9 Surf Studios: 1/23/11

January 27, 2011

Bud Light Bowl 2011

I was commissioned by the Shaw Company in St. Louis to design the logo for the Bud Light Bowl, a Budweiser promotional event held in Texas around the time of the Super Bowl. It was great fun working with Greg Litwicki at Shaw, who despite having an in depth client review process and legal scrutiny (the nature of the beast with these logos), gave me much creative leeway in the development process with pretty cool results. Shown below the final logo are several of the preliminary designs

Website design experiment

http://www.9surf.com/typographics/

This is my take on an anti digital age website for 9 Surf (if there ever was such a thing!). My admiration for paper and classical design is front and center. Unfortunately, my limited ability to code a website is front and center, too. But that's not my thing - there are many good coders out there. My intrigue is creating a site with a particular look, then building is so it functions well with a minimum of technology. After all, it browses fine on all platforms including mobile.

Alberta Venture magazine

Art Director Kim Larson contacted me to design the cover which claims that if you buy this issue, it will be the best investment you'll ever make. The design brief: give it a little attitude and flare without being audacious.

Evolution

More than ever, I find the nature of my work evolving as my clients' needs change. I am always calling on my art director past to solve increasingly nuanced visual problems that don't fit into categories or styles. I've always resisted the term 'illustration' for my work, though in the strictest sense, it is. A more appropriate term is 'image design' since I call on may varied and nontraditional means to create a visual solution. You'll see what I mean in the variety of concepts and executions as you view my posts. Feel free to comment - I'd love to hear from you!

CONSULTING & INSTRUCTION

I offer consulting and customized instruction to individuals, groups, institutions, agencies, studios, and corporations. Plans and courses would be tailored to your specific needs including but not limited to these topics:

• Strategies for developing great design and imagery

• You can create anything with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop

• Design theory and goals

• Design is an integral part of business strategy

• Using color

• The key role of designer as part of a team

• Be a good listener & observer therefore be a good designer

• From concept to final artwork

• The importance of working well with others

• Incorporating design and illustration into the workflow

• Designer as illustrator, illustrator as designer

• Even though the budget is restricted, your creativity is not

I'll be happy to answer any inquiries you may have about consulting and instruction

In Progress

Things continue to be very busy. Here's some of what's happening:

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Working on a variety of typographic and illustrated magazine covers.

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Developing a comprehensive new project involving fine art originals and reproductions. It's just the beginning. Stay tuned! In the meantime, check out http://www.9surfeditions.com

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Working on a number of photographic installations with my wife Lois. Together we form tolo. Lois is a very talented designer and photographer and the combined work is very exciting.

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Continued collaborations with Fin Brand Positioning, a lean and mean branding and marketing firm.