one swell blog

The Luckiest Boy in Puppetland.

2012-01-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

AGAIN, I have had the great fortune to be able to collaborate with Jeff Matz and Lure Design to help create the upcoming campaign for the 2012 Florida Film Festival. I'm the luckiest boy in Puppetland.

Cheap crap and Christmas.

2012-01-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, I loved dime store toys. I could go into a dime store on Allowance Day and spend every penny on crap -- cheap seductive beautiful crap that, if lucky, would make it all the way home before I had a chance to destroy it. Devil's Fingernails, Sheriff's Badges, Rubber Spiders, Atomic Water Pistols, and Smoking Monkeys were my treasures.

The chief marketing tool for this cheap crap was the header -- a colorfully printed folded piece of cardboard stapled to the polyethylene bag that held the object of my desire. I think in some cases the headers were more expensive to produce than the toy it was selling. The headers hung from pegs specifically adjusted to be at my eye level. I'll never forget the power of those simple folded pieces of cardboard.

My Christmas card this year was an homage to all that stuff that made me happy when I was a kid.

By the way, if you want to be added onto next year's XMAS card list, email me your address and I'll add you. I might come up with something worth keeping.

Too much time on things that don't matter.

2012-01-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

So, I've been introduced to Tumblr. It's about time, eh? Although, I'm not sure if it has any value beyond being just an enormous time vacuum. The exposure one might get as a creator is defeated by the anonymousness of the venue. It's like having an art gallery where nothing can be purchased and there are no placards indicating who did the art. Good for the viewer, I suppose, but not so much for the people who make the stuff. We'll see...

Any way, here's a picture I did while I was playing around with my little ghostie. I combined my three favorite things: little ghosty, clouds and car crashes. Maybe not car crashes.

Not willfully obscure.

2011-12-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

The next poster in the Enzian Cult Classic Series is for "Tommy," Ken Russell's 1975 paean to rock and roll and pop culture. Completely over-the-top, this film stands as a monument to excess and the unbridled creative synergy of director Russell and The Who's Pete Townshend.

You will never view baked beans the same.

And yes, I used the word paean.

Occupy this.

2011-12-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine once said, "if you can't make it good, make it big. And if you can't make it big, make it red." There you go. My design philosophy in a nutshell.

This a poster I originally did to advertise an Orlando art show given to support workers' rights. Go, workers.

It can be had at the web site of my pals and collaborators, Lure Design.

Going back to Kali.

2011-11-16T07:43:00.001-08:00

This is a 3" Vinylmation figure I did for Disney's Park Series 7. It is a representation of Animal Kingdom's Kali River Rapids. Thanks to Thomas Scott.

Well, butter my biscuits.

2011-11-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

I just found out, like, two minutes ago, that one of my Enzian Cult Classic Movie posters just got accepted into the Society of Illustrators "Illustrators 54" show. In the Society of Illustrators' words: "the exhibit will be held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators (NYC) February 25 to March 17, 2012. It features works by leading contemporary illustrators worldwide, selected by a prestigious jury of professionals."

Oh, yeah.

If you're interested in getting your own copy of the "To Catch A Thief" poster, go visit my pals at Lure Design. They'll set you up.

Jemimah.

2011-09-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

I used to have a crazy dog, Jemimah. She looked like a Doberman, German Short-haired Pointer mix - skinny long legs, all milk chocolate brown with a pointy snout. Sometimes when she'd get out of the yard, she'd run full throttle in a straight line like a nitro-fueled dragster. Where was she going? No one ever knew, but she sure needed to get there FAST.

This is a sketch I did for painting that never happened. I feel like someday I should do that painting.

This is crazy.

2011-08-24T08:12:00.001-07:00

I could look at this for hours.

A few more Enzian posters.

2011-08-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Finally. Here are a few posters from the Enzian Cult Classic Movie series. These can be purchased at Lure Design's joint.

Go, and never darken my towels again!

2011-07-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

BEHOLD the cheerful insanity of the Marx Brothers! You'll LAUGH OUT LOUD at the wacky antics of this celebrated comedy foursome. SEE the delightful mayhem! HEAR the witty dialogue! MARVEL at the costumes and sets!

This poster is the first in a series for Enzian's new Saturday Matinee Classics film festival.

Abandoned Projects, the First

2011-05-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

One day I was going through the garage to pull out some things for a yard sale and I ran across a box of dolls from my wife's childhood. Among the dolls was an Eskimo Pie advertising doll. It was just two pieces of printed fabric that were sewn together and stuffed with cotton, or something. A very simply process that left lots of room for design potential. I decided then I'd like to make something like that.

I sat down to ponder and draw and came up with some stuff that I didn't hate — "Devil Dolls" — limited edition hand-screen printed, stuffed dolls. The dolls would be sold on a subscription basis only. For, let's say, $150 you'd get a total of six dolls guaranteed to be in a limited production of no more than, let's say, 50 or 75 each. The dolls, packaged like cheap dime store toys in clear plastic bags with printed cardboard headers, would arrive once a month for six months. The header would have depictions of all the dolls in the series except for the last one which was shown only as a Devil Doll silhouette with a big question mark reversed out of it. The last doll of the series would be a "Mystery Doll." The Mystery Doll would arrive packaged like the other dolls except that instead of a clear plastic bag, the bag would be opaque black and the header would be all black except for a big question mark on the front (secretly I hoped that people would never open the last doll's packaging to see what it looked like).

I worked for a while on some doll and header designs. I even made a few prototypes. It was exciting and fun to think about.

Work from paying clients heated up and I wasn't able to spend the amount of time on this project that it needed. I still like this idea and I hope to revisit it some day. Maybe someday soon I'll have the time pick this up again and actually make it happen.

I've had a few more thoughts on it...

Vinylmation Sea Creatures Series

2011-04-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Powder Blue Surgeon Fish

Raccoon Butterfly Fish

Freshwater Puffer Fish

Giant Octopus

Bottlenose Dolphin

Black Tip Reef Shark

Spotted Eagle Ray

Humpback Whale

Lion's Mane Jellyfish

Hawksbill Sea Turtle

Brain Coral

Maine Lobster

It was about a year-and-a-half ago that I started designing this series for Disney's Vinylmation™ collectible figures. As an illustrator, it's tough to be working on a project that takes so long to come to market when you can't tell anyone about it. People like to know if you're actually working or if you're just looking at celebrity gossip blogs on the internet. I insist to my friends and potential clients that I'm working.

They ask, "What are you working on?"

I say, "I can't tell you."

They say, "C'mon, you can tell me. Who'm I gonna tell!"

I say, "No, seriously. I can't tell you."

Disbelief sets in. You see that foggy distant veil of doubt spreading across their faces.

See, I have too been working. So there.

I've got some more cool projects coming up.

But...I can't tell you about them.

Transplendent!

2011-02-28T07:27:00.000-08:00

Another poster for Enzian Theater's Cult Classic Movies series.

Fresh Squeezed Indies

2011-02-28T07:02:00.000-08:00

This drawing I did in collaboration with Jeff Matz at Lure Design has been accepted into Communication Arts Magazine's inaugural Typography issue.

SCREAM! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIVES! THE TINGLER IS LOOSE IN THE BUILDING!

2010-10-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

One of the first horror movies I remember seeing was "The Tingler." For a week afterward, I couldn't sleep. I might have been the only third grader with bags under his eyes. My jitters made me look like a nine-year-old heroin addict going through withdrawal. Tough times for a nervous kid.

This scene in particular ruined me for bathing or brushing my teeth.

Anyway, here's my poster for Enzian's presentation of "The Tingler."

2010-10-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

I love the DeSoto Theater (or is it Theatre?) in Rome, Georgia. It's a spectacular little French Art Deco style movie house with beautiful cameo-like plaster medallions on the vestibule ceiling and a simple, yet classic typographic charmer of a marquee.

I remember going to see "The Godfather" there - the town hippies sat in the balcony smoking weed. They seemed to enjoy the movie a lot more than I did. Then there was the time I went to see "A Christmas Story." This was the initial release before it became a 24-hour holiday marathon on television. There were four of us in the theater.

By the early 80s, movies were no longer shown there. The Rome Little Theater (or is it Theatre?), a community theater group, took it over and reconfigured it for theatrical purposes - they removed the movie screen, projector and a number of seats. They built a proper stage. Even though the RLT has been growing strong in this location for twenty-five years, time has taken its toll this little theater. There were water leaks which damaged the upstairs offices and the decorative plaster-work in the entryway. There are major cracks on the facade and the lovely wooden slat awnings are rotting away.

Luckily, the community realizes what a gem it has and is taking steps to restore the theater to former glory. Part of this effort is a benefit concert on October 23rd given by blues and rock musician Tinsley Ellis. I designed a poster for this event.

2010-10-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

Every now and then a project comes up that you were born to do. This is that project. Jeff Matz at Lure Design buzzed and asked me, "Hey, wanna draw some robots?" Well, duh. His client, TinMen Creative Solutions - a full service music/video creative services company, was looking to refresh their brand. Now, I don't want to say the solution was obvious, but, the solution was obvious.

They should all be this fun.

Finally.

2009-06-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

The Enzian Cult Classic Movies poster series now has a home. The good friends and movie poster collaborators at Lure Design have made the posters available for sale at their webstore. If you missed snagging them at the theater, hop on over to Lure's site and pick them up NOW. While you're there, check out examples of their fine design work. It'll make you weep. Well, maybe not weep. But appreciators of fine design will certainly be impressed.

A little taste.

2009-06-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Been working on a big project. Not ready to show it yet but thought you deserved a peek.

The new phonebooks are here! The new phonebooks are here!

2009-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

This week's Cult Classic Movie poster is for Steve Martin's last funny movie: The Jerk. Come on out to Enzian on June 9. Laugh a little, have a couple of drinks and BUY A POSTER.

I'd Buy That For Ten Dollars!

2009-05-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest in the Enzian Cult Classic Movies poster series. Scary. Just like the movie — Robocop. This masterpiece is 18" x 24" and is printed in three colors — soulless black, arterial spray red and bulletproof metallic silver. This low numbered edition will sell fast. It'll be available at Enzian on Tuesday, May 24 during the showing.

My dog has fleas. And I have a new ukulele.

2009-05-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I just took possession of my very own HoneyBell Ukelele. These sweet little numbers are hand-crafted by Douglas Montgomery at the Guitar Factory in Orlando. Douglas and his partner Billy Fells have been building beautiful electric and acoustic guitars for years. Their Orange Blossom acoustic guitars have a meticulousness and classic styling reserved for only high-end musical instruments. It's that same attention to detail and high craftsmanship that makes the HoneyBell ukulele such a beautiful and desired object.

When they approached me about designing labels for the inside of the ukes I jumped at it! I knew they'd be lovely instruments and I had a few ideas about creating a distinctive personality for the line.

Conceptually, I immediately abandoned the all-too-easy connection to Hawaii and palm trees (even though there would have been some terrific imagery to work with). These are, after all, Florida Ukuleles, mostly made with indigenous Florida woods. My first design attempts on the project utilized 50s Florida motel signage styles in an effort to evoke the nostalgic feeling of a road trip vacation to the Sunshine State. Even though there were a couple of designs that were okay, I wasn't satisfied that they told the real story about HoneyBell Ukes.

The things that impressed me most about these instruments are the design and craftsmanship. Telling that story seemed important but, after all, these are UKULELES. They are fun to play and to listen to. A funeral dirge would sound fun on a ukulele. How could I say all at once: this is a masterfully crafted musical instrument but, boy, I'd sure like to play Space Oddity on it?

Victorian small space ads. That's how. I could use lofty eloquent language like they used in the old turn-of-the-century (turn of the last century) to make outrageous claims about the instruments and juxtapose that with ironic and nonsensical engravings swiped from Victorian clip art. I created a mythical history for the brand with a mythical founder and factory. The labels had too much copy and the art was too small to be seen easily without a magnifying glass – especially through the tiny soundhole. Sure these are objets d'art, but don't take them too seriously.

This best part of this for me was that Doug and Billy (other Billy) liked it. They believed in a pretty kooky design idea.

Pictured: Ukulele labels, Douglas Montgomery – instrument builder unparalleled, my uke.

Bueller? Bueller?

2009-05-10T18:01:00.001-07:00

Orlando's art and repertory cinema, Enzian Theater (or is it theatre?), has started a series of limited, hand-silkscreened posters to celebrate its Cult Classic Movie Series. My contribution, so far, is the first poster -- Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The three color 18"x24" poster is on a heavy white stock and is very limited to a signed and numbered edition of twenty-eight. It will be on sell at the theater the night of film (May 12 @ 9:30 pm).

UPDATE: We had a really good sell at Enzian. This Saturday night at midnight, there will be an encore presentation of Ferris Bueller's Day Out. We'll be there with the remainder of the edition. A sell-out would nice for the inaugural poster!

Time to clean out the cellphone

2009-04-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

Cellphone is getting a little too heavy. Time to purge. Here are a few pictures I've been carrying around in my pocket:

Gigposter 1

2009-02-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

This is a poster for the band Interpol that I did with Thomas Scott of Eyenoise. It was hand screen printed in three colors (black, transparent white, and solid white) on a red paper stock.

Walking the Dogs.

2009-02-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

On the ritual twilight dog walks with Darcy (wife) and Betty and Miles (dogs), I started taking pictures of the spectacular Florida skies with my cellphone. I probably took over a hundred photos. Every day the sky was different with its own mood and character. I couldn't wait to get out to see what the sky looked like each evening.

I did a few drawings utilizing some of these skies. The drawings above are a couple from that series -- monumental events (a plane plummeting to earth and a superhero on a collision course with a deadly Sidewinder missile) diminished into almost obscurity by the overwhelming color and complexity of an afternoon sky.

On my web site, oneswellillustrator.com, you can see a later rendition of the second drawing in which I removed the clouds and made the image a totally flat, graphic solution.

Shooby doo dwop. Binga ding dong.

2009-02-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

A while ago, Eric Nemeyer (ericnemeyer.com), vibraphonist and publisher of Jazz Improv Magazine found a few of my jazz portraits online through a random Google image search. He was pretty impressed and thought I just might be the guy to design the packaging for his soon-to-be-released CD, Blessing In Disguise. He gave me a call. I jumped at the chance for this project. I hadn't designed CD packaging but it was certainly something on my list of things to do. Unfortunately, Eric didn't have any money for the design but we worked out a deal where I would get a full color ad in his nationally distributed magazine for an unspecified period of time (actually, I think the ad is still running years later).

Jazz LP designs of the 50s, especially the Reid Miles covers for Blue Note, were my conceptual starting point. Many examples of these excellent covers can be seen at pixagogo. One of my early designs could've been in any 1959 American record store (the first design above). As appealing as I thought it was, it seemed there should be more emphasis on the artist. Since we didn't have any photography appropriate for a CD cover, an illustrative style that fit in with the Blue Note-like direction had to be developed.

This was a funny case where the illo style came from the typography. I found a roughly-hewn script style that looked like it was cut out of paper with an Xacto knife. This inspired me to draw the vibraphonist's hands with the same cut-out roughness. The drawing and the design happened fairly quickly. I used flat, simple colors to try to heighten the sense of excitement created by the lively and intense music. The disc label was a reiteration of the cover. All in all I think it was a fairly successful design.

During this time, my daughter Hannah asked me to design the invitation for her high school senior recital. Since I was in full Blue Note mode, it turned out looking something like this: