Sunday, April 29, 2012

Mexican Bird Mural



Back in September 2011, Trevor's mom and step dad went to Mexico and brought back something for everyone. Trevor's step dad's mom got a wall piece with 2 colorful birds surrounded by lots of flowers and leaves. She was inspired by it and wanted to paint her bathroom those colors. She also has a sliding closet in the bathroom that she asked me to paint a mural on.
I first sketched out the birds on a piece of paper and then redrew them on to the doors (after painting them white). Then I painted the base colors with acrylic paint/house paint. After painting a couple of coats on to each section of the birds, I was able to outline them (which also took a couple of coats, because yellow and white are so transparent.)
I finished this mural 2 weeks ago, but I forgot my to bring my camera when I finished it. I came back to take a picture, but my camera's battery died and I didn't have the charger with me so I used my grandma's point and shoot. (hence the low res pictures) So I will have to go back and get some high res pictures next week.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Finale of the Azure Logo

Viola! After drawing hundreds of thumbnails (mostly mountains), and some Adobe Illustrator magic, I have finished the first out of five logos for TM Publishing (actually six, including the actual company logo.) I am pretty happy with the way the logo turned out. It was difficult to create a mountain and a book shape, because there is so many cliche logos out there using those elements. I had to really research to make sure all my ideas had not been done before. In addition, I had to simplify it down and make it dynamic. I made the book asymmetrical, because reading isn't stagnant. You are going on a journey and sometimes flipping through those pages rapidly to see what happens next. I like that the client kept the element of the pop-up mountain to show that reading (especially now it's gone digital) is interactive.  The story really comes to life and you are involved with what's going on. (At least that's how I feel.) Keep a look out for my next logo within the next week or so!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Azure Valley

Following up on my previous post, the client got back to me and said they liked option B1 and B2. I wanted to play with the white shapes in the mountain, which I think adds more interest than just a silhouette. I sketched out some more ideas, based on what they said they liked and I came up with the 3 ideas shown above. I emailed my client the 3 options to choose from (as well as mix and match the following elements: book, mountain, and color.) The deadline is this Monday and I can't wait to hear back from the client to make those finishing touches. ( I am hoping to finish this tomorrow.)

My thinking for behind the logo is that reading takes us on adventures and allows us to explore new worlds. Opening that book unfolds those new discoveries to be found, especially when this company publishes travel essays, textbooks and non-fiction stories. I like that the book opens up and creates a natural valley and has the interactive element of a mountain popping out of the book.


Monday, April 9, 2012

Azure Valley Publishing

Hello All!

I have been commissioned to design 5 logos for a publishing company called TM Publishing. They have different category publishing names,, since they publish a wide variety of genres.
They are called:
Azure Valley: Fiction
Emerald Sky: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Burgundy Rain: Literacy
Amber Rain: Children's books
Crimson Fog: Mystery

I just finished the sketches and sent them off to the client. This what I told them.




A1. This one I am most excited about. I know that you do a lot of digital publishing and I wanted to take on the idea of a pop-up to compliment the interactivity you have with digital books. With this logo it can be modern with the sample of the origami or the multicolor. Clean crisp lines will make it pop as well as adding color. This also has potential for innovative business cards that have a simple pop-up in it and your clients will remember it. 

A2. Is also made for an origami style. I like the abstract of this logo a lot. It is made to be in the process of folding into a mountain (interactivity of origami), so the bottom half folds up. 

B1. This logo plays off of A1, where it is a silhouette of a pop-up mountain coming out of a book that creates a valley. We can play with the highlights in this logo and make interesting white shapes.

B2. Is similar to B1, however this one won't have any white shapes. We can really play with the shape of the mountain more and how the book opens.  This one is meant to be simple to fit with the modern look. (modern has 2 extremes one with gradients and one with simple shapes.)

C1. This mountain has potential to be either origami or just flat colors. I like that the mountain is coming out toward the viewer, so it has a 3D feel to it. 

C2. Is another one I like a lot. I like the idea of using 3 different sized triangles that actually create valleys within the logo itself. Again this can be either origami or flat color. 


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Tell Me Who I Am


I am way behind on updating this blog due to being busy with work and my freelance projects. (Irony? Maybe.) I received in the mail the other day the book Tell Me Who I Am by DeNae Handy. (Click the link and check out the interior layout I designed). I was super excited to see a design project of mine finished and published. I have to say that this was a huge learning experience when it came to learning InDesign, working with clients, and staying up late to make deadlines. I recommend reading the book.

Here is the synopsis: It "is a collection of stories and essays depicting faith, struggles, and universal experiences of 16 LDS writers. Told with humor and sensitivity, theses tales offer a glimpse into a religious culture that is alternately criticized, admires, and misunderstood. Self-reflective in tone Tell Me Who I Am will inspire and delight readers with its heart-wrenching, head-nodding, and often flat-out funny narratives (I, myself have laughed out loud, causing other's curiosity to wonder what is so funny.) While dogma may define people, this groundbreaking anthology shows how our individual stories ultimately tell us who we are."