Shit Has Been Hectic + Kisses

Mostly, in the best ways possible.

And I have been sketching quite a bit, though mostly for work. I've been fluctuating between graphic design, illustration and general art direction at a small Brooklyn-based company that specializes in music-based iPhone apps. I've been here since October and am enjoying the increased responsibilities of managing so many overlapping projects... Plus I love my co-workers and really believe in the work we do.

I'm hot on the heels of a new season... from what I hear, New York's is an insufferably hot and balmy summer. I'm a year-round Antarctican by nature so we'll see how that sits with me. The upside to the impending discomfort is, of course, all the beautiful people that have already emerged these past weeks in the least amount of sheer clothing possible.



"Bermuda" by Kisses is this season's athem so far (free download here) ... and I want this Bijoué portable speaker by Audio-Technica, pictured above, for playing such music during lazy weekend days at the park.


Source - CrunchGear
Buy Here - AudioCubes

Goodbye 09 + Happy New Year

Resolution 01 - Sketch more.

xx

"Just Like A Woman" + Charlotte Gainsbourg

This illustration was inspired by the Bob Dylan classic, "Just Like A Woman." Mr. Dylan has rightfully earned his place in American culture as one of our greatest musical talents of all time and, while I can recognize his talents as a songwriter, I've found it a challenge to listen to most of his work simply because of his... "unique" voice.

Luckily for me there are many Bob Dylan cover songs out in the world! This interpretation of "Just Like A Woman," sung by one of my favorite singers/actresses/human beings, Charlotte Gainsbourg, is simply beautiful. Coupled with Gainsbourg's signature airy vocals, this reinterpretation doesn't lose focus from Dylan's beautiful composition and brutally honest lyrics.



Charlotte's new album, IRM, was produced in whole with Beck and is due out in the states on the 26th of January. Her new video for "Heaven Can Wait" is one of the best I've seen in a long time — No really, it's amazing. You can watch it now over at Pitchfork.

TAMA + I've Been in NY for 6 Weeks

This is not my work. It's an illustration by a Japanese artist by the name of Tama. I was pleasantly suprised to find that Manhattan has its own bigger, better version of the Kinokuniya Bookstore I had so frequented during my five years in San Francisco. I found this book sitting amongst a pile of others and it immediately took my breath away. I can't understand a word of the accompanying poetry but, if you manage to see this in print, you'll understand why words are not needed. I can't articulate what's going on nor how I should feel when I look at Tama's work and that makes this book incredibly memorable.

I'm interning at Marque Creative, abranding agency in Manhattan for the time being whilst I update my portfolio, re-do my website, and execute an over-all streamlining of my site identity. New York is an incredibly dark, beautiful and inspiring place to live. Even when I start to miss the comforts and convenience of a more obscure environment, I still know this is where I need to be.

Source - http://tamaxxx.egoism.jp/

Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young

Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of the legendary Alt-Rock outfit, the Strokes, is gearing up to release his debut solo album, Phrazes For The Young on the 3rd of November in the U.S.. To say that the Strokes have made some of the greatest, most influential music of my young life would be an understatement and I've consequently been on the edge of my seat about this project since I learned of its fruition earlier this summer. This preview video (down below) was realeased in June and is a minute and a half of pure modern art - a beautiful set of visuals, clips, and text blurbs to match the sound of what I'm hoping will be an epic project.



Click Here for more information.

Nintendo DSi - Print & Online Buzz Campaign

This project involved re-branding an already existing company or product. I chose the hand-held, dual touch-screen gaming system, the Nintendo DSi. Through much research, it's plain to see that Nintendo has consistently proven itself to still be relevant for decades and isn't hurting for customers. With the DSi, however, I felt that Nintendo could further increase their sales and customer loyalty for years to come by appealing to a wider range of consumers.

Thus far, the visual promotion for the DS, DSlite & DSi have been very clean and, at times, sterile. There is nothing in the marketing or branding that even begins to hint at how incredibly fun, intricate, and original the titles and interface are. Wi-fi connectivity plays a huge role and there is a nook for every age group – even my mother and grandmother enjoy the Brain Age titles. Playing with a Nintendo DSi (the "i" stands for I, the individual) is incredibly fun for many people of many ages, creating the experience of a self-contained technicolor world. This is something I felt like the current branding and promotion missed and, if addressed with care and delicacy, could bring in a wider audience that is often times too scared off by the sterility of similar technology branding.



Because the existing approach has proven itself successful thus far, my goal was not to flip everything upside down with explosions of color. Rather, the intent was to let the DSi's existing tag-line "What will you and I do?" take center stage for the inspiration for just about everything in this print and online buzz campaign. The world is delicately colorful, intricate, and, through the tiny scenes of ambiguous people engaging in existing gaming titles in various parts of our world, I wanted to give the viewer a reason to look twice. With online roll-over animations of this vibrant world, I wanted the viewer to look closely at all the DSi has to offer and click through for additional information about this truly innovative product. Ultimately, I want customers of all demographics to reconsider any notions that this product may not be right for them.


Nintendo DSi - What Will You and I Do?

Caught Up with HTML

Currently transitioning this blog into wordpress for a more custom feel & reworking MIGSTUDIO from flash to html. I will update with the changes in the very near future. Enjoy this watercolor in the meantime.

Settling Back In

I'm settling back home in Sacramento for a few months whilst I save some money and tie up any last minute loose ends between my portfolio, web presence, mailing promotion, etc.. I've given myself a time limit no longer than 6 months, so some time between the end of this year and January of 2010, I will be making a career move to NYC. I don't want to lose any of my steam so the name of the game right now is sacrifice & dedication. The last few weeks after graduation can best be summed up as extreme anxiety sprinkled with glimmering moments of sheer excitement for my future.

World of Slumber, the above piece, is one of my two pieces on exhibition at the Academy of Art University's 2009 Annual Spring Show and undoubtedly is one of my favorite pieces of my career thus far. The uncertainty of the disorienting environment with an overall sense of wonder - that's what life is like right now for many people, including myself. Let's all try our best to stay inspired even in the face of trying times. Enjoy.

Finals This Week, Graduation Next

I have been running around like a madman trying to get everything in order for these last few months. Looking back over this semester and the entire 5 year experience as a whole... all of the work, frustration and all-nighters.... it has definitely all been worth it. Even when it prohibits me from sleep and general comforts.... I still really LOVE doing what I do. I'm very happy.

Congratulations to all of my fellow gradautes & best of luck with future endeavors.

The end of a huge life chapter..... What's next?

It's the Little Things

Green Caspule - Mini Mobile Garden

The world's smallest garden.

Source & Purchasing Info: Strapya World

Hand-Drawn Type Experiments

This is some type I drew on graph paper and converted into Illustrator vector files. I think Graphic Design has been a great balance for my at-times too-technically-driven Illustration classes. I tend to find that the creative process and the immersion of one's self into concept and form that I find in Graphic Design (whether contrived or completely loose) is something that I will always need and want in my life. I'm not saying that these shapes are tight enough to be used as a perfect, clean typeface just yet but, because this is my blog about inspirations and general processes, I can be much more free with the identity I choose for it.

It's Sketch Time

I have a somewhat-finished Illustration of this from a while back that needs some editing & tightening up in terms of color and value... and overall composition actually.... but I'm really pleased with the shapes of exhaust smoke coming from the main squirrel's teacup-rocket hybrid. All I remember thinking while sketching this is that if he's going to leave this world, he's going to do it in style... I'd like to think that he did just that.

Slippery Electric Bubbles

Baby Bubbles - Character designs for a line of children's bathing products.

Whatever Happened....?

"Whatever Happened to Lauryn Hill?" - From David Ball's Editorial class.

Love This Book

Neubau Modul is a practical tool that provides designers with over 2,000 editable and infinitely repeatable patterns. As with Neubau Welt, all of the work shown in this book can also be found as Adobe Illustrator and bitmap files on an included DVD that can be used on any platform. The DVD also contains the entire digital collection of patterns as a practical Swatch Library, enabling designers to immediately put them to use in any project in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Click Here for more photos and detailed infomation on Neubau Modul.







Also available on Amazon – ISBN: 978-3-89955-199-0

PPMK Character Concepts

Post Post Modern Kids. A story setting in which the youth wakes up in a world absent of adults & full of unkown turmoil and hidden surprises. A story for the relentless amount of pressure that today's youth face and their understandable amount of complacency, confusion, and lack of enthusiasm and wonder in the world around them - a brand new start in a deconstructed and strange new environment all about survival.

This is just the first character and the very beginning of the process but it's a concept that I'm passionate about and an idea that has already offered restless ideas and infinite possibilities for expansion. Somebody please think of the children!

Personal Piece

For a loved one. Watercolor is a nice break from all the vectors.

Obama '08

Snakes & Earrings Book Jacket

ILL3 Project. Had a lot of fun with this piece. It only helped that I loved the book.

Summer Semester Is Over

And i have a lot of new work to show... but I still have a lot of past works to upload.

Utada Hikaru is arguably one of the best-selling, most successful Japanese artists of all time. She was born in NYC and is in fluent in both English and Japanese. At only 25 years of age, the singer-songwriter-producer-arranger has already released 5 full-length Japanese albums and is working on her 3rd full-length English right now (under UTADA, her family name). Her sound is eclectic yet her vocal arrangements and harmonies are completely her own.

She is both an inspiration and all-time favorite so it was important that I do this visual recreation of her album Ultra Blue correctly and with style. Of the work I've done so far, this is definitely one of my personal favorites.

PS. the obnoxious banners & copyright stuff will come down when the Orphan Works Act is no longer a threat to all artists/creative persons. To anybody that fits this criteria or simply appreciates the fact that artists help elevate over-all social experience then please educate yourself on the Orphan Works Act. I am in the process of doing so and will be posting again on it some time soon.