BMX Bike Graphics

'Winged Skull Bike Graphic'

I've always enjoyed designing for the action sports industry. So when Dave Mirra's company contacted me to create a few bike graphics for them I was honored. Dave Mirra is to BMX what Tony Hawk is to Skate. That and I'll use any excuse to draw a skull and with wings no less. After all it is one of the 'Top Ten Favorite Themes.' for illustrators.


'Skulls-O-Plenty. I'll be using the other three in my second design.'

Why are skulls so much fun to illustrate? Why do they look so cool with wings, flames and crowns? Of all the things an artist can draw or create the skull is somewhat iconic, simple shapes and form that captures and relays complex ideas and subject matter in a very graphic way. Is it a representation of death? Or is it a visual contradiction to live a bold and full life in the face of death? After all the death rate is still one per person.


'Skull Art In Context'

I have to create another design using three other skulls for them and I'll post that art soon as well.

Chew on This!

'Orbit Gum Package Graphics'

About ten months ago I did some package graphic icons for Orbit Gum, I just noticed they are starting to use some of the art I had created for them. Being a creative person I am always checking out cool packaging and artwork much to the chagrin of my wife who tends to leave me alone in the wine section so I can peruse all the cool labels while she continues to shop. ;-)


'Rasberry Mint Icons and a Mojito Mint Sun Icon'

So the other day I was in line at Safeway and spotted my rasberry art. Over the next several days I located two others I had worked on as well. I don't think they used my Sun Icon however which I thought was a weird request anyway being a non-digestable food item. I mean who in their right mind would chew on something that is 27 million degrees Farenheit?


'Lemon Lime Icons and a derived Mojito Mint Icon'

I am still searching for Lemon Lime flavor. Looks like they derived the Citrus Mint flavor using my Lemon Lime art too?

OK, here is my art dork moment. I was so excited when I first spotted the Rasberry Mint that I exclaimed to the check out person "I designed the art on that." as I pointed toward the gum package she was scanning. She looked at the package and then at me and said "You did these dots? That'll be $8.73."

Yes I created those dots.....exit stage right.

Arriving in May!

'Crumble. Crackle. Burn'

I just received my advanced copy of my first ever published book called 'Crumble. Crackle. Burn - 120 Stunning Textures for Design and Illustration'. If you'd like more information regarding this book coming out in May you can read my previous post about it here.

If you're attending the HOW Design Conference I'll be doing a book signing on Tuesday night June 12th at 5:30pm. If you buy a copy at the Conference you'll get a FREE set of my Keyboard-Characters™ as well and of course my autograph.


'Spread Illustration by Vonster'

Each spread showcases the raw texture on the left, information regarding it's source and location on the DVD. The right side of the spread shows an example usage of that texture. Below is several sample spreads I took pictures of so you can see how the layout of the interior looks.


'Spread Illustration by Linzie Hunter'


'Spread Illustration by Chris Parks'


'Spread Illustration by Alina Hiu-Fan Chau'


'DVD is inset into the back cover for easy storage and access.'

I am excited how it came out and I think other designers and illustrators will really enjoy using the textures in their own artwork.

Pre-Order on Amazon.com

Linear Line Artwork

'Smiling Face Linear.'

Creating linear line illustration is as close to getting paid to doodle as it gets for me. The amount of time it takes to go from my revised sketch to final is about as short as it gets in regards to illustration. But that said this style is deceptively simple. Sure it's one continuous line (minus secondary elements like movement lines and such) but you have to balance the negative and positive areas well otherwise it can become a scrambled mess of overlapping lines. The other key is to not make the stroke too thick or too thin.


'The Whole Set.'

The ad agency White Rhino (Cool name) hired me to create the set of linear line illustrations shown above. The usage would be for TV spots for a regional bank called 'RiverBank' and on print collateral. The illustrations had to work moving from left to right when animated. The 'Dental Chair' illustration was never used because their client didn't want that theme related to their banking experience. ;-) Included in the project was the need for type matching the same style they could use on print collateral as well.


'Capture from TV Spot 1'

The illustrations were animated for two TV spots they produced. You can watch both spots using the following links.

- Watch TV Spot 1
- Watch TV Spot 2

Now if only Ragu™ would hire me to create linear illustrations out of spaghetti! Dat's a-spicy project!

The Bat is Back...Again.

'Ruben Salavert, another fan of my 'Tribal Tattoo' artwork.'

Almost a year ago today I was contacted by an ad agency guy from Florida who had seen some of my 'Tribal Tattoo' artwork on my web site and wanted me to illustrate a custom one for him to have done. You can read my original post about this here.

Well out of the blue I get an email with the picture shown above in it. Ruben finally got the tattoo done and was nice enough to share it with me.


'My Original Artwork.'

It still amazes me that some people will make a lifetime commitment to my art like this. There are now two guys walking around with my art permanently applied to their back. Ruben Salavert and Claude Montreal both far more daring them me.

I'll admit it's a little weird and yet flattering at the same time.

Fourth and Goal.

'Autograph Insert Card Design'

There isn't a lot of design jobs that would afford you the luxury of using full color, 5th color spot metallic, die-cuts, and foil stamping all in one project. But when you design for trading cards it's a common occurrence. They take advantage of all the print special effects offered today. So if you want to make a million bucks easy, just come up with a new unique printing method then license it to trading card companies because they are always looking for an advantage not offered by their competition. Easier said then done though.

The card shown above is called 'Draft Day Ink' each of the cards in this sub set will have a transparent autographed label applied to it. The image shown is a mock-up in that no one yet knows what team Adrian Peterson will be drafted too. The autograph is shown here as an example.

When designing trading cards the design has to be flexible enough that any team color, player name, photo will easily work with the layout.


'Jersey Insert Card Design'

Fitting all the various information, memorabilia and player photos into a space of 2.5"x3.5" can be challenging to say the least. When you have to do it for '3' or more players like the card shown above it makes the design far more complex then one showing a single player. But of course the multi-player cards are far more valuable for collectors if they happen to get it in the pack they buy.

Collecting cards has changed a lot since I was a kid. Today the industry of sports collectibles is almost as competitive as the sports they document but the clear leader in this field is the Upper Deck Company. I had the privilege of working their for three years in their baseball division and now enjoy assisting with the design of all the various brands they create for such as the NFL, MLB and the NHL along with other entertainment categories. The work is fun and knowing collectors will be securing my designs for years to come makes the work that much more satisfying to create.

Podcast Interview

'My Ugly Mug'

As most of you know I produce my own podcast called 'The Illustrative Designer'. Well I've been so busy recently that I haven't had a chance to edit the interviews I've done with 'Bob Staake', 'Jeff Pollard' and a few others. So instead of letting more time go by with out releasing another podcast Erik Olson who runs the 'Iconic' podcast has allowed me to air an interview I did with him this past month.

I think you'll enjoy the information within the podcast and at the end is a little surprise for the listeners.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to my podcast be sure to subscribe to it via iTunes. If you don't have iTunes or don't use iTunes you can listen to it from the web site directly.