Man Alive Creative: The Portfolio

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I'm excited and proud to have created a portfolio site that, for the first time ever, sees my design and photography together in an easy to navigate, beautiful fashion. It's a thrill for me to see all of this work together under the moniker "Man Alive Creative." I welcome you to stop on by and tour the new portfolio. Feel free to share it with your friends, your family and (without hesitation) utterly complete strangers. I do love having good company stop by. Enjoy!

The Great Gig In The (Summer) Sky

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This summer has been filled with lots of great work; be it creative or production design. Some projects have been both.

Case in point; I was hired to design a series of merchandise boxes for one of my Top 5 all-time favorite bands, Pink Floyd. At first, due to the major rush status of the job, taking the straightforward "flat color, no playing around" route was looking like the best option. However, as I explored the artwork – I simply couldn't help myself. With approval from my contact, I began to play with texture, album imagery, and more until the series quickly came together. Look for these shirts on an end-rack in Target stores soon.

Not unlike getting approvals from Apple Records before, receiving the band's management's approval brought both my life and musical journey full circle.

P.S. After catching the most incredible live production I, or anyone else, has ever seen with Roger Waters The Wall tour – I beg of you to watch this historic event unfold.

Art Imitating The Lives Of Heroic Women

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Vintage war posters have always been a favorite of mine. They're truly the result of true artisans; rich in high typographical and design aesthetic. And although I, like many, tend to drift towards the striking imagery of war and political intrigue – I recently found myself enamored with the imagery of the woman's role in World War II. Imagery that sought not only to attract women to get involved in the country's efforts but to reflect their importance to the men on the front lines. To take things further, I wanted to connect the dots between the artistic styling of the posters and the photography of women actually performing these tasks. The result is imagery that is often equally as striking in reality as it is in fiction. Those were exceptional times for both the U.S. and the world, and exceptional times make for exceptional efforts. To unveil their full detail, please click on the images to enlarge both the manufacturing and nurse collages.


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What's New Is What's Old

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With packaging on my mind more than ever right now, I found my way over to Dieline where I found their 2011 Dieline Awards gallery. While there's many styles to be found, I find myself wrestling with the fact that many of today's most lauded pieces (be it Dieline, Print, CommArts, etc.) are simply rehashes of 19th & 20th century design works.

While I age or distress much of my work in addition to occasionally reaching back to utilize vintage imagery – I maintain a goal of achieving a feeling via select elements, not an overall replication. How disappointing it will be one day to have someone review much-heralded work from these times – only to discover that the innovation behind the work was done 100 years prior, by hand no less.

With great reason these early 20th century works resonate with today's designers. Their innovation and craft launched themselves within the wave of the industrial revolution, and changed the shape of the applied arts forever. But now, more than ever, I'm conscious of allowing only inspiration – not imitation – to enter into my works.