2014 My Big Break?

A sucessful show at the Brusch & Comb sold about 10 pieces. Understanding social networking and get some traction on Instagram and getting a follower on Tumblr I think things are looking up this year. 

To think that back when I had my Final Exam Review for Communication Design the reviewers where ho hum about my design skills, but where very encouraging by my illustration work and animations. Telling me that I should pursue that. I took that as an offense back then. Spending the past 4 years studying design and to have designers respond like that bothered me. It took two years to come around and to see myself as an Illustrator 1st and a Designer 2nd. My passion and interest is with illustration and with that a appreciation for design and architecture.

I'm looking foreword to 2014.  

A Tired Design Student

Yes I am posting this at midnight.

The things that inspire me creatively at this time.

- Yusef Lateef: Love Theme from Spartacus (jazz)

- Monocle Magazine / Podcast

- International Design

- My home town of Saint Louis (Fall Season) for the atmospheric of my animation

- Holiday Commercials (understanding the consumer)

Monocle

Monocle is one of my favorite publications and podcast. They are an international publication that is focused on cultures and businesses around the world. They expose a world that isn't shown on cable news. Even though it is written for the world traveler, it focuses on the sorts of things I wouldn't want to miss if I went to the featured sites. What I really like, besides the content, is the design of the publication itself. The grid system for laying out columns and the use of type and photograph placement are unique and eye catching. It is in my opinion one of the best designed publication that I have seen.

Find Monocle at Barnes and Nobel or through their website.

Saint Louis

As a designer I often look back at my past for inspiration. I spent most of my life in St. Louis. It isn't a exciting city like Denver, but, for tone and setting in many of my animations, my hometown is inspirational.  The historic neighborhoods of Soulard, Lafayette Square, Tower Groves, and Central West End are often the location settings in my work. The old brick houses complimented by the deep greens in lawns and the parks are favorites. I remember a particular day spent holiday shopping with my dad and mom.  Overnight the city was smacked by a huge snow storm. In St Louis, unlike Denver, snow will shutdown the city, but my parents thought it would be fun to drive around and get some holiday shopping done at Delmar Loop, a shopping area equivalent to Pearl Street in Boulder. Delmar was empty, but the stores were open. We probably received the best customer service ever given at Vintage Vinyl since we were the only ones shopping, and we had great food service at Blue Berry Hill as we were the only ones eating. I thought of that day when I was illustrating and writing A Means to an End and I thought of it again when I did the animation version. 

I feel as a designer that I am very grateful to have those cherished memories to be inspire by. They allow me to appreciate the small things that have happened in life, which now become the settings for my stories.

Wacom Inkling Digital Pen

I have been waiting for this product since August, and it still not avaliable to the wide population with the exception of those that order on Amazon.com. The reviews have been so so about the product so far receiving a 3 out of 5 stars, which I should've known. It's still quite an amazing concept to take something that you drew in a sketch book and immediately put it into illustrator and make it vector art without having to scan your sketch book. I just don't understand why companies put out products that may not be fully realized. I think it is unfair to charge $200 per pen and release a product that has a lot of problems. 

Anyway, the link below is about the product and there a video that showcases how awesome the Inkling is. I was sold maybe you will be too. 

http://wacom.com/en/Products/Inkling.aspx