Sketches

Just a couple of sketches I did today during the morning as I was contemplating if I should stay in bed or confront the fact that it's winter and there's no escaping it... Sigh

Selina

Ruby - Mobile Visual Diary

I think this is by far, the ultimate mobile visual diary. Granted, it may not be the most efficient or the most practical but it definitely is one of the most original ones I've seen so far.

Being in New Zealand, you get to see people touring up and down the country in converted vans, buses, wagons and 4x4s and more often than not, they will have some collage painted on the side. It's not uncommon to come across Bob Marley themed campers, dolphin themes, landscapes, unicorns and fairies, rainbows and all the imagery you can think of that will relate to traveling through beautiful New Zealand. However, most of these camper vans are rentals and you don't get the option of embellishing them in your own way, you just hope to get one that will have some graphics which will suit your taste when you rent them out. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Meet Hylie & Maxime, a couple of french guys who have been flatting with me for the past 3months. These guys bought a car for their traveling period through both the North and South Island and have been using it to record their adventures. It's not only the places and experiences that they've had that  make their way onto the car but also thoughts and quotes. As soon as something interesting occurs, you can see the white uni posca pen jumping out of the glove compartment and leaving marks for posterity. Ruby, as they named their car, is not only a visual diary of their trip but also has a great variety of hand drawn lettering. They will be selling Ruby shortly and the lucky buyer will have the option of keeping it as it is or, if they want to start their own visual diary, they just need to wash the car with soap and they'll have a clean canvas for their own!

Spring 2014

Spring has sprung once again but instead of posting pictures of tulips as I usually do, I decided to post a picture of my cactus, something closer to home. This little guy has 17 flower buds so far! I don't think I've ever seen a cactus with so many flowers at once. It's like spring has decided to announce its arrival with fireworks bursting into a display of color... hahahaha

I'm not sure if the tulips in the Botanical Garden were able to make a big impression this year. We had a couple of storms hit Wellington on the day that the Spring Festival started. I wouldn't be surprised if the tulips were badly battered.

Renee Coffey, North Island Rodie Tour, closing gig poster

This poster was specifically designed to celebrate the closure of the Renee Coffey North Island Tour, 2014. Using a warm color palette, the poster conveys the sensation of being in a warm lazy summer evening. The double exposure effect gives a certain feel of intimacy and introspection, which is well suited for this private event.

 Detail

 Original files

Left poster used for the duration of the tour. Right poster was an early conceptual design.

Making waves!

Just came across "The Roundup Blog... an online collection that delivers the web's most interesting content." (They're words, not mine ;) ).  I believe this is the first time my work has been published on a design blog without me having to submit it.  :D

Thanks to RoundUp for considering my work! Hit the link to see what other interesting and cool things they have put together.

Cheers guys!

THEROUNDUP

Winter day!

Today hasn't been particularly cold, in fact, it almost seems like everyday has been as cold as this one! That's not entirely true of course, we've been having some nice sunny days and they almost feel like spring... until the wind reminds us that we're only experiencing an illusion, hahaha.

Keeping myself warm at home, I look out the window from my "studio" and can see how it's hailing quite hard. Fifteen minutes later the sun comes back out and all traces of hail has disappeared except for the puddles on the street. Hail is always an event here in Wellington but will never compare to when it snowed a few years back, "a once in a life time event" they called it... unless you're like 90. That was an awesome day!!

Cool little video that captured the feeling of that day :)

AMN5

Fifth International Conference on Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology

 

 

The MacDiarmid Institute organizes an International Biennial Conference that offers a broad interdisciplinary overview of advanced materials and nanotechnology, and provides an exciting forum to discuss new and exciting advances in the field.

 

The logo for this event had to depict the fact that the conference was taking place in New Zealand. It also had to include the concept of nanotechnology and/or advanced materials, which are the main areas in which the conference focuses on.

In order to address these requirements, the proposed solution had a representation of New Zealand created by organic forms, round, curvaceous elements that seem to meld together for a specific purpose. The repetition of these elements can then devise organized structures, by which, the concept of having advanced materials or nanotechnology has been achieved.

Applications of logo and secondary elements on assorted

conference materials. This part of the project was undertaken

by the conference organizers.

From Molecules to MIlk | Interface magazine cover

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on my portfolio over at Behance and realized that there were some projects that I never published on my blog before. So I intend to correct this situation by posting them now. It will be an ongoing process but it should be all here soon.

The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology publishes their own magazine where they highlight the latest results to come out of their research. Interviews and special articles on the people behind the innovations are also part of the magazine.

This issue, Interface 21, was a milestone since the magazine went through a complete redesign and I was lucky enough to be called upon to work on the cover. I had to hunt down an old milk bottle from a thrift shop so I could photograph it for both the cover and the article. Fortunately it was only a 10 minute walk down the street and even had the chance to choose which bottle I wanted. The idea was to have a vintage look and the combination of hand drawn fonts and a blackboard texture for the background was ideal for this purpose. The dark background also helped to make the milk bottle and the title to stand out.

Here's a bit of the process the magazine cover went through.

 

Snowaka | Custom snowboard skin design

This post is related to a previous entry I made back in 2010, however, I never really took the time to describe what was going on. So I think this is a good opportunity to talk about the snowboard project.

My friend Rachel Halfpenny is an avid snowboarder and is addicted to the powdered slopes. As soon as snow falls at Mt Ruapehu, you can see her gliding down with a plume of snow racing behind her. She will get up at the crack of dawn and drive the 4 hrs to the mountain, snowboard for as long as the light permits, get up early the next day, hop on her board and spend a few more hours making tracks and then drive four hours back home... that's dedication!

It was only natural that she would want to personalize her board, to capture her personality and reflect who she is. This board was the end result. Her fun and happy personality can be seen in the cartoon of her but also her pride for her English heritage, the emblem and the St George's Cross is a dead giveaway.

You may be asking yourself where the word Snowaka came from or what it means. It's a play from the word snow and waka (maori name for canoe). So essentially she rides her snow canoe, hahaha. However, phonetically it could also be "snow walker"... clever huh?

Ephemera

Wasn't sure which version was the best so decided to post both of them. Which one do you prefer? These illustrations have been developed from a sketch I previously published, Ephemera.

Always fluttering at the edge of my dreams, never being able to really grasp her.

Renee Coffey - North Island Roadie

 

Summer! Nothing like hitting the beach, catching some waves, drying yourself under the sun and then relaxing in the evening listening to some cool live music. If you find yourself in the North Island of New Zealand during the month of March, you might as well catch one of Renee Coffey's gigs. She'll be hitting most of the surf towns on her tour, so soak in the sights and listen to some good tunes while you're at it. Proceeds will go to Renee's charity called Running with Purpose which works through World Vision.

I am stoked with the way it turned out! This poster looks awesome in a large format version, the colors are so crisp that it really stands out. I think the illustration I made pretty much captures the idea of the tour. I also designed a special version that will be used to commemorate Renee's final concert when she comes back home. Until then, enjoy!

Highlights and Shadows

 

I am really pleased with the result of this illustration, I like everything about it. Starting from the texture and color of the paper up to the way the highlights and shadows give the contours and volume of the face and body.

With a bit of imagination, you can almost see Princess Leia's iconic hair-do.

And now for something different...

 

I thought it would be a good time to try something different from my usual type of illustrations. For a first attempt at obtaining a water color effect, I think it was alright. However, I can see lots of flaws and I definitely need to practice a lot more. There are some areas where there are some nice highlights but most of it is quite flat. This was done using photoshop but I'd like to give it another go with real watercolors next time. Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess.

Holding

I have just read a blog in which a couple decided to do an experiment in which they had to hold their hands for 8 straight hours without letting go once. Now that sounds a bit extreme but it's a no easy challenge. I once did a similar thing for a movie promotion I was in and it's a very interesting experience. It's a trivial thing to do, to hold hands or to hold somebody close, yet we don't tend to do this with anybody. Occasionally we'll do it with strangers because we want to show that there's some kind of support or unity for a cause, but when you do it with somebody you know, there's much more meaning to this simple act. We don't give it much thought really but there's a lot of meaning to just holding hands as a couple. Apart from reflecting intimacy and closeness with each other, there's connectivity and support. You show that you're at ease with that person and that you accept them as they are, even if there may be some traits you dislike. There's even more to just holding hands that we don't realize, maybe it's over thinking the whole situation but we tend to have a certain preference as to the way we hold hands and which hands we use. If both people involved are right handed or left handed, one of them will have their "useful" hand engaged and then you get into who's the dominant person in the relationship and other issues. I had never thought about too much about this. Who knew that a simple act as holding hands had so much meaning? So maybe next time, when I'm in this situation I'll be more aware of what's going on in the background... Or maybe not, and I'll just enjoy the company and warmth of the person I have next to me.

Wellington, New Zealand

Need I say more about beautiful sunny Wellington? I have been thinking long and hard about what identifies Wellington, what makes it unique, what makes it so special. Other cities rely on their architecture or monuments and as soon as you see them, you can identify the city immediately. The mere mention of the Eiffel Tower and you'll be thinking of Paris, people riding bicycles with baguettes in their baskets and little cafes on the sidewalks. Big Ben will evoke images of black taxis and the Thames River, 5 o'clock tea and maybe a rainy foggy day in afternoon. The Chrysler building brings the iconic yellow taxi stuck in traffic amongst other 50 yellow taxis and the Statue of Liberty in the foreground perhaps. The list is long and I could go on forever... Golden Gate Bridge, Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Tower of Pisa, etc.

So what could I use to illustrate Wellington that makes it so iconic? The Beehive perhaps? The cable car? The Brooklyn turbine? Maybe... all of these are options but it's not something that stays with you forever. You may come to the coolest little capital in the world and enjoy the vibe of the city, the excellent coffee options you have at arms length, the relaxed atmosphere... but does that really identify Welly?

And then it hit me, like a storm on a clear sunny day! Why the weather of course!! That is one thing that will always be talked about. No matter if you've been living here all your life or you've been here for a day, the weather is something that will always be discussed at some point. There's no escaping it, it makes Welly what it is and the way people go about their everyday activities.

Tip: Umbrellas not recommended

Latest sketch

 

This is week two of being self employed and it has been a bit difficult to get into a proper schedule. However, this week has been much better than the previous one, I'm a bit more focused and trying to stick to "work hours". The problem is, since I don't have to leave home in order to get work done, I find myself leading a very relaxed schedule.

In any case, waking up every day and feeling less stressed is an improvement that I embrace effusively. I'm also making an effort to improve my drawing skills and this is the first sketch that I've done, hopefully in a month's time I'll be able to see a difference. Not trying to run here but I assume I will have more time to do things that I really like.

We'll see how it goes!

Yosemite National Park

 

Playing hide and seek with Alexa amongst the towering trees was quite fun. The weather was really fantastic too, it would be cool in the mornings and evenings but as soon as the sun would bathe the valley, the whole place would warm up quite quickly. It was the end of winter and snow could still be seen in patches here and there. There was a huge area with snow around the far end of the park closer to Half Dome and at times you would come across some ice on the tracks but other than that, it was all good!

Apparently the park was quite empty too... hard to believe when you see so many people filling up the cafeteria and the restaurant. You would encounter about 20 people on any given track on average and if this is the empty season, you can start to imagine what it's like during summer.

No bear encounters to worry about although they do stress out the point of not leaving anything in your car. Videos are shown all the time where bears completely destroy cars just to get an apple or even a piece of gum. Cars get totalled as if they were cans of soda pop.

 

Sun was setting when this picture was taken. You can start to see the sun's rays bouncing off the stone walls giving that orange tint to them. This particular water fall is the tallest in the US of A and apparently it's the fifth tallest in the world. Most of the mist that came of from the waterfall turned into snow and you can appreciate a big patch of snow before the waterfall continues it's path onto the lower part of the waterfall.

  

 

Mirror Lake can be seen in the picture above and you can see how it is still frozen. I didn't realize that we had already arrived to the lake because the water level was quite low. Once the snow and ice start melting and the waterfalls come back to life, the lake will rise once again and I'm sure it will be hard to miss. Still, it was a really nice place to be and just take in the scenery. So peaceful.

The lake is located at the bottom of the flat part of Half Dome. I only saw 3 climbers whilst we were there. One guy was just practicing bouldering and two other guys were packing their gear into their car. I assume that during the warmer months you can see climbers taking the walls.

Ooops! Somehow the roles were reversed here, I'm the one who's always taking pictures of Alexa and no one is taking picture of me. I guess it was bound to happen someday.

We'll definitely have to go back again at some point and visit all the other things that Yosemite has to offer. Traveling with my girl makes things much more memorable! ;)

San Francisco

More images to come...

On top

Last year Alexa came to NZ to visit and we had a whirlwind of a trip stopping at some of the major points of interest in the N Island. We didn't have enough time to see or do as much as we would've liked but she still was able to go back to LA with a good idea of what NZ is like... Gorgeous!

This year I went to California and we traveled around as well although not as much. Still, we made a stop in Carmel, San Francisco and Yosemite. Nice and interesting places, and Yosemite is stunning as well.... If I had to choose between what I've seen so far of California and NZ, there would be no doubt about my choice of NZ being on top. NZ rocks!!!!! Now if only Alexa could be here... I love you GG! ;)

By the way, that picture was taken on top of the hill that overlooks the city, the wind turbine is right next to us but not included in the shot.