Being in a rut makes you a 1-trick pony.
You May Call a Cat a Fish But it Will Not Swim
We all have heroes we try to emulate, and sometimes, imitate. I am no different. There is a particular poster designed by an undergraduate professor of mine that I have always been fascinated with. Its rendering style of pen+ink on toilet paper was greatly enlarged in order to amplify the texture—imbuing it with personality. A phrase this playful benefits from that character. Countering with a clever situation makes the whimsy feel purposeful rather than childish. Why won’t that cat swim?
Never Miss a Good Chance to Shut Up
Boiling down to the essence of a thing and using only those pieces that are absolutely necessary is harder than it would initially seem. When every item, space, placement needs to add up, those need crucial consideration. But when done right the viewer’s reward is a sense of being personally clever for passing the test.
One Fry Short of a Happy Meal
Many designers dislike “information design”. They find it sterile, overly complex, and far too chart-like to qualify as creative. I disagree. Design creativity can also come in the form of clever, logical thinking. When done well the organization of information facilitates understanding. Illuminating all potential pieces of a Happy Meal draws attention to the missing piece. Information design as illustration? Why not.
The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger croons a tale of a suave, debonair, aristocratic dignitary present throughout thousands of years of pivotal historic events. But Lucifer isn’t a chaotic fury, but rather, a persuasive manipulator guiding mankind towards diabolical deeds. When asked to confess culpability his response; “..after all, it was you and me” reveals man as calculatedly equal in responsibility. Which is the actual devil in the partnership?
Ants in Your Pants
Why are there ants in pants? Perhaps they aren’t yours at all. A better explanation might be that the ants themselves own the clothing. And if they do, the pants should fit all legs. A notion this far-fetched needs to be whimsical, much like the tone of a childrens book. Dashed lettering is equally fun in its suggestion of the marching bugs.
@$!*
As a UX designer it is imperative to create systems that are focused, useful, navigable, and understandable. As a user, however, it becomes obvious very often that this falls short. This exaggeration evokes those frustrations. Secondarily, there is some interest in pushing past the same (now already trite) overused interactive layouts that work very hard to look like every other interactive layout (by using the same libraries, code, and styles) on the internet.
Eddie Van Halen
A tribute to my brightest guitar star. One of the primary reasons for my love of music, and the carrot dangling in front of my wagon as I crawl forward on this guitar journey. Will I ever be able to play “Eruption”?
Liquid Courage
I am always all over the place in my study of graphic design—on purpose. I continually research varying genres, people, styles, and approaches in the hopes of further opening my mind (and, fingers crossed, my abilities). I have been intrigued by gig posters for quite awhile. Yes, in my opinion, many of them seem painfully arbitrary, but the best of them have a way of tangentially tapping into a mood that is difficult to quantify. To that end, the thinking here is to set up just enough of a situation that could make sense if the viewer meets it halfway and assigns their own narrative. Unlike most “correct” design that I strive for, this piece forgets about zeroing in on clear meaning and only leads the horse to water. Like many gig posters the design is also highly stylistic and aesthetic. It doesn’t hurt that “Liquid Courage” could also be the name of a garage band.
It Costs an Arm and a Leg
No aesthetics—at all. Just juxtaposition to create visceral meaning.
Kiss of Death
A great opportunity to design for mood more than meaning. Not every piece needs to be cerebral. Dark. Creepy. Haunting. Disturbing. With a splash of red–for focus. This also began its life as the solution for another quote–but wasn’t working for that. It works for this. Don’t throw anything away!
