Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wood, Jerry. Wood.


(click image to enlarge)

Here's a postcard design I whipped up for my long-time friend, Joe Pinter. He has a one-man show coming together in Reading, PA at The Goggleworks. Without further ado, full details on the artist, the upcoming show and artist reception are below.

Hello, I’m Joseph Pinter
Pennsylvania-born Joseph Pinter’s work delights the eye even while it remains fully and ingeniously practical. Whether he’s creating cherished heirlooms from traditional woods, or producing exquisite woodturnings from more exotic varieties, Pinter reveals a truly unique vision that finds the extraordinary in what seems self-evident.

The GoggleWorks
201 Washington Street
Reading, PA 19601
610.374.4600 ph.
goggleworks.org

Opening Reception,
Meet Artist Joseph Pinter:
Thursday, February 4th
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The (Up-Front) Cost Of Design.


In order to be a designer of national or international consequence, and not that of a local designer doing coupon-paks, local brochures and the like – designing can be something of an overwhelming budgetary experience at first. And while that's typical of starting nearly any home business, before you go into it thinking it's simply about buying a computer, check this out…

COMPUTER EQUIPMENT –
MAC PRO 8-CORE:
• Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
• 12GB (6x2GB)
• 2TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
• One 18x SuperDrive
• Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
• Apple Mouse
• Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) and User's Guide
• Microsoft Office Mac 2008 - Home and Student Edition
• HP OfficeJet 6500 Wireless All-in-One Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax
• AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro - Auto-enroll
• MobileMe Membership (One Year)

Cost: $6,326.90

SOFTWARE –
ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 4 DESIGN PREMIUM
Cost: $1,799.00

FONTS – ADOBE FONT FOLIO 11 (2,300 fonts)
Cost: $2,599.00

50-65 FONTS (House Industries, Hoefler & Jones, etc.)
Cost: $7,500.00

ACCESSORIES –
FILTERS, IMAGE ARCHIVE, EXTERNAL HARDDRIVES,
BACK-UP DISCS, BUSINESS CARDS, COLOR GUIDES, ETC.
Cost: $2,625.00

TOTAL: $20,849.90

Figure in that new fonts keep coming, computers have a life-line of 3-4 years, software updates every 18 months, etc. – and this is indeed simply the basic, upfront costs of having your own freelance business. It can be somewhat overwhelming, especially for those entering the workforce out of college with student loans hovering like wolves at the door.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

NYC: The Book Signing





(click image to enlarge)

To celebrate the release of Eerie Von's Misery Obscura photography book, which I designed and co-created with Eerie, I put together a book signing at Generation Records in New York City. To make it a very special evening, I asked long-time friends and foreword writers Lyle Preslar (Minor Threat) and Mike d. (Killswitch Engage) to join Eerie for a 5-song acoustic set.

To order the book, follow this link.
To see videos from the performance, click here.
To view more photography taken that evening, visit my other photo blog.

Photos by yours truly and Jennifer Martin.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Production Design



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Not every job you work on is your idea, and yours alone. Sometimes, as in the case of production design work, you're working with ideas already put into practice by another designer. This work is usually a matter of re-purposing those ideas into new formats, mediums, sizes, templates, etc.

For example, in 2009, I worked with EMI in Hollywood on the creation of several limited edition packages for Best Buy and/or Target. I was supplied with the new box template, new copy and the original artwork files – and then it was up to me to make it cohesive with the original materials while also making it appealing in its new format and size.

In addition to the couple here, I also laid out package designs in 2009 for 30 Seconds To Mars, Snoop Dogg & Mudvayne. Many thanks to Lisa Otto & Alyssa Brunman for their trust in me.