Hatch

Sat down the other day - did a quick pencil sketch. It was like one of those excercises when I was in school - teacher always had us draw an egg. The excercise was always, "Draw an egg without drawing any lines".

Have you ever seen that kid's show, WordWorld, on PBS? I think I had that on my brain too when I did this.

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John Lennon

Today marks 29 years that John Lennon was assassinated.

I remember the day John Lennon died. I was eleven years old. Many things have changed since that time. And yet many things haven't changed at all.

John Lennon, Mahatma Gandi, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln. All men of peace. All men who met a tragic, violent end.

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Green Guitars - Logo Design

One of the many things I enjoy about being a creative professional is the variety of jobs that come my way. This project came about from a client who, while working toward his MBA, had been charged with creating and marketing a fictitious company. He was able to establish the name and tagline for the company but knew he needed a professional designer to create the logo.

The name of the company, In Concert Guitars, sparked numerous images in my mind. However, I wanted to keep the logo clean. In my opinion the best logo designs are clever but yet simple. That's often a difficult balancing act but that's how a successful logo represents a brand and delivers its message effectively, quickly and memorably. Paul Rand's UPS logo would be the best example I could think of to illustrate that point. I knew this logo needed to be designed so that when a consumer sees it they instantly think, "music" and "green". Those two words carried the key message points.

A distinctive element of this logo is the "music note". With the proper advertising and marketing behind it, the "music note", as I have illustrated it here, could become a recognizable icon for the company. I like that in a logo - when an element can be stripped away from the whole and work on its own. It adds another dimension to the design. In this case it would work very well.

In Concert Guitars - a brief company background

Everyone seems to be going "green" these days and In Concert Guitars is no exception. In Concert Guitars are designed to appeal to music lovers and musicians who are concerned about the environment. The body and neck of the guitars are constructed of wood that has been reforested and the guitars' hardware consists of recycled plastics and steel. Additionally, In Concert Guitars are made in facilities that are completely fueled by "green" energy such as wind and solar panels. It is important to note that the recycled materials do not sacrifice quality. The finished product is not only a work of art but more importantly, one of the best sounding acoustic guitars on the market today.

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All You Need Is Love And A Little Bit of Patience

Above is one of the many sketches I produced for the previous post. I almost abandoned the whole idea because I was having a rough time getting the letters to form the heart shape. I did a bunch of thumbnails before I did numerous more larger sketches like the one above. The entire project was getting pretty frustrating for me so I left it completely and then went back to it a few days later. Many times that proves to be successful and such was the case here too. When I went back to it with a fresh eye I came closer and closer to what I wanted with each sketch I developed. It's cool when you come up with something you like after a project grinds away slowly at your patience. I got a lot of compliments on the finished piece - sold a few t-shirts too - can't beat that.

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Is Love All You Need?

A controversial figure during his time, John Lennon once sang, “All you need is love.” When I was younger I scoffed at the seemingly Utopian idea that the only thing of crucial importance is love. I dismissed it as drivel. “That’s easy for him to say.” I thought, “He has tons of money. So yeah, sure, that might be all he needs. But the rest of us need cash."

Now that I’m older, and hopefully somewhat wiser, I've realized that he wrote and sang that lyric because there is truth to it. John Lennon could have been a pauper singing that song and that wouldn’t have made the message any more genuine. In addition, the message isn't to be taken literally of course. The message is offered up as inspiration - that love is everything - and with it one can achieve anything - there are no limits.

I’ve always been a huge John Lennon fan. I listen to the Beatles just about everyday. And if you're an avid reader of my blog, which I hope you are, then you know how much I enjoy creating letterforms. So I decided to combine my passion for art with my passion for the Beatles. It’s my humble way of saying, “Yes, John Lennon, you were right and I agree. Love is all you need.”

But do you want to know a secret? I put my artwork on t-shirts. You can buy them online here…LMHO

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Business Card Design

A friend of mine asked me to design a business card for him. He was tired of the “stock” cards the big office retail chains offer. Being a marketing guy he knows the importance of good branding. You see, good branding isn’t something reserved for Fortune 500 companies. It’s just as important for the individual business professional to be branded properly, as it is for any Fortune 500 company. I wanted to design something for him that wasn’t necessarily a logo in the traditional sense of a client represented by a concept, which is communicated within a single graphic. I wanted the concept to unfold throughout the entire business card utilizing both the front and back, almost like a brochure. In this way the business card itself has a more interactive quality, engaging the viewer and becoming a great ice breaker. Overused, traditional business symbols such as compasses, targets or bulls eyes and globes were rejected by me from the start.

Many times really good concepts come to me like a bolt of lightening, out of the clear blue sky, usually when I’m at my most relaxed. I’m most relaxed in my car. My best ideas come when I’m driving. And this concept happened just that way; it zapped me right in the noggin whilst cruising at a steady clip of sixty five miles an hour. Now even though a designer might be zapped with a lightning bolt idea it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have to hit the sketchbook to work out the execution. Concept and execution are separate entities but each needs the other in order for a design to be successful. If one part fails - the design fails as a whole.

I’m not going to explain the meaning of the design on the card. In my opinion it needs no explanation and interpretation is best left to you, the viewer. But what I will tell you is that it was perfect for my friend. The design is playful yet professional. It helps him to stand apart from his peers, which in a sense, are his competitors. He’s received very positive feedback from it and he’s told me it’s a great conversation starter.

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Happy Halloween!

A couple of Samalou.com friends have asked me to color the Flying Witch - so here she is, Samalou style.

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you have a spooky Halloween and get colossal mountains of candy.

On another note, this blog, Samalou too, is one year old tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Samalou too, wait until you all see the fun things I will be posting in the coming year. Thank you to all the friends and followers - onward and upward!

And don't forget - I'm on Facebook now too.