Pizza Party!

Busy weekend- had a combined party for my daughter Izabel & son Maxx this weekend at Happy Joe's Pizza! The party was a success, with Miles winning the best photo contest.

"Cocktail" Review

   The stars, moon and planets must have been aligned b/c tonight we had both ice cream and Guinness in the house. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, however my wonderful wife put a bug in my ear last week called a "Guinness Float". 1) I think you have to be a Guinness lover to fully appreciate. 2) This should be considered a single treat, by no means to drink one after another. Overall, it was really good. The ice cream brings out the chocolate and coffee notes of the beer, and the taste is similar to an Irish coffee. Worth trying for sure!

Soap Logo!

 

  Business has been booming since the first of the year. I've been enjoying the rush and I think it shows in my work. Knocked this logo out last week, which will make it's way into my portfolio for sure.

Happy Birthday Izabel!

My daughter Izabel turns 8 today. Poor girl was home sick from school, but scored new slippers & a new hoodie. Happy birthday Izzy, may your sensitivity and caring personality lead you down a fulfilling path!

Landing Page

   This is a new type of project (for me) that I'm working on this week, basically developing an image for a Facebook Landing page. When you click on a business's Facebook link, this is what you'll see, encouraging you to like their page/company. Not a bad concept. Hopefully there's a market out there for future projects like this, as it was a nice change of pace from the usual logo design.

I will always love this.

Logo/Patch Design

Awesome project I got to design last week for a motorcycle club!

Lincoln & Johnson

   Every now and then I tell my kids fictitious bits of information like "Did you know Abraham Lincoln invented dental floss?", but lately I'm starting to wonder if that'll mess them up later in life.

Inspired

Using inspiration from some logos last week, I'm really trying to utilize negative space more. I've offered this to a client as an option, may need a little tweaking, I'm not quite sure...

Check this out!

Excellent work done by a chap I went to school with at MIAD. See more.

Remodeling my patio in the spring...

To make one of these!
1) This is real
2) Some guy in Missouri invented/built it.
3) I want one. 

Voice in my head says "If you build it, they will come".
Check out my friend's blog to see it in action.

Simple/awesome logos..

...found here that remind me about the power of negative space.

The Amazing Banksy

So it turns out Banksy really did direct an intro to the Simpsons, which might be old news, but still amazing. Just recently have I been interested in the political/graffiti artist's work. Is his identity really unknown? You'd think in order to collaborate with The Simpsons/Fox network- he'd have to produce some type of credentials?

Yet another...

...local logo I'd like to get my hands on to redesign.

What font is this?

Does anyone know the name of the font that "Philippine" is?

Pit Bulls, Otters and Bears, Oh My!

2011 has been the year of hand drawn illustrations for me. Nearly everyday I'm tackling a new sketch/scan/color project. These are my favorite by far- just time consuming, and I tend do be my own harshest critic.

Working on a new logo...

Love it or hate it?

Funny to me

Albeit redundant, I need a new logo for The Logo-Mat, which has been a slow moving process thus far. I really want something with more of a graphic, "laundromat" feel that will stand alone on a shirt, etc. not just on the website. Unsure if I want a retro or modern/sleek design- but finding decent laundry logos for inspiration is not easy. They're all pretty bad. I did however find the gem below while searching, too funny not to share.

Oh so true...

How?

This place has the best pizza in St. Louis and they're 8 blocks from my house.  I want to design a logo for them, but how do I go about it? I've been in business for 4 years now without doing any "cold-calling" or spec work. Maybe it's time to, I'm just worried that small business owners view a logo as more of a cost (new signs, shirts, etc.) than a money maker that represents their company tastefully.

I want one.

"...a patent filed by Nintendo in 2001 indicates the Japanese giant was well ahead of Apple on this one." More info here.

Check out what I've been working on...

Adding new logos to the portfolio!

Excellent Beer

Contrary to some critic's reviews, the brew above from this brewery (one of my favorites) is amazing. Scored one from a sampler pack last night and will seek out a 6 pack this evening. I remember trying the Cherry Chocolate couple years back, thinking it was not my style- but they must have perfected the process. Kudos O'Fallon Brewery!

Google Shmoogle

Dealing with a lot of small businesses everyday makes me realize how we all struggle acquiring website traffic without spending a ton of money. One of the best ways is "organic" hits via Google, but nobody fully understands how to rank high with them. Google continues to be an enigma by offering irrelevant search results. While searching for images of otters (for a logo design), the picture below pops up as one of the first results. Albeit entertaining, WTF? Why?

Rad!

"SlickWraps Board Series is a laser-cut skateboard grip tape for your iPhone 4 combined with a wood grain vinyl to mimic a skateboard. Now, all you need are wheels!" Wish I had an iPhone. Ho Hum.

Funny to me.

More here.

Logo No-No

Yikes!

Starbucks: Logo evolution

From busy to simple. Is less more in this case?

Logo!

Thank god for a fun logo project this morning.

Funny to me.

Hot Salami?

After all of the presents were unwrapped Christmas morning, my wife says "Oh yeah, there's something in your stocking", which ends up being the best present I've ever received. She got me gift certificates to Gioias Deli. The fact that my wife knows me so well, and knows how much I love their hot salami sandwiches made this the most thoughtful present ever. Provided you're a meat-eater, this is by far THE BEST sandwich. If you don't live in St. Louis- I'd say it's worth the trip.

Harley enthusiasts...

Designed this header for an awesome client, check out his site!

New Year!

Had a great New Year's Eve, in spite of being on auto-pilot for most of the night. My kids had an equally good night sleeping over at Aunt Jennifer's, evidence below.