Designing For Yourself Sucks

So originally this post was started back on 7/19/10 at 10:49 PM. A little more than a fortnight after my little girl was born. The sketching had started back in Jan. So when i think about it, this project has been hangin over my head for nearly a year. Not really sure how many hours i have logged on this project. It's now close to 5 months since the original post had been started. The best part is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thought i might share with you a few of the revisions and steps that i went through. Some of the original sketches of course were for a boy back when we didn't know what we where going to have. Even looking at it now, the type treatment looks more masculine than i thought.









Once i got all excited and was certain we where having a boy i put the sketches down and waited to work on the details till after we knew the details. You know the weight, time, date, length etc.
Glad i did cause we ended up having a girl and felt that softer curvy lines would lend themselves to the the announcement.










Once the letters had been refined a bit, i moved on to illustrator to clean things up a bit. Tried out some color ideas. I didn't want to do a standard blue=boy pink=girl card so i went round and round with what to use.






At this point i had come to the orange and pink colors. The plan at this point is that i would be screen printing these beasts by hand... I know, "what was i thinking." I have about 150-200, double sided, tri-fold self mailer that i telling myself i was gonna screen print. Then affix a photo of Coraline to the announcement before mailing. I was trying my best to keep it a two color job. Wanted to take advantage of the translucency of the inks and the paper color. A lot of thought went into making the card look more like 3-4 colors.






That is what it looked like a few weeks back. I had come close to finally finishing this task only to realized that Christmas is only a month or so away. Why not make more work and tweak the colors one last time and make it my our Xmas letter. It's already late, why not. Below are the individual panels of the final colors. I have to say i am pretty excited to get these out to the printer, and out in the mail.









I'll post some pictures of the finals once we get them back from the printer.
Hope you enjoyed these process pieces. There are lots of things i have learned on this single project over the course of the year. Here are some of them:

• I now have more of an appreciation for those that create typefaces.
• Those that are able to create pen tool curves w/out bumps or awkward tangents make me sick and jealous.
• CS 5 didn't come out soon enough.
• The Illustrator "Width Tool" will be your best friend.
• Don't tell your wife you won't design and print any more posters before you finish the announcements. Why? It will make you a liar.
• The week you take off of work to be home with the wife and baby will not be when you can finish the birth announcement.
• You will stare at your baby for hours in silence and be totally fine.

And the final tidbit i'll take from this project is the truth in the old saying
"You're your own worst client". I have to say, "Yes, yes i am."


TTFN

Doc

iamReedicus is on Twitter

Ok so i am also now on twitter, if any one wants to follow along with the randomness that will take place with the postings. There will be a little bit of everything. Life, art, photography, design and some illustration stuff in there. iamReedicus is the twitter handle.

I found out today that Sam Weber has the coveted cover for the American Illustration 29. The dude is seriously talented.

Later
Doc

Frog+50mm=Fun

After i got home this evening i took out some trash to the can out back. Then went to pick up the water can to water some of the plants. Little tree frog was just chillin there. So i ran back in the house to grab the camera. Since the sun had gone all but behind the trees, the 1:8 was a life saver.

Played around with some processing trying to decide which look i like the best and these were the ones that i decided were may favorites.

Still working on getting the images together for iamReedicus.com. Hope to have some live images by the end of Nov. But realistically it will be the first of the year. Since you cant get any thing down after the first of Nov.

Beta Printing

So you got to see the sketches and digital versions of the Beta Radio poster. The following pictures were taken during the printing process. Had some fun with some test prints. Take a look. Thanks for stopping in.

Beta Radio CD Release Show

So i have been working on a poster for the band Beta Radio the last few weeks for there upcoming CD release show. It happening here in town at the SoapBox Laundro Lounge, Friday night September 17th. Doors will open at 9 and the cover is $5. Beta Radio will be playing with some other local favs. Onward, Soldiers and Rio Bravo will be rounding out the bill. Its gearing up to be a grand evening. I encourage any one that can to try and make it out to take in the show.

They had tossed out the idea of having me do a poster or shirt design back a month or so ago. Brent "officially" approached me back at the end of August to come up with a poster for the release show. I had started some doodles and sketches, but things were going in a totally different direction at that point. More illustrative than what i've got going on in the posters now.

Most of the changes came into play when i was flipping through a book Brent picked up. It was Jason Munn's book of posters. Brent is all about some Small Stakes poster design. and i can see why. The guys got some serious talent and simple clean designs that don't need a lot going on with in the actual piece.

I wish i had that kind of clarity and simplicity in my own design work. With that thought i set out, not design a Jason Munn poster but, to edit my own process and try simplifying the page a little more. I feel like i was able to do this in this Beta Radio poster. The poster went through a few initial sketches of this concept before setting into the final layout.

After thinking of a few ideas that really didn't lend themselves to a cd release show, i tried turning my thought more to that frame of mind. That's when the records as balloons concept was born. Cd's just felt weird and out of place (more so than record). I am really excited to get these posters finished. I'm trying a silver ink in the poster which will be a first. Hopefully, not the last. The plan, as of now is to print three versions of the poster. Same design, just switching of the background colors. Here are some process and layout roughs.

Here are the three color options that are going to be printed.

Here is the final that is going to be produced and sold off. Hope to get some posters down to Gravity Records as well. A few last minute tweaks to help bring some depth to the piece, i ran the twine behind the fingers and wrist.

Hopefully, i have hit on something that everyone can enjoy with these colors. Thanks for stopping in and checking everything out. Hope you enjoyed the visit.


Doc

Someday I'm Gonna Be A Hero

New Found Glory had an open date while out on there tour with Paramore this August and set up shop there at the good ole Soapbox.

A friend of mine turned me on to these guys back in college. I believe the album From The Screen to your Stereo had just come out. There is quite a bit of energy in there music and i wanted to try and capture the feeling of a group of guys that like to hang and have fun together. The sketch was of a kid playing superhero with his cape and don't mess with me stance. Which when translates into older guys in bands striking poses on stage right. It was a fun parallel, at least i think so.

Hated that i was not able to take in the show. Its lame but my age was catching up with me. Couple of late nights back to back printing the poster left me with a massive headache the night of the show. The original design was supposed to be another 2 color job that looked like a three color. Where the blue and yellow over print to make green. I had forgotten that's not really the case from my days of mixing paint in intro design classes. Needless to say that the blue was more opaque than i thought it was gonna be. So what are you gonna do. Call it a night, right. While i laid in bed i kept trying to think of another way to fix the poster.

I had the thought to paint out the rest of the yellow screen and reprint the areas that should have made green. Printing Yellow over green doesn't make green either. "Blast it!" Ok , now what, oh i have some green ink left over. Brrrilliant! It worked out pretty well for the poster i think.

Here are some process shots and sketches.

Josh Rivenbark and Brent Holloman came over to lend a hand in the printing process and see how things happen. Lots of fun.

Still have a few of these here at the house if anyone is interested. Thanks for stopping by hope you enjoy.

Doc

ILM's Annual ArtWalk

Back a few weeks ago i finished up a poster for the upcoming ArtWalk. This year is the 9th year that walk will take place here in Wilmington, September 11th. If nothing else you could come down and walk the new streets of Downtown Wilmington. I have to say that during the day it's really quite wonderful downtown. A little cluby for me at night but that's typical right.
I tried to find some more info on the actual art walk itself but there isn't much floating around on the web right now. Here is what i did find:

ArtWalk / Downtown outdoor art and craft festival, Front St., 10am-5pm FREE
Treasures on display along six blocks of Front Street in Historic Wilmington will include one-of-a-kind paintings, photographs, handmade jewelry, and sculptures. In the past, this day-long event has drawn over 10,000 people. For more info, 216-374-8884 or artandantiquewalk@hotmail.com.


While your downtown you can check out all the art and crafts that will fill the streets as they close of Front Street for a few blocks. Be sure to stop in at Chops Deli for some of the best sandwiches in town. I recommend the Plymouth if you have a sweet tooth. The Marseille for a little more kick in the spices department.

There are a few local sponsors of course that are making this happen. Wilmington's Encore, Do It Downtown, Fox 26, CoolWilmington and a few others.

Hope that this continues to grown and continues to pick up steam for the art community here in the area. Since Creative Wilmington shut down last year i hope to see some thing rise up and continue to bring the art community together, encourage and cultivate the growth and awareness in the arts. Personally, i like seeing more and more fine art, modern art making its way into the mix of the coastal niche of seascapes and light house paintings. Not to run them out but show another side of what art is and can be. I hated abstract are growing up and in college. Partly because in the graphic design, advertising and illustration fields things are and have to be conceptually driven. In abstract art there is now driving concept to see and marvel over how you can boil and idea down to the simplest common denominators and put it out for the public to digest the information. Since college and working in the design/advertising field, i welcome the chance to look at something and let my thoughts and emotions of the day, week month or year determine what the piece is evoking in me. My imagination has been set free to run, jump, sprint, stroll and sit in a new world someone else as created to share with me. A little piece of them for me to press my nose up against and peek in for a spell.

Well, that was a longer tangent than i was planning to go down. Off the soapbox now. Here are a few shots of the poster that iamReedicus put together for the event. If you have an event and you need a poster put together get in touch with me.
Thanks to the local business that put up the flyer. Today i saw the posters up in the windows of these fine store fronts, Hot Pink Cup Cake Stand, Planet and the Olive Tree Co.






TTFN
Doc