Feb 12, 2013 | CAPITALS
Sticking with New England, it’s Augusta’s turn in CAPITALS. Augusta, Maine is the capital of Maine, located within the state of Maine. That, in a nutshell, sums up the entirety of my knowledge of...
Feb 11, 2013 | CAPITALS
Another New England capital, it’s Boston’s turn in CAPITALS. Boston is a great city. So much to do, so much to see, it’s possible to get so wrapped up in Boston that you forget that there is more to the state of Massachusetts. That’s right Bostonians…let that sink in for a moment. There is, indeed, a mysterious land west of Boston, affectionately known as Western Massachusetts. A few brave souls have ventured into this vast, unknown region. They were never heard from...
Feb 10, 2013 | CAPITALS
Kicking off CAPITALS is the city of Concord, New Hampshah. Who doesn’t love a good Venn diagram? Obviously this one is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is true that most of New Hampshire’s population is huddled in the bottom 1/3 of the state, leaving the remaining 2/3 for the moose (and other wildlife) to roam free. Early settlers probably got tired of chipping away at the massive granite slabs throughout the state and just decided to park in...
Feb 10, 2013 | CAPITALS, Productive Boredom
In The Big 5-0, I tackled the 50 United States and their mottos. That project was a lot of fun, so I’ve decided to continue with that geographic theme and do something similar for state capitals. It always amazes me how many people don’t know any state capitals. Note that I didn’t say all capitals, but any of them. Pick a state…any state. Preferably your own state. Find a map and locate that one city that makes each state feel special with a nice big star. I’m not sure I’ll actually get through all 50 because 1. I don’t want to commit to coming up with something for each capital and 2. I’m not currently in the glorious Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year abyss that results in an abundance of free time. We’ll see how far I get before losing interest. Once again, I have a few simple rules: 1. Each capital gets a 500 x 500 pixel square. 2. Each square must include the capital city, the state name or abbreviation, an outline of the state, and a little something extra. 3. That’s it…three’s a crowd. And with that, let the project...
Jan 30, 2013 | Greeting cards
Flow charts. Love ’em or hate ’em, these little buggers are everywhere – except birthday cards. Until now (cue dramatic music). The premise for this card is simple: Why have one large section of cards for people who are actually sending their cards on time and a tiny, pitiful “belated” section for everyone else? Really, in the name of efficiency we could combine them into one card. Plus it saves paper, which is so green it’s bound to be cool. Of course you argue that not sending a card in the first place would be even greener, but I’m going to ignore that fact. The design I wanted was simple: a basic color palette and no drop shadows, gradients, or other such effects. The main tools I used were various textures, the pencil tool (one I generally pretend doesn’t exist), the smoothing pencil tool (who knew?), and some scatter brushes (most of which didn’t actually make the cut – so sad). Naturally there were some standards too, like the pen tool and pathfinder, but those are two tools that even I know how to use. Using this card is easy. Depending on when you are giving the card, follow the flowchart and write your message in the appropriate location. And don’t try to fake out the flowchart…the flowchart knows all. One of the things I still haven’t gotten used to with Illustrator is how layers are handled. After a while I realized I had one layer with everything on it and I couldn’t easily get to the selection I wanted. Needless to say the amount of time I spent...
Jan 27, 2013 | Greeting cards
We’ve all had that moment. The one where you realize that you completely forgot someone’s birthday and have no good excuse for the oversight. It happens. For this card, I knew what I wanted to say but had no idea what it should look like. Because the whole purpose if this greeting card project is to force myself to use Illustrator features outside my comfort zone, I wanted a design that would require drawing, shading, and various effects – not just creating shapes of different colors (even I can do that). The idea for the bird design goes way back. Let’s just say that birds have a way of spreading their joy all over my apartment window, car windows (yes, plural), softball equipment, etc. At some point I must have pissed off a bird and clearly I am not yet forgiven. It also happens that a bird is one of the few cartoon characters I can draw with anything resembling consistency. So I set off to draw both the happy bird and the peeved bird. With the birds in place, I used watercolor brushes and a gaggle of clipping masks to color in the birds, tree, sign, and background. The overall look I wanted was that of a children’s book. Note that I probably should not write children’s books. As an added bonus, I had extra practice courtesy of an Illustrator crash that forced me to redraw the birds. A certain bird may have been flipped in the process. Note to self: always save. Always. In case it isn’t obvious, this isn’t a card I’d send to just anyone....
Jan 26, 2013 | Greeting cards, Productive Boredom
This is the start of another side project created as an excuse flex some creative muscle. With The Big 5-0 I worked mostly in Photoshop and by the end I was much more familiar with PS features I don’t often use. For this project, I have a new target: Illustrator…my nemesis. I don’t use Illustrator for much more than drawing the occasional vector graphic, but not for lack of trying. I’ve gotten so used to Photoshop that I tend to move from Illustrator to PS as soon as I can, even if Illustrator is truly the superior application for the task. If Photoshop is my crutch, Illustrator is a beaver trying to gnaw on that crutch for dinner. That analogy made more sense in my head, but I’m going with it. Once I decided to tackle Illustrator, all I needed was a topic. Browsing through a depleted post-holiday greeting card aisle, it hit me: greeting cards. Why? Because greeting cards are boring. Yes, there are some real gems out there – 55 Hi’s has some ingenious cards in both copy and construction. In general, though, cards are fairly stale due to the need for mass appeal. That’s where this project comes in. Since I doubt I’ll actually do anything with the cards I design, there’s no need to worry about what people will or won’t respond to. Plus, the graphic options are endless so I can endure various forms of Illustrator torture. Let the fun...
Jan 14, 2013 | The Big 5-0
It’s time for Texas in The Big 5-0. Everything is bigger in Texas, including the state. And yes, I realize that Alaska is, in fact, larger in area, but it’s easy to ignore a state located in a box somewhere off the coast of California. This tutorial was an integral part of this design. Texas not enough? Mosey on over here for some more...
Jan 14, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Now in The Big 5-0 is Vermont. For this one I was trying to go with the look of an old-fashioned pancake mix. After all, what is more synonymous with Vermont than maple syrup? To make the syrup-y state name, I used this liquid-filled glass tutorial as a starting point. See the rest of the U.S....
Jan 13, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Illinois is up in The Big 5-0. There is more to Illinois than just Chicago, or so I’ve been told. From my many trips across the state I can verify that there are a few stragglers wandering in the lower 2/3 of the state. More states can be found...
Jan 13, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Up next in The Big 5-0 is New Mexico. It turns out that New Mexico is the only state with an official state question: Red or green? The question refers to the color of chile pepper. File that away in the random knowledge vault. Want to see more? Click...
Jan 12, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Now in The Big 5-0: South Dakota. What do you do if you’re a state devoid of a major tourist attraction? Some states might start rolling the world’s largest ball of twine, but if you’re Dakota #2, you find a large rock in the middle of your state and start carving. That’s how it’s done in SD. Want more states? Click...
Jan 12, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Up next in The Big 5-0 is Nebraska. If you ever find yourself driving through Nebraska during the height of summer, crack open a window. Ah, the sweet smell of Nebraska. More states found...
Jan 12, 2013 | The Big 5-0
It’s New Jersey’s turn in The Big 5-0. New Jersey has the distinction of being the only state for which I used the actual state motto. Of course, I did add a little something to it. Like many people, I am most familiar with the less-than-garden-y parts of New Jersey, but I’ve been told the rest is lovely. Jersey not enough for you? Click here for more...
Jan 10, 2013 | The Big 5-0
It’s Missouri’s time in The Big 5-0. Missouri is the Show Me State, but I’ve never quite figured out what exactly we’re being shown. Show me more! Sure, just click...
Jan 10, 2013 | The Big 5-0
It’s Tennessee time in The Big 5-0. There were two obvious themes for this one: country music (Nashville & Memphis) and bbq (Memphis). I had an idea for the latter, so I went with it. This design is one of my favorites as far as execution. I had an idea and what do you know…it actually came out the way I imagined. Go figure. Guess what! There are 49 more...
Jan 9, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Now in The Big 5-0, the small but mighty Rhode Island. In case you’ve never noticed, Rhode Island isn’t actually an island. Shocking I know. That is, unless Connecticut and Massachusetts are water, which they are not. Meet some of Rhode-sort-of-Island’s pals...
Jan 9, 2013 | The Big 5-0
Up next in The Big 5-0: baked Idaho. Oh Idaho. Home of the potato – the incredibly delicious potato. This is one of my favorites for one simple reason: potatoes are awesome. Want to see more? Click...
