Sarah Fisher's Helmet Design: Final

It was a tight deadline, but I finally finished Sarah Fisher's helmet illustration with 2 hours to spare! I just gave myself a pat on the back. It's not easy coming up with a design in a matter of 5 days, especially with tons of other stuff on your plate.

Thanks for all the critiques on my previous post. A lot of them helped me tweak the design into this. Although I wasn't able to make huge changes, I still think it's a decent piece. I'd wear the helmet...if I was a girl.

Sarah Fisher's Helmet Design: First Draft

As you can imagine, the projects just keep rolling in. I've literally never been busier in my life! Enough about me though — more about Sarah Fisher! And no, unfortunately I was not hired by Sarah Fisher for this.

Now, I'm not sure if I should be telling you this or not, but I will anyway. Sarah Fisher announced a unique opportunity for her fans to play a role in her upcoming race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. She wants them to design a helmet to match the pink firesuit she'll be wearing in support of Susan G. Komen For the Cure's promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever. The winner of the design contest will have their artwork displayed in front of national media and thousands of race fans, as well as receive a replica painted helmet as a memento. How cool!

So, for our first illustration project, we were assigned this task. Design her freakin' helmet and win! No joke. My professor really wants one of our designs to be chosen. Here is my first draft. From comments and critiques, I'll make some changes and post my final by Friday. And no, I won't provide the link to the competition! Have you ever hear of Google?

Mac and Ball

This is my second animation assignment for my CGT 341 class, which many of you don't even know what that means, but it's just the class number. Who cares, right? We were given storyboards and the scene and had to do the rest. As you can see, lighting and texturing aren't my strong points, but I'm fairly pleased with my animation.

I would definitely like to go back once I'm a better animator and see how many mistakes I've made. I'm sure many of you can help me with that. Comments and critiques are most welcome, as always. Enjoy!

Favorite Twitter Tweets #6

This is a post in a series of my favorite tweets from the several people I follow on the wonderful world of Twitter. I've chosen ones that are very inspirational and have great resources for you, the graphic designer, artist, animator, and 3D enthusiast!

Enjoy the tweets, follow the authors of the ones you like, share this post, respond with some of your favorite tweets, and become inspired.

Oh, before we begin, go follow me on Twitter!

@joshcorken Poll results are finally in! The rumors were true: I am, in fact, awesome.

@TFLN Things to remember: Girls don't appreciate it when you yell "Beast Mode!" when switching to doggy style.

@shoemoney iphone i am t-pain app is the best ever http://is.gd/33qzn

@amusingsexfacts Sex is the safest tranquilizer in the world

@AnirudhBhalotia "If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy."

@funnyordie Can't afford Beatles Rock Band? Buy a cheap guitar and just learn to play and sing the damn songs.

@FreelanceSw How Simplicity Can Help Creativity, Briefly http://bit.ly/nIfp9

@jasonsantamaria Quality typefaces cost money. Accept it.

@lmgold21 Always hoping and wishing for the best, but always ready for the worst.

@comptgraphicdes 21 more items all design geeks must have! / eightyone design ... http://bit.ly/YafdA

@AnirudhBhalotia "Any artist that wants to be the best he can be, animation is what's going to test you the most". - Glen Keane

@jakrose "You don't need a parachute to to skydive. You need one to skydive twice" Overheard

@smashingmag Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices - http://bit.ly/r7anG

@webdesign_news How To Find Time For… Everything! http://bit.ly/12HcuQ

The Branding Process: Final Logo Variations

After critiques from my class and professor, I decided to make a few variations of how these logos could be used. Sometimes, when you design a logo and the layout is a bit unconventional, you run into problems with using it in different mediums (ie. letterheads, web, email signatures, icons, etc). I think you catch my drift.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions, they really helped me come to these final logos. Let's just cross our fingers that mine are the ones chosen by my school to be used for their branding. How cool would that be!? And a wonderful portfolio piece at that. Enjoy!

The Branding Process: Final Comps

As the process started to boil down, I was forced to make a decision on what comp to go with. If you are confused by this posting, please go read the first post of the series first to see what concepts these came from.

It was a tough call, but I love simplicity. Take the Apple logo for instance. Extrem

ely simple, but well implemented. That's my take on this project, as reinforced by my professor. Since DCT is the overall program and the other 4 branches are majors beneath it, I decided to have that encompass every color from the others. My goal is to have people look at each logo and associate the colors to the style and appearance of the degree itself.

There may be some final tweaking to the color orders and whatnot based on the

critiques I get from fellow peers and professors, so make sure to check back Wednesday for any updates to these. Hopefully I'm on the right track though. Here are the final comps of the 5 logos.

Comments and critiques are more than welcome!

The Branding Process: Sketching and Comps

Logo development doesn't come easy. Anyone who has ever developed a brand for a company knows that it is a lot of work and takes quite a bit of effort. I wanted to present you with a case of my own.

Right now, I am taking a class and our first project of the semester was to create a brand family for a real client. In our case, the client is my school! There are 5 departments within the school and we are to make 5 separate logos, but have them visually relate and flow together. The only downside is the project time line is a whopping 2 weeks. Short for such an extensive design, but nonetheless obtainable.

So, I will take you from concept to creation. This first post being the concept work and the second will be the final digital versions.


This may be sloppy, but once I get to the 3 comps, they come together a little more. But, it doesn't end there! These are just guides for me when I start working on the computer.

So, all there is left to do is get into Illustrator and start browsing ideas to develop one of these 3 ideas into a well designed brand family. Can I do it? I think so! Check back next week for the final 5 logos.

Back to the Grind

Just like many of my readers (you), I too am a student. Sure I make time to blog here and there, Tweet some stuff, and tell what's on my mind on Facebook, but behind the scenes, I work my little butt off! Juggling between work, school, and freelance can be a tough road. But, it seems like the only way to work your way towards the top and stay competing in the real world of computer graphics. I suggest if you haven't yet, take some time to find a freelance project, whether it be for pay or pro bono. It will pay dividends for you!

In this post, I want to show you guys sneak previews of what I've been working on in the past months. Although I have been working on a lot more here and there, I wanted to show some of my higher end and real world designs. Enjoy!

You are getting a first glance at The Post Script's web page. They are an emerging band from the Indianapolis area, who will soon be a hit sensation. I have also made their shirts and album artwork for the upcoming album "Seasons Change." I won't give all the designs away quite yet though.

As for this website, I have created all of the visuals, layout and design, excluding the logo and branding. This was given to me when I was hired on. I chose this design because it let the organization display a lot of information in an organized, yet stylized way.

Oh, and how could I forget. I got myself some new business cards! What a surprise, right? Don't be fooled. These are going to stay for a long time. Although, I have just been hired on at a new company who will be providing me legit company business cards. Either way, I'll keep these as long as possible. I went all out on them. One sided, but strong and straight to the point. Dressed to impress, if you will.

200 Custom Postcard Giveaway Winner!

DigitalRoom.com has let two lucky readers win more free stuff. Does it get any better? Probably, but we take what we can get.

So, what did they win this time? Two (2) readers who leave a comment on this post saying how they will use their prize will win 200 Custom Postcards (choose your size: 4x6, 4.25x6, 5x7"); 14pt gloss or matte, 13 pt uncoated. Full Color on both sides (4/4). Shipping must be paid by the winner. Offer valid for United States Shipping only.

And the winners for this giveaway are:

Greg Oppman and April Silva!

Congrats to both of you. You'll be contacted very soon about how to claim your prize. Also, I'd love to see what designs and ideas you come up with for using these. Thanks for entering!