How Exactly Am I Funny?

Funny "ha ha," or funny like a clown funny? For Dale, the character in this illustration for FIM Magazine, he's kinda both. More like a comedian and less like a clown, because clowns really aren't so funny. They qualify more as frightening. My sincerest apologies to any hilarious and adorable clowns out there, but you are few and far between.

This one was a LOT of fun to create. The humor article was about innovative ways to find a job in a tough economy, one of which was applying to be a mobster. As soon as I considered putting Dale in the worst job interview of his life with the Good Fellas, I just had to do it. Just please, for the love of Pete, don't call anybody a clown, Dale!

Games for Type Geeks

Here's a fun website for all you typography geeks out there (you know who you are). Typehype.net has a set of interactive games that in some way involve type. They include "Faceoff," which tests your ability to identify matching typefaces, "Serif," a Western-themed game where you shoot out the badly-kerned words, and "Type Invaders," where you defend Earth from poor punctuation.

I can't claim that it improves your typographic abilities, but it certainly is a fun way to learn about it, and if your boss catches you playing it at work, you might be able to convince them that it's professional development and you're just beefing up on your design skills. :)

Two Cases of Unmistakable Identity

Whew!

I've been spending a lot of time in web-world these days, with some new and exciting projects to report. But, before I go into them, here are some items I've been working on lately:

Northwoods Coaching Logo

Northwoods Coaching incorporates mindfulness, meditation, and other Eastern practices into its life coaching services. The owner, Frank Gladu, is a real pleasure to work with, and I would recommend him to anyone. He has a quiet cool and a broad, beaming smile, and I imagine his clients will benefit greatly from his advice. Northwoods Coaching is only one among many ventures for him, and I'm currently working on another logo and some visual aids for him.

Wentworth Motorsports Business Card

I've worked with Wentworth Motorsports for several years now - in fact, since 1979!

Full disclosure, the owner is my brother, Alex, who created his business out of a garage once he graduated, and I'm perpetually amazed by his technical and business skills. He's the kind of guy who used to dissect radios and put them back together at 8 years old. Stellar. And I owe him big time for all the help he's given me on repairing my beat-up autos over the years. His shop is constantly busy, and the crazy thing is, he's never advertised. His entire business is built on word-of-mouth, which is a real testament to the quality of his work.

Aside from being family, I really believe in the work he does. As far as combustion-engine autos go, he is pretty sustainable. Many of his parts are refurbished or salvaged from other cars, and instead of continuing the throw-away trend of buying a new car when the old one wears out, he does his best to resurrect even the most crippled cars and keep them from heading to the scrap heap. He treats his customers with the utmost respect, and bends over backwards to make sure they're happy with the work. Socially-conscious as well.

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So, that's some of the print work I've had lately. As far as web work goes, I have two great projects right now. One is a website for a sustainable furniture craftsman, and the other is a redesigned website for Aryaloka Buddhist Center. And, I continue to assist freebuddhistaudio.com with their work online. More on all this at a later point! Be well!

Bovine Bonanza!

More cows! Here are some of the new ones I've been working on for the Rutland Herald. She's beginning to develop a personality. The more I work on her, the more excited I get to see what she does next. She's a lady of many moooods. 

Yes, I know, the cow puns are endlessly funny. Good thing I have a lot of them...

A quoi ca sert l'amour

I discovered this excellent french animation over the weekend, and thought you all might enjoy it too. The style is exceedingly simple, with no dialogue at all, but shows how much emotion and story can be conveyed with very few lines. It's about the foibles of the human heart. :)

COW Unleashed!

It's quite an experience to see something you create take on a life of its own once it's off the drawing board. Sort of like watching one of your children grow up. And, I'm so glad it's happening with the cow mascot created for the Rutland Herald, which I wrote about previously here.

The website that they are using to promote their classifieds has gone live, and Rob, the project manager I've been working with, tells me that everyone has gone COW wild! They're doing an excellent job, making up t-shirts, bumper stickers, and they even have a cow suit on hand to do roadside promotion.

Above are some pictures and video of their mascot doing her thing. My favorite is the pic of the guy with the cell phone who can't believe he's seeing a cow sitting in an armchair!

You can also follow the cow on Twitter! Just look for the name vtcow.

An Abstract on Some Beautiful Abstraction

What, ho!? Two blogs in one day? Impossible! To what do I owe this unusual event?

To my un-contained excitement about my latest project, I say.

I promised you all a look-see at the art show poster I was working on, so here it is, earlier than expected. I really enjoyed working on this piece, particularly because I enjoy the artist's work so much. I'm not usually one for abstraction, but there's something about Sylvea Johnson's paintings that really speak to me. Her use of color and symbolism are fantastic - it's almost like graffiti, but not as harsh - so much more flowing and beautiful. I still haven't quite placed it, and that in itself is interesting to me.

I encourage everyone to try to make it to the opening of "Dreams and Reflections"on May 15th from 6:30-8 p.m. at Aryaloka Buddhist Center. Should be a fun time, and you'll get to see some great work in person. If you'd like to learn more about the artist, here's a link to her profile on Artbreak.