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.