Wiles Side on Etsy

Re-launching the Wiles Side shop on Etsy this weekend. I'm starting off with these mid-century snow scene printable art instant downloads, which will be followed by the Wiles Side Christmas Card Favorites Collection also as instant downloads. From there I'll be launching some new designs as well as some custom graphic services.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WilesSide…

Sneak Peak: Fat Bob's Hair Goo

Not a real product, but if I were to market my own pomade this is how the packaging would look. I have 17 variations on this design (plus some sketches), but I think this one is the winner, or at least close to being the winner, it may still need some tweaks and adjustments, I won’t know for sure for a day or two. I usually try to let a design sit for a little bit before I call it finished, so in a few days I’ll either fix it or call it done and put it in my portfolio.

ThrillsVille Lost

Quite some time ago I had a blog going called ThrillsVille Deluxe which I abandoned in 2011, it was just becoming more of a chore to keep up with. I came up with an illustration as a header for the blog way back when and I was pretty pleased with it, in fact, it’s still in my portfolio as of this writing, but this new one may be replacing it soon, I haven’t decided. Anyway, I was going through some old files and came across a version that was a rejected roughs, but I still kept it. I had completely forgotten about it, but when I ran across it I decided to finish it up and see how it came out, and this is the result. It was inspired by a place my family used to go on the Oregon coast called The Surftides, it had some really cool mid-century architecture, including an amazing restaurant called Over the Waves, which is sadly gone now. Actually, most of the cool stuff has been refurbished, but the pool which is similar to the building in the background is virtually unchanged, and is just as cool as you can imagine.

Tiki Head Revisited

Lately I’ve been revisiting some old works and re-working them. I just finished this one—although a few things may still need refined—it’s from 2010, and was inspired by a gouache painting I did for a tiki art show (as far as I know the original is still hanging in someone’s home tiki bar somewhere here in PDX). I changed the colors and completely re-did the background. I’ll have a few more of these updated pieces in the coming weeks.

A Little Las Vegas Neon Boasting

The Bombshell neon. Image courtesy Melissa Black, used with permission.

The Bombshell logo I designed way back when.

Hey kids! I’m just doing a little shameless boasting here. A few Years ago I did a logo for a company called Bombshell Brazilian in Richmond, Virginia,  they’re a chain of salons which  specialize in the waxing of various bits and pieces, as well as hair, nails, etc. Over the years I’ve done  quite a a few other projects for them. Anyway, since I designed that logo they’ve opened 2 more locations, won more awards than you can shake a stick at, and now they are getting ready to dance on the national stage when they open their newest shop located across the country in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Which brings me to the boasting portion of today’s post, I recently heard from, Melissa (one of the owners) that they are installing a neon sign based on my original logo design, and I couldn’t be more pleased because after all,  what is Vegas without neon? It’s a big, dark city in the middle of the desert, that’s what.  I’m really excited because this is something I’ve never seen before, despite all of my years of designing in the retro vein I have never seen one of my designs in neon. It’s going to look incredible when it’s lit up at night, and I can’t wait to see it in person, although I’m not sure when that will happen, it will depend on what 2016 throws my way. In the meantime I would just like to congratulate Melissa and Scott Black on their spectacular and well deserved success. The final date for the grand opening hasn’t been set yet, but I believe it will be in mid February. So if you find yourself in Las Vegas stop in and say hello and have a look around and tell them I said “hey”.

WIles Side Graphics Logo for 2016 (WIP)

Here is a behind the scenes look at some of what I’ve been up to lately. I’m reworking the WSG website for release in in 2016, and in the process I’ve been kicking around some new logo ideas. I’m pretty pleased with this one, not finished my any means so it’s still a work in progress, but I like where it’s going. I Really like this new color scheme, too—although the shade of blue may change before the final version is debuted. I’ve been using black and red for such a long time now that I think blue my add a freshness to everything.

Molokai Gardens Design Revisited

Tonight I revisited an old design I did a few years back (2011, I think). The overall design is intact, it still features a combination of vintage clip art with some digitally drawn elements. I did change the colors and the fonts, but other than that I just played around with some things.