"I'm going to the Jersey Shore, b!tch!"

I am hooked on MTV's reality tv show, Jersey Shore. If you have missed out on seeing this hilarious show that follows guidos and guidettes in their summer in a Shore House on the Jersey Shore, you are missing one the first pop culture smashes of the decade!

If you want to learn a little more about it, check out Conan's Introduction of two of my favourite cast members!!

Oh, hilarity. These are people you have to watch - in the beginning the tanning beds that one member owns in his house to keep "fresh", seems a little overkill - but as you watch this show, you begin to love each one of these tanned, polished and gelled Italians!

Hope you like my artwork for today's daily design challenge, all elements were hand-drawn by myself, scanned in and redrawn in illustrator. I really need a wacom tablet!

Wow!

Went out for sushi with friends last night and was once again stunned by the awesomeness that is sushi. I could think of only one word after that delicious meal, so this is what I made!

Music to my Ears

I am so totally cheating - I made this before Christmas! tsk tsk!

Okay. So I'm trying something new here; a different blog editor. We'll have to see how it goes.

Either way, I totally cheated today - I've got some other stuff in the works so the daily design challenge for today rests in the scribbles in my notebook at work. But here's a little something I did - and a show you should really go see!

Rich Burnett is a super talented musician. His voice is warm and clear; his music is calming and beautiful. This poster was created for the CD release party he is having with the talented Michael Holt. I'm hoping to do more work for them in the future; normally I wouldn't want there to be quite so much copy, cd artwork and two photos - but, you know how it is - it's all about making the client happy! So this is what I came up with the merge the two different types of music in an organized kind of way.

And have you seen the featured guests? Lots of talent there!

Happy Tuesday! Wish it was Friday... it's going to be a long week!

Hungry, Hungry, I am hungry. Table, table, here I come!

So, there was a lack of a post on Sunday .. I was busy being creative all day, however, I can't share the fruits of my labour with you because it was a risque, top secret project for a friend (I live vicariously through them)! I thought that instead I would pop these menus up here! Simple black and white menus for Marbles Restaurant in Waterloo, I created these for the kiddies to doodle on - with a huge amount of freedom - this was my favourite project, ever.

When I was a kid, I LOVED these kinds of menus (who am I kidding? I still do!). On days of particularly slow service, I just HAD to colour in every. single. component. of the menu. So, using my memories as a guideline, I made these menus so there was as much colouring area as possible!

All content was illustrated by me - the font, however, is a great font called "Hrawolam", downloadable at Dafont.com, my favourite place to go for fonts!

Bon Appetite!

JUST EAT IT!!!

We have a few little, ahem, pets that have decided to make our home theirs as well.

Mice. Blech. I knew that Mice were something that accompanied old homes, but I always thought that they only lived in dirty places. I have since learned that this is not true!

After an evening of vacuuming every nook and cranny, sealing all of our food in rubbermaid containers and setting a wide variety of traps, the mice thought they would prance around the house, while I hid in terror. Home alone.

I finally came up with (other) logical explanations for the occasional creak in the house (GHOSTS!) and drifted to sleep at one in the morning last night - waking up, ten minutes later, to a horrifying SNAP! Bang! Bang! It sounded like someone had tap shoes on in the studio. Terrified and home alone, I texted theGuy in horror - hiding myself in my tightly tucked covers. Half an hour later, he came home. (MY HERO!)

One of the mousetraps was gone.

We caught a mouse. By the tail. He managed to get across the room, but in the end we (okay.. theGuy... I was still hiding) were able to get him and take him away to release him miles from home.

This morning, I saw another one. These little jerks have gotten too smart. It doesn't matter that we have FIVE MILLION TRAPS - they just do a little dance routine around them. I know it. In tutus. They're cute when they're held hostage, but not as a dark smudge that streaks across the room - leaving one's very imaginative mind to add fangs and bloodshot eyes and foam.

So today's daily design challenge is a drawing I made in illustrator.. my lovely levels of exhaustion leaves me unable to focus on anything other than the RODENTS who are tormenting my poor budgie!

Enjoy! :)

Flashy!

I dabble in photography.

I dabble in most things artsy, really - doesn't mean that I'm more than an amateur, but it keeps me happy! This year, the Guy was kind enough to hook me up with a flash for my camera! I love it, the diffusers I got are also pure genius, and, if nothing else, the appearance of them will surely mean I can get up to the front of any concerts I'm attending - people will think this amateur is a pro! Works for me!

Today I spent the day unloading camera cards (I'm usually so on the ball with that but not the point and shoot I hijack from the Guy occasionally!), so there wasn't much time for creativity beyond colour correcting and resizing/cropping! However, I do have some photos that are pre-flash I would like to share. This Christmas, we got to spend some time with our wonderful niece, and she is quit the little model! (I think everyone thinks that about their little loved ones!). So here are some of my favourite shots, taken with my Canon Rebel - the ORIGINAL (6.3 MP did at one time seem RIDICULOUS!). Hope you like 'em, too!




All dressed up and ready for Christmas!


Little L found The UncleGuy's nose!


Time for a break - this Christmas business is exhausting! Don't we all know it!

So, signing off for now - hope you enjoy!

Daily Design Challenge Entry One

Well, it isn't much - but on my first day of my design challenge, I thought I'd make a little graffiti art on facebook for my sister who I didn't get to see for New Years. Now, for anyone who isn't familiar with the graffiti concept, it's basically like paint - you have a colour pallete, limited brush sizes and opacity that you can adjust - and that's about all.

So this is my version of a sparkler - very computery, I know, but something fun - got the ball rolling!!


Note to self - invest in a wacom tablet.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope your resolutions are all met!

Design a Day Challenge

So. Smashing Magazine had an article about a daily design challenge. The idea is that an artist should challenge themselves to design something every day, which will increase their creative flow, as well as strengthen their talents; whether it be illustration or design in general.

I was thinking that this is the kind of challenge I would like to participate in. So for the year 2010, my goal is to design something every day (or at least every work day), and post it on my blog. Depending on the type of design, it may not be uploaded daily (I may need to scan it, etc.), but the goal remains the same. I want to be creative daily, in a way to express myself and build a gallery of work that reflects me.

So, in the spirit of creativity - this Christmas had me working to create some truly unique pieces of art for some of my family members, and I thought I would post them here, to get the ball rolling.

Hope you enjoy!



This was a set of camoes of the kids that I created for my mom and step-father. There are five kids in the family, and they helped me out by sending photos of their profiles (no, not facebook profiles) so I could work with them. Each of us has a unique profile, and I think they're all fairly recognizable! I used textured scrapbooking paper for the cameos, and got the background from another set of scrapbooking papers. That section comes in handy for more than just scrapbookers!



There's a blurry and out of focus shot of my cameo. Fun!



Here is the painting I did for my sister. She is always dreaming about something, and she has managed to reach a lot of the goals she set for herself from childhood! Very motivated, I wanted to give my whimsical sister something that encouraged her to continue reaching for the stars. Acrylic on canvas, this is what I came up with.

Halloweenie

A reason to do fun make-up? Yes, please!

I'm a Halloweenie.

Really, I am.

I love Hallowe'en! There is something about the spooktacular holiday that brings me back to my childhood and gets me excited (possibly all that candy!). My goal this year was to throw a party with as many photo ops as possible. Through lots of searching online, the Guy and I found a whole bunch of do-it-yourself projects that were begging for our attention. Specimen jars, heads in bottles, witch finger cookies, toe tags, murder mysteries, IV bags, monster eyeballs... there were so many things to do! Even though I started in September, it was still a rush as the countdown to Hallowe'en got shorter. My mind was racing with new ideas of what to do next!

The party turned out awesome; our friends looked amazing; everyone really stepped up to the challenge! The photo above is myself as "Little Dead Riding Hood" being attacked by a Zombie Bob Ross. Could life get any better?

Anyway, thought I'd share with you my very favourite project; the potion jars. I made about 15 potions; from the labels to the contents and couldn't have been happier with how they turned out.

And voila!



Happy November!

Tingling Teeth

Old news - this package was designed in 2007, and in my last gig as a drugstore sales clerk, I drooled over the gorgeous details of the latest Rembrandt packaging.

The simplicity of this package works - with a flooded market of whitening toothpastes, all claiming the same thing, Rembrandt, an already established brand, had an opportunity to simplify their package in an elegant and clean way - creating visual relief on the shelves. Any merchandising clerk can tell you that the Rembrandt packaging was actually satisfying to stock on the shelves - the clean, streamlined and simple design really commanded attention and had presence on the shelf as a high-end item. It was designed by Little Fury and I think they did a great job.

I posted about this package because finally, after two years of shy appreciation of the package, I picked some up yesterday. Just because it looked so nice and I decided that I would treat myself. I don't know what it means when one of the highlights of your week is that you purchased toothpaste with pretty packaging, packaging that you recycle as soon as you discard the cardboard box (although the stand-alone tube is also an elegant and well-thought out package, the glory is in the cardboard sleeve)... I do lead an interesting life, I swear!

Speaking of interesting life - happy Turkey Day! I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year, and let me say - there is something very nurturing about turkey and family!

Now - gearing up for Hallowe'en. Throwing another party this year, I hope it is bigger and better than last year. I feel myself falling into a tizzy of unorganized chaos. Sometimes my ideas are more grand than the time I have on my hands to implement them. Hopefully I will have pictures to share!

If you are throwing a Hallowe'en party - check out Dave Lowe's blog
. He's got a bunch of awesome tutorials and ideas.. I'm doing the Monster Eye this year - hopefully it'll freak out the chillies!!! Oh man, I really have to get going - so many ideas,so little time!

Snot Pockets

Wacky Packages' Snot Pockets.

Texting with the Guy today went something like this:

P- "Hey! You know how you thought your deodorant wasn't working? It wasn't. I'm wearing your deodorant and I'm sweating. Weird, eh?"

G - "Haha sweaty pits! How's your day going?"

P - "It's going. My nose is like a faucet!"

G - "How bout "snott face sweaty pitts"? :)"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Juicy Couture?

Colours, juice, awesome all mixed into one. By caracas, a French Design agency. A la the dieline as usual.

Now I'm thirsty!

Jonesing for Jones

No soft drink is cooler than Jones Soda. That's just the way they roll. The cult-following that Jones has fostered creates an illusion of scarcity - my memories of Jones Soda is that finding it in a store was like finding a treasure on a never-ending scavenger hunt! "Look guys! They have Jones!" At that point, we would each pick out and discuss our favourite colour - and then, those who could afford it (usually the ones with part time jobs), would purchase theirs, holding it openly, as it had now become an accessory, establishing coolness in the drinker.

Maybe that was just my friends and I, but Jones Soda always had a unique flair that we identified with. The photos on the front were quirky, flipping the lid to see your "fortune", Jones created an experience for their consumers. And they continue to do so with the new Jones Jumble. The "mixoligist" at Jones has mixed different flavours of their exising product together to create the "Jones Jumble" flavour, similar to the swamp juice of fountain pop machines. Users are encouraged to guess what four flavours have been combined to create this jumble! The awesome graphics of the wrap were created by Super Big Creative. I think they're very current; yet fresh and new. I love the colours and the boldness of the label. Great work!

And I haven't posted for a while, well, no one really reads this anyway - so I figured I could go on hiatus. This bottle wrap really just jumped out and smacked me on the face, so I kinda had to be like "look at this" and blogs are soapboxes, so there you go!

Refreshing

Ballistic over Wine Bottles

Wowza. Student work.
Student work? Really?

Yep - as found via The Dieline, these wine bottles were designed by design student Meeta Panesar. It's well worth taking a look through her site to see the other work she has done. Impressive. She's not afraid of colour, or lack-thereof, she's bold and unique - terrific work!

Oh, student days. There was something amazing about doing work as a student, that I didn't realize at the time. I always thought the glory would be in working on actual product packaging or business cards, for real, legitimate companies. This was so far from the truth! Inventing your own companies, experimenting without client regulations (although my teachers acted as our clients), the "I like blue because it's the colour of my grandson's eye" factor was non-existent.. I wish I'd embraced it more!

Has anyone noticed that summer's kinda, not really here yet? Hello mother nature - it's June now. Bring on the nice weather! Please? I'm recalling the RAIN of last year and hoping for something a little dinner. SUMMER - PLEASE BE GOOD TO US!

Okay, that's all. rant rant rant.
xo

Always Coca-Cola

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a but of a crush on Coca-Cola. Well, a bit of a crush AND an addiction. Now, I know Coca-Cola isn't always the most moral of all companies, but I prefer to ignore that information and take the ignorance is bliss approach to the world's favourite soft drink!

I have a slight handle on my Coca-Cola addiction now to the point of the willpower to have only one a day. ONLY one a day, you may ask? Some people don't even DRINK soft drinks EVER?! If you knew how much strength it takes me EVERY day to not go back for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or even 7 cans of that sweet, sweet nectar - you would understand that it's a feat of huge proportions! I'm a coke junkie, and like a coke junkie, I'm fully hooked and need my fix!

So, why do I love it? Besides my insane addiction to the product itself? Coca-Cola is one of the most successful examples of branding of ALL time! They manage to maintain their logo, while keeping fresh and current - and always the "Real Thing". They've experimented, made mistakes, and have managed to do all of this without diluting the brand. Success. And they make it fun for collectors, and consumers, by coming out with fancy cans and bottles. The ones above are their latest!