Cool Crud Texture Set

"Cool Crud Texture Set" 35 Royalty-Free Textures.

What can I say other then I love taking photos of cruddy surfaces. Nothing is more fun then making your art look like crap with cool distressed real world textures. Why use a lame pull-down menu Photoshop algorithm to simulate an organic touch when you can do it using authentic textures created by the second law of thermal dynamics instead? Real is always better!


Each texture comes with the full-color source photo.

If you don't like the way I created the PSD file or the bitmap tiff file no worries. You can create your own versions using the original source photo. So the possibilities are truly endless for your creative needs.


Texture number "CC_12".

I collected the textures in this set over the last eight months or so while traveling in Oregon and Washington.


Texture number "CC_35".

The best things about textures is they never go out of style unlike other resources such as fonts, stock art or even photography. A texture that looks cool now will still look cool 50 years from now.


All "35" Textures in set.

This set is royalty-free. Just buy it, download it and you can use these textures on any personal or professional illustration or design project you want. the only limitation is please don't distribute them to others who haven't purchased them. I purposely priced these so anyone can afford them so encourage others to visit this site and get their own copy. I thank you in advance for honoring this simple request.

That said I've set Paypal up so you can order more then one copy if you want to pass them along to a friend.

Source File Specifications.
Each Texture Includes the following formats for each of the "35" textures.

- Original Source Photo (Hi-Resolution RGB jpeg, 10x15 inches @ 315 ppi)
- Layered Grayscale PSD File (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 315 ppi)
- Bitmap Tiff Image (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 300 ppi)

(All PSD Files are CS4 but will still open in CS3 or CS2 without any problems.)

Try it before you buy it!
You can download a sample texture including all the formats listed above and take them for a test drive here.

No-Brainer Ordering and Download.
The entire set is just $6.95. Order using the Paypal button below. Once you click through Paypal, you'll be automatically forwarded to a download page. If you have any questions just post them in the comments below and I'll respond to each accordingly.

You can see another texture set of mine called "Old World" here.

George

Moleskin sketch "George."

Rarely do I plan anything I draw in my moleskin. I just sit down and let it just kind of flow out. Open the flood gates and see what spills out onto the page. Last few years it's been a lot of orbs, snakes, flames, hands and arms appearing from no where and characters like George.

Why the name George? I have no clue? I'll let you tell me.


Scanned in and played with.

I like moleskins but my favorite pen to doodle with is a Paper Mate Flair felt pen and unfortunately for what ever reason the paper stock in a moleskins kind of repels the ink. You can notice the splotchy dark areas in my photo above.

So most often you'll find me doodling on simple white note pads that you can tear off and that is what I tend to prefer to draw on. I like the flexibility of being able to easily scan something in or tack it up for inspiration or put it in a project folder etc.

But if you're looking for a top-notch bound sketch book look no further than the moleskin.

Like I said, I prefer doodling on note pads and in the case of the image at right I doodled it on a project outline I had printed out. I find I doodle best when talking on the phone or listening to someone else talk, don't get me wrong I pay attention to what is being said and doodling helps me to focus better.

When I scanned the doodle in I noticed it picked up some of the copy from the opposite side and I thought those artifacts looked pretty cool so I worked into the final image you see.

Like "George" I have no idea as to the meaning of this but I sure do like it. For what it's worth I titled this random doodle "Unsure Ltd." I think it's appropriate for the economic landscape we find ourselves in at the moment globally.

Remember, never stop drawing!

Illustrator CS4 How-To Guides

"Loyal Order of Wormwood" Adobe How-To Guide.

As some of you may know I designed promotional art for Adobe CS4 Illustrator called "Loyal Order of Wormwood." Along with that project I also put together a "How-To Guide" for them as well which Adobe has now posted on their web site so I have posted the same blurb below which gives you access to same content and a little bit more. But be sure to check out Adobes page to view other cool promotional art created for CS4.


Promotional Art for Adobe CS4 Illustrator "Loyal Order of Wormwood."

Loyal Order of Wormwood
by Von Glitschka, Glitschka Studios

His inspiration for "Loyal Order of Wormwood": "I never know when or where inspiration will come. Most often it's captured initially via a simple doodle. Then at a later point in time I take that doodle and flesh it out into a refined sketch. Once my drawing is exactly the way I like it, I simply scan it in and start building my vector art."

Read the how-to guide
Download the Illustrator CS4 file
Download Missing "Step by Step" Tutorial

Adobe copyright © and usage limitations of this art are clearly stated within download files.

Memory Lock

"Memory Lock" tile pattern.

Over this past years I've created over "120" illustrative patterns. Most of these were for my new book coming out in 2009 called "Drip.Dot.Swirl. 94 incredible patterns for design and illustration."

Needless to say patterns have been on my mind a lot. So a couple nights ago I had a dream about a pattern. Not sure why, can't really remember what the dream was all about but the design locked into my memory so I decided to create it.


"Memory Lock" pattern tiled out.

This pattern like all the others that are part of my new book are seamless and can be tiled easily inside Illustrator. You can take "Memory Lock" on a test drive yourself using the link below.


"Drip.Dot.Swirl. 94 incredible patterns for design and illustration."

For more information about my pattern book visit VonsterBooks.com

FREE Download: "Memory Lock"
- Four Color Themes
- Includes CS2, CS3 and CS4 File Formats
- Royalty Free

Download "Memory Lock" Pattern here.

Fa La La La Lifetime - Take II

'Fa La La La Lifetime Seasonal Branding'

Last Christmas Lifetime Television hired me to create a seasonal brand for their holiday promotions. The promotion proved to be so successful they've decided to use it again this year even more prominently than they did last season and I suppose they have good reasons to do so.


'Fa La La La Lifetime Bug'

The logotype is also being used as a bug during seasonal programming along with the TV spots they are advertising for the Christmas promotion. It's kind of strange seeing your work on TV, don't get me wrong I think it's very cool but it's also kind of surreal in a way too. I suppose the ultimate would be to develop a character for a TV production, now that would be a kick in the head!


'New TV Spot.' Click image or here to watch video.

Last year the in house creatives at Lifetime added a wonky bevel effect to my logo type. This year they left it alone and I like it better. The above link is a truncated video to just showcase the "Fa La La La Lifetime" logotype. If you'd like to watch a full-length spot to see my work in context click here. (6.6MB)

For some reason on this TV spot they left off the ornament? Not sure if that was on purpose or if someone forgot to click something when editing? In any regard I hope this promotion proves to be as successful as last year.

The 4th Not So Wiseman

"The 4th Not So Wiseman" paper sculpture.

In celebration of the holiday I have designed a paper sculpture called "The 4th Not So Wiseman." I've put together an easy to follow PDF template so you can create one yourself. Download the PDF template here.


You can construct him out of regular bond paper.

I asked my friend and writer Kristen Fischer to write a story about "The 4th Not So Wiseman" and she did a great job. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did creating it.


I managed to use one of my patterns in the design too.

The 4th Not So Wiseman
By Kristen Fischer

You've heard of the three wisemen, but never the fourth. See, he didn't do so well as far as a gift-giving went. Instead of gold, frankincense or myrrh, he stopped at the dollar store for coal. Let's just say that a very special baby in a manger was not so impressed.

And as the years went on, no one talked about the Fourth Not So Wiseman's laughable gift. When that baby grew up, he didn't want the world to know coal existed. When burned, coal releases two harmful greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide and methane. Jesus just wasn't down with that.

Now the Fourth Not So Wiseman is making a comeback bigger than Britney Spears. He's a reminder to be kind to the earth, live a green lifestyle...remember that you, too, deserve nothing more than a lump of coal if you don't!

PDF Template Download


A fun do-it-yourself creative exercise.

The sculpture is easy to construct, just follow the simple directions on the PDF template to create your own character. If you'd like to share this PDF with your friends and family feel free to pass along the link or post the link on your own blog.

You can also find a post about the Fourth Not So Wiseman at Ecopreneurist.com which is very cool!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Von

What's Your ShopPersona?

Fine Living web site.

A few months back the "Fine Living Channel" hired me to create a cast of shopping characters they could use on their web site and within other marketing venues to promote their holiday campaign called "Shop Persona."


eBlast header.

Here is some of the art used in their newsletter eblast.


"Practical" Female Shopper.

When ever I have to create a large set of art for a given project I naturally have my favorite pieces within the project. And such is the case here. The characters I've chosen to post are the ones I felt were the strongest. The others are OK I guess but they were more heavily art directed and tweaked by the client so I didn't invite them to this blog launch party.


"All-Around" Male Shopper.

Over the course of 22 years working in this industry I've worked in that capacity as a graphic designer, senior designer, art director, and creative director. So when I see my art in it's final context and feel it could have been handled a bit better it kind of bums me out. The art director side of me wants to go in and change it but obviously I can't. (Hence why blogging is so cathartic?)


"Artistic" Female Shopper.

I was a little surprised to see the final size for the web interface usage. It's far smaller then what I had been give in terms of specs. The concept and functionality of the interface is pretty cool though, I just don't care too much for the GUI layout and design.


"Artistic" Male Shopper.

When ever I'm asked to illustrate a computer or other hi-tech devices I always try to work in an Apple product. Yes, I am a diehard MAC addict and proud of it. So this character is toting a MacBook and enjoying some tunes via his iPhone.


"Trendy" Female Shopper.

For some reason this character reminded me of Ginger from "Gilligan's Island." Growing up however I was always attracted to Mary Ann.

Over all it was a fun project to illustrate. The style was a new twist for me but enjoyable. At least no one is too ugly looking to shop.

We're all Blobs!

Cover illustration. View artwork larger by clicking image.

I had mentioned in my previous post that I was hired by Peachpit to illustrate the cover of "Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4" the new book by Mordy Golding.

I've done artwork for other book covers but this one was a unique challenge for me.

Instead of an illustration playing off a story line or plot it had to relay the attributes and features of software. Pass covers of the same line of books have been excellent but tended to be more literal in terms of the visuals. A request by this publisher was for a more simplified, less complex approach yet still show seemingly complex attributes and features.

Needless to say I was really intimidated by this project.


Original concept Sketch.

At first I had sketched out ideas showing the two sides of a user. Artistic and production but the ideas were looking too forced and too complex as well. I thought to myself "Think non-literal, abstract but conceptual." in other words I compounded my intimidation. LOL

The big new feature in CS4 is a tool called the "Blob Brush." This was the one thing tripping me up conceptually. To be completely frank I'll almost never use the tool myself. It kind of contradicts my whole creative process. I don't create on the fly on my machine, I think through what I want to design or illustrate out side the box, I draw it manually (Analog if you will) and then when I move to the computer I build that idea. That said I'm sure I'll use it for something but like the gradient mesh tool it'll most often sit unused and jealous of the pen tool getting all my attention.

So I struggled with how to work it into my cover concept. Then it hit me. What if I showed characters and they were blobs themselves? Four characters playing off of CMYK. So I sketched out the above idea. I liked it, it was different, untraditional and abstract. I mocked it up and sent it off to the client expecting to get a response like "What is this #$@!" or "Are you sure you know how to draw?" etc. Instead I got a "We love it!"


Detail of final artwork. View artwork larger by clicking image.

Illustration Psycho Babble
So you may be wondering what it all means? Well below is a list that explains the meaning I was pouring into each of the elements. Not everything has a distinct 1 to 1 relation to reality but most of it does.

- Blob Figures: They represent the variety of users via CMYK. After all no one person is the same and we all like to work our own way creatively speaking even though we may all use the same common tools.

- Large Blob Icons: The "Blob" brush icon is self explanatory. The new "Gradient" control feature is shown at the top middle of the illustration. The new "Appearance" panel allows you control what you want to see with one click.

- Mini Blob Icons: The "Flame" represents inspiration. The "Hammer" represents building. The "Magnifying Glass" represents exploration. The "Registration Mark" represents production.

- Stream and Blob Heads: This represents our creative minds and the subsequent creative process that flows through our ideas as we create our artwork. The vector lines of course represent the core tools to do this. The pixelated cursor denotes the software.

- Tabbed Pages: A new feature in CS4 is tabbed pages and this represents that feature.

- PDA: The Magenta blob figure flows through the PDA and becomes RGB content. This represents the CS4 work flow that allows you to create content in Illustrator and then port it out to work on mobile devices. I purposely made the device generic. I don't think there is anything that actually looks like that?

- Background Dots: CS4 is still the industry standard app for producing print content so this gives a nod towards that foundational truth and anchors everything else together.

- Blurred Nebulous Shape: The blurred cloud floating through the bottom half of the background doesn't represent anything. I just though it looked cool. What?

Ironic But Funny
So this book is all about CS4 so of course I used CS4 to create it. When I went to deliver the art to the publisher though it turns out they only have CS3. No one bothered to inform me of that until after the fact. DOH!

No worries because Mordy Golding informed me that if you save out a CS4 to a CS3 .eps format it will place into a CS3 app and retain all the information. You just won't be able to edit it unless you have CS4. Problem solved.

In any regard it was a fun project to work on and if you want a great resource for learning CS4 I highly recommend "Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4" by Mordy Golding.

Branding an Expert

Mordy Golding AKA "Expert"

An expert is someone with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject. Every industry has them and communication arts is no different.

When it comes to Adobe Illustrator our industry has one expert that stands above all others. His name is Mordy Golding. One could easily argue that Mordy knows more about Illustrator than the Adobe people responsible for creating the software. Yes, I'm serious.

I first discovered Mordy's web site back in early 2006. I was looking for some help with Illustrator since I saw the hand writing on the wall with FreeHand approaching. His knowledge base was incredibly helpful to me transitioning from FreeHand to Illustrator.


Mordy Re-Branded!

Over the last several years both Mordy and I have become familiar with each others work so when he asked me to design a new logo to brand himself with I was honored to work on it.

The following is the exact design rationale I provided when I presented the logo to Mordy.

In general: You are your brand. I wanted to create a mark that would go hand in hand with your name and be modular so you could have your mark exist on it's own or with the type. The color treatment plays off your name.

Black: Strong, Informed, Solid, this plays to "Technology."
Gold: Valuable, Clever, Sophisticated, this plays to "Design."

This mark takes the letterform "M" and shows how you go beyond the surface, diving deep into your subject matter with informed knowledge. The point on the "M" descender pinpoints the answers and insight you bring to light. (Final logo was provided in both a vertical and horizontal format)

This new mark reflects better on Mordy than his old mark did. (Pardon the pun)


Business Card Design.

This card will serve as a touch point for Mordy's marketing efforts. The background motif reinforces the fact that Mordy is on top of the latest industry technologies.


Mordy's iPhone wallpaper.

Mordy is also a MAC geek and owns an iPhone so of course we had to created a nice branded design for that platform as well.


Unused logo concept 1.

Mordy's expertise doesn't stop with Illustrator and that was the one reason why this mark wasn't used. I like it's clever integration of a vector path to create the two letter forms but it pigeon holed his capabilities so it wasn't an appropriate direction to use.


Unused logo concept 2.

This direction was more an experiment. I wanted to create a logo mark that loosely read as an "m" and a "g" without being obvious. Knowledge is only valuable when shared and thus learned and that was my graphic intent with it being interconnected. At least that was my psycho-babble explanation.

Mordy likes his new identity and is working hard to get his new look applied to his web site. If you haven't had a chance to benefit from Mordy's expertise be sure to pick up a copy of his newest book due out soon called "Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4." I had the privilege of illustrating the books cover art which I'll post more about soon.