Process work.

This piece of work was an identity that I had to draw from scratch due to the customer not having any good quality images to scan or any eps, tif's either. Easy peasy huh? Well it was process work so to get the colours right as well as redrawing the text as vector turned out to be ......time consuming to say the least. Everything was drawn as a vector in Freehand 10 and then imported into Photoshop for colouring and finishing touches.
I think it turned out really well in the end. On a trip to London this year I actually saw this logo in etched glass on a railway station, how cool it looked and it made me feel that all that work was worth the effort in the end.

I love a good wedding.

For wedding favours at my wedding in 2005 I designed, recorded and printed some Cd's using the Coudal Brothers Jewel Box system. Now this system may not be the cheapest you can find, but let me tell you they are the very best bar none. The quality is excellent and the customer service is fabulous. I am UK based as opposed to Coudal which is US based. However when I mailed them with an urgent delivery request they were right back in touch and boy did they sort out my delivery for me. Much respect to Coudal.
So my Cd's turned out really good and everyone was well impressed (so impressed that every time I get invited to a wedding now I get requests for producing Cd's. I swear I only get invited to weddings these days to create the favours). Now my Mam asked me to create some for her wedding last year and I think for a very simple design they turned out quite elegant. Not too sure on some of her music choices mind (although Al Green - Let's stay together is an outstanding choice, but then again it was my contribution. As was George Michael).

Apologies

Hello and first off I must apologise for my lack of posts this week. It's been very bust at work (due to me finishing for Christmas tomorrow) with lots to get finished.
Good news as well, I have sold my very first t-shirt. Well actually I sold a jacket not a t-shirt so that's even better again. Thank you Chappers, thank you very much.
Anyway tonight artwork/illustration is something I drew up and used as a background image on a customers job. Personally I thought it was too good just for a background image and therefore thought I'd add it here. All the illustration was done in good old Freehand 10 (as is most of my vector work).

Invites.

This illustration was drawn up after a friend asked me to create some invites for her 39th birthday. She left all the decisions to me but did say she wanted something fresh and funky. I drew this up in Freehand 10 and then created a separate background and typography with the venue details.
When I first did this I was quite pleased but now looking back I think it has dated quite a bit. Still I thought I'd share it with you. You never know it might work out well as a t-shirt I suppose.

Newsletter.

Recently I have been producing a bi-weekly newsletter at work to help the division maintain focus and to allow for better communication and networking. Cheesily called LEADing news it centres around the lead generation culture we now adopt and how we can promote this amongst the teams within the division.
There have been some big changes lately and may I say they have been for the better, if nothing else I've been a lot more creative at work lately. Embrace change it's good for you.

Impulse-Tuning

Remember I mentioned Impulse-Tuning.com in an earlier post? Here's a visual I created for Impulse's launch of website. These were flyer's which were handed out and placed on windscreens around recognised "cruise" sites in the North East. I also did some vehicle graphics which were given away free as a marketing exercise to increase interest in the site. They seemed to work well as we were getting hundreds of hits even while we were finishing the site off.

Happy Christmas.

Deck the halls with bows of holly fal-al-al-la-la-la-la-la-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
It's nearly that time of year again when old Santa will be coming to leave all us good boys and girls some Chrissie pressies under our trees. Talking of trees I've been drafted in at work to produce some visuals for around the office to bring in some Xmas cheer (not to mention revenue). So I came up with this little guy. He hasn't got a name just yet, maybe you can think of one for him?
The original sketch was drawn up using good old pencil and paper and then I re-inked him in biro. Once I was happy in the scanner he went and into Photoshop to draw in the bold outlines and fill the piece with colour. I even added a shimmer to the lights just for realism.
I hope you like him, enjoy and Merry Christmas.

Cobble Craft Driveways.

After producing some business cards for a friend word of mouth spread a bit and it wasn't long before a friend of a friend wanted some cards doing too. Cobble Craft Driveways ID was then born. There were particular hurdles around this design I wanted to overcome and I think I did this in the finished design.
Firstly laying driveways is a very heavy labour intensive and dare I say it masculine job. The driveways that the owner Bryan laid were also very beautiful and bespoke to each customer. No two drives were the same. They included various different materials as opposed to the traditional tarmac, blocks and concrete you would first imagine.
I wanted to create Bryan something to match. Something bold and yet beautiful, something that all his clients would associate with. The company initials were used as the ID and placed on "concrete blocks" created in Photoshop. This side of the card was the powerful side, the masculine side of the business. The reverse however was much softer with a nice classic font and some classic images to finish it all off.
Bryan was very pleased with the result as was I and the cards got some good feedback from his customers too. We went on to produce flyer designs and other literature using this image on all of them.

The Trilogy.

Some of the rough ideas on brand ID I had for Alphalima were pretty decent (they say that some of your favourite/best work never gets published), so seeing as though this is my space on the web I'm going to publish them.
These were early concepts which were disregarded in favour of the "stripes" logo shown in the stationery and logo design posts.
I think the Russian military-esque star turned out particularly well and was a very bold design. The red bleeding a is also a very strong, powerful image both came very close to being the chosen ID. In the end though I think the stripes definitely won for the right reason and just portraid a slightly more classy image if you will.

Alphalima Stationery.

After my post the other evening about the Alphalima logo I found, I dug out the stationery I produced for the same company.
The stationery was designed to be very plain apart from the obvious impact of the logo itself. The stationery turned out particularly well in my opinion showing a very modern image and a lovely "clean" design. Theres no unecesary clutter like addresses, telephone or faxes just pure white space.
It really is a shame that Alphalima disappeared as I did some nice work under it's banner, more of which I will show in another post.

Identity.

Here's an identity I created for a company called Kart Parts. They are suppliers of racing go karts and spare kart parts.
The logo was drawn up in Freehand 10 and turned out quite nice. The typography is quite modern and clean. The racing stripes that form the background of the logo also suggest the feeling of speed and motion.
The logo was then used on the corporate website as well as some other printed materials.

Winter time is here.

Well the weather has fairly changed here over the last few days, we've gone from mild to down right awful. Strong winds and bad rainfall as well as the usual chill in the air.
Don't you just hate trying to wake up in the morning when it's pitch black still. Then you go to work all day and come home in pitch black all over again. It's horrible, where has the sun gone?
I'd love to live somewhere hot where the weather is nice all year round, then again I'd probably complain I missed the snow.

Now where's that extra pair of socks at?

Alphalima

Found myself going through some of my old online images last night due to the fact I was so very bored and came across an old image that made me smile.
I created this for a friends site which unfortunately isn't up and running anymore. We ran the site to try and get some design work on the side (you know just to make ends meet and all). We got a couple of little jobs, one of which was a huge website incorporating an OS Commerce shop for a then friends car tuning company by the name of Impulse Tuning.
Ah the good old days, funny how you stumble on these things and they take you back.

Photography.

Photography is a hobby of mine that I've adopted recently. I don't profess to understand what an f-stop is or how it differs from an ISO but what I do know is what I like.
Now I've been lucky enough to be blessed with 2 beautiful models (my children Devon and Lillie) and that I have produced some reasonably good result.
I don't go out to produce an image that people are going to like, as long as I like it then that's great. Everyone else can just like it or lump it so ner ner de ner ner! Posting images on the net however does allow you to get advice, advice that you can use on your next attempt. By doing this I've grown quite a lot and learnt to "look outside the box" when taking photos.
Below are some of my favourite images of recent times - enjoy.

Bamburgh.

If your ever given the opportunity to travel to Bamburgh I suggest you grab the chance to take it. Bamburgh is a beautidul small town in Northumberland and has the most amazing, quiet and clean beach you could ever hope for.
This is a firm favourite with us, even though it is an hour to an hour and a half drive for the simple reason that it is never over crowded. You don't have to sit around disgarded cigarette butts with your children or sit amidst used up beer cans.
One bonus to Bamburgh is it's fantastic castle which really is something to behold (if not expensive to view) and sits upon a hill over looking the beach. The castle is pretty much second to none in our area and is truly beautiful (a real treat for the historian or young knight to be alike).

Egypt.

We went to Egypt on our honeymoon just over a year ago and man oh man is that a place to see. We weren't fortunate enough to see the pyramids and the whole history side of things (due to only a one week stay - grandma's tend to get cranky when you leave them your kids for too long) but we did take in the Red Sea Riviera.
This place is fantastic! The people are great, although they are very "pushy", they see English people as very rich and able to spend vast amounts of money (I wish). Therefore they tend to want to be your friend and help you spend some in their shops. Other than that they are great fun and very respectful.
The food is brilliant, a mixture of different cultures and influences as well as traditional. It's also very cheap.
Now people will tell you that they know someone who knew someone who went who got really bad food poisoning. take this with a pinch of salt as this is not the case at all.
Beer is good too which you may not expect from a Muslim country but I gave it a big thumbs up.
The weather is outrageous, even at night it's red hot. The breeze that blows at night feels like someone following you with a hot hairdryer!
The best thing for me though was people watching. Sitting in a nice Bedouin bar at the side of the main strip and watching life go by while smoking a Shisha pipe (apple flavour being the best). the Bedouin bars tend not to serve alcohol but specialise in the Shisha pipes.
Now everyone thinks your going to get severely stoned smoking these but, they are nothing more than a flavoured tobacco smoked over water to allow for a very mellow, fragrant and tasty smoking experience. They come in quite a few fruity flavours and really need tried to believed. For about £1 you get a huge pipe full that will last most people around 45 minutes to an hour.
The diving in Sharm-El-Shiekh (where we stayed) is also second only to the Great Barrier Reef (allegedly). Some of the fish you see are beautiful and it is an experience indeed. You can find excellent diving just out the back of most hotels along the coast due to them having huge expanses of coral on the beaches which plunge into deep azure waters only feet from the beach.
We loved Egypt so much were going again this year as our main family holiday. I can't wait to get back. Maybe this time I'll try a camel.

I made this...

Here is a graphic I created for use by the 4x4 club I joined. Unfortunately it never got used as I intended, for stickers, wheel covers, banners and other club promotional materials.
Oh well you can't win em all. Enjoy.

The Offroaders!

A while ago I ran a 4x4 vehicle, not for the image of the "soccer mom/dad" but because where I live we have bad winters. Now my 4x4 ran superbly through one such winter and enabled us to stay mobile while a lot of others we not allowed that luxury.
While I had the car I used it off road too. Seeing as though so many never see off road I decided mine wasn't going to be like that. I was going to use it for what it was designed for.
So I joined a 4x4 club and we went to various sites around the UK and also had our own quarry where we held play days. I met a lot of good friends through that club all of us used our vehicles for the intended purpose and I also learned that they have huge respect for other road users.
Now this last fact may seem odd as our usual opinion of 4x4 drivers is of idiots who think they own the road - how wrong. Proper 4x4 users appreciate they are in charge of huge vehicles that can easily crush smaller vehicles and act responsibly because of this.
I learned a great deal about driving through the club (both off and on road), and also had a lot of great days out with my son who loved coming out with me.

It's nearly winter again maybe I can justify buying another...

Other love.

So we all have other loves beside our wives or girlfriends (boyfriends). Our dirty little secrets that we hide. Our yearning for something more, something DIRTY.
Well mine aren't quite seedy however they are very, very dirty. In fact they are about as dirty as you can get....
Mountain biking of course. What else were you thinking? I love to get out on the bike with nothing but fresh air for company. The feeling of a hangover on a Sunday morning and how it slowly slips away the further and harder you pedal. Returning home hours late to munch down on roast meat and veg smothered in thick gravy sauce.
The beauty of the changing seasons, from the bleak and freezing white of winter right through to the multi-coloured tones of autumn. Fantastic.
Why not leave the car at home this weekend and try something new, come on let's get dirty together.

Inspiration.

What inspires you?
I find mine mostly it's my family these days. They drive you, make you better, make you work harder than before.
Why?
For me it's the need to provide for them, to protect them and to be responsible for them all and make sure they have the best life possible.
Without family what is there?
Nothing, nothing worth worrying about anyway.
Family is everything.