Under Construction

The blog is up, but I am currently working on rebuilding the rest of my site.  Everything should be up and running in the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.

Clampitt Paper

Typically I avoid paid design contests like a plague. I think the whole idea of spec work is unprofessional. However, when designers compete against each other just for fun, bragging rights, or for inspiration I greet the chance with arms wide open. Today I heard of an interesting contest that I may actually enter.

Every other year Clampitt Paper Co. (a company know pretty well by most Dallas-area designers) host a contest to design a wine label for a special blend. The contest is not open to students — only to practicing professional designers. (And only using Clampitt Paper for the mock-up of course) I enjoy red wine and art, so I am looking forward to seeing what creative ideas come from the Dallas design industry.

Funny Job Request

One of the fellow designers at my office called in because his daughter was sick yesterday morning. He said somebody needed to pick up his two jobs that were due that day and that he had left some food in the fridge that somebody should eat before he returned. A view minutes later I checked my email and found a new job request, but it wasn't the assignment I initially expected.

Thank You!

I want to take a moment to thank all my readers (Friends, clients, & fellow designers) for not being like any of these people: Clientsfromhell.net Most of the stories on here are equally scary to designers as they are humorous. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day

Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Today I am thankful that I design pretty much everything except cheesy greeting cards. Today, you don't have to buy into all of the commercial trends of this holiday; just take a moment to tell someone that you love him or her. Have a great day!

Parody

On occasion, I participate in online photoshop contests. These contests are mostly just for fun. In this contest, designers were asked to change one letter of a famous movie title, and then edit the cover based on the new title. Below is my contest entry playing off of "A Beautiful Mind." Visit Worth 1000 to view and vote on all contest entries.

3D Artwork

As I a designer I deal almost exclusively in two-dimensional material — with the exception of an interesting die-line every once in a while. Recently I have been asked more and more to do "3D" renderings of design concepts. I do most of these digital mock-ups in photoshop, but I have discovered a new tool that is quite helpful. Google Sketch Up is a 3D modeling program that is relatively easy to use. Like a slimed down version of AutoCAD, I can use Sketch Up to build basic 3D models that can be exported as flat artwork. I just use the 3d software for a basic block model, and then paint and edit everything in photoshop. I consider myself a a Graphic designer, and not a 3d artist, but it is always nice to have some tricks up the sleeve.

 

Latitude Advisors

I have been doing some web design work for Latitude Advisors, LLC. They offer unique business counseling and advisory services. They run a detailed personality test for each team member and present the results to encourage team building. Mike did my Birkman assessment a few months ago and it has been of tremendous help. Go check 'em out!

Latitude Advisors Website

BLACKOUT

My site will be offline tomorrow. (January 18th) I am joining a global protest against the proposed Stop Internet Piracy act. (S.O.P.A.) If passed this act would essentially give the U.S. government the right to censor and control all websites viewed in the United States. Many large sites are blacking out tomorrow to encourage viewers to learn more about the potential dangers of S.O.P.A.

Learn More about SOPA

Wikipedia Joins SOPA protest

Valentine's Day

Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Today I am thankful that I design pretty much everything except cheesy greeting cards. Today, you don't have to buy into all of the commercial trends of this holiday; just take a moment to tell someone that you love him or her. Have a great day!

Valentine's Day

Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Today I am thankful that I design pretty much everything except cheesy greeting cards. Today, you don't have to buy into all of the commercial trends of this holiday; just take a moment to tell someone that you love him or her. Have a great day!

Inspiring Furniture

I am always looking for design inspiration — not just print and web examples, but examples of design as a creative thought process. Good design interacts with the way people live and feel in an intentional way. I believe good design inspires the mood of an audience. The line between design and entertainment is blurred and should be crossed as often as possible.

I recently happened across an example of great furniture design that is at least as entertaining as it it functional. This dresser by Jakob Jorgensen applies a beautiful user experience to accompany the mundane act of pulling clothing out of your dresser. The robotic drawers open and close rhythmically changing a simple hardwood dresser into a four-dimensional animated sculpture.

Happy New Year

2011 was a really big year for me. I am looking forward to another great year of building relationships, finding new clients, and working on exciting new design projects. Thank you so much! I appreciate the support and continued business.