Artifix Noctem 10 – Cubee Craft

Artifix Noctem tried something totally different and decided to do Cubee Craft characters.  Check it out here… http://www.cubeecraft.com/ This site has lots of pre-designed characters to print out and fold and cut it yourself.  My thought was to go off of a blank template.  They were a little hard to cut out and put together but once we all frustratingly got them done they looked pretty good.  (L-R: Captain N Mega Man by Matt Rainwater, Lion-O by Robert Anderson, Invincible by Erik Jessen, Venom by Chris Manuel, Deadpool by James Jessen.

I’m doing this on an ipad

Seeing how well this works, I’m at the apple store in Houston. Can’t access photo drive from this thing to upload pictures… Dang

Whiskey Label Project – Yerlo

A person by the name of Po gave me a call one day requesting my design services for his new whiskey.  It’s a family recipe rice whiskey that’s hand made and bottled … oh, and needs a brand!  This project totally excited me because 1.) I love asian cultures  2.) This guy’s name is Po Lo  3.) And I don’t want to pass up the chance to design a whiskey label.  When I met Mr. Po he had brought in this traditional Hmong flute that he wanted to incorporate into the brand.  I took several pictures of it and took any paper notes and pictures that he had.

I must first link some information about the Hmong (since part of my job is researching)

This was one of the first proofs… needless to say I got waaay ahead of myself.  It was all that stored up energy and excitement to get started I didn’t do enough research.  I meshed in too many different cultures and need to take a breather and actually study what Po gave me.

first proof = EPIC FAIL

Some of the next proofs get way better… this was drawn from the referenced photo I took with my phone. Po liked this angle at first but then changed his mind to a “straight-on” angle… it happens to the best of us.  Unfortunately I was hesitant about redrawing the angle so I turned to my friend Photoshop to distort the field of vision.

And this is after photoshop …

On to color and layout…

One of the difficult things about this logo was the balance between the “swirly” pattern and the flute.  Po wanted them as both important elements that stood out.  We finally decided upon the combination of contrast and drop shadow to make it visually stand out.  The solid black was actually the emboss plate.

Here’s the business card…

Thanks Po for letting me work on this project.  I got to taste Yerlo and it is quite good and strong stuff.

I’m also pending a photograph of the actual bottle once the labels are done.

thanks for reading.

If you’re into Chaos and Theory… and Art – read this!

WHAT IS CHAOS THEORY?: Chaos theory began in 2009 as a concept exhibit which would allow artist specializing in various mediums to display their work without being limited to a specific theme. The artists were encouraged to bring anything from landscapes to tattoo art. The theme for CTII: Chaos Reigns has been narrowed down to feature art inspired by motion pictures, cartoons, videogames, and television shows. In keeping with the spirit of Chaos, we will consider artwork that does not fall within this theme.  We strongly encourage artists to challenge themselves and attempt to create a piece within the theme.

If you were upset to see no Artifix Noctem 8 or 9 post… it’s because some of us are currently working on submissions for the CTII: Chaos Reigns Exhibit.  I know what you’re saying…”But Erik, how come you can’t post any of the work being done during that time?”  A very valid point indeed ‘opposing voice in my head’.  So in the later posts I will attempt to gather up some of the works created and post them for everyone to see.