saltwatersharks

The Mailman Cometh.

2009-04-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a lil' guy I created for Easy Letter Sender. Also animated the amazing flying letters.

issuu.com and The Fanbook!

2009-03-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a guidebook I wrote/illustrated about living in the fan. It's geared towards students moving into The Fan with tools, maps, and info about how to make the most of this great neighborhood!

If you're not using issuu.com yet, get on! You can upload PDF's and let people flip through your work like a real book. A great outlet for displaying print media on the web!

Check out the rest of the book here!

New Type: Blocky Balboa

2008-10-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a typeface I recently finished. It is called "Blocky Balboa" and comes in two weights, regular and extended. You can use either interchangeably on their own or you can put one on top of the other for a two-toned appearance.

This is Blocky Balboa Regular.

This is Blocky Balboa Extended.

Here is an example of the two together.

Monster Cards.

2008-10-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I like to draw monsters on other peoples trash.

The Design Debate Pt. I : What is Graphic Design?

2008-10-16T06:32:00.001-07:00

PREFACE. Lately, I've been catching a lot of heat about my views on the definition of design. I hope in this series of posts, I can explain my thought process.

The age old discussion that has artists have pondered for centuries is simply, "what is art?" As artists, we ask ourselves this question everyday, and are often asked about it by others. Like most, I believe art can be anything and everything, as long as the artist can defend it in a way that makes it worthy of that title. If artists didn't sometimes do wild and wacky things that border on tastelessness, those of us who enjoy experimentation or making art that exceeds the realm of normality would not be able to defend its relevance or debate its coherence.

Design, though, is a bit different.

The first thing to understand is that Graphic Design is a type of design. I purpose that design is one, simple definition. To research, find, and execute a solution to communicate ideas from one party to another. Now, does that mean that Graphic Design ends there? No.

Design is all around us. Everything has been designed, whether it was figuring out where you wanted to go to dinner and how to get there, or the most complicated blueprints made by a NASA engineer. Graphic design is just one piece of the enormous design pie.

The Graphic Design profession focuses on a client/designer relationship in which the designer creates a unique, visual solution to a client's problem. The designer must effectively communicate the clients ideas in a way that solves the client's problem. The creation's visual details are determined by the designer to best suit the client, not to satisfy his vision of elitist aesthetic.

If you create a visual display of your environmental and political views or statements in poster form, you are an artist, not a Graphic Designer. That doesn't mean, if you are designing something for yourself, that you cannot express your personal agenda, it just means that Graphic Design is about meeting a client's needs, not about creating art.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to respond.

Birthday Party.

2008-10-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a flyer I made this week for my Birthday. Its pretty tight.

HalloweenTeeth.

2008-10-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

This was flyer I did this weekend for my girlfriend's Halloween party at school. She's in school for Dental Hygiene, so obviously, it's about teeth! (touffs)

Bike. Bike.

2008-10-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is a poster for an environmental-savvy day entitled "Unconsume Day." Its all about thinking about what you are consuming and thinking of ways to cut down on said consumption.

Yeah, I know its a load of BS, but it's school. And I think it turned out really great.

Sopranos Month!

2008-09-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

I have a bunch of Sopranos caricatures coming up soon. Here is just a sketch I did yesterday at work of good ole Paulie Walnuts.

A couple more sketches.

2008-09-10T06:46:00.001-07:00

More Trading Cards

2008-09-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

Two more fronts for this summers trading cards at work.

Some new sketches

2008-09-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple new sketches.

1st Caricatures for Kaman's Cards '08

2008-05-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my first drawings for the new season's trading cards. I decided to take a new approach this year with the drawings. Last year I went purely digital and drew them all in Illustrator with just outlines. This time, I'm drawing the outlines in Illustrator then printing them out and hand-coloring them. So far I'm pretty happy with what has come out. Feel free to let me know what you think!

I can't decide which one is my favorite, but I think it's this one.

Kaman's Trading Cards (2007)

2008-05-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

I designed these trading cards as an incentive program for Kaman's Art Shoppes, where I work as the Caricature Supervisor drawing, you guessed it, caricatures. Dave Walz, Fred Gonzalez, and I drew my fellow artists on the fronts of the cards while the artist info is on the back along with a small self-portrait in the upper right. I'm working on Series 2 for this year right now. When I have a bit more done I'll post them up here.

These are a few of the caricatures I did on the fronts.

Here's an example of the back of the cards. My card!

HeartFelt iPod Cases

2008-05-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Making these little guys has been an ongoing project inspired by some of the creations of my good friend Holly Greenwood. These are just a few of the cases In the style of socks and sleaves, using either clips, buttons, or velcro. I have a few little characters and animals gracing these lil' beauties, and will hopefully put some more like it up soon.

If you would like to purchase one seen here, or inquire about a custom peice, they are $8 for iPod socks and $10 for latched cases. For more information, send me an email at:

saltwatersharks@yahoo.com

A HeartFelt Summer

2008-05-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

This summer in addition to scrambling to have some sort of updates for you, I have decided to showcase some of my felt work I've been doing. This special event is called "HeartFelt Summer." I hope you enjoy my all of my hard, heartfelt work. Please feel free to respond with your own heartfelt creations.

Smuggerific

2008-04-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

This guy here is a deer I drew based on a trip to the Metro Richmond Zoo. He has massive jowls and reminds me of my friend Dave Mizelle.

A link to a photo of the beast. Deer.

Until today, my friend Johnny and I, thought that this creature was void of a name. So due to his content and smiling nature we named him a Smug. We found that he is actually called a Muntjac, a type of deer. We were so intrigued, I thought he needed his very own Pokemon card.

A link to a photo of the beast. Smug.

Beast Gift Wrap Package

2008-04-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

I was proposed with the problem of producing gift wrap patterns with the themes of sloth and diligence, one of the seven deadly sins and its opposing heavenly virtue. I created a character I called "Beast" to depict both lazy and productive activities on the gift wrap.

To take it one step farther...

I decided to take Beast and create gift boxes and gift tags that could be sold alongside the gift wrap and matching tissue papers or packaged together as a set.

Zeebs

2008-04-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

I produced these zebras based on a zoo exhibit I designed.

GDES Exhibition Entries

2008-03-29T00:16:00.000-07:00

The call for entries for the Graphic Design department's student juried show was on Thursday. I submitted 2 pieces for consideration and had both accepted. Here are the two pieces and a little more about them.

Dry Humor Self-Promotion Cards

These guys were a lot of fun to see brought to life. I had the fronts and backs printed on cardstock and when it came time to put it together I added an extra sheet between the two so they'd have a nice tangible quality. Since they're to size of the actual objects, they can be a lot of fun to play around with, not to mention the aweful puns they carry.

Fabricating Design

Fabricating Design is a printing process book I wrote and designed for Design Tech. It goes through a fairly brief overview of all the possible considerations and techniques associated with printing and finishing. I chose to represent the printing process as a spray can that sprays out CMYK inks. I used the CMYK motif throughout the book to help drive the point home.

The first and last pages of the book with the CMYK spray can.

A few spreads from the SETUP portion.

For anyone interested in seeing these and other great GDES student works, the show opens April 4th at 5pm at 1509 Main St. Later.

Blog Launch!

2008-03-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

The saltwatersharks blog is a listing of my latest designs and illustrations as well as other thoughts and comments I see fit to include. I hope you will check back often to see the latest happenings and that the content continues to intrigue and inspire. Look forward to seeing the first posts very soon!

-Rob