Get Your Kicks on Route 66
I was approached recently by Trailnet to design a logo, print collateral and t-shirts for their annual Route 66 Festival at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The bridge, which was built in the 1920s, was Route 66’s crossing of the Mississippi river until 1970. For nearly three decades the fate of the bridge was uncertain. It had become such an eyesore, the abandoned structure was even used in the film “Escape from New York”.
In 1998 the bridge was leased to Trailnet and subsequently renovated to be used as a cycling and pedestrian attraction.
Once a year, during the Route 66 Festival, the historic bridge once again welcomes vintage automobiles along with cyclists, hikers, music and food. I wanted the logo to not only capture the history of the bridge, but recall the aesthetics and feelings of the height of Route 66, when the “mother-road” stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles.
For more information on the Route 66 Festival, which takes place the first weekend in June, please visit Confluencegreenway.org or Trailnet.org.
Kinetic Typography…
Sometimes the best part of a movie is the title sequence. While some of my favorites, North by Northwest and Psycho were created by Saul Bass, a few contemporary films like Catch Me if You Can, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Vacancy have brilliant title sequences as well. I’ve always marveled at the stark minimalism made by shapes and words, and the feeling they convey… setting the tone for the rest of the film. Most of my favorite title sequences employ a technique called Kinetic Typography, which first gained prominence in film in the 1960’s by the previously mentioned Saul Bass.
So here we are… my first attempt at Kinetic Typography. And while modern technology has made it significantly easier than it was in Bass’ time, it’s still a laborious and time-consuming project.
The song is Robot, by The Futureheads. The programs I used were Adobe Illustrator and After Effects. The fonts are Franchise and Rockwell Bold.
Enjoy.
Minimalist Board Game Redesigns…
There’s been a resurgence of minimalist designs on the web lately. Everything from movie posters to video game packaging have gotten the treatment, and a recent post on Reddit has inspired me to jump aboard the minimalism train too.
Fellow Redditor and talented graphic designer willby27 (aka William Rainbird of Melbourne) posted some redesigns of classic board games which, due partially to their familiarity, are the perfect subject for minimalist design.
Inspired, I decided to create a few of my own.
Enjoy.
More after the jump…
Lights Out Houston 2010…
There’s something fulfilling about designing a poster and seeing the finished product. I imagine it was all that time in my childhood spent staring at posters on the wall, whether at home or at school, staring at the imagery and imagining what I would do differently had I designed it.
That’s one of the cool things about being a graphic designer; whether it’s book covers, t-shirts, posters, magazine layouts, or advertisements – we design the things that others see every day.
The Lost…
“the Lost” is another design I’ve been working on for quite some time. What started as a tentacle grabbing a boom box has, now in it’s 3rd incarnation, finally become something I like.
This design is also up for voting as an iPod Skin at Infectious.
Parting is such sweet sorrow…
Panda Dreams, my winning submission from the Urban Outfitters design competition, is no longer available on the UO website. While I’m not sure about individual stores, it appears as though they won’t be re-stocking them online. Meanwhile, enjoy it if you bought one…if not, enjoy this screen-cap from Urban Outfitters website.
The Great Escape
The idea of a circus train – jacked by the animal performers has been bouncing around in my head for quite some time now. It has held various incarnations for the past couple of years as a project I would work on here & there when the mood suited me. I’ve drawn and re-drawn this image dozens of times; each time different, but each time lacking the heart of my initial concept. Finally, with pencil to paper, I started seeing the train – it’s hijackers, and the frantic Ringmaster come to life at long last.
Now what to do with it? I didn’t want if to be “just another shirt design” so I posted the final illustration on Facebook for friends to weight in. The beauty of Social Networking!
The general consensus: Wall Decal!! And I couldn’t agree more!
As of this posting, “The Great Escape” is in active voting on Infectious.
Click the link, cast your vote, and I’ll be waiting with fingers crossed!
Detailed images with the rest of this entry…
Have a drink on me…
Sometimes one opportunity parlays into another; this was the case with Green Bottle. Jimmy and Pat, the creators of Collar Free, were approached by Green Bottle to use some Tee designs on their products.
Long story short: you can now wear “Hibiscus” and drink from it too!
Green Bottle produces stainless steel water bottles that are better for the environment than disposable bottles, and better for your health that plastic sport bottles.
My design “Hibiscus” can be found online and at Whole Foods Markets nationwide.
This design is also available on a Collar Free shirt which Jessica Alba is rumored to own!
I wonder if she’s thirsty?
TKO…
Houston may be known as the Energy Capital of the world, but even Houston goes dark every once in a while.
“Lights Out Houston” started in 2008 as a city-wide commitment to energy efficiency by commercial building owners and their tenants. The goal of the program has expanded to establish a sustained reduction in the use non-essential electricity by all buildings throughout the Greater Houston area.
I’ve been fortunate enough to design posters for both years the event has taken place, which were displayed in the lobbies of participating downtown office buildings.
This years design had two sources of inspiration: neo-propaganda style (such as Shepard Fairey/Obey Giant) and vintage fight posters.
I’ve always loved graphic tees & the look of silkscreened designs. That’s probably what brought me into the world of graphic design in the first place.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to hook up with some pretty cool people with very cool companies; one of these companies is Collar Free. Based out of San Diego, Collar Free took the idea of designer-centered contests to the next level with a head-to-head design smack down.
My Collar Free designs are available online at collarfree.com and boutiques nationwide.
My design “Panda Dreams” is available at Urban Outfitters locations nationwide & via their web site.