Nov 29, 2010

My wife...

...started a new hobby on Thanksgiving.

Photobucket

Cyber Monday!


Cyber Monday only! Mention this blog to receive a logo design for $100 flat. That's about 30% off the usual $150 pricetag: http://thelogo-mat.com/pricing

Email me today: Matt@thelogo-mat.com

Nov 27, 2010

Happy Birthday Miles!


My son Miles turns 6 today. Happy Birthday to my shining star, may you always think outside of the box!

Nov 26, 2010

Small Business Saturday

Being a small business owner, I'm fully supporting Small Business Saturday: A day to come together in support of the small businesses we love. The shops and restaurants that employ our neighbors and reinvest our money close to home. I'd say 95% of the work I do is for small businesses as they are a constant fuel for my career, income, etc. Get out there and support the cause. Buy your Christmas lights at the local handyman shop, take your family out to eat at the Italian place around the corner, etc. There's also more info on the cause's Facebook Page.

Nov 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgivin'


Besides my awesome wife, these are what I'm most thankful for!

Nov 24, 2010

T-Shirt Design

Worked on this shirt design yesterday, which brought me back to my design roots. 10 years ago, my first real job after college was designing T-shirts for Harley Davidson. Originally I worked in the printing department. Whenever there was downtime I'd draw on anything I could find (misprinted shirts, receipts, desks, etc.). Eventually my supervisor caught wind and said "I noticed you're drawings." - surely I was getting reprimanded - "...and they're not half bad. My wife is the art director here, I'll set you up with an interview." This then lead on to bigger & better things, thus proving the power of the doodle.

Nov 23, 2010

Flaming Veggies

This is my son Miles' excellent attempt at illustrating a cartoon/comic he's created called "The Flaming Vegetables vs Candy!". I think the premise is to teach kids to eat healthy, as flaming veggies will kick candy's butt. *Note the Cartoon Network logo in the bottom right.

Nov 22, 2010

Bricks and Brains





This awesome article showcases a very cool project which combines two aspects of my weekly entertainment: Legos & zombies. On the bottom of the page there are some Flickr links that show the plastic apocalypse in more detail.

Nov 20, 2010

Coveralls



For years now, I've had an overwhelming desire to own coveralls. I'm not quite sure why, but I've got a hunch I'll wear them a couple days out of the week. I just found out my awesome friend stationed in Afghanistan was able to get me some (size small of course). Cool things are soon to happen...

Nov 19, 2010

Nov 18, 2010

Nov 17, 2010

Business cards

Anybody need business cards?
Mention this blog post for $10 off of this deal.



Nov 16, 2010

Miles & Maxx

My boys playing a good ol' game of jump over your brother.

Fun project

Logo revision for the holidays:

Nov 15, 2010

Interesting

Leonore: "Matt, Please reread the posting for info about how we are doing payment and selection of artist for logo. If you are stlll interesting, email me back and I will send company info."

Me: "I'm very interesting, and your logo contest is disgusting."

Leonore: "Given that we would have paid up to 2k for a logo, you missed out on an opportunity. The guidelines were clearly stated."

Me: "In that case, I'll submit a logo design. With the holidays approaching, a couple thousand will cover all of my expenses and then some. See the attached concept."




Leonore: "Please no submissions from you. We are not interested in working with anyone who cannot read the guidelines at outset and be at least somewhat decent to work with. We have asked the owner not to consider your work."

Me: "I'm glad you like the initial logo outset. Please keep in mind that any revisions to the design will be an additional $1,000. I'm sure this won't be an issue however, as we can both agree that the original concept is perfect. I've attached a comp showing what the logo will look like on your T-shirts."



Children's Boutique


I designed this newsletter for our friend Katie last week. Check out her shop [here] for cool holiday gifts & let me know if anyone else needs any holiday items (cards, flyers, ect.) designed!

Nov 13, 2010

Guitar


My 3-year-old LOVES anything tech related (believe it or not)- Nintendo Wii, our laptop, etc. He's got a kids' Vtech computer that's his "go-to" toy. He plays with this little green plastic thing constantly, unless he can get his hands on something cooler at the moment. His obsession didn't worry us too much, as it's teaching him some basic spelling and math. However, earlier this week he asks me in a real sassy, almost condescending tone: "Can you spell guitar? I can spell guitar!". Impressed, I tell him to go for it. "V-I-O-L-I-N" he says. Stupid computer.

Nov 12, 2010

Saved almost $800


Threw my son's custom invitation together yesterday. As all attendees check email regularly- my wife & I decided that we would break the traditional of snail mailing 20 invitations & instead email them. I knew I'd save the postal service some labor & myself a few bucks, here's the rough breakdown of savings:

Printer ink & paper: $15.00
Postage: $8.80
Gas & electricity: $2.00

Total: $25.80 x 3 kids= $77.40 a year
$77.40 x 10 years of parties = $774.00

Chances are nobody else really cares about my savings, but I needed to justify not mailing my grandma a physical copy of the invite. Also, let this serve as a frugal lesson to anyone else with kids, to take advantage of technology- provided you don't piss of any of your family.

Nov 11, 2010

COCO



It's been a long time since I've looked forward to a late night talk show. However, the new Conan may fill that void. I watched his second episode with guests Tom Hanks and Soundgarden - almost giddy like a teenager. COCO's got me hooked thus far, good job. Do yourself a favor & check it out!

Nov 10, 2010

Nov 9, 2010

Cool printed stuff





Want to turn you blog into a book? Go here.

Want to turn your FB friends into a poster? Go here.

Nov 8, 2010

Web Design




Working on this site now, for a November launch. I'm averaging about 1 website per month from start to finish. Looking for a new project in December- my prices are excellent and I'll offer a free domain name registration/include it in the design fee for this next project. Let me know if you need a site designed.

Town in Spain names street "Super Mario"!

"Onlookers sporting fake black mustaches cheered. A Mario mascot danced. And a violin and cello duet performed the catchy theme song from the popular Nintendo game as the suburb in Zaragoza, northeast Spain, unveiled "Avenida de Super Mario Bros" Saturday. Read more here.

Nov 7, 2010

Current Etiquette?

I'll be designing a birthday invitation for my son Miles this week. Would it be acceptable etiquette, this day and age, to email the invitations instead of snail mail? I'll save on paper, printer ink, electricity, postage, labor, etc.- thus contributing to the current "green" movement and saving a few bucks. If everyone that's invited checks email regularly- why not?

Nov 6, 2010

Head Egg



After jumping around at Aunt Maggie's house to Yo Gabba
Gabba, Maxx says:
"That gives me an egg in my head"
Aunt Maggie: "You have an egg in your head?"
Maxx:
"Yeah, you know when you get a head egg."

Nov 4, 2010

Not Great Stuff


Aside from being busy with logos, I haven't been able to blog lately, as I've been in a battle with the "stuff" pictured above. More to follow....

Nov 2, 2010

Working on this today




Eager to hear back from the client...

Nov 1, 2010