New Project: GSI Pawn Shop

I recently finished up a project for the GSI Pawn Shop in Tooele, Utah. My client wanted a sign for the side of his business, something based on the old gasoline logos of yesteryear. He knew exactly what he wanted and he even had a sign company working on it, but the text wasn’t coming out the way he wanted it, so he asked me to take over. Modern technology can only do so much, and when you want a certain look sometimes you have to get creative. It took some research and a bit of trial and error, but I enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot, and best of all, my client is happy with the final results. So pretty soon this will be a 5 ft. sign on the side of his building. I’m working on a couple of other projects right now, but when I get a chance I will give a more in depth overview of the process, or maybe even a tutorial.

Retro Thank You Notes Coming Soon!

Gadzooks! This has been a busy couple of weeks. I'm getting ready to relaunch the Wiles Side Etsy shop, so that should be coming later this week. I'm doing a soft-launch (basically just means I'll gradually be adding listings rather than everything all at once). Starting off with some retro inspired thank you notes. I've got 7 ready to go, but hoping to get 1 or 2 more done before Wednesday. Anyway, these will be available for instant download, you print your own as needed, or you can have them printed at your local copy shop. I've also got a couple of printing partners lined up, so I'll be offering finished cards soon—hopefully. Next up will be pre-designed business and profile cards, kind of template hybrid. These will be followed by a pre-order T-shirt, probably of the tiki persuasion, but it still isn't set in stone. I'm also thinking of re-launching the Wiles Side Zazzle shop, too, but I'm still kind of irritated with those bastards —so we'll just have to see about that.

Rough Draft: Car Show Flyer

Just a rough draft, but you can still see where it's headed.

I’ve been working on re-launching the Wiles Side Etsy shop lately and have been working on samples for listings and such. So here is a rough of one of the flyer designs I’ve been kicking around. It features a 1955 DeSoto Firedome, which may seem a little obscure, but it is a sweet looking ride, and I think many of the more popular classics, the 55-57 Chevy Bel Air for example, have become clichés and are way over used. Although I would be perfectly happy to park one in my driveway. But back to the design, obviously it will need a few rounds of revisions—including completely re-working the car, but I think you can see where I’m headed with it. Oh, and just to be clear, this is NOT an actual event, and as far as I know the venue doesn’t exist either.

Happy Vanetine's Day!

Behind the Scenes: Sketchbook Cover Painting

Wiener-Schmallow, my first painted sketchbook cover.

Closeup of new sketchbook cover painting called Wiener-Schmallow.

Painted sketchbook cover in my messy studio.

I've noticed that the legendary illustrator, Gary Baseman, often paints the covers of his sketchbooks. Sounds like a great idea, if nothing else so that you can tell one sketchbook from another. I've got dozens of filled sketchbooks and they all look the same, which makes finding a specific sketch a time consuming ordeal. Besides it sounds like a hoot and is something I've always wanted to give a try, but somehow never got around to doing. In fact, I've kind of abandoned the classic hardbound sketchbooks over the past couple of years in favor of cheap newsprint sketchbooks which I have been using with colored pencil for almost all of my sketches and layouts. I really like the look the bright colors on the newsprint and it has a really nice soft feel to it while drawing, too, unless your pencil is too sharp and pokes through the paper. I don't think I stopped using "real" sketchbooks as an intentional thing, it just kind of happened. I used to carry one with me at all times, especially on my daily trek to Starbucks, where I would sketch people and ideas for at least an hour every day. Sadly, the world's worst *barista was given the job of manager at my local Starbucks and has turned it into an absolute shithole, so I don't go in anymore—but I digress, let's get back on track and just say that somewhere along the line I started using newsprint pads and stopped using the hardbound "real" ones. The hardbound books give a nice organized record of sketches, notes and ideas in chronological order unlike the cheap news pads which tend to fall apart and become a sloppy pile of loose sketches, even if the individual pieces look cool, as whole they're a hot mess. So I decided it's time to get back to the real deal. I picked up a real hardbound sketchbook the other day and decided to christen it by painting the front cover, just something fun that wasn't part of a project or anything. I got out my acrylics and painted a piece I'm calling Wiener-Schmallow. It's generally based on the anthropomorphic food stuff featured in the old animated snack bar ads from the movies of yesteryear, and features an angry marshmallow with a barbecue fork menacing an irritated looking hot dog. If you want the back story, it seems that Mr. Hot Dog has been making time with Mr. Marshmallow's wife—obviously, Mr. Marshmallow is none too pleased. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, and I've actually started a digital version, although I've had to put on hold for the holidays and such, but it could still very well become the start a side project. We'll just have to see what 2015 brings.

Thanks for stopping by and checking things out.

Cheers!
Robert

*For legal reasons, I want to make it clear that I am NOT saying she is an incompetent, lazy asshole.

Christmas Card: Mid-Century Snow Scene

A Christmas card that I designed a little too late for this year (but should be plenty of time for 2015) featuring a quiet mid-century snow scene. I did versions in a number of other color schemes, but I think this one is the strongest.

WIP: Halloween Cards 2014 Part II

The original plan for the 2014 Halloween card line, was that I would have them printed up and do the shipping myself, but then I ran into some technical glitches (Windows 8 incompatibilities and whatnot) which put me way behind schedule. So now they will be released very soon through the brand new Wiles Side shop on Zazzle. The thing with Zazzle is that while their T-shirts are hit and miss, their paper products have always been high quality, and their turn around is pretty quick. That is why I'm opening the new shop. It will be featuring all new designs, which will only be available on paper products: greeting cards, invitations, business cards, etc. The old shop is still around because there are some fairly regular customers for some of the products, but nothing new will be added to that shop.

And now without further ado, here is a preview of the Wiles Side Graphics 2014 Halloween Collection.

Mod-Kitty Triumvirate Version #1
This design with the working title: Mod-Kitty Triumvirate is pretty much done, I'm just quibbling with myself over coloring and some minor design elements. During the MCM era the American public was mad about long necked slender kitties.

Mod-Kitty Triumvirate Version #2
This design with the working title: Mod-Kitty Triumvirate is pretty much done, I'm just quibbling with myself over coloring and some minor design elements. During the MCM era the American public was mad about long necked slender kitties.

Mod-Kitty Triumvirate Version #3
This design with the working title: Mod-Kitty Triumvirate is pretty much done, I'm just quibbling with myself over coloring and some minor design elements. During the MCM era the American public was mad about long necked slender kitties.

MCM Diamonds
This one is another a work in progress with a round of minor revisions still to come. The design was inspired by the diamond motifs that were a staple of mid-century design in nearly everything from cocktail napkins to the front doors of houses. As I mentioned in the previous design, these skulls are borrowed from the Wiles Side logo and are just for placement. They be replaced by something hand-drawn, maybe skulls, or perhaps a shrunken head, it's really too soon to tell.

MCM Bowling
Also a work in progress with another round of minor revisions to go. This design was inspired by the many mid-century bowling alleys that were all the rage back in the day, and are, sadly, becoming scarcer every day. These skulls are borrowed from the Wiles Side logo and are just for placement. They will probably be replaced by hand-drawn versions, or maybe zombies or something.

MCM Long-Diamonds and Dog-bone
Still a work in progress this design featuring long mid-century diamonds with a staggered dog-bone motif is at least one revision from release. The jack-o-lanterns are just for placement and will probably be replaced by hand-drawn versions.