

In the end, the cards arrived on the 11th and after assembly the cards were in the mail by 12 p.m. on the 12th. Not bad!

I was so happy to work with this particular client on her card. She was clear about what she wanted/liked and was able to communicate the changes she wanted to see.

Thank you C.M.!

From My Sketchbook

2009-12-15T12:25:00.001-05:00

I was at a condo association meeting the other night and there were so many unnecessary tangents that it gave me LOTS of time to sketch! Some of the conversations were about as important as what C.B. is pointing out here.

Skateboarder

2009-12-07T12:03:00.002-05:00

A cross-hatch sketch from my sketchbook. Note that he's wearing a helmet- could you have guessed I have a kid?

Faces, faces and more faces

2009-12-03T12:57:00.001-05:00

Lots of faces using my new drawing pen. This is just a quick drawing- no pencil sketch first- and this time I decided to integrate what I imagined my characters saying. Have fun!

It's a bird... It's a plane...

2009-11-30T10:22:00.001-05:00

I picked this drawing just for you...

I've been having fun with my new drawing pen. More sketches and info to come.

Oliver Hardy

2009-11-19T13:05:00.000-05:00

I watched a Laurel and Hardy movie on Hulu last night- The Big Noise- and made this drawing between the bouts of laughter. These guys are still wonderful!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/81275/the-big-noise

And for some, that's not a bad thing

2009-11-16T13:06:00.000-05:00

Thank you Vegas!

2009-11-12T11:32:00.001-05:00

I drew this on the airplane coming back from a Graphic Artists Guild conference in Las Vegas. More sketches from the conference to come soon...

Postcard Promos

2009-11-02T10:16:00.002-05:00

It's time to get some postcards out to a few clients and prospective clients. I created 6 different promos with my illustrations to reach out to some editorial (magazine) art directors and children's book editors (respectively).

If you fall into one of the above segments (or similar), I'd be happy to send you a card.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-29T14:16:00.003-04:00

(Click the image to see it LARGER)

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the Trick-or-Treaters running around Saturday night, especially because this will be the first Halloween in our new house! My son is going as an astronaut (he's so cute in that costume with the HUGE helmet) despite his obsession with superheroes (can it be fueled by my obsession with superheroes? Hmm...).

As an added bonus, I've included a sort of before and after to show how one of the characters looks with all the shading and lighting taken out. That's the most time-consuming part but also one of my favorites: A different area of my brain takes over so I get to listen to podcast after podcast of This American Life and it doesn't distract me.

Happy Halloween! Please make sure your trick-or-treaters stay safe, and please drive extra slow Saturday evening.

Faces and characters

2009-10-27T10:47:00.000-04:00

I like practicing drawing different faces with varying expressions and sometimes the page turns into a congealed mass where everyone is held together because of their proximity to each other (like when two drops of water suddenly connect).

I think my fave here would have to be the lady with glasses next to the dog. She's thinking: "Did he just say something?"

The guy with the 5:00 shadow is saying: "No no, I just couldn't find my razor this morning. Or yesterday."

Schizo shirt design

2009-10-09T11:04:00.000-04:00

I've been designing t-shirts for many, many years. Recently, my wife, son and I moved to a new home and as I was cleaning out my office (no small feat) I found some notes on shirt ideas. At the time I jotted down the ideas, there was no way to sell crazy shirt ideas (there was always Spencer Gifts, I suppose) and get them out to a wide audience. Luckily, all that's changed now and there are many, many online sites to choose from. So does anyone have suggestions of where I should take this design (modeled by my awesome cousin Noa)? What sites do you like?

Here's an incomplete list of online shirt competitions:
Threadless (the Mama Bear of online competitions)
Designs By Humans
Wooshka
Uneetee
Withoutpockets
Shirt.Woot
Here Itself
Tilteed
Caponocca

What I'm Working On: Damn Batcave

2009-10-06T09:55:00.002-04:00

I've been working on this Batman illustration for a t-shirt design and finally came up with what I want on the iphone. It's late at night and he's trying to drunk dial (you don't have to have been drinking to drunk dial someone- just very, very tired) but his choice of headquarters is thwarting his hook-up attempt.    

It was fun to illustrate just a small amount of the character to let the viewer figure out who he is (hopefully without hitting anyone over the head with it).  

Whattaya think?   Anyone want Catwoman's digits?

my photo reference

Illustrations from calendars I've illustrated

2009-09-30T11:39:00.013-04:00

Thanks to those who sent me messages on yesterday's post of an illustration for the Jewish New Year. I've posted here further illustrations from a few different calendars I've illustrated (and designed) for PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education). There are SO many more illustrations!

At the Dead Sea.

A map of Israel with the favorite sites or things to do.

Kids learning from the Torah.

At the Wailing Wall.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Jewish New Year! 5770

2009-09-29T11:43:00.005-04:00

Happy New Year to all my Jewish friends.
This is an illustration I did for a calendar for PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education). I illustrated each month with images from holidays which fell during that month.

Apples dipped in honey is traditionally eaten for a sweet year.

Life drawing

2009-09-17T22:41:00.005-04:00

While I was on vacation, my wife saw a listing for an open life drawing class (not really a class- more of a free-for-all that cost $7). So I showed up and the room was already full- I was a little late as the address didn't make enough sense to the GPS on my phone- full of artists mostly in their later years with huge sketch pads, conté crayons, brushes, pastels etc, etc. And me with just my sketchbook and a ballpoint pen (I mean, I didn't expect to need anything more on vacation!).

We warmed up with a few 5 minute poses before jumping into one loooong drawing. The sketches above are from that same pose, just that I mived to the other side of the room to get a new vantage point.

I didn't put these drawings up because they're my favorites, I put them up because I was so happy to be drawing a live model and I wanted to remember how much fun it can be and how nice it is to sit in a room with other artists as if we were a community for more than just 2 hours. It's like the air is different (and it is- there's a lot of charcoal and pastel dust) or charged and you're all sharing an experience together. and you walk out with renewed energy for sketching/drawing. So if you're an artist, I strongly recommend that you get out now and then and draw with others and walk around and see how they approach the same problem (as in math problem, not in a negative way) you're faced with and watch yourself grow from the experience.

Bad time to answer the phone

2009-09-15T07:11:00.006-04:00

A recent sketch from my sketchbook:
Seems you can’t go anywhere without coming across someone talking on their phone with little regard for those around them. So I’ve started sketching various scenarios like this one. I’ll upload my Batman one to my blog once I have it worked out better. Now I’ve gotta go answer the phone...

Aliens!

2009-09-10T10:14:00.006-04:00

We just returned from vacation (which is why I haven't updated my blog in a while) and one morning while away, I was watching my son Leo play with anything that looked like it might be a toy. A toy golf club became a (leaf) blower. The sofa became a hub for all his (flying) cars. And his real toys- I could only imagine what he was seeing in them. And he was especially having fun with an alien toy. He has such a creative imagination that I thought I'd draw for him some aliens and a Leo character/warrior to play with them.

Frank Zappa poster (or Phi Zappa Krappa)

2009-08-26T23:02:00.005-04:00

I took a quick va-cay in Vermont these last few days and came across this poster. I love the style, the subject matter is dead-on and even the way the poster is falling apart adds to the overall appeal. Where can I get one?

HELVETICA

2009-08-14T12:08:00.003-04:00

I saw the HELVETICA movie this week. Yes, it's a movie about a font, but it has a rich and interesting history and the movie is interspersed with a variety of designers (a few big names and then a few smaller ones) who either extoll the font's virtues or rip it to shreds.

It was nice to see how excited some designers were when they described HELVETICA while others were quite funny in their criticism (either of the font or those who use it).

I walked away uncertain whether or not I wanted to use the font ever again- and that's what this drawing is about.

Paul McCartney

2009-08-07T11:36:00.007-04:00

I went with my family to the Paul McCartney concert at Fenway Park in Boston yesterday and was wowed by the performance(s) and the venue so I decided to create a tribute. Illustrated above is one of Paul McCartney's guitars surrounded by the songs he performed.

Below is a photo I took on my iPhone which I had to enhance to try to get a better image (too many things conspired against me- a low-quality camera, bright skies behind a dark arena and vid screens that were often too bright for the camera to deal with).

And then there is a video I took (again with the iPhone) of the light show and fireworks during Live and Let Die:

If you're a Beatles fan, this show would not have dissapointed you. What a great night!

Baby- that's my logo!

2009-08-05T15:56:00.008-04:00

I was at a party with friends this past weekend when I spotted something familiar. A 7-week old named Jonah was sporting the logo that I had created for a summer camp! What a kick it was to see something I had designed, completely out of context and while in my civilian identity (when I wasn't working). Isn't he a cutie?

Here's the logo:The logo went through many, many incarnations before we finally settled on this look, these colors and the gazebo which is one of the first things you see when you drive into the camp. I'm very proud of how it turned out.

Harvard Square

2009-07-23T13:01:00.005-04:00

My tribute to Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA where you will always find a musician performing, usually right near the Harvard Coop (pronounced Coop, not Co-op) which is the building I depicted.

Nationally known performers who got their start in Harvard Square include Tracy Chapman and Joan Baez.

When you're not watching the street musicians, there are SO many great restaurants and stores to check out (Favorite restaurants: Border Cafe, Fire and Ice, Grafton Street).

Girl in a tree

2009-07-16T08:13:00.002-04:00

I really wanted to draw a tree showing the texture of the bark and somehow a girl got stuck in it.

Mykonos poster

2009-07-07T07:16:00.004-04:00

My mother-in-law is in Mykonos so I thought I would revisit a poster I illustrated and designed after visiting there myself a few years ago.

I illustrated the scene from a photograph I took. I loved the juxtaposition of the lazy scenery with the hard-working donkey in the foreground. And the real-life colors are so vibrant! When I was done with the illustration it just begged for some type and that's how it became a poster or a postcard.

Keys

2009-07-01T09:39:00.005-04:00

Perhaps because my wife and I are closing on our new house tomorrow I decided to finish up this illustration. What more need be said?

Vaulting ahead

2009-06-23T11:54:00.006-04:00

Getting ahead despite being stuck in the same size box as your coworkers.

An editorial illustration I began some time ago (portfolio pieces sometimes have the luxury of time) and finally got around to finishing recently.

Cape Cod Map- download a free version

2009-06-11T10:30:00.016-04:00

If you're heading to Cape Cod this summer, here's a simplified map I just finished illustrating and designing. I did a simpler version (1 color) for a wedding program and then decided to finish the map to a higher degree.

For a free higher resolution PDF of this map to actually use when you visit the Cape, click here to download it.

Following Instructions

2009-06-08T07:25:00.005-04:00

This is an illustration of a group of people I created for Flash Kids/Barnes & Noble books. The instructions were much more complex than what I usually get (draw a tree with a squirrel running on a branch, for example) and it took a lot of rechecking to make sure I got everyone right. Here's the description from my client:

Assignment: illustration of a group photo of 3 older men, 1 with short hair, 1 with no hair and 1 with long hair, 1 with glasses, 1 with a hat; 2 older women with short hair; 1 middle-aged man with no hair and glasses; 2 middle-aged women: 1 with a hat and short hair and the other with long hair and glasses; 3 girls, 2 with long hair and 1 with short hair, 1 wearing glasses; 2 boys with short hair 1 with glasses and 1 with a hat; 4 large dogs, 1 spotted black and white, another just black, and 2 golden; 1 small white dog; and 1 small brown dog.

Are you dizzy yet?

Housing market

2009-05-26T15:31:00.005-04:00

An editorial piece I completed a few days ago about the housing market and how every house that gets sold is another step out of the recession hole. This could either be a broker or a buyer proudly displaying the house that has just sold.

So everyone, go do your part and buy a house. Or a cup of coffee...

What we read this week

2009-05-15T09:51:00.008-04:00

In honor of Children's Book Week, here is a collage of most of the books my wife and I read with our 3 1/2 year old son this past week. By Leo's decree, some books must be read every night (until he gets a new favorite) while others make the occasional appearance, cycling in and out.

The Fish Who Cried Wolf is a favorite book, beautifully illustrated and very engagingly written, but with what is easily the worst name. The original story (The Boy Who Cried Wolf) behind the name doesn't even strictly connect to this story and makes the book seem like just another carbon copy, but it is actually very originally written.

My Truck is Stuck is also nicely written with rhymes you can't get out of your head. Leo is now able to 'read' this book by himself because it flows so cleanly. Lots to see in the artwork.

Free Comic Book Day this year got my son stuck on Pixar's Cars and The Incredibles (which was a back-up feature to Cars). Cars was good and somewhat easy to follow (although he didn't get any of the irony which was a bit too subtle) but The Incredibles (written by the VERY talented Mark Waid) was a little too dense for Leo's age. When we read this one, we basically have to paraphrase the character development pages to keep him interested until the action starts again. Once there's jumping and running again (not much hitting), he loves it!

The last one I want to mention (among all of these great books) is Robert Munsch's Purple, Green and Yellow. Last night was my first time reading this book and I loved it! Although the drawing style is a little dated, the use of color was very appealing and nice to look at. And the story! Munsch has a way of packing so much into one story without overwhelming the reader. This short story could be turned into a movie adaptation making use of the interesting twists/occurrences in the book.

Now, I have to get back to drawing my own children's books!

2 (Cool) Old Guys

2009-05-08T15:54:00.005-04:00

I decided to put myself through an exercise today: Design a poster that makes these old guys cool.

My motivation was to keep things fresh while also updating my website (this will go in the 'design' section under 'posters'). Yeah, I used some popular conventions in the design (the style of the photo, edgy type) but I hope you will agree that I made the design my own with the concept.

First, I decided that these guys should be in a band, and what better name for a band than going with exactly what they are? It helps that they are dressed hip (certainly better than I was dressed when I shot the photo in Boston. I recall a pair of flip flops.). Then I gave them a venue and a couple of performance dates. (If you took a few minutes to Google the venue you would find out that it's an assisted living community where the median age is 80. Just having fun!)

I considered putting something about the type of music they play but decided against it- leaving this out suggests that if you were cool you would already know what they play.

Wolverine's secret identity...

2009-05-01T06:43:00.008-04:00

In honor of the new Wolverine movie, I was sketching the other day in my book and started playing with the idea: What if Wolverine had a secret identity (old-school style)? So I pretended that he's a normal-looking guy (with glasses and all) with a 9 to 5 as a real estate broker or a lawyer and when he hears the scream of a mugging victim he transforms, Hulk-style, into the feral, hirsute Wolverine!

My favorite part: The familiar 'SNIKT!" that you hear when he pops his claws also occurs when his sideburns pop out.

Oh, and those forehead lines are inspired by Art Adams (for those of you who remember his kick-ass Wolverine from The Asgardian Wars).

Hope you enjoy this make-fun piece...

Art Shmooze

2009-04-22T21:42:00.006-04:00

This is a logo I created recently for a non-profit artists advocacy group called the Graphic Artists Guild. I became president of the Boston chapter a few months back and have been working on building up membership and attendance to our events. One of our recurring events is an Art Shmooze: members and non-members get together to discuss current events in our industries, get help with hard/software issues, discuss social networking and drink some beer.

Really, I wanted to call the events "Shoot the Sh*t" but didn't think that some of our older members would appreciate that. Plus the imagery would have been visually quite unappealing.

The text is hand lettered and I created the icon to show exactly what the events are about: food goes in, words come out.

Logo Design- What to consider when it's time to hire a designer

2009-04-14T11:19:00.048-04:00

Congratulations on your new business.
You've done the research, made a business plan and now you're finally ready to get your business off the ground. So now you need a logo to convey to everyone that yours is a serious venture with four sturdy walls and a leak-proof roof. Here are some things to consider before you hire a designer to create your new identity/branding system, and then a few while your designer is designing away.

1) What is the name of your business? You've probably given this quite a lot of thought and spent some time researching the name. Also be sure to secure a domain for the business before you spend money on a logo for a name that is already taken.

2) What do you want the logo to convey (who is your target audience)? Should it be serious, edgy, fun, conservative professional, corporate, young...?

3) What information do you want in your logo? Do you have a tag line? Do you want/need an illustration or icon?

4) Who is your competition? Provide your designer a list of competitors so s/he can get an idea of who you're up against. How do you differ from them?

5) Do some research. See what logos are out there and come up with an opinion on what you like and what you don't. I don't mean just trolling the web for an hour. I mean you should also be looking around when you go to the mall, when you flip through a magazine and when you go food shopping. Logos are everywhere and you can get an idea of what you think works and what does not work (icon or no? What color(s)? What shape?). Make a list. The more you immerse yourself in existing logos, the more you will know what will look good for your business (much like knowing about fashion before going into the store to buy an entire new wardrobe). Of course, you don't need to dictate to your designer every little thing- your research will help you to be more discerning when it comes time to look at his/her concepts.

6) See what others in your industry have on their letterhead. If you're in, say, the furniture business, do a Google search: Furniture, logo.

7) Avoid fads. Pink and chocolate-brown look great together. Will you still think so in a year? In 5 years?

8) Avoid lettering that will become dated. That funky font may have a 'best if used by' date.

9) Do not let/make the logo become too overcomplicated. It does not need to tell the whole story about your business, it just needs to be an identifier. And memorable.

10) Hire a designer with a body of work that is diverse (with logos that are fun, serious, edgy etc...) so you don't get stuck with options that look like the rest of his/her work.

11) Avoid overused icons. But if your new company is "Light Up My Room" and you feel you must have, say, a lightbulb, then it should be used in an innovative way. (Lightbulb logos. Some are innovative and some are less so)

12) Communicate with your designer. Make sure s/he understands your business (as you're the one who knows it best!), your views on what you do and do not like (see #5 above), your competition and your expectations. But also be open to your designer's suggestions- s/he has been doing this for a while!

13) Sign a contract. A contract is the only way to be certain that you will be getting what you need for the agreed-upon price. There should be a time line for the sketch phase and for finalizing the chosen logo. A number of rounds of sketches and sketch options per round should also be negotiated ahead of time (see #14 below). Also negotiate a kill-fee based on the % of work completed in case you or the designer needs to stop the work.

14) Request 2-3 different logo directions for each round of concepts. From there you can choose what is working and what is not. The designer should then take your input and make changes accordingly to one or two of the original directions. Or if the original concepts weren't hitting the mark then s/he should offer up 2-3 new concepts. I also recommend that you see the concepts on a simple white background so you don't get thrown off by whatever cool design or simulated effect is going on behind the logo.

15) Don't rush approval. Get feedback from friends, associates and family before giving your feedback to the designer on sketches or on finals. It's all about fresh eyes (You MUST look at this link to know what I mean- and for a laugh). Be clear in your feedback.

16) Logo versions. Other versions you may need:

PMS or 4-color process version: For printing
RGB version: For online use
One color version: A simplified logo using one of your logo colors. For use on a fax cover page or if you're sponsoring a charity run, for example, they'll want to put a 1-color logo on their shirts to thank you.
Black and white and gray: If you want to put the logo on a flier you're printing on your laser printer or photocopier.

17) Logo file formats: You will need your final logo saved as an EPS and (optionally) an AI file. These are files you can send to any other designer to fulfill whatever printing or online needs you might have. Get all versions of these on a CD and back them up. Other files:

TIF: If you would like to slip your file into a Word document or Powerpoint.
JPEG: If you want to put your logo on your Facebook page or Twitter or Flickr.

18) Final logo checklist:

Is the logo recognizable or forgettable?
Does it properly target your desired demographic?
Does it stand on its own?
Is it legible (kind of obvious, but not for some)?
If there is a tagline, what happens if the logo is used small?

19) What else do you need designed? Here's a brief list of items you may need to complete your branding:

Letterhead (both offset printed and a Word version to print from your computer)
Envelopes (of varying sizes)
Business cards (for all employees)
Email signature set up
Signage (if you have a store front or for trade shows)
Thank you cards
Announcement cards
Brochure

All told, the design process should not be too painful, but be prepared to make decisions and to be involved in most aspects of it since, as I said before, you're the one who knows your business best!

What I'm working on- Sudoku

2009-04-14T09:35:00.004-04:00

I've been (slowly) working on this story about a dad doing a Sudoku and his daughter thinking that just because she read online about the secret to doing the puzzles she can cruise through. Ultimately, she messes it up.

The final piece will be more of a comic page with panels but I wanted to show how I was drawing over my scanned sketches. You'll also notice just how much I'm revising from the sketch phase (that is, when I'm not working on a gig for a client. For clients, my sketches are much tighter so they know what they're gonna get when the piece is finished).

Since I'm working on real (paying) jobs, I'm just fitting this piece in whenever I have a chance so we'll see how soon I can get it done.

Portrait for Twitter and Facebook

2009-04-02T15:20:00.013-04:00

Cindy Bernat is a successful real estate agent in NYC who decided she wanted to shake things up a little bit, which, during a down economy and terrible housing market, isn't such a bad idea. So she contacted me to illustrate her portrait for use on her Twitter and Facebook accounts (with a revamp to her email signature).

I worked from a photo she supplied me to create the portrait, then we discussed what the background might look like. My first pass (see below) was a background comprised of random New York buildings.
Cindy felt that the buildings were too non-specific and the feel was of an area of NY that she doesn't represent. She also wanted to be wearing a white shirt with a collar and a more straight-forward necklace. She provided me with some thoughts of what she wanted in her background and I began to work on it.

And then I pulled it all together, adding color but keeping the buildings a gray tone so they wouldn't compete with the portrait.
Finally, as you'll see in the final image at the top of this post, we added the 'SOLD' sign and pulled her collar out to overlap her jacket (she knows fashion much better than I do!). And the image is complete.

If you want to see her new image in action, Cindy can be found at www.twitter.com/cindybernat

Children's Musician CD

2009-03-30T16:10:00.007-04:00

Vanessa is a wonderfully talented musician/singer/songwriter whose newest album, Carnival Day, has just debuted and has already won an iParenting Media Award. I was fortunate enough to work with Vanessa on the illustration and design of her CD, including the creation of a Vanessa character and plenty of other characters from her songs.

This was a very fun, multifaceted job and I'm thrilled with how it all turned out.

The bottom image shows a few fully illustrated pages from the CD booklet, again incorporating the characters from the songs.