Movie Theater "Happy Meal"

The movie theater company National Amusements/Showcase Cinemas contracted me to create a design for their 1-2-3 Go Box. The box is like their Happy Meal for kids with popcorn, a drink and a candy in a handy package. Until now, their 1-2-3 Go Box was decorated with characters from kids' movies and they wanted to make the box their own.

I created three sets of concepts for the designs and they chose this one with lots, and lots of monster creatures hanging around. I then set to work illustrating and designing the graphics within the bounds of their template.

Here's the artwork within the template:

Some friends sent me these photos with the 1-2-3 Go Box:

If you find yourself with a 1-2-3 Go Box please send me a photo or post it on Facebook: facebook.com/edfrednedillustration

 This job led to a 45 second animation for the theater chain. More on that HERE

On the Train

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...

Oliver Hardy

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

HELVETICA

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.