I was commissioned at the end of last year to create the Festive packaging for independent coffee roasters ‘Origin‘ based in the UK. The image of two hugging Yeti’s guarding mother nature’s lungs runs across two new Brazilian blends: Das Almas Pulped, and Das Almas Natural Process. I also created a separate poster for the Origin head office. Thanks to Rossco at sterling design studio A-Side for making things happen. The coffee is available to purchase online here.
I like to draw letters. Apparently, so do a lot of people. Now you can now generate ransom notes with all the great letters created by people on Letterplayground.com. This should come in handy for your next bank robbery or kidnapping.
THE SMALL PRINT invited 26 illustrators from all over the globe that produced 52 original pieces (1 letter and 1 illustration based on the letter each) which are available to buy, digitally printed, in A2, A1 & AO formats. A huge variety of wonderful talents from Oliver Jeffers (A) to Chris Haughton (Z) make up this newly imagined alphabet.
Artists include:
Science gone mad! A new design collection by Nate Williams. Wacky illustrations filled with chemists in white jackets, short hair cuts, molecules, monsters, beakers, Bunsen burners, explosions, thick black standard issue glasses and more. Available for licensing.
Learn more about Nate Williams art licensing collections.
Chemists or Monsters? Take your pick 
The largest east coast showing of my work is currently on display at the –gallery of The Art Institute of Boston through Dec. 18th.
the last time i visited Boston was for the 2008 HOW design conference, and i have to admit that i am growing quite fond of Boston.
i was asked to give a talk about my creative process and my career path on the opening night of the show, and this lovely group of folks were kind enough to sit through 60 minutes of my talking and 220+ slides.
a HUGE thanks to AIB for being such a welcoming institution. I immediately felt right at home.
i apparently am inept at using a camera outside of the studio, but fortunately the school has a nice set of photos of the show and my visit on their illustration and animation blog.
here are a few pages from my sketchbook during my brief trip to Boston.
Not long after Bob Hunt of the Hancock County Arts and Cultural Council asked me to consider creating an image for a downtown mural on our humble Main Street, I recalled the historical recollections and photos of the Interurban Rail that used to run right by that location. Starting up in 1899 the Interurban Rail Line ran right down the center of Main Street and was the ‘rapid transit’ compared to the common horse and buggy of the day. With the wide horizontal format of the space, it seemed like a perfect fit to be able to see an almost full scale interurban car on Main Street 70 years after the last one ran in Indiana.
My goal was to have the mural honor the innovative past of Indiana and Greenfield, encouraging the community to ‘tip their hat’ to the past but also look forward to the future and the possibilities of where Greenfield can go.
There will be a public dedication at 2 West Main St on Saturday November 12, at 10am where the model used in the mural image will also be on display.
Special thanks to Nathan Bilger for his knowledge and guidance in gathering historical and pictorial reference for this mural.
here are some behind the scenes images of the project:
proposal:
references:
the build:
chipboard, wood, old bearings, old screen door hinges:
more wood, old springs, wire:
first coat of paint:
final coat of paint, patina, grime, chrome railings, bits of found objects for details
on set:
the final:
on location: 36′ wide!
Working for the formidable Creative Director SooJin Chun Buzelli of PlanSponsor magazine is always a pleasure. She has an amazing way of cutting through the muck and putting the heart of the content into a one or two line synopsis and asking the illustrator to do what they to best.
this particular article is about asking retirement industry professionals to look at “10 things your are (probably) doing wrong”
the piece was running on the cover and also being used on an interior spread, so i wanted to see if there was a way to do a bit of a reveal, where the spread unveils a bit more information then the covers allows.
here were the initial concepts:
these fellas are just plain wrong, my intention was that they made the number 10 but SooJin thought it best that these ‘gentlemen’ not be on the cover, completely understandable.
i know the empty pool concept isnt original, but i was drawn to the composition along with the confident and relaxed expression on the diver’s face.
this guy needs no explanation. this was the concept that was picked, but he looked to be skipping instead of running which of course is a bit more dangerous, so these sketches came next.
the 3″ scissors were custom built out of copper scrap:
Thanks to SooJin for a sharp project.
Being one of the widest circulated publications in Europe, Der Spiegel, has been on my radar even before I saw the art director Stefan Kiefer speak at ICON2 over 10 years ago. Needless to say, getting a call to do the October 17th cover for them was an honor.
The cover story is about over-scheduled kids. Being a father of 3 I am aware of this and sometimes catch slack and odd glances from parents when they find out that my kids aren’t in 5 afterschool activities. I am a firm believer in kids having time to be kids. Some folks see downtime as wasted time, but for me when I see what the kids can do when their imaginations are allowed to roam, I dont see it as wasted time at all.
Stefan was upfront with me that the editors are tough to please, and he was right. I love a good challenge and am delighted to add this cover to my resume.
here are a few of the sketches and progress shots of the piece:
the initial concept sent from Mr Kiefer
these are my versions of the concept:
the girl with the backpack turned out to be very close to a cover on the same subject 10 years ago, only that time it was a boy.
so I proposed that we illustrate the piece without all the stuff and focus on what the kid doesn’t have time to do:
they liked the concept, but felt it too sophisticated for the cover, understandable.
so the girl with her face down was the one we decided to run with.
once the final was complete, the girl appeared too injured, which was the wrong message, so I was asked to revise her face and head so as to look burdened but not hurt and to make her slightly more ‘realistic’
so here is a revised sketch to show the girl not hurt, but burdened.
and after a couple more revisions, and the fact that the cover was bumped a week because of a timely news story… the piece ran earlier this week.
thanks to Barbara and Stefan for a memorable project.
this project for the October cover of The Progressive focused on the unseen, inter-workings of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) annual conference”How corporations hook up with your state legislators”
the art director, Nick Jehlen, told me that there were two ways that this piece could be approached. one was to focus on the fact that there is a heavy ‘being’ that controls how some legislators write particular legislation. sort of a master and puppet relationship. the other approach could be that the conference is described as a dating service that ‘connects’ corporations with legislators that can fit their needs.
here are the roughs i proposed:
Nick was drawn to the fourth idea, and it was the chosen one.
i think they look like they were meant to be together. i like how they both have one hand in their pocket. and the guy’s pinky finger sticking out, those details give me a kick!
thanks to Nick Jehlen for a delightfully dark and humorous subject.
**also, there is an interview with musician and activist Steve Earle in this issue.
Its All About The Light
anyone who has dared to ascend the 13 creaky steps into the studio knows how unorganized and dusty this place is. i am not saying that its a bad thing, its just i am not the neatest illustrator out there. When i received a call from the organized and meticulous Creative Director SooJin Buzelli of Asset International to create an illustration for an upcoming survey on how Plan Advisers run their practices, i was a little stumped at first on how to best visually solve this one.
here are the four sketches i submitted, based on the theme of sorting complicated data:
we decided that the librarian on stilts was the best choice.
(honesty, looking back, i am not sure why i thought the basketball players would have worked very well…)
with this piece it came down to the light. getting that light to stream in at the right density and angle almost drove me nuts, but it finally worked out. it is the little things like that, that keep me fired up about what i get to do everyday.
and how it appears in the layout: