Thursday, December 8, 2011

Rubik's Cubes, men's hygiene, and 2012

Praise Jesus the end of the semester is here! I've been busy with quite a few design projects this past month. As posted earlier this week, I just finished and am selling 2012 calendars I designed. I'd appreciate your support in buying one! You can view and purchase the calendars here.
I've also been busy working on a couple design projects for school. These were a couple of the most extensive and also most exciting projects I've done to date, and I'm very happy with how both turned out. All the design projects this semester have pushed the limits of what I can achieve and design with enough research and critical thinking. Really happy for my new art instructor, Jeff Smith, who has a high standard of excellence for us. I think its paying off!
This first set of images is a line of men's bath and body products called CODEX (I've gotten most criticism about the name from women, who immediately think of Kotex- a feminine product! ha. However, my sister made a good point: Its ironic that Kotex is a strictly feminine product, and that CODEX is a strictly masculine product). The target audience is ages 30-50. The idea behind the design of CODEX is that I want there to be a line of products that encourage men to get off the couch and be "real men" Its a product that helps lazy, no-game guys turn it around by offering the essentials you need to make that happen. Its actually meant for different types of men: those who are lacking that "manly" edge, and also those who are already "manly men" but need a product that is up to par with their manly lifestyle. Do you think this communicates the idea well?



The entire product consists of lotion, cologne, shaving cream, hair wax, a t-shirt, and a few other random items for the perfect "manly package" ;)
I also had to make some stationery to go with the style of the products  

In addition to B&B products and stationery, I also had to come up with an ad and promo poster. Pretty clever ad if I do say so myself... :)

Ryan is the face of CODEX

This next project is an album design. Believe it or not, the inspiration for the entire design came from a Rubik's Cube and an old book. We had to take 2 random objects and come up with a title for an album for the band of our choosing. Naturally, I chose my own band, Static Society. Not only did we need to come up with a title, but we also needed a concept, or story, that adhered to the title.
The title I came up with was The Cubist Compendium. The concept behind the title and the design is the idea that life can be simpler than people make it a lot of the time. A Cubist is type of artist that takes an object and breaks it down into its simplest form (for example, a cubist would take the image of a car and break it down into an image consisting of circles and rectangles). Of course, there is a level of the artist's own interpretation in the art as well. Anyways back to the concept: people today make things in their life so complicated and gray, and it really doesn't have to be that way. There can be black and white areas; there can be absolution; everything doesn't have to be unknown. So The Cubist Compendium concept is essentially about how you can know the areas of absolution, and addresses issues of ambiguity in one's life. The simple shapes mixed with the victorian-style people and grungy backdrop represent clarity and simplicity in a meddled, imperfect world.
The design as a whole is a little more metaphoric and abstract than narrative, but I did't feel like the concept called for a strictly narrative approach, because I am addressing more of an idea than an actual story. I'm very happy with how this came out. What do you think?

Album cover

Booklet design 
CD design and back of the CD case

Promotional postcard



Saturday, December 3, 2011

You need calendars. I made some for you.

Whew after working on these for a long time, they are finally up for sale- my series of 2012 calendars! Just in time for Christmas, too. I can see these stuffing many stockings! With 6 different designs, there is probably one for you, so check them out! View my calendars here!
Here's some images of some of the calendars to get your interest growing :)