Typography -- Newport

Some pretty good, metal-cut typography found on a fountain downtown Newport, Kentucky.

Font Design

This is a simple font design that I drew up on paper some time ago. The font is designed with a modern, san-serif look based on the Cyrillic alphabet, which consists of 33 characters. This design was never turned into a usable font on the computer.

Website Debug

As you probably know, I recently launched my new website. The design is completely HTML based, something that I am new to (my previous sites were Flash based) and there were a few bugs that showed up across different browsers/resolutions. I think I have the majority of these issues debugged and I will be able to sleep more peacefully. If you run across any bugs, please report them on this blog or via email. Thanks for your continued support.

Heredity and Training.

New print design, Heredity and Training. The basis for the typography is a partial quote from Mark Twain's, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court; quoted as, "We speak of nature; it is folly; there is no such thing as nature; what we call by that misleading name is merely heredity and training." The photography was taken downtown Cincinnati.

Distortion Experiment 1

Wanted to do a little bit of experimentation on photo manipulation/distortion. This is pretty basic, but I think the result is interesting.

Joshua & Proverbs in Print

Here is some photos of the printed works, Joshua & Proverbs. Thought you might want to see. Enjoy.

7M3 Poster

I made this just for fun. I have been looking over a lot of musical event posters lately (mainly at gigposters.com) and I was inspired to try my hand at the style. Seven Mary Three was one of my favorite bands several years ago (their American Standard album is still one of the best in its genre) and I wanted to feature them on the poster. Let me know what you think.

Bridge

An overexposed photo I took of one of the bridges going from Newport to Cincinnati this evening. The treatment is up for interpretation.

Planet of the Apes

This is one of the best movie posters that I have ever run across. It blew my mind. The design is by Todd Slater.

New Prints -- Proverbs & Joshua

Here are a couple of new prints that I just finished working on (I will be posting them on the website soon). These posters are inspired by quotes from the Bible. These are a few quotes that stood out to me and I wanted to present them in a manner in which you probably are not accustomed to. Both quotes are presented in a low contrast colour layout which emphasizes the fact that they have to be truly look at and examined to absorb the meaning behind them (you can't take everything in at a glance).

Downtown

Finally, I have the new site up and running (smoothly, I hope) and I have time to post some of my work again. I hope to be able to make regular posts once again on this blog, so stay tuned in. Here are some pictures I took of downtown Cincinnati. These were taken with my Canon 350D.

New Website

The new website relies solely on HTML and does not require any Flash player add-on's for viewing. This means that the DESIGNBYSOLO website will be more accessible to non-conventional web browsers (ie. ipod, cellular phones, nintendo wii, etc.) Hope this is helpful for anyone who has had trouble viewing my website in the past.

New Website Live

Just finished getting my new website online... It was quite a chore. The new design is much more expansive than previous versions while it maintains an ease of navigation. Please, check it out and let me hear your thoughts on the new design. Hopefully you will enjoy.

Sorry for the Delay

Sorry everyone for being gone for so long. If you have been checking the blog for new updates, I apologize for the the disappointment. I have been caught in the middle of a big relocation process. I have now settled into a new location in downtown Newport, KY (across the river from Cincinnati). I have been working on a huge new website re-design for DESIGNBYSOLO.COM and will be releasing it within the next few days (hopefully by the end of the week), so hopefully that will make up for some of my absence. I plan on no longer using the blog as my frontpage, but instead I will be directing all traffic directly to my portfolio/menu page. The blog can be accessed by clicking on the link entitled RECENT NEWS. Hope to hear what everyone thinks about the new design. Also, I should be back to posting work/etc. on a regular basis after I get the new site up.

New Print -- Worth Fighting For

The second of a new series, Worth Fighting For.

The small text reads :
Butterflies, crickets jumping through tall grass. Red and black lady bugs and spiderwebs with dew drops in the morning. The song of the robin at dawn and the call of the nightengale at dusk. The blades of wheat dancing in the fields. A cool breeze. Swinging from the branch of a ancient oak tree; fallen leaves of red and gold and orange. Puffs of dust and drops of rain, the creak of an old forest and the rustle of high grass. The quite murmur of water running over smooth stones, the roar of a waterfall. An owl’s hoot, a wolf’s howl. The magic of the autumn wind, the hot days and cool nights. The sight of freshly fallen snow. The complexity of a snowflake. Frost on the grass. An unopened bloom on a wild flower; the perfection of a rose.
Something Worth Fighting For.

This is a list of things that I wrote down one day that I feel are actually worth fighting to preserve.

New Print -- Stop the Terror

This is the beginning of a new series in a true representation of my new style. I tried to give the design an elongated form because I am trying the convey a substance, or infection if you will, that lives inside of people like a fear. I wanted to convey the terror that people from war-torn countries in Africa and the Middle East, etc. live with inside them every day. A fear that spreads throughout your body, extending to effect every part of your life and making every day miserable. Thats my message with this design, that we have to Stop the Terror.

New Print -- A-74 Plus

This design is a compilation of a lot of elements into one organic, flowing shape. It was designed almost entirely in Illustrator and is meant to eventually be printed on wallpaper and put up in my house.

New Print -- Life Aquatic

This is one of my earlier designs that I created in this new style, and I feel that its outside influences can be seen, where they are much more subtle or absent completely in the newer designs I have made. The title of this piece is Life Aquatic and is a representation of underwater life, in specific, the life along a coral reef. I think that coral reefs are one of earths greatest treasures and natural beauties and they are all in danger from pollution and other man-made problems. It is up to all of us to take care of the planet and preserve wonders such as these. This design is the only that I have for sale as of right now. It is available here, at my shop.

New Style

I have recently "developed" a new style which I have been working in over the past couple of weeks that is different from most of my previous work. I hope that this is a style that I can elaborate and evolve into a viable means of communication that I can use on a vast array of different projects and will serve to represent me as an artist (at least at this time). The idea all started when I was conceptualizing for the Oddinary Box exhibition. What I created for the show laid the groundwork for a style that I feel holds many possibilities. It is a style that communicates a message with a mix of reality and abstraction with a merging and layering that gives the designs depth and a uniqueness that is rewarding to look at for an extended period of time. Broken down to its basest, it is simply a collage system of mixing and layering objects together in an aesthetically pleasing way. But, as you will see, the designs are not shallow like the typical collage design, but have a depth, both visually and emotionally. I hope you enjoy.

New T-Shirt Design -- Post Apocalyptic Peace

Have a new t-shirt release for sale in the shop. The inspiration for this new design was a over-the-weekend t-shirt competition for a group of Futurologists. This is my take on things 250 years into the future. Here is my t-shirt description:

The year: 2258
This design is a symbol of the post apocalyptic era. Purpose driven war has given way to war for the sake of war. The land’s have suffered irrevocable trauma and humankind is on the brink of extinction. Man’s only hope is seek solitude in the only region left unspoiled by the Great War, the depths of the Sea. Underwater colonization could act as savior to the Human race.

My design is a play on the “Dove and the Olive Branch.” The dove holding the Olive branch symbolizes hope when all hope was lost, a peace in the midst of turmoil. My design is a Guppy (fish) holding a strand of Kelp. The fish holding a strand of kelp symbolizes the hope for mankind that waits for him beneath the waters, a new frontier untouched by war.

New Work -- Fifth Third Bank Campaign

An ad I did for the Fifth Third Bank Goal Setter savings account. The goal setter account is a savings account offered by Fifth Third Bank which allows the user to specify a certain "goal" between $500 and $25,000 to save for. When you reach your goal, your are rewarded by a bonus interest rate. This ad emphasizes the goal aspect with the businesswoman considering what her goal may be (in this case, a beach vacation, surfing, etc.)

Image of the Week -- Wk. 17

This is one of my first good shots that I took with my Canon digital camera. I haven't really taken much photography lately, and I would really like to get back out there while the weather is nice.

Inspiration -- 12

A really great find from FFFFound! Check out their website to see all kinds of great work that is scattered throughout the web.

New Work -- This Time Around

This is a book sleeve design that I have been working on for some time. The book is written by Jason Ottley, the Washington D.C. based author, and is entitled This Time Around. This was a fun project where I had complete artistic freedom. The book is about relationships and the struggles of life through a Christian perspective. I covered all aspects of the project from location scouting, photography direction and shooting, photo manipulation, typography/layout, etc. Hope you enjoy.

New Work -- Oddinary Box

This is my design for the Oddinary Exhibition hosted June 27 & 28 in Singapore. This is part of the brief: This gathering of creative ingenuity will showcase a gallery of ordinary paper boxes made extraordinary. These simple unembellished paper boxes will be transformed into various pieces of art, under the nimble hands of students and international guest artists. Hope you like it.
This really was a fun project with no real limitations. My box turned out well and I keep it on my desk now for a little visual stimulation.

Bonsai -- Japanese Maple

A taste of my organic artistry, lol. This Japanese Maple is my pride and joy... Here are some before and after pictures I took yesterday before/after I trimmed off a lot of the new growth. Shaping up to be a nice broom style; for now. Enjoy.

Inspiration -- 11

This is a fantastic, fun piece by The State of Things. Go ahead and check out his work, its really nice (there is a link to his page under Design Friends). His work with short movies inspired me to create my own movie, Cloud. Anyway, his stuff is fun to muse over... kind of reminds me of a modern day Dr. Seuss.

Image of the Week -- Wk. 16

Works well with Spring. Wildflowers with nice, muted colors... Enjoy.

Solo Archive Work -- 13

This piece was originally constructed as a splash page submission for the online graphics website graphic-elements.com. The work is entitled Courage/Freedom and I think that this piece more than others really embodies its name visually. From subject matter to color scheme, the name for this design came to me easily and seemed to fit perfectly.

**Available for Hire

As a freelance designer, I am constantly looking for new projects and new clients. Hire DesignbySolo for your design project, today. Spread the word, tell your friends, don't be afraid to drop me a line (or a call). If you have a design project you need a hand on or are looking for a artistic new spin on an existing entity, contact DesignbySolo. From print graphics, to identity (logo), or web I can be your design solution. If you don't have a current project but want to hear what my design principles are like, want to see more of my work, or simply want to discuss design in general, feel free to get in touch.

Disarmed Wampa

I have now made the Disarmed Wampa design available for purchase at my Redbubble shop. Click here to check it out.

Back From Another Place

Sorry I haven't wrote anything new for quite a while. It has been difficult to feel motivated to write anything lately... with as little comments as I get on postings, I don't know if anyone reads this blog or not. Anyway, the weather has gotten much nicer so I have been spending a lot more time outdoors. My girlfriend and I recently got new mountain bikes and have been trying that out; it has been great fun so far. Also been spending time at the pool; it feels good to have the sun shining on you. I have several bonsai trees and I spent some time yesterday trimming them up and making them look fit again after all the early spring growth (I will post before and after pictures soon). My Disarmed Wampa shirt scored a 1.96 overall which is the best I have scored on a Threadless submission before, but still not good enough to be printed.

Vote for Disarmed Wampa

My Disarmed Wampa design is now available for voting on the Threadless website. If you have the time, I would really appreciate your vote. You can vote for the design here.

Image of the Week -- Wk. 15

I know that I posted a new Image of the Week yesterday, but I have a reason to post this picture (which turned out wonderfully) and I figured that others might enjoy it as well.

New T-Shirt Design -- Disarmed Wampa

Don't know if you are familiar with Wampa's or not... They come from the world of Star Wars, in particular, The Empire Strikes Back. In the beginning of the film Luke Skywalker attacked and kidnapped by a huge ice monster (the Wampa) and held captive (for later ingestion). Luke makes an escape by retrieving his lightsaber and cutting off one of the wampa's arms. Hence the inspiration for the design Disarmed Wampa. I am having it critiqued on Threadless.com right now, if anyone has any comments or suggestions about the design head over and check it out. I will be submitting it to actual judging in a few days and would appreciate your vote if you have a threadless.com account (they're free). I will post again when I submit it for judging.

Solo Archive Work -- 12

I created this identity some time ago for a local computer hardware store. Kept a tech feel incorporated with the flow of movement and speed that has a great importance within the computer world (always upgrading). One of the few (maybe the only) logos I have designed that incorporated an effect (the glowing red dot) but, after much deliberation, I decided that it was significant enough to incorporate (like a power light) and it made the design a bit more dynamic.

Inspiration -- 10

Been doing some freelance work for an ad agency recently and it has been a trial to deal with the obscene limitations that so many businesses have on the marketing campaigns. It is so refreshing to see packaging like this, devoid of sub-par imagery, crazy fonts, and neon colors. I wish I had the opportunity to do designs like this...

Image of the Week -- Wk 14

In my design work I am always trying to come up with new and interesting patterns to supplement or communicate in a print. It is awe inspiring to see such brilliant patterns created in nature by the omnipotent Master of design.

Design Talk 2

The second design talk went over very well with a good turnout. We are having an encore lecture this Saturday for anyone who missed the first one. Stop by, pick up a copy of the limited edition event poster.

New Event -- Design Talk 2

Poster design for the next design conference (opening night is tomorrow at 7:00 pm at my studio). Stop by if you can. The speeches will be as follows: The Colors That Bleed Into One (my talk), Color Theory, and Name, Type and Color. So I think you get the idea that this conference is color focused. There will be two talk, the first is this Saturday, the second is next Saturday.

Upcoming Event -- Design Conference

Just wanted to remind everyone who is interested that the encore presentation of the first design talk will take place tomorrow at the DbS studio at 7:00pm. We had a really good presentation and turnout with last weeks talk, so if you missed it or want to come again please stop by.

Solo Archive Work -- 11

This is the branding I did for the country music singer Jonalee White (with and without her slogan). This was primarily created for the branding of her t-shirts and a stage backdrop, which I also designed.

Inspiration -- 9

A really nice design with a great color scheme and layout. Really like the positioning of the copy at the bottom of the page and the different hues used in the title are very complimentary.

Image of the Week -- Wk. 13

Thought this might be a fun pic for the spring time. Captured this last summer with my Canon 350D at the farm of friend. Cattle are pretty fun to observe... It seems pretty amazing how docile such a large, powerful animal can be.

Opening Night

The opening night of the design conference went really well. I snapped a few photos, which I will be posting as soon as I can. If you missed opening night, stop in for the encore that takes place this coming Saturday (05-03) at 7:00. Hope to see you then.

Design Talk Tonight -- Opening Night!

Stop by the DesignbySolo studios tonight for opening night of the design talk. Everything is taking off at 7:00 pm (lasting till 11:00). Hope to see you here.

Upcoming Event -- Design Talk

Want to announce a design talk I will be hosting at my design studio in the Cincinnati Area (hosted/funded by DesignbySolo). Several key speakers will be present and doing separate design presentations. I will be giving a presentation entitled, The Art of Graphic Design as Through the Eyes of One Man (long title, I know...) and some friends will be making presentations entitled, Print as Design, Today and Helvetica, Wacom, and Everything inn Between. Opening night will be 4-26-08 (this coming Saturday) and an encore conference will be held the next weekend, 05-03-08 (both starting at 7:00pm and lasting until 11:00pm). The poster above has details about the event and will be printed as a limited edition of only 100 worldwide. Contact me to order an event poster, US size, 24x36.