Backstage Design Studio
There are some seriously talented artists and designers living in Texas, and most of them are here in Austin. While this makes it pretty nerve-wracking for a young designer like myself to even dream of succeeding in this town, it means I get to gain inspiration from some of the best designers active today. While checking out local design studios, I was suddenly transfixed when I came across the work of Austin-based Backstage Design Studio. Read the rest of this entry »
My Personal Brand – Or, “What Not to Do”
I haven’t shared much of my personal work here on this blog, so I thought I’d start off by tracking the development of my own personal brand. My professional image has finally reached a point where I’m happy with it, but it certainly didn’t start out that way. Don’t consider this post a walkthrough of my design process so much as a field guide for other designers and students who aren’t sure what direction to take themselves in. Read the rest of this entry »
Cheap and Easy Product Photography
You can find pictures of pretty much anything online, but you can’t always use those images without running into legal trouble. This is particularly important for me, since I blog about design and images are an essential part of my content. So, to avoid copyright issues, I often have to take photos of the products I discuss myself. Problem is, I’ve never been much of a photographer. Read the rest of this entry »
RTX Design
I spent most of this past weekend at RTX, an annual convention here in Austin that’s put on by a group called Rooster Teeth. If you’re plugged in to the video game community then you’ve probably heard of them, but if not I’ll give you a quick description: Rooster Teeth is a company dedicated to all things gaming and internet related, and they’ve built up a huge following and community over recent years. Read the rest of this entry »
Gnarr – Shaun Hill
Thought I’d share this with you guys. As anybody who knows me can tell you, I have something of a weakness for good package design, and several times a week my wife has to tear me away from products that I’ll never eat, drink, or use, because I’m so enamored with the packaging (I still take pictures). I find that my favorites are always the ones with a hand-drawn touch, like this lovely work by Shaun Hill. Read the rest of this entry »
Sun Bum, and the Art of the “Fan-sumer”
In a previous post, I discussed Brand Identity, and why it’s so important in today’s world. I’ve noticed a few companies that have taken this concept to the next level by trying to build less of a consumer base, and more of a fan base. These “fansumers” are wholly dedicated customers, not just because they enjoy the products, but because they believe in the cause and mission of the company. Read the rest of this entry »
Tutorial – Woodcut Type in Illustrator
I’ve always been a big fan of this type of effect, but I could never for the life of me figure out how to do it. I’d spend an unbelievable amount of time placing the lines one by one, while thinking “There’s got to be an effect to make this easier”. Surprising absolutely nobody, it turns out I was over-thinking my problem. I just recently learned how to achieve this effect in Adobe Illustrator, and it’s made my life so much easier that I wanted to share it with anybody else who’s ever struggled with it. Read the rest of this entry »
Brand Identity, and Why it Matters
I often hear people mistake the term “brand identity design” for simply meaning “logo design”. It’s an understandable confusion for somebody outside of the design world, but one that couldn’t be further from the truth. So what is this mysterious thing called brand identity, and why should your business care? Read the rest of this entry »
The Drawing Board 