BLOCK HEAD.

BLOCK HEADS - Happy, UnHappy and Grimace.

BLOCK HEAD is an attitude. BLOCK HEAD doesn't cause chaffing. BLOCK HEAD is good for wooing women. BLOCK HEAD can gird your loins.


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Be a BLOCK HEAD!

- BLOCK HEAD (Happy)
- BLOCK HEAD (UnHappy)
- BLOCK HEAD (Grimace)

Copyright © 2008 Essential Nonsense Ltd.

Illustrative Design Session.

Nervous in front of 900+ people.

My extensive one hour session from the HOW Design Conference is now online. It will walk you through the entire creative process for creating inspiring and effective "Illustrative Design" solutions.


A screen grab from my session presentation.

Have you ever thought of a unique concept, but then wasn’t sure you could pull it off because it required a good amount of illustrative work and frankly speaking that intimidated you? Or your budget was such that you couldn’t hire it out either? So, instead you just pursued another design direction?


Quick reference sheet included in download.

Well, fear no more my fellow creatives! This session will walk you through systematic illustrative design methods you’ll be able to integrate into your own creative process. In the end you’ll be better equipped to pursue those design ideas that require an illustrative touch far more effectively, thus expanding your overall creative potential and skill set as a graphic designer.

For more information and to download the "Illustrative Design Session" or other helpful step by step tutorials click here.

Included in this download: The entire “Illustrative Design” session from the HOW Design Conference, Exhaustive notes regarding each step of the process, Quick reference sheet to help you remember each step, MP3 audio file of entire session so you can listen while you go through it yourself and Instructions on how to use everything on a MAC or PC.

What will design be like in 2025?

'Beware of the "Monkey Do" Virus!'

That was the question posed by HOW Design Magazine. I gave it some thought and came up with the following prediction. HOW Design Magazine published my opinion regarding the future of design in their August edition.

"Apple will release its first neural implant for controlling GUI content on the MAC platform. Branded "iThink", it will make the keyboard, mouse and tablet/pen obsolete over night.

Microsoft will follow suit about a year later with it's own neural implant for controlling GUI content on Windows Universe Pro Edition. It'll look just like Apple's and be branded "iDea." Three days after it's release to the public, however, a temporal worm virus called "Monkey Do" will infect users' brains so they start acting like chimps, throwing poo on anyone that comes near."

That's right, I got "Chimps throwing poo!" published in a national magazine. How cool is that. LOL

Georgia on my mind.

'Fellow art buddies Rob McClurkan, Tom Cox and Scott Thigpen'

I just got back from the HOW Design Conference in Atlanta Georgia. It was a lot of fun and I had a blast doing the book signing for my texture book. But the best part about attending these types of events is getting to meet up with friends.

I got to do just that and was able to hang with fellow creatives Rob McClurkan, , Tom Cox, and Scott Thigpen.

I grew up in the Pacific NW where we say "You guys." But here in the south it's properly pronounced "Ya'll." All three of these guys live in or around Atlanta and were nice enough to show this yankee around town.


'A hole in the wall cafe called Carver's.'

One day we were all trying to figure out where to eat for lunch. Tom suggested a place called 'Carver's'. He said it was a little run down but the food was incredible. Tom use to work as a designer for Coca Cola and someone had introduced him to this cafe years ago. So we jumped into his car and took off.

When we pulled up to the place I have to admit I felt like I was about to become part of a cops episode. The location was well off the beaten path but Tom insisted it was worth it. Seeing all the cars parked on the side of the road around this place should have given me a clue as to what I'd find once inside.


'If you cook it they will come.'

We walked through the doors and the place was packed. I couldn't believe how many people were in this small dining area. Apparently the wife of the owner wakes up at 4am every morning and starts cooking. You never know what the menu will have or if they'll be open they just kind of wing it but that doesn't hurt their business because this food is good old fashioned southern cookin'. Tom was right, it was incredible food and the environment just added to the overall experience. Very cool, something you'd never find without local intel.


'Side order of texture at Carver's.'

I never know when I am going to be inspired and sometimes the source can be mundane or just unexpected. When I sat down to eat I noticed the old linoleum floor of this cafe. You could see the worn layers from many years of use and what most people would have just ignored or cringed at, I thought would make a great texture to use in design or illustration. So of course I bent down and took a few pictures of the floor.

Doing this tends to cause others to look at you like your weird but I don't think any of the other guys gave it a second though? It makes sense for an artist and you've got to admit it does look cool.


'Refining the image for it's final digital form.'

I guess I call this bent in my nature 'Creative Curiosity'. I love textures and this was a perfect example of life inspiring art. You never know where you'll find them but if you're prepared you can capture and use them in your own projects. Actually that is what my texture book is all about.

FREE Southern Texture
I've created a special set of '5' textures all derived from my travels in Georgia the past few weeks. You can download the entire set using the link below. The following is a brief description on each texture included in the download. For more technical information regarding the size and resolution of this 'Southern Texture' set just visit www.texturebook.com. They have been created using the exact same specs as those offered with the book.

1. Antebellum Thrash: Taken from painted wood siding on an old antebellum home in Savannah.
2. Carvers Floor: Taken from the floor of 'Carvers' cafe in Atlanta.
3. Paula Deen1: Taken from a support beam outside 'Lady and Sons' Restaurant in Savannah.
4. Paula Deen2: Taken from the floor inside 'Lady and Sons' Restaurant in Savannah.
5. Pirates Port: Taken from Savannah waterfront where Pirates use to tread.

Download: SOUTHERN TEXTURE SET (73.5 MB)

Stereotypical Icons.

New icon concepts for All State Insurance.

A few years back All State Insurance hired me to create a few sets of icons they could use within their print marketing material. Most of the icons represented the various policies and coverage they offer. Some of the topic matters are a little tricky to define as a simplistic icon so it can be a challenge.

The most recent request for icons were for the themes:
- Stolen/Forged Checks
- Stolen Credit Card
- Wind Storm
- Hail

The style had to match the previous batch shown below. So for the new nefarious deeds of stealing checks and credit cards I decided my stereotypical villain should reprise his role in this grouping of icons.

Icons depend upon stereotypes to relay common themes and messages. But within todays PC mindset the word "Stereotype" tends to be frowned upon. Like anything there is both good and bad stereotypes and what I'll point out in this post is a few good classics.

Villain Stereotype: Sporting a newsboy cap, face mask (Think Robin), dark clothes, flash light, loot bag and if smart gloves. Has anyone ever seen a criminal like this in real life? Of course not it's a well established stereotype to relay the idea of a "Bad Guy." It just works.

If you had to create an icon for the topic of "Serial Killer" you wouldn't draw "Ted Bundy." Technically you'd be accurate but because he looks too normal, no one would get it. All be it an extreme example my point is it's not always easy to bake a topic down into a simplistic and iconic form. It's both an art and science of sorts.

Wind Stereotype: When was the last time you saw linear lines making curly cues in the sky without a plane being involved? It's a balance of figurative, metaphorical and literal when it comes to iconic artwork. You can't see the wind but everyone has experienced the wind and that is what the icon is drawing upon. (Pun intended)


Previous set of All State Insurance icons.

One thing I learned while working on these icons is that an insurance company has policies for nearly any type of situation. Here is the list of what the icons shown above represented. (I am too lazy to double check this information from my archive so I am doing it from memory the best I can remember)

Icon Definitions

Legal Expense: I suppose this is more common place now that we live in a sue happy society?

Falling Objects: Like meteorites or planes I was told. (They didn't want a plane)

Damage from Neighbors Property: Oops, your neighbor was playing Paul Bunyan.

Armed Robbery: Give me your wallet or I'll give you some lead!

Frozen Water Pipes: Stereotypical snowflake says "It's cold."

Broken Water Pipe: Yeah, so I used the same pipe art. So what?

Home Fire: Duh.

Accidental Property Damage: That's what you get for not using a bag.

Identity Theft: Our stereotypical villain has stolen Mr. Fisher Prices identity.

Old World Texture Set.

"Old World Texture Set" 30 Royalty-Free Textures.

In February I traveled to Europe, Israel and Jordan. While there I took over 2,000 pictures. This texture set consists of "30" real-world surface textures derived from actual on site locations I visited. While many were looking at famous historical landmarks I was looking at the nice textures embracing such locations and capturing them to create this set.


Each texture comes with the full-color source photo.

This set is royalty-free. Just buy it, download it and you can use these textures on any personal or professional illustration or design project you want.


All "30" Textures in set.

Source File Specifications.
Each Texture Includes the following formats for each of the "30" textures.

- Source Photo (Hi-Resolution RGB jpeg, 10x15 inches @ 315 ppi)
- Layered Grayscale PSD File (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 315 ppi)
- Bitmap Tiff Image (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 300 ppi)

Try it before you buy it!
You can download a sample texture including all the formats listed above and take them for a test drive here.

No-Brainer Ordering and Download.
The entire set is just $9.95. Order using the Paypal button below. Once you click through Paypal you'll be automatically forwarded to a download page. If you have any questions just post them in the comments below and I'll respond to each accordingly.

You can see other textures of mine at Texturebook.com

Finishing Strong!

"Chicken Club" Sticker design.'

The downside of being a creative hired gun is not having the satisfaction of seeing my work in it's final context more times than not. Most of the clients I work with move on to new projects and rarely send along samples of how my work was used in the final context. This is understandable in a large, fast paced agency where a team usually handles a client rather then one or two people.


Clever visual twist icons for each of the food varieties.

It is a nice surprise however when an agency does take the time to share with me how the final product came out. RETHINK is the agency who handled the rebranding for "Kolachy Co." and the images shown in this post reflect how they used the icon art I developed for them.

The creative director on this project was Jeff Harrison at RETHINK.


Piping hot fresh brewed branding.

I love how RETHINK has integrated the iconic art through out all the various components of the new branding. Clean, sophisticated yet fun.


Nice coherent brand environment.

This new rebranding can be seen in the recent edition of Canada's premier magazine for visual communications "Applied Arts." Thank you RETHINK for sharing the final result, it's good to see it finish strong!