Work In Progress: Halloween Card #1

Here is a sneak peek of a work in progress. This is the first of three Halloween card designs that I have been working on for 2014. This one is mostly done, just some color adjustments and such, the other two are being a little more stubborn but they’re coming along as well, and all three will soon be available in the WS Etsy shop, the WS Big Cartel shop and the brand new WS Zazzle shop.

Coming Soon . . . Halloween Cards

Holy Smacks! Can you believe we're halfway through September already? I'm in full-scramble mode trying to get a small line of Halloween cards done for this year. I plan to do this every year, but it seems that something always comes up to bugger things, and I never get them done. Well, something came up this year, too, nevertheless, I'm determined to offer up a small line, just three different cards, and it will be a pretty short run, too, probably only 50-75 of each. I haven't finalized all the details, and this next week is going to be crucial, so I probably won't be posting much, at least not until everything is set. If all goes well, I'll do it again at Christmas, and I'm also planning on thank-you cards, note cards and party invitations as well.

Stolen: Hellbetty Jewelry Inventory

For those of you in the PDX area. Sad news to report, one of my clients, Miz Tarrah over at Hellbetty Jewelry, has essentially had her entire business stolen. She makes upcycled domino jewelry and other trinkets and sells them online and at craft fairs and such, or at least she did. Her business was based out of her home and someone got into her house and took all of her inventory (see the flyer for details on what was taken). These are all handmade items and they took a lot of time and energy to create, so there's really no way she can get up and running again without recovering her inventory. She's already had to cancel the rest of her summer festival gigs. If you know anything or see anything please let her know.

Flyer Layout: Pinup Fashion Show

I recently ran across this Peter Driben pinup girl and when I realized she was in the public domain, I had to do something with her. So here is a flyer for a non-existing pinup fashion show. Neither of the businesses exist, nor does the address or the featured pinup models who are mentioned. I made it all up. In other words, this is just Adobe Illustrator CC practice, but I had fun designing it, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

WIP: Mid-Century Thank You Note Design

Still getting used to the new computer and the new version of Illustrator, but it is coming along. Kicking around the idea of some Mid-Century themed thank you notes. This is still a little rough and unbalanced, but I think you can see where it's headed.

Tumblr Blog Logos

I mentioned a CorelDraw experiment a while back, and I have to admit it failed miserably. I didn’t realize how much I had been depending on the keyboard short cuts in Illustrator without even thinking about it. Most of the Corel shortcuts are either different or gone completely, I don’t know if you’ve ever accidentally put on someone else’s pants before, but it was kind of like that: weird, awkward and a bit disorienting. So to make a long story short I’ve moved on to the Adobe CC Suite—just Illustrator and Photoshop for now—and the above are some Tumblr blog logos I’ve done to help me get back into it. There are quite a few changes with the new version of Illustrator, too, but at least I know the overall package, so I imagine I’ll be going with the full subscription soon.

Googie Pool House on the Oregon Coast

Lately I've been taking care of a lot of personal domestic stuff, as well as learning a new operating system (since the demise of Windows XP earlier this month) but since Windows 8 doesn't support most of the old programs I've been using and a lot of the equipment, too, I've also been figuring out work-arounds and learning  new versions of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, so not much art or design has been getting finished, but there should be some coming in a few weeks or so. In the meantime, here are some reference shots of  a charming little piece of mid-century architecture that looks like it came straight from an episode of The Jetsons, but can actually be found on the Oregon coast in Lincoln City. It’s the pool house at the Surftides Resort, which was originally an apartment complex back in the 50's, although that was long before my time. When I was a kid we stayed here during a number of family vacations, and I’ve got many fond memories of it. They used to have the coolest restaurant built into a cliff over looking the beach. It was called Over the Waves and featured a semi-circular building with a specatular view of the coastline from Cascade Head down to at least Siletz Bay. There have a been quite a few changes since then, but it is still a pretty nifty place to stay—it’s kind of away from all the hub-bub of downtown Lincoln City (yes, that really is a thing), but still close to restaurants, shops and such.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers!
Robert