Barry The Bear

My final project for DDSGN 121 was to create a kids book using only Indesign for the layout. I then used Illustrator for all the drawings. Getting it organized before creating the characters seemed like it took the longest. Once I figured out the main looks of the character and the theme of the story it went pretty smooth. Now I've got a cool kids book for my 1 year old son Tommy that I can share with him.

Below is a link to see the book in PDF form. I'll post pics of the final printed book asap.

Check Out The Book Here!

More Fun w/ After Effects

The assignment was to follow one of the tutorials from videocopilot.net and to get used to his speed and detail. He goes fast but I learned a lot. I also used their new plugin 'Saber' for the last part of the assignment with my logo. The rest of the video was all done inside After Effects using textures and basic tools, a lot of them. I'm pretty sure I'm sold on the Element 3D plugin as well, as soon as I get an extra couple hundred bucks it's theirs.

Movie Poster Design

So it just so happens a client I've had for years is working on a web series titled 'Imperium' a gritty cops vs gangbanger series with a twist . . . some have super powers. I get an assignment for class that requires me to design a movie poster, and the next day the director calls and says they need a poster design by Friday. Bam, done, 2 birds, one design. Thankfully at their last filming they took plenty of great pics for me to use in the design. So I threw it all together in Photoshop, shook it around till the placements felt right and topped it all off with color blending, textures and brushes. I'm pleased with the outcome and so is the client.

If you would like to see a sample of the series they just released a teaser from the new footage. This is going to be pretty dope when it all comes together.
Check Out The Teaser for IMPERIUM!

Info Graphic in Google Docs Slide Show

This Infographic assignment required the use of the Google Slide Show in their Docs program. It was also required that we created some of the artwork in Illustrator to be placed in the slideshow. I'm not a big fan of simple layout programs, I seem to spend most of the time searching for tools. Google Docs wasn't too bad though, I'm not sure if I prefer it over Powerpoint yet. I also decided to make the Infographic about the Staffordshire Terrier. There's so much confusion about this breed and others that are lumped into the 'pit bull' name. Hopefully this will help somebody.

Check it out here!

After Effects Pop Up Gallery

Creating a pop up gallery in After Effects was the assignment, I decided to use some CD covers & a logo that I've designed for my client M Dot 80. All the covers were created in Photoshop and the logo was done in Illustrator & Photoshop.

3D Logo Design

I designed the Shev logo a while back in Illustrator and made it 3D using Photoshop 3D effects. I'm just beginning to work on the 3D capabilities of Photoshop. I'm looking forward to doing more.

Mini Seattle World

Another assignment from my 161 class (Advanced Photoshop). I had seen these types of designs in the past and never tried to do it myself. Once my instructor went over the basics of the tools we'd use, like polar coordinates & 3D sphere it wasn't too hard. I probably spent the most time finding pictures to use and getting the placement right before applying the polar coordinate effect. Once that was done it went fairly soothly.

Website Design #1

The requirement for this assignment was to create a 4 page website using a content management system. I had recently signed up to use the web design tool Webydo so I thought this was a great opportunity to give it a shot. I started by using a template and replaced all of their images with my own. I have tons of designs to use in a portfolio but no marketing info or useful text to use on a site to promote myself. So even though this is probably a temporary site it was a great learning experience.

Check the site out:
3RD EYE DEZINE

Baby Zombie

I took the pic of my son Tommy with my new 50mm lens and really liked the pic. So what better to do with a baby pic then make him a zombie! I spent some time on this project, lots of tweeking colors, adding textures, blending colors, and making him spooky.

Distressed Water Tower

I decided to take a picture of a water tower not too far from my house and give it that 'Walking Dead' feel. In Photoshop I used some textures of scratched metal and blended it with some other coloring. I created some rust brushes and fitted them to the tower using the warp tool. I added some graffiti, vines and busted cars to give it an abandoned apocalyptic look. Then I used the color lookup tool to finish it off.

Card Game Design

Creating a card game design for the front and back of playing cards to be used in a game called 'The Wall' was the assignment. I really had no idea what to do on this, and scrambled to get it done at the last minute. There wasn't any specific direction to go in as far as a theme so I decided to use some photos from a recent shoot in downtown Tacoma. It was created in Photoshop.

Shape Animation

Creating an animation using shapes in After Effects was the assignment. I did a little extra research on some tutorials I found on Youtube. I also added a few extra layers of texture and colors to give it some depth. Then last but not least I topped it off with some Lil Jon.

SLAM Cover

Slam Magazine is a annual publication put out by Pierce College. Our assignment was to come up with 2 cover designs for the publication. The only requirement was that it said "SLAM" & "Student Literary Arts Magazine" somewhere on the cover, with a one color motif that went with each design. I decided to use to of the latest projects from DDSGN 220 & 161 and throw together a mock-up of the book with it.

Sun Tzu Digital Painting

I'm glad I had to to turn this assignment in by Monday or otherwise I could of spent another 10-20 hours working on this. It was up to me whether I used Photoshop or Illustrator for this project, I chose to use only Photoshop because I'm more familiar with it and I was already out of my element attempting a painting. I'm happy with the way it came out, but I'd like to have been able to blend the colors into each other more seamlessly.

Photo Retouching

I personally feel that photo retouching is over done. I do retouching on every photo I use in a design. What I don't like doing is making women look like plastic dolls. I retouch pictures to make the over all look of the art work too look better and blend with all of the different elements of the design and theme.  I decided not to go "over the top" with the air brushing for this assignment and tried to leave the picture somewhat realistic. I took the picture back in 2013 for a Seahawk themed shoot for the 206 Girls.

Pop Art

It was a fun challenge creating a design in the pop art style popularized by Roy Lichstein. I was vaguely familiar with his work, but I recognize his style. I ended up taking a picture of my .45 and then drawing over the photo in Photoshop. Then creating a pattern in 2 sizes and using it for the background and smoke fill.

The Twilight Zone

I think I'm beginning to get the hang of After Effects. The assignment was to create a new intro to the classic TV show 'The Twilight Zone'. It was challenging, but I made this assignment tougher than it needed to be. I could of done more if I didn't have to limit the video to 25 seconds.

MYL Intro

From what started as a logo design in Illustrator turned to a website splash page design in Photoshop. Then I decided to do some animation in After Effects. More to come, stay tuned.

Dead Ahead

Here is a project from my DDSGN 161 class I worked on tonight. Using smart object mapped images I took my 3rd Eye logo and warped it around the skull. With some flourishes, some editing, and a big fat diamond I'm digging the way this came out.

My First Font

Creating my first font design was pretty tedious and I was only required to design the capitols for the font in this assignment. There is quite a few things I want to change in the design of the font but I have to start somewhere. So here is the first version of my first font.  

If you like the font feel free to use it for any personal use, and send me a shot of what you did with it, I'd love to see it.
Download the Shev One font here.