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.

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.