Undertone @ 1 WTC

Quote with mustache layout for the Dalí room.

What do Georgia O’Keeffe, Banksy and Dalí have in common? Other than being artists, nothing. They’re all from different time periods and have vastly different styles of creating art. However, the folks at Undertone loved that about these artists and wanted to bring their flavor together in this new soup called “our new office”.

The information I got was simple: a floor plan with room labels, quotes that were to be used and the artists’ names, and ideas of what imagery was desired. Basic, but helpful. The rest was up to my team and me…my team being just the team lead and me in the beginning, then the other two guys later on during install. Over our holiday break, my team lead and I sent files back and forth—I did the research and laid everything out, he was the second set of eyes that looked over everything. Between the two of us, all of the window vinyl (less than 100 panels) was in production in two days with client approval.

Quote layout designed by me; a stencil was applied to the wall to ensure straight lines and proper alignment

As the month went by, more research, back and forth (at a minimum) and product sourcing went by. Where does one find a real bull’s skull? eBay, of course! And how about the gradient wallpaper behind it? Make the gradient, we’ll print it in our shop!

If there’s one thing I learned from this job, it’s that Annie Leibovitz does not mass print any of her photographs. How bougie.

Where do the picture frames come from that go around the images you can get? The shop! Nope, shop won’t make them in the short amount of time you have, so then what? Buy them! From an online frame store! Luckily a coworker had just bought from said e-store for another job and was happy with the outcome.

How about that pantry wall? Design the type for the quote and make a stencil!

What about the wall decals? eBay! No! MAKE THEM IN THE SHOP—production costs are lower than sourcing and purchasing each one. And that mirrored bear as homage to Jeff Koons? Make it; just needs a little DS VHB on the back, maybe some silicone.

This is probably one of the more fun jobs I got put on and the view from Undertone’s office on the 77th floor is amazing. Wouldn’t mind doing something like this again.

Crest Mobile Truck & Movie Night

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The original event’s logo, circa 2018

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This year’s new logo. Same color palette, main elements and location, different name and additional elements.

Back in May I got an email from my dear friend Liz for an “update” to the Crest Sunset Fest logo I designed last year. It read, ‘The Sunset Fest Logo needs to be changed to "crest mobile truck and movie night’“

OK. After a few texts and emails back and forth and a much needed phone call (this logo was one of three things she needed), it was decided that all that needed to change was the name.

However, thinking of the name. “Crest Mobile Truck and Movie Night”, I couldn’t get over how long it was. I played with it as one line, stacked into two, adding words in different spots and it just wasn’t working.

“Liz,” I said one day, “the name’s too long.” She said she’d look at it and see if they could shorten it. Due to crazy schedules for both of us, we both forgot and I ended up just using the name as is, again pushing things around on the screen to see how it would look.

Eventually, I decided to ditch the thick rule lines in favor of only sealing in the bottom of the half sun and played with the idea of movie themed elements.

The color palette leaves a lot to be desired, but Liz and her husband were happy with the result (bottom) and it was used for the event and all its collateral.

Event Facebook

Butterfly Bridal Package

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One of my best friends got married in 2018 and because she was on a super tight budget, I did what I could to help her DIY everything.

As her maid of honor, my job was to be her right hand man (woman?) in everything she wanted—dresses, expos, decorations, invites, etc. So, I did just that—we started with save the dates (pictured), then I worked on the bridal shower invites with the other bridesmaids, then came table decorations for the guest tables and signs for the prop tables.

The easiest part about all of this was the access I had to the equipment that would make my life easier: a laser cutter, wide format printers, jump shears, paper guillotines, vinyl for stickers, etc. I could use all of these for free and whenever I wanted!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of everything, but the package was color themed: black, white, purple, pink and silver. We used butterflies (her favorite), flourishes, script fonts (whomever designed Autumn in November—thank you), and other delicate elements.

The full package included: save-the-dates, invitation set (main invite, RSVP, directions), envelopes (purchased!), script table numbers cut from 1/4” scrap acrylic on the laser cutter and painted with silver glitter spray paint, informative signs for guest photos on social media made with scrap Dibond, black vinyl and silver glitter spray paint, the bridal shower invites (shh, those were a surprise!), and Cricut-cut seating cards.

The wedding was a success and with all of the tangible elements being hand-made, it all had a personal touch. It was super fun making everything and I would 100% do it again if I still had access to the right equipment.

Design Quickies - Gotta Go Fast!

Over the summer, I needed a creative kickstart. I felt like my portfolio was lacking and I was the only one who could do anything about it…but what?

So that’s when I got this idea—what if I, before I started my work day each morning, got on the computer and just opened a program, picked a skill to refine and spend 1-2 hours working on a quick project. I dubbed these “Design Quickies”.

These Design Quickies, or DQs for short, had three jobs: keep myself in practice or learn how to do something new, build up my portfolio, and keep my creative juices flowing. My job, at the time of this conception, allowed me more creative release than the last, but was not nearly enough to keep me happy as a designer.

I kept up with this for a little while, trying to add humor to my work. I experimented with size and scale (as shown in the two examples on the left), type treatment, color, and ideas. Each session, I’d do a web search for random things that popped into my head, gather the items I’d need and go to town. The only rule was each DQ could only be worked on during that session. Once the session was over, I would never touch the piece again.

Needless to say, a few pieces remain unfinished, like the family portrait I took form my personal photo library and attempted to replace everyone’s face, including my own, with Gary Busey’s.

I’ll pick DQs back up soon, as I have a few things I want to try out. They’ll be shared in the blog in the future and will possibly earn a spot in the portfolio if they really rock my socks.

Sunflower Wedding

One of my best friends’ sisters was getting married and naturally, I was on the top of the list for people to get invitations from.

It started with a casual mention over lunch, to me emailing a questionnaire to the bride-to-be asking about colors, themes, dates, etc.

What I got to work with: purple, white, gray and sunflowers.

Because the bride lives in Florida, all of this was done through email and text: choosing the paper, designing the concepts, the fleshing out, the final layout, the progress updates and photos of the finished product.

The layout design was done on the computer and I handed off printing to a friend of mine who has access to a large format flatbed printer. Ten sheets of 26” x 40” paper from Mohawk, dozens of sheets of purple shimmer paper and vellum from The Paper Store, several hours spent with a 15” guillotine and a basic X-Acto, going blind in low light, double-stick paper craft tape, some letratac, and it all came together.

The package consisted of save the dates (not pictured), main invites, vellum cover sheets, directions, RSVP cards, and gift notes—envelopes were the bride’s responsibility in this case.

This was probably one of my favorite hand-crafted projects and I look forward to taking on more just like this. The bride was super easy to work with and I hope her wedding planning is going just as smoothly. I’m also looking forward to attending the wedding to see how everything turns out!