My wife and I used to go all-on for Christmas cards, investing indefensible amounts of time and money on an annual creative venture that was as fun for us to produce as it (hopefully) was for our family and friends to receive it. One year, we shipped a stack of printed 3D photos with the old-school red-and-blue 3D glasses for a genuinely old-school immersive look into our holiday season!
Dawn (my wife) was in charge of the photography, and I pieced the results together by manipulating the channels in Photoshop. The final product was a single card with a URL to a website that hosted a flurry of other fun 3D photos.
Highlights from dozens of pro bono family projects
As the only graphic designer in a family with eight siblings, I was often involved with the design and printing of announcements and invites for special occasions. My twin brother would famously volunteer me for for design work claiming that “it would only take ten minutes.” The truth it, I enjoyed these projects immensely as opportunities to collaborate with my bros and sisters in creative ways that we probably wouldn’t otherwise, and to be able to do my part to make their event super special.
Little sis’ wedding invite
When my little sis was getting married to her fireman fiancé, my photographer wife and I collaborated to deliver this awesome tri-folded custom invite printed in a sepia Pantone with a matching envelope.
Blueberry Elephant
For my daughter’s second birthday’s “blueberry elephant” theme, I drew this super fun calligram and printed it in a single spot-color on round invites:
Old-school standard deliverables for new logo design clients.
Before the world was consumed by smart phones and Facebook, the go-to means of business communication was still old-fashioned direct mail. Letterhead and envelopes were printed en masse and stashed in the office cupboard (often with blank stock for second pages) and often in a dedicated LTR tray in the office printer so invoices, statements, collection efforts, and other formal correspondence could be quickly sent to the printed, hand-folded, stuffed into a pre-printed #10 envelope with a 29¢ stamp, and sent in the outgoing mail to be delivered in a few days.
For graphic designers, the business system — which typically included business cards for key client-facing team members, letterhead, a #10 business envelope, and possible pre-addressed #9 return envelopes — was a standard deliverable for all identity development!
The Grandpa Derby was an informal pinewood derby competition designed to remove the hyper-competition from the traditional Pinewood Derby and replace it with it with a creative DIY solution that encouraged . My brother and I created the event in honor of my late grandfather who was a carpenter by trade and helped us build our pinewood derby cars in our youth. This postcard was printed 4/4 on 18.5pt cover stock wThe event lasted three (non-consecutive) years before most of the kids outgrew the event.
With this design, I was especially excited to play around with color vibration and a retro art style. Knowing that it was going to be an annual event, I wanted a solution that would carry the aesthetic from one year to the next but would provide enough versatility to change a few things for that specific event.
I still have a couple hanging in my garage in remembrance of Grandpa:
Central OR Ball was an apparel side project that I launched after feeling frustrated the the souvenir shop at the local Bend Elks game had a lackluster selection of well-designed merch. The idea was to put together a series of out-of-the-box Elks merch that towed the line of fan fare and trademark infringement. It also included fun gear celebrating youth softball/baseball and adult rec leagues — baseball in Bend from February through August. By the following season, the Elks merch tables had significantly improved the quality of their designs.
Brian DeMarco was a Flagstaff-based musician with whom I worked throughout my undergrad years. We collaborated on dozens of creative projects, including the design of five album covers and CD designs (and we reconnected in recent years for another) and promotional posters, flyers, and websites. He was, and is still, a close friend of mine and we’ll occasionally collaborate on new projects to this day.
This is an invitation to the opening reception for the exhibit highlighting the photographic works of David Russell, a Tucson-based photographer and author, at Galería Mistica located in Tucson’s historic Fourth Avenue District. The invite was printed in full-color on the front and black and white on the inside on a have smooth cover stock and a center score. Whenever I work with artists, I need to pay special attention to the color accuracy of the image to ensure the piece is represented as close to actual color as possible.
/afk — AWAY FROM KEYBOARD is a 2011 documentary that follows two brothers through an introspection of their lives in and out (and in again) of the World of Warcraft and a larger look at the online gaming phenomenon and addiction. Filmed, edited, and produced by a good pal of mine, the film garnered rave reviews and played an important role in helping to shed light on a relatively new phenomenon that is impacting countless families across the globe. I was approached to help with the creative for the films promotions, including the design of the DVD cover, promotional postcard handouts, and a basic t-shirt.
From a creative perspective, the goral was to highlight these real life characters and illustrate the duality of their lives — half (or more) in the video game, and the remainder with their families. Biographical postcards were produced highlighting their IRL accomplishments adjacent to their in-game stats, illustrating the blurring of the two lives. The film screened at The Loft Cinema in Tucson. The director of the film, Greg Stuetze, credited me with art direction on IMDB.
