0to255.com Web Color Tool

Just came across 0to255.com website in an article I was reading. It is used to help web designers find variations of any color. Go check it out and tell me what you think. Is it a useful tool or just another pretty but limited marketing tool. Do you have a better choice and why is it better?

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25

For many designers there is one project that they are proud being a part of. Keep Kids Alive is the one for me. Tom Everson of 4i brought this project to me looking for a design that could be posted out in public to remind drivers to drive safely in residential areas. This was over 15 years ago and it is still going strong. This design has become their leading identity for them.

It was stated in the 2011 annual report, KKAD25 has worked with and through over 400 law enforcement agencies, as well as hundreds of neighborhood and civic organizations, schools, public works and neighborhood services, and businesses in over 1,300 communities representing 49 states, 2 Canadian Provinces, the Bahamas, Australia, and India. Our mission and message resonate with traffic safety advocates and educators across the globe.

A few years later I also designed two other projects with them, 'No Need To Speed' and 'Stop Means Stop.'

Please visit Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 and see how you can help them with their positive mission.

http://www.keepkidsalivedrive25.org/index.html 

Celebrating YOU! FW Magazine Article Layout

Here is an article that I have put together for the Frugal WAHM Magazine I am working on currently. This article has 10 pages (2 page spread with 8 individual pages) through out the Magazine. It is one of the featured articles in the magazine. It has 9 interviewees divided out to 2 interviewers.

The challenge to this layout was to find a way to present each interview individually so the reader can read out one person at a time and fit their information with pictures to a single page. Page numbers are given to each interviewee listed on the first page introduction so readers know where to go for each one. All the articles in the magazine also include a short bio of each author of the article. Each article are assigned their own color, so each one is done in a monochrome pallet. Here I included the two page spread, which includes one of the interviews, and two of the single pages.

Lucabella's At Home Ad

Currently I am laying out the Frugle WAHM magazine. With this project, I have to place many ads of all sizes through out the layout, but there are some ads that are needing totally laid out. Lucabella's At Home is one of them. Kelly Oyler did have a logo and only a few pictures for us to use. Some of the pictures are of low resolution but I was able to work around it due to the magazine is digital.

Here is a layout I put together working with the pictures provided and playing off the picture in a box feel. The two couch pictures where not already in a box and felt that was an advantage to soften and open up the feel a little. The angles of couches help lead the viewer's eye, in and out, through the photo collage making the complete ad viewed.

This ad reflexes the 'At Home' simple but elegant style while giving Kelly Oyler her own identity that stays inline with the company she represents. This could easily be converted to other advertising pieces and marketing material.

Benefit Flier and Posters Moore, Oklahoma Families

Put together a quick flier and posters for a program at Vatterott College. They are doing a benefit for the families affected by the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. Printed posters and fliers to be placed round the school.

Table 16 Reunion

Client Provided Sample

Back in October of 2012 I was ask to make some t-shirts for a group of ladies that met at a wedding where they sat together at table 16. They had such a good time together that they now have a reunion every year. They find a place to go and have a good time together, ladies only vacation. So when I was asked to come up with a design they sent me a picture of their last one. While they where quite happy with their last t-shirts, the design went against everything I have learned in design. I felt I could offer them something much better that would reflect them as a group.

The design was required to have a pink Gerber Daisy, the 4 cities they visited in the pass and the shirt must be navy. After thinking about it I thought there should be more color that would work with the navy shirt.

New Design for Table 16 Reunion T-Shirt (click to enlarge)

New Design for Table 16 Reunion T-Shirt (click to enlarge)

I wanted to add green and yellow along with the required pink Gerber Daisy. When I think Gerber Daisy I think of the wonderful flower gardens that my grandmother grew. Her gardens where always full of color. I also wanted to have more than just one flower. This was a group of ladies that are coming together and I thought a grouping of flowers would better reflect their coming together. I used a script font to resemble the vines in a garden, but colored them white find a visual balance with the powerful imagery of the flowers. I also wanted to continue the scrolling elegance of the font behind the flowers by using floral scrolling to representing the stems of the flowers. The list of visited locations was located at the bottom of the design where I used an orange color found in the yellow flower to help give a little more balance and unify the colors. Finishing it off I added a touch of scroll elements in the same green from behind the flowers to help bring everything together.

The client was quite happy this layout and ordered 12 t-shirts for their next trip. I look forward to their next trip t-shirt design. It should be a challenge to come up with something different.

... And Baby Makes Five.

A few years back my wife was starting her Blog about our family of 5 children plus us. Yes that makes SEVEN of us. But now we are EIGHT. A couple years back we added one more girl, which now make us the Brady Bunch. And yes, they all are their own unique bundle of joy and trouble.

I was now commissioned to come up with a header for her Blog. Well, commissioned may not be the right word but as I see it, payment may not be cash but other rewards come with making your wife happy. In my search of what I should do I came up with the idea that the header should reflect each of our unique personalities.

The oldest son is highly musical, loves what is now called classic rock. He also does not like to wear jeans, at least when I did this piece.

My second oldest is very much a MacGyver when it comes to making anything out of garbage. If the recycle bin suddenly disappeared you new where it went. He reminds me of ... ME. His favorite color to wear was an orange shirt and green sweats.

The youngest son was to young to do much with other than bundle him up and have the full head of hair he was born with.

The oldest daughter was walking on her toes the day she was born. She loves to dance and purple is her favorite color.

My youngest daughter was a sassy and ready to start High School. She already new the ‘Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything’ answer was 42. Wow, I should let her run everything and I could just lay back and enjoy the rest, yeah right! She was into green and would always hang onto her mother’s leg. All of our kids do.

My wife has always been a great supporter of my talents and therefore often wears a red shirt that represented our design company. I am not sure how we had a moment alone to have this many children, let alone EIGHT. But we did and we love each and every one of them for both the wonderful times they each have given us as well as the many stressful OMG, Holly Cow, What In The Hell, How in the Hell and Are You Kidding Me memorable moments. So that is why the kids surround the mother.

I am the Lucky unlucky one that has to go to work almost every day, all day long.

Someday I need to update this to include our latest kid of two but I may wait and see if another will show up.  ;)

Oh, by the way, I probably should add the family dog, cat and our two black and white rabbits.  It is quite the zoo around here.

Hotsy Equipment Company Vehicle Design

Current Hosty Equipment Company van layout (click to enlarge)

For years I have been laying out and applying the Hotsy Equipment Company vans and trucks here in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska. The one to the right is their current design that has been used for the last four or five years.

This year they where interested in looking at a new design for a new service vehicle last year. After doing some thinking and seeing what the customer has shown me what they where thinking, I put together the concept shown below. I felt it reflected the essences of what the company was about and would give a lasting impression as their staff drove from job site to job site. I made sure that this design didn't loose a single element, from their current layout, that has worked for company and their sales staff. The mud wraps around the front with a the power washer wand washing it off.

I made sure to build this design in Adobe Illustrator and completely in vector components. This is a necessity when carrying it over to their other vehicle types. The client was extremely happy with this layout but put it on hold for now due to budget limitations at this time. Due to the large number of doors of the toolbox located on both sides and rear of the vehicle the cost of producing this is quite high in comparison to their current design which works for them just fine. I hope one day we will be able to do the new design as it is a very fun and energetic design but I better plan for at least a couple days for installation. 

Concept for Hotsy Equipment Company full body wrap (click to enlarge)

Once Upon A Lawn Business Card Redesign

Once Upon a Lawn, LLC Business Card after redesign (click to enlarge)

Business Card before redesign (click to enlarge)

This Business Card redesign came to me from a client that just wanted to order business cards from me. But after they sent me a picture of their card I just couldn't help myself in suggesting some design changes. This card also has a back that has a BBB logo and what they do in black in white print. While the customer was set on their logo and colors that is being used in all their materials, I thought there could be some design improvements. I felt that the design was not unified nor read well. So I changed the top bar by using the shape of the leaf and move to just the upper corner, this fit well with the larger logo. I also placed a brown strip next to the orange, holding a brief description of what they do to the front of the card. This gives the viewer a quick explanation of what they specialized in without the need to flip the card over. I also changed the half circle to the lighter color of green in the logo and over lap it a little on the brown stripe to help unify all the elements which helps with the flow of the card. The mount now looks more like a mount of lawn or landscaping. I also used the same font which is in the logo, Bakers Signet, in some areas complimented with varying weights of Helvetica and eliminated unnecessary verbiage "phone:". This helped add interest as well as adding an additional element of unifying the overall design. While I considered a matte finish for their earthy feel, I opted for glossy for its durability of looking sharp longer after being carried around in a pocket, toolbox or in the ashtray of the pickup.

Yard Sign

Vehicle Magnet

Thanks to this business card redesign, it has brought us additional business from this client. I have carried the design over to vehicle magnets, yard signs, and soon to letterhead and apparel. In addition to this, I am confident they will be reordering these items from Jalapeño Designs in the near future.

CMS Fundamentals Training Complete

Click Here to View and Verify My Certificate at Lynda.com

Finished my training on CMS Fundamentals. I have been seeing some job posts out there that are asking for CMS (Content Management System) knowledge and thought I should check into it. Come to find out that I have been using CMS systems for years. I use it daily for the online classroom system (E-companion), for my blog (Blogger, Wordpress), for some past websites, some e-commerce carts (Zen cart) and social networking.

For some of you out whom are shying away from these jobs, think again, you just might me more familiar to CMS than you ever thought. While setting up a CMS from scratch (Drupel, Joomla) may not be for the technology disabled, setting up a blog is not such a big stretch. Look, most of you are already using some form of a CMS (loosely FACEBOOK, MYSPACE) and the core CMS is already setup in a blogging system. Doing a blog gives you the opportunity to learn more by modifying existing templates or dig-in by building you own template from the ground up. Play and grow your knowledge.

On Lynda.com, training course CMS Fundamentals, James Williamson defines content management systems (CMSs) and explains their role in web site development. The course demonstrates the different CMS solutions available today, including WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla; reviews CMS terminology and best practices; and shows how to develop a content management strategy. Guidelines are also included for evaluating a potential CMS, whether hosted or self-hosted, open source or proprietary, and choosing a CMS based on a specific need or focus.
Topics include:

• Defining and understanding a CMS
• Understanding taxonomy
• Assessing an organization or company's needs
• Comparing content management systems
• Planning a content strategy
• Controlling content lifecycle
• Migrating between CMSs
• Understanding users, groups, and permissions
• Using web analytics

Lynda.com has a large train library on different CMS systems, check them out. Lynda does not pay me to post these. I have been using Lynda.com for years and has helped a great deal in skills and knowledge. Besides, I enjoy learning and watching their professional videos are a great way to do it.

Click Here to View and Verify My CMS Fundamentals Certificate of Completion at Lynda.com

Training with Lynda.com

I LOVE LYNDA.COM! I've been using lynda.com for years. In my opinion they are one of the best online training sites out there for the graphic design field. They have a large library of topics over software, techniques, documentaries and other professional business practices. They have books, DVDs and online videos with exercise files. Their subscription plans are extremely reasonable while giving you full access to their whole library of topics. I use a $25 per month plan that I can cancel at anytime and renew at a later date, working perfect with my month by month budget. It helps me stay current on all my software and add to my knowledge by using it weekly for just a few hours.

I highly recommend that you check them out. You won't be disappointed.

Springfield Tigers T-Shirt Design

I have been designing and printing t-shirts for Springfield Elementary PTO over the last 5 or 6 years. Their mascot is a young tiger that was created by me the first year Jalapeño Designs printed for them. For every year that we would print shirts for them, except for 1, I would add a new design for the students, parents, faculty and staff to pick from. While we printed a 2 color version, black and white on red shirt, of the round layout, the school decided to print all future shirts black on red.



I put together a brochure to be handed out to each student and posters to be hung throughout the school to help promote the sale.