Independent Client, NorEaster Industries, Buffalo NY

NorEaster Industries is headed by Jason Bussard of Buffalo New York. It is a computer technology service company. This client project was a good experience because it taught me a lot about working with a customer, and communicating as well as cooperating. The theme for this business set was snowflakes, and the client wanted the tone of his complany to be simple, balanced, and colorful. These images include: Business card, Front of postcard, back of postcard, and a stationary letter head.

Modernism vs. Post-Modernism Posters

Post- Modernism

Modernism Poster

Modernism vs. Post-Modernism was a challenge for me. Designing in a post-modern way is difficult because it is the opposite of the education I have received so far in college. Usually things are supposed to be balanced, legible, rational, and purposeful. In post-modern there are no rules, and as the designer one can control the heirarchy of importance and unbalance the design as much as they artistically want to. I feel like both of my designs are successful. The post-modern poster was fun to do, but was hard to break the rules. I layered images, and let the elements fall into place how I instinctually felt them go. The Modern poster was simplictic and rationally designed, it showed off the Paul Rand quote, and the design did what it needed to do. I feel like the black and white background really holds the quote and supports it, and does not distract. The Graphic Design is invisible, and the content is being show cased.

Animal Crackers! Re- Design

Animal Crackers!

I remember eating animal crackers when I was younger and loving them more than anything. I think to children decades ago and presently, this "cracker" is an enormous part of everyday life and could use some re-invention. So I tried to make the design my own, and like what I came up with.

One of the most interesting things I am glad I worked through was the illustrations of the animals. Though it was a challenge I think this is the most polished Illustrations I've done in my short career as a computer artist. I wanted to appeal to children, and use simple colors. I chose the main pallet to be a take on primary colors, with a more modern greenish tint yellow, and darker blue. The circus tent was fun to design, and I think it added a lot of movement to the overall Illustration.

I chose to change the font of the brand, and I feel like it brought Barnum's Animals Crackers into modern times. The circus font, although a trademark, was out dated for me.

For the construction of my package I even added the string to carry the box, which I feel put authenticity into the package. I am happy with this design, and it was fun to do.

Book Jacket Design- Tom Wolfe

For this book jacket design I was given two books by the same author and asked to create a "set". They needed to look aesthetically similar, and have a cohesive design. I did research on these books and found out that plot wise although different, they are focused on a certain individual going through some type of journey in life. So, I decided to use Adobe Illustrator to compose landscapes and create a journey on the page.

I am extremely happy with how my designs came out for these book jackets. I feel like they were very imaginative and gave a new life to these books. I was really happy with how the illustration of Tom Wolfe's name turned out when I placed it on the design, and I feel like these jackets were very successful as a pair.

I am definitely interested in book jacket design, and would want to work on more projects like this one.

Theater Poster- Arabian Nights

For our Theater Poster assignment we had to create a promotional picture for the play The Arabian Nights, written by Mary Zimmerman. After doing some research on the plot and having a meeting with the director of the play I decided I wanted to be simple with my design.

The colors are cool and relaxing, and the silhouette of the city skyline lends a sense of mystery to the play. Also I like the way I contrasted the information of the play with the elements of the sky and buildings. The hierarchy of information is implied, and I feel as if the viewer could easily read all the important dates and times easily.

I designed the A and N in Illustrator creating a sort of "sword" shape and I am really happy with how the title came out. I also learned about not depending on strokes around my images to help them stand out, the moon and stars for example just have simple gradients holding them off the background. I feel as if my illustration style in this was really developed, and interesting.