New Tapes

As mentioned prior, two new tapes from Otherworldly Mystics are in!

My hand in each one differs a bit. Like the last two, these tapes feature my OM logo design and general layout, but are final designed by other people. So, more of an art directer than graphic designer in this case.

For Infinite Third's tape there was an original layout which I then helped re-tool, albeit roughly, but the final placement is more/less from my input. As for the Cloud Seeding tape, I honestly didn't see it till it was finished because I was busy by that point, but it sure came out pretty.

Hopefully there will be more exciting news in the coming month. Now back to thesis work for me!

They're Here!

After a couple of months of waiting, the first tapes from Otherworldly Mystics are now available and ready for order!

When Chris (the label owner) sent me these photos tonight I got super excited. I'm really proud of the OM logo I designed and I think it looks really great and fitting on these packages. In addition to the logo design, I also assisted in the overall packaging format. While different artists are in control of each albums' artwork and package design, I've supervised the general layout to make sure each Otherworldly Mystics release has a semi-uniform layout.

Both Teeel's Amulet and Teams' Catch Pool EP are available to order now (in limited quantities), with more tapes from other artists on the way. Seriously, they're both awesome albums, and the sound quality from the tapes is fantastic!

Houdini & Holmes PRE-ORDER

A little update on Polly Guo's Houdini & Holmes [which I did logo design/layout for]; it sadly never ended up arriving at San Diego Comic-Con, however instead you can now pre-order the first issue from Polly herself, with full details at her blog.

From her blog:
Houdini & Holmes
written and drawn by Polly Guo
25 pages, 50 copies (I'll order more if there are more people that want it, but it might take longer)
$4.00 USD + shipping

* Shipping is $2.00 to the US and $4.90 to ship anywhere else
* For $1 more I'll include a sketch with your order!

ORDER NOW

I even do logo design...

Before you comment saying "oh wow, you can actually draw people!" I should note, I DID NOT DRAW THIS. But thanks for thinking anyways. This is the cover to my friend, Polly Guo's new comic book, Houdini & Holmes, the first part of which will be available at this year's San Diego Comic-Con!

Update: The comic will be available for purchase in the Small Press Area, table number P-11. Make sure you buy it!

I'm really pleased with Polly's finalization of this cover, having seen it prior to the rad coloring job she did; and overall the text is very fitting for the style and mood. However, I made some flat-color mock-ups myself when I was testing out the logo design:

The left image has the original black/white mock-up, with three test color palettes. The right image was my final mock-up, after some discussing with Polly, which included the issue numbering and adjusted ampersand (the "&").

There's parts I like about both my mock-ups and Polly's final version, but regardless, the cover alone was awesome enough whether it was colored or not. I'm just glad I was able to help out in some way. But yeah, this is me throwing my hat into the logo design ring, contact me if you ever need assistance in that domain, or coloring for that matter.

PUBLISHED AGAIN

I was published in SVA's Visual Opinion Magazine in last month's Calendar Issue, and now I've been published again in this month's Food Issue. Unlike the last time though, this is a piece you've seen, Consume, although they mislabeled it in the issue as "Consumed."

The mislabeling is not a big deal; my name, photo, artwork, description and bio are all as they should be, but the mis-titling is just a silly mistake that shouldn't have happened. But hey, I'm getting payed for this, and at least it's published somewhere despite what Threadless thinks.

PUBLISHED

Hot damn! I've actually gotten some work published! Sure, it's just for SVA's Visual Opinion Magazine, specifically the 2010 Calendar Issue, but it's still awesome to see my work in print!



Why Space? Because I have an infatuation with space, I've always loved science fiction, and I'm currently working on a personal project set in space, with a similar visual style. Why July? While most people would choose their birth month (I was born in August), space seemed much more relevant for July, as that was the month in which man first landed on the Moon (if you believe that). So really the choice and imagery was based on that; also note that the "4" asteroid is in a star-shape.

This was actually completed in one sitting back in... November. But not published until now. I had gotten a reply that my submission was "in contention" back in December, but I was never given a concrete, yes or no answer until I saw the issue was available today. And yes, I'm getting payed for this.

First mocked-up in Photoshop, then drawn in Flash, re-sized in Illustrator, and then brought back into Photoshop for color, texture, and shading. So, this was actually the real first time I did Flash/Photoshop texture/shading, even though I've already posted similar and, more or less, better works recently. Hope you like it.

If you want one, but can't get one because you don't go to SVA or whatever other reason, send me a message and I'll see what I can do.