.

2009-12-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

Gratitous

2009-12-04T03:33:00.002-04:00

Worn

2009-07-01T16:47:00.005-04:00

O'Brien

2009-06-30T12:36:00.003-04:00

Will edit this post in due time. I swear it, this time would be for the benefit of us all. I have so many artworks in tow ready to share but will post it when time permits. Below is the preliminary layout for my friend's website. I will probably tweak it coz the colors seems a bit dull. Also, if you live in Chicago, don't forget to stop by at Logans Square's "Summer Sessions" event. I was responsible of building their banner and I will most definitely post an update about it later tonight.

Hope all is well.

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

PSB Files!

2009-06-19T20:36:00.003-04:00

Do you guys get frustrated handling huge files in Photoshop? Holly bujeesus. I am sitting here trying to save and revise a stage banner and it is seriously making me a cranky drone. I would have to say that I've spent more time staring at the bar loading rather than designing it. I need a computer upgrade. Also, to answer some of the questions I recieved from the last couple of days, yes... all the things I post in here are made by my own sweat and tears. I don't think I've ever posted anything that wasn't my creation unless noted.

Also, I will be designing/making a portfolio site for a close friend that is beyond talented. I will keep you posted and link you to it once it's done. Below is just another blah for our work's editor. Hope all is well to all and to the silent lurkers out there, cheers! You are not stalking me. I Promise. And thanks for the birthday wishes!

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

No Pun Intended

2009-06-05T18:03:00.005-04:00

Is it just me or am I consistently adding artworks around here and not talk about it? It doesn't feel like a blog now does it? I'll try and at least have the decency to give this blog some sparks! I have a journal in which I post on a weekly/daily basis and this art blog gets overshadowed. Who knew blogging can be this complicated. Anyway folks, below are a couple of artworks I did recently. The Taylor one you've seen already :) but I just wanted to post the shiny bling again coz I'm currently using it as my desktop wallpaper at work. It was supposed to be a company booster coz we were all drained and I figured my coworkers needed to LOlz a little.

Hope all is well and rock on! Happy Fridays :D

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Unfold

2009-06-01T19:02:00.003-04:00

Hitman: Wentworth Miller

2009-05-29T17:51:00.003-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Twi...light! Lulz.

2009-05-28T18:22:00.005-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Bones

2009-05-22T15:18:00.003-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Ingrid Michelson: Cat Page

2009-05-21T15:53:00.003-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

John Abruzzi

2009-05-18T18:25:00.004-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

The Final Showdown

2009-05-15T13:33:00.003-04:00

My show is coming to an end and I feel so robbed. I will sure miss those times when I look forward to watching it every week. Anywayz, this was posted on the STGD community and you probably have seen it before. Hope all is well and I will try to reply to your messages within this week!!!

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Web Design: Ridge Sports

2009-05-13T16:16:00.005-04:00

Hey guys,

Sorry for not replying to your messages. Life's a bit hectic lately but I will get back to you as soon as I can. Also, my most beloved show is coming to an end :(

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Freeway

2009-05-08T17:37:00.005-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Duh Bom: Web Design

2009-05-04T18:33:00.005-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Specs: Web Design

2009-05-04T16:53:00.004-04:00

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Think Green

2009-04-30T17:47:00.004-04:00

maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Citizen Radio: Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny

2009-04-29T19:47:00.008-04:00

This was a poster for the comedic duo's radio show called Citizen Radio. Go check their show listing. I believe they just interviewed Noam Chomsky a couple of days ago and you might get a glimpse if you get lucky. On the other hand, my coworker just shared an info on a printing company who does canvas printing for less than 3 dollars per square foot. I might be giving out free prints to all you lovely people out there. Just send me an email at maybellepineda@graphic-designer.com and I'll keep you posted in a couple of weeks to come. Also, I just bought the latest Bamboo digital tablet from Wacom and just wanted to post it coz again, my roommate's cat, "Podgy" Podge wanted to post "sexy".

Thanks for lurking and feedbacks are always appreciated.

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

More Website Design

2009-04-24T11:51:00.006-04:00

Its amazing how people ask me where I get all the time to make all these artworks. Hmmm, I honestly don't know. If I'm inclined to work on a project, I usually won't sleep up until I'm happy with it. And for the extra things I do for fun, it usually doesn't take me that long... thanks to short cut keys of course. Anywayz, this was a website design I did to slice for our graphic elements at work. It turned out better than I originally envisioned. It comes with variations of colors for more options in our interface. Also, I decided to not change my website's layout. I feel so clingy to it and I just don't want to let go after spending so many hours typing its codes.

I am re-posting these things around here. You may have seen it before but stare at the pretties anywayz.

Hope all is well and rock on,
Maybelle
http://creativesleeves.110mb.com

Fangirl

2009-04-23T18:59:00.004-04:00

Check our lovely community at STGD for some news and latest info about Sarah Wayne Callies and news on Prison Break.

Maybelle
http://creativesleeves.110mb.com

LOTS

2009-04-13T22:12:00.004-04:00

Quick post.

Maybelle
http://creativesleeves.110mb.com

Zoom...

2009-04-13T15:46:00.006-04:00

Graphic Elements

2009-04-10T15:55:00.005-04:00

We were making graphic elements for our interface and below is one of the many I came up with over this week. Also, word has it that we'll be receiving free merchandises from Lesettes! Huzaaah. Hopefully we'll get free things from MTV aswell.

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

News Letter Mock-Up

2009-04-03T18:16:00.003-04:00

My co-workers and I are designing a news letter for Taylor Nation. We still don't know if this idea will be pitched to our boss but for the mean time, we are designing samples. Lolz. Mine looks like... meh. I have some other designs and probably will end up having a hundred of it by Monday. Hope everyone will have a fun weekend.
Maybelle,
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Website

2009-04-02T11:56:00.004-04:00

Hello All,

I am currently building my sister's website through our editor at work. It's still a work in progress but hopefully it'll be done in two weeks. My system is still as f*ck but I will get it fixed over the weekends. Also, below are a couple of links of websites we worked on through our editor. I can't wait 'till our interface is functioning to its full capacity. Also, another LOTS digital painting you all have seen before if you are in the fandom?

cartertwins.com
lesettes perfume
galleria
crookedx.com

Maybelle,
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Desk Top

2009-04-01T02:20:00.007-04:00

Hello World.

It's been a while since I last blogged and I need to step my game. My friend and I went to a bloggers meeting held here in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. There were interesting tid bits and there were many things I learned upon hearing HARDCORE bloggers giving out pointers on how to brand posts and such. Yeah. It was never my intention of making money or becoming famous but dyum... you should have seen those bloggers. They are all sorts of amazing.

Anyway, haven't made much progress for the last couple of months but hopefully I can finally stop being lazy and get my laptop fixed. That and buy a new digital tablet. Below are illustrations you may and may not have seen before.

Also, I am enabling the reply tab but I highly doubt that anyone will even care to reply. LULz. Please stop spamming :( For those projects I have lined up, I am on it. My laptop is broken and I can't do much work. I will get to it soon.

Maybelle
creativesleeves.110mb.com

Finally changed my wallpaper! Huzzah!

Legend of the Seeker: Darken Rahl

Illustrated Desk

2009-01-15T22:59:00.004-04:00

I posted this on my website a couple of days ago but apparently, it was gone out of the blue. Figured this will be better off streamed here. Also, I put a linked on a recent wire frame I did for our school portal as well as a mock-up version for Rider Owned's website.

Wire Frame
Rider Owned Networks

Signage

2008-12-12T10:00:00.006-04:00

Will edit post in due time. I am in the process of revising my website and thank you to all for the feedbacks. I appreciate it immensely. Below was a poster made for a 14 year reunion incorporating the school's actual logo into the canvas.

Yes, it's India ink. I love those things. They are amazing and better than Prisma markers or any other if you ask me.

Rambling from a very sorry arse

2008-12-05T12:35:00.004-04:00

Hey folks, I can't explain how sorry I am for keeping you hanging this long. I am currently tweaking my website and apparently, Dreamweaver died on me 2 days ago and now I am stuck with notepad typing codes. Hence, I have no time rendering any tutorials. I'm deeply sadden coz I know people are expecting it for quite some time now. But to those AI students who happened to bump into this entry, you can always find me at the learning center on Tuesdays and Thursdays if you need any help.

I will get on with the tutorial some way or the other. We'll get there. Also, below is my latest PS rendition for my ever so lovable show. It's two weeks old so some of you may have seen it around. I am not ignoring any messages, I will get on it sometime soon as well. Things have been quite hectic these past few days. It's a bit overwhelming but we'll all manage, yah?

*waves to Kathy Bebs* Will poke you a message soon!

Tutorials

2008-11-24T20:04:00.006-04:00

I am not a connoisseur pro but since some of you wants to learn a few tricks in Photoshop, I am more than happy to oblige upon your requests.

I will be posting how to’s on digitally painting caricatures. Normally, this will take around 10 hours for beginners but as you progress, time will pick up rather smoothly and you’ll be done in a jizz. I will be conducting tutorials on simple elements upon next week.

Below is a manipulation of an image and morph it into something radical. Most of the layers were transformed using the "layer effect". Believe it or not, I used it a lot in my work form. Have a pleasant week to all and watch PRISON BREAK TONIGHT!

from thisthisto this

Watercolorblue

2008-11-12T23:23:00.003-04:00

The first day/stage of outlining the space around the canvas. I am not sure if this will ever get done but I'll work on it the best way possible if given the chance.

On the other hand, my website is gaining traffic wahooooooot! I streamed all the images on Photobucket just so I get more space. I'm trying to add a news page and will do so in due time.

Xtinction

2008-11-11T18:38:00.004-04:00

Rendered and manipulate in Photoshop CS3. I'm still in the process of adding more substance but it'll get there. And also, I have a watercolor rendition of the same concept but more abstract. I will post the first stage later tonight.

Thanks for stopping by and lurking this blog. The number of hits makes me deliriously happy!

Website!

2008-11-10T15:08:00.004-04:00

It took me less than 2 weeks to finish the dang thing. Again, it's just basic html and css but it'll suffice for now. I still haven't figured out how to stream my blogs into it but it'll get there.

This was rendered in Photoshop while I was waiting for McAfee to search for that nagging virus in my system. I was working on Dreamweaver yesterday when it happened. I figured I got it while I surfing the net, looking for free online video streaming for this show Called Felicity.

*sign* Those dang virus makes my life miserable.

WEBSITE CLICKY ME!

please click image for close-up view

HoowwzaaahhH! Old shitZ I hafftah share

2008-10-07T17:11:00.005-04:00

I know. I'm a terrible blogger but I'll try to post a couple more of my old art work sometime this week and my website is getting there... I think. Anywazah, these are just a bunch of old... old... old... artworks I did.

Hope all is well and I'll get to updating when the times comes. And oh, watch PRISON BREAK!!! *claps armpits*

Like Woah!

2008-09-22T16:04:00.002-04:00

Updates and sorts will be posted in due time.

This was ransacked from my old... old... old... file back in 2005. One of my high school art work that's probably thrown away and goodness knows where.

Chance Encounter

2008-08-29T17:07:00.002-04:00

So apparently, my power jack is loose and dislodged. I finally managed to do a little research on the issue, why the socket and battery isn't gaining charge at all. I still don't know how to address this problem since I use my laptop everyday for work, projects, and sorts. Perhaps less attaching and detaching with the adaptor? *crosses fingers*

This was a poster I did a couple of days ago for a story called Chance Encounter by Nika. You can check it out at PBfic.net. The story entails so much angst and drama so better hop on the bandwagon if your in for a hell ride. And yes! I will be updating loose ends around here. I just need to manage some of my free time.

Have a great labor day weekend everyone!

Peta: Wish Bone

2008-08-27T20:43:00.000-04:00

Brad Bellick

2008-08-26T20:07:00.004-04:00

I know. I need to post more around here and I will soon. I have some technical problems with my PC again and I will get it fixed. For the mean time, here's a new artwork I did recently.

Bullseye

2008-08-19T21:50:00.002-04:00

Visual Metaphors

2008-08-13T07:42:00.004-04:00

I haven't gotten any sleep *sigh*
These are two of the examples of visual metaphors I did for my concept design class. The first one is for a gps portable system Magellan and the second one is for Tide To Go. I have ten more in my files to share and I will post it in due time. I snagged the images from getty and manipulated it in Photoshop. The logos are rendered in Illustrator.

Snobs dem b1tcheSz

2008-08-08T15:29:00.006-04:00

I have my fair share with graphic design snobs but good graves! do they need to exclude illustrators and such. Is it not part of the design interface to have a technical drawing skill? It saddens me to no avail.

Ai lurkers announcement:

On a brighter note, I just started working at the AI learning center as a tutor. And I have also been looking around for art curators to network with.

To all Ai students who's been lurking on this blog, stop by at the learning center if you need help with your projects and sorts. I'm at your service on Tuesdays at the Loop campus and Thursdays at the Mart. Be my design buddy and we have some nitpicking to do ;)

And oh, Subrinsky rocks and you know it! Below is an update of an old sketch I did a while back. I feel like it'll never be done but it's a revision nonetheless.

HeDGER

2008-08-03T01:05:00.005-04:00

Programs: Illustrator and Photoshop
I will post more in due time. Thanks for stopping by ;)

EEE PC

2008-07-30T09:20:00.003-04:00

This was a mock-up home page for the eee pc website I did for class a couple of days ago (there's a revision for this but I could'nt find my jump drive but I will post it in due time). The task was to redesign the company's home page to make it more accessible and informational. If you guys don't know what an EEE PC is, it's a small itsy bitsy laptop for the price of $100 and I want one! Even though it has less capacity, you can access the web and its travel friendly.

NEW LAYOUT!!!

2008-07-30T07:48:00.002-04:00

*squeeeeee*

The overwhelming dullness of my previous layout was unnerving! I finally found a nice cute design that is easy on the eye and I just want to eat it. All things credit to the lovely Gisele Jaquenod who makes remarkable blog templates.

In other news, I will be posting new of my design work in the days to come. This is one of the recent illustrations I did and rendered using a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop.

mock-up ad for Comic Con

2008-07-24T18:21:00.005-04:00

*waves* to all lurkers. I will be on a short hiatus but will try posting revisions and a couple more of my recent artworks in due time. Thanks for visiting.

As most of you know, I am huge television buff and very much active in communities such as the (Save the Good Doctor), which is/was a campaign to bring back a character from the television show called Prison Break. That being said, this is a recent work I did to hype the overwhelming festivities of Comic Con.

"The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it."

~Gustave Courbet~

Web Design

2008-07-21T00:22:00.003-04:00

This is a simple mock-up version of a web design for class. Yes, I'm learning how to build a site and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Over the years, I had my fair share of using codes made by other designers and using it as a utility and change the layout here and there. And now it is time that I learn how to do the codings by myself.

For this particular project, the task was to build a website for a company that sells umbrellas. I wanted to incorporate children and sea creatures and integrate all the pastel colors into it. This is the first vision for the front page.

Sara Tancredi Tattoo

2008-07-20T17:18:00.003-04:00

"Have you ever wonder, in another life... what if?" I did this recently while discussing a possibility of her having a tattoo. So here it is, and remarkably, it turned out like a Wanted movie poster lol. Some of the swirls were ransacked courtesy of google search.

That's the Spirit

2008-07-13T23:59:00.002-04:00

Grace

2008-07-11T01:44:00.005-04:00

Software: Photoshop CS2
Time lapse: About 3 hours

I'll be downloading Corel Painter and see the difference between that program and PS. I heard it has less buffer time when you use your brush tool on a bigger resolution file. I have some more artworks to share and I'll be posting them in due time.

Thanks for surfing this blog ;)

The Pale Figures Revisions

2008-07-09T16:56:00.004-04:00

Glessner/Graphic Designer Sample Collateral Piece

2008-07-09T14:48:00.005-04:00

Business card (front and back), envelope

Front and Back (letterhead)

Side Note: Design Brief will be posted in due time.

Lines are worth a thousand words

2008-07-02T18:20:00.003-04:00

Dominic Purcell Caricature

2008-07-01T19:35:00.004-04:00

Website in the works!!!

The browser and server is not open to the public just yet. I will notify you guys as soon as it's up and running. This blog will always be updated since this is the place I normally post progressions of my work. For the meantime, here is a caricature of Dominic Purcell.

The Pale Figures

2008-06-30T20:44:00.005-04:00

Logo
Contest

I saw an ad posted on our school bulletin board about a logo contest for this band called The Pale Figures. I typically don't use literal illustrations for a logo but since they are making t-shirts out of it, might as well make it functional and look like you actually would want to wear it ;)

For the font choice, I used impact and manipulated the bottom portion and used the gradient tool to get that blending effect. As for the pimped out letter "P" it's illustrated in Photoshop and I used different styles of the layer tool. And also, there are different variations in terms of colors for this piece.

I will be posting a couple of photographs in due time.

Tom Welling Caricature

2008-06-29T13:15:00.007-04:00

I am getting the hang with all these layer effects so here is another rendition of Smallville's Clark Kent. This was an old piece I did a while back but it turned out badly. But good thing that I managed to make it look decent now so it's all good.

It's getting warm out and I'll be taking photographs again. I like taking pictures outdoors when it's nice and sunny and hopefully it won't be raining again today. So for those of you who lurk around here for my image manipulations, heads up coz I'll be trying to do movie posters using my very own photographs (if I can help it). Reason being, I recently came across these Key Art pieces and I was astounded with the way they manipulated photographs and make it into movie posters. I read somewhere that its all rendered and manipulated in Photoshop so I am trying to teach my way out of it. Have a great summer break everyone ;)

Michael Rosenbaum Caricature

2008-06-26T23:17:00.002-04:00

Adding texture looks so much better and so I finally found a way to do it right. I was inspired by Michael's goofiness on the blooper portion of Smallville's season 2. Check it out!

I am 21! Finally!

2008-06-09T21:29:00.009-04:00

I will post revisions as soon as possible. Again, I apologize for the quick notes. Having no internet and uploading files via our school domain is becoming a hassle. Our portal sometimes block images to be posted online.

In retrospect, this is the front cover of the 6 spread magazine for the book I was working on. I am extremely thrilled on how it turned out. I will be posting revisions of the entire book sometime this week. And also some of the updates I made for the collateral pieces for Glessner House Museum.To those who sent me warm greetings for my 21'st birthday, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. Yes, I am officially twenty one today. Do I feel any wiser? Oddly so, I think I am.

***edited versions***

Type Revision

2008-06-05T20:01:00.005-04:00

Revisions and updates will be posted in due time.

Type Treatment

2008-06-04T23:50:00.009-04:00

These are preliminary layouts for my final project for VC236. The task was to produce six spreads about typography. I came up with the concept on how type treatment is being used in terms of communication.

And so I illustrated different variations of traditional inventions that are used in terms of communication through type. The rustic look to it was defined and rendered from the history of Typography. Most of the illustrations back in the day were hand drawn and so I decided that having that engraving feel will make it more authentic.

As to how the illustrations were processed, it’s plain and simple. Your layer effects are extremely important and will come in handy. It will make your life easier when done right. First I drew a train using a micron pen and scanned it. When you scan your pieces, it will always turn out dirty and that is not an option when you’ll be using it on your spread.

When you want this type of look to your pieces, these are quick and easy steps to follow using Adobe Photoshop:

*Scan a pen illustration.
*Use the “level” palette to clean your background.
*And now the fun part with the layer effect:
-Duplicate your image so that you will have three pieces in total (of the same kind). The first top most layer, use the effect “luminosity”, the second layer use “color burn” and lastly use “vivid light”.
-Make another layer with an orange fill for the background and move it all the way down with your layers.
- Congratulations! You’re done and good to go.

I know I mentioned that I will not be updating until August but I have a spare time this evening and my pc is running smoothly. It's not on its best condition but it is working as effecient as possible.

Hiatus

2008-06-02T02:40:00.006-04:00

This blog will be closed until August and no updates will be posted in due time. I have a major issue with my laptop and I am trying to restore all files that have been deleted in the course of debugging my system.

About the artwork --->
Painted in Photoshop CS2.

This was rendered a couple of days ago inspired by the phrase "they batter the wares of the past, the misgivings of their actions" written by one of my favorite (well my ultimate fave fanfic writer) Rosie aka mrs_spleen. It's nowhere near done but I wanted to share it coz the nesting and placement of the words fit perfectly together. Maybe if you happen to bump into this blog, it'll give you an idea or two.

Take care and be well everyone.

xoxo,
Maybelle

Transporting Typography

2008-05-28T22:07:00.005-04:00

I apologize for not updating this blog for quite a while now. I would like to send my warmest thanks to those who sent me e-mails and messages over the days of my absence. I appreciate the kind thoughts and inspirations you showered upon me. I will try my best to reply to you soon.

My laptop has recently been spammed with spywares and I am in the process of debugging it. It's frustrates me to no avail. Hopefully things will go back to normal and I can get a hold of the internet as sufficient as possible.

This is one of the latest projects I've been working on for a 6 spread book about typography. Yes, going back to memory lane and learn about the history of the classical form of fonts. More updates will be posted in due time.

Tell a Tale

2008-05-14T08:29:00.004-04:00

This is what the spread looks like after all the extensive work I did on the body text. It is hard to handle it especially when it's not done right. Luckily, I was not sucked in the hell hole and I have not spotted any rivers and hypens while tweaking it. As for the header, this version looks cleaner than the previous one and the "A Tale" can be read separately now.

I will post the logo design soon. It was a Mac base illustration and I have to covert it so I can open and work on it with my laptop.

And now it is time for me to take a 30 minutes nap before dragging my feet to staples today.

An All Nighter

2008-05-14T08:14:00.004-04:00

Inspired by Kilroy

I haven't gotten any sleep because of this cover. My prof wanted me to make a Kilroy version of hiding behind the bush and so I did. The layout is all the same other than revisions I have seen with minimal typos and tweaking for kernings and alignments.

As for the cover, the plan was just to take an image of myself hiding behind an object but the issue was, my digital camera does not take good photos indoors. So I ended up customizing and did a caricature version of myself. This cover does work better in conjunction to my spread. Though I could have wished that I had the liberty to use a photograph, hence that will save me a lot of time.

Callosum Spread

2008-05-11T23:50:00.008-04:00

The rags are pretty bad and I will fix it along with the rivers of the body text. And yes, I need to tweak the kerning of the title as well.

I still haven't decided where to put the date and the magazine name but I think the best way to handle it without ruining the layout would be flipping it 90 degrees and lay it in conjunction with the number page. That and if it allows me to have the liberty to do so, I will place it on top of the grass and right beside the number page. I have a decent and solid layout. I am still not leaning 100 percent towards it but hopefully tomorrow's critique will help me improve it.

Callosum Cover

2008-05-11T23:21:00.008-04:00

CALLOSUM
MAGAZINE COVER

Figuring ways of laying out a front cover of a magazine is harder than I thought. It Took me hours playing with variations of putting all the information together. It's atypical but it works well with the hierarchy and spacial zone. I am contended with the cover and hopefully there won't be a lot of mistakes for tomorrow's pre-critique.

As for the spread, it is still a work in progress and I will post the first version sometime tonight. Nothing spectacular about it but hopefully it is good enough to talk about for tomorrow. And also, I will be updating revisions for the Glessner's logo in due time. We are in the process of adding colors to it and working with typography.

Callosum

2008-05-10T23:30:00.006-04:00

The most extensive thing I have done in terms of digital illustration. This took me about 30 hours to render. I made a huge mistake of not converting my file beforehand to CMYK but luckily, I figured out to do so without messing up the colors. Hint: How to do that? Flatten your file and change it from RGB to CMYK (not the best way but if you made this mistake, do so). That simple. Some colors are lost but you can fix that by playing with your levels. That's what I did and it turned out better than I expected.

This is the front cover of the magazine spread I am working on. It was inspired by one of the pieces done by Renee McGuinnis (CLICK HERE) called "Detroit" and using that as the base concept for my spread. I still haven't laid out the details and will update my progression in due time.

Breathe and Relax

2008-05-08T17:18:00.002-04:00

Vector lines rendered in Adobe Illustrator and colors manipulated in Photoshop. This is one of the illustrations I am working on for the Secrets of Traders at the Chicago Board of Trade. I have a ton more in my files and I will post a couple of it here in due time. Sorry for not posting in a while and not updating design briefs to some of my pieces.

I will be posting the spread I've been working on for the last few days. It is about the broadcast designer at WGN9 (The CW in Chicago), Renee Mcguinnis. I was able to set an interview with her and talked about her work experience as a graphic designer, broadcast designer, and a freelance fine artist. She's great and it came to a point that I became a big fan of her work (check it out here).

Cyber Trolls

2008-04-29T16:43:00.004-04:00

Design brief will be added in due time. This was the revised version for the magazine spread I did last week.

Glessner House Museum

2008-04-25T12:58:00.004-04:00

This is a preliminary logo design I am working on for Glessner House Museum. The first project for corporate identity. The vision statement is taken out from their website where you can see the logo they are using at the moment as well (click here).

Troll At Large

2008-04-22T21:45:00.004-04:00

After an extensive hunt for the perfect font, I finally managed to find the right type that best exerts the fundamentals and concept of my piece. I wanted to give the spread a “Fairy Tale” feel to it while integrating a clean layout without going overboard.

It has been a while since I used QuarkXPress and I got into trouble for printing mock-ups today while I was at the school lab. The problem was, I printed the spread right straight from the software without converting it into EPS or PDF file. The horror! There were numerous printout outs with characters on it. Rule of thumb, Quark is extremely sensitive. Convert your files to PDF and then print it or else you’ll experience the wrath of wasting too much paper and loading time that takes forever.

Delusional Online Trolls

2008-04-18T09:40:00.004-04:00

This will be the dominant element for my next project. The task is to come up with a spread from a concept, as to what came to mind during an intense 10 minute meditation of complete silence.

As to those of you who are not familiar with "Trolls". These are people who are snarky and outrageously rude who leave comments on your blog, chatrooms, forums and spam away like there is no tomorrow. The character looks like a giant piece of turd which I think relates perfectly with my concept :D

I also went to my very first STA meeting yesterday. We'll be having a poster contest soon. FINALLY! I can't wait to see all the entries. It will be staggering for sure.

See post below? I apologize for leaving that entry as it is now. I barely have time posting on this blog but I try nonetheless.

Aces and Spades

2008-04-13T00:02:00.008-04:00

Good day folks,
I WILL POST A DESIGN BRIEF IN DUE TIME!!!

To give you a little over view, this was done over the course when I took a three dimensional design class two quarters ago. Based and inspired by a picture I took at Navy Pier (click HERE). The tackiest project I've done but uber fun nonetheless. Made out of elements laying around in my apartment.

~Robert Fulghum~
Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.

In Child's Need

2008-04-12T22:54:00.007-04:00

This was an unfinished version for the LightWeights design I did a while back. I still need to do revisions but as of now, I will leave it as it is.

~James Baldwin~

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other,

the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

Trio Version

2008-04-06T19:13:00.013-04:00

~Michael Scofield~
In here though, you face your fear, you open that door, and there's a hundred more doors behind it. And the monsters that are hiding behind them are all real.

One of the last fanart for the month of April. I have a couple more in my files ready to share and I will post it in due time. As for now, enjoy a Wentoworth Miller fanart. Someone said that this look like Matt Damon and I totally agree. It must be the heavy chin :D

Crosses to Bear

2008-04-06T18:37:00.007-04:00

This was done as a sample illustration for a potential freelance work at the Chicago Board of Trade buildling. The task is to produce one hundred illustrations for a 136 pages book about trade and stock market.

It has been a while since I used Illustrator CS for doing illustrations and simple vector forms. One must wonder, how about your BIGsmall project? Well folks, those are sketched in InDesign CS2. I have tried variations and never limit myself with regards to sofwares I can work on if the first choice doesn't work. I do not suggest producing vector line art in InDesign, that's what Illustrator CS is made for. I just tried it out for a change.

Reunion

2008-04-03T01:24:00.014-04:00

Well, I've got two things keeping me going. First is I want the people that took my dad. And actually the second, ironically I probably wouldn't even say if I hadn't lost him, but um you should know...uh, the first thing they tell you when you take the job is uh...never fall in love with an inmate... *tasteful fade to black*

~Sara Tancredi~

Chicago 2x16

Final Poster

2008-04-03T01:15:00.009-04:00

BIGsmall

This was the final poster for the BIGsmall collateral project. I will post the print out version of the whole thing consisting an eight pages spread for the borchure, the invite (front and back along with its envelope), and the front and back poster.

~Reinhold Niebuhr~
"Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,Therefore, we are saved by hope.Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;Therefore, we are saved by faith.Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.Therefore, we are saved by love.No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness."

Print Production 2008

2008-04-02T02:57:00.002-04:00

This was the finished product that came out to fruitition during the course of last quarter. I chose card stock papers with a texture of a canvas that absorbs the ink giving all the pieces glare and shine. The paper is 100% recycled to CONSERVE the environment hence with my theme of saving the planet.

I have to admit, some of the pieces turned out way too dark for my liking. I will try printing them all out on a regular gloss for my portfolio 1 class a couple of quarters from now and see what works better. I would have done that but due to budget expenses, I failed to do so. The poster is printed on a matte paper. It turned out great and I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

Wentworth Caricature 2

2008-03-30T20:47:00.004-04:00

SHE IS BACK!!!

SHE'S BACK ON PB!!!

Sarah Wayne Callies is BACK!!!

BACK!!! BACK!!! SHE'S BACK!!!!!!!

We'll you probably know that by now if you are a huge Prison Break fanatic. I will be replying to e-mails soon so just hang in there guys. I'll try my best to answer any concerns with regards to the campaign. This Wenworth Miller caricacture aka Michael Scofield is used as a way of thanks to those who supported the effort.

Lux Feret

2008-03-27T19:46:00.002-04:00

The long labor and outcry has come to an end.

I am pleased and proud to all those who participated in our campaign to bring Sarah Wayne Callies back on the show. Yes, it has been confirmed on Tv Guide that her character Sara Tancredi will be back full force for the entire Season 4. Now I can officially say that things do happen to those who try their wits out even with the last shed of hope.

On the other hand, this piece was inspired by a story written with such heartrending plot that involves two characters with a common goal; to heal their most daunting fears of being alone unloved and bemused with all uncertainties about hope, religion, and absolution.

It’s about sexual and spiritual healing.

Also, I apologize for not responding to e-mails for the past few days. I will get on it and try my best to read it all and reply as soon as possible.

bLAST

2008-03-22T01:33:00.010-04:00

Have a fabulous Spring Break y'all!!!

This is a quick sketch I did yesterday as promised. Nothing major, just a theme to celebrate the time for relaxation. I will try to update as often as I can this week before school starts again. Yes, we only have a week break *pouts*. Be well and stay safe to all.

Victorian Poster

2008-03-21T20:05:00.005-04:00

Ha, look what I found! This was a poster I did during my freshman year in school. I remember cutting out boarders and types from books on Victorian Era, since we can't use computer generated fonts. This was done completely out of cut-outs of pieces of paper, laid out on a bristol board, then transferred on a piece of card stock paper. A very endearing at the same time tedious job but it helps you understand typography even with your eyes close. If you haven’t noticed yet, this is a poster for a voyage of the Titanic ship. The one that’s supposed to be unsinkable?

I am working on a quick digital painting but the colors are all wrong. I will post it sometime today after I’m done with a couple sketching.

Aha aha I like it.. aha

2008-03-21T15:20:00.004-04:00

I was at a portfolio show yesterday for the seniors who graduated this quarter. I was in awe with one of the showcase by a student who reminded me of what I can do and accomplish. She does digital painting as well but her style is more on Asian comic art and I do caricatures (well I try to anyways). Her precision and accuracy with her craftsmanship is superbly done as well. It inspires me to keep up what I’m doing and make the best out of it. I’m already planning and coming up with ideas on how to set my boot for my portfolio next year. Think about anal and insane. Well it’s better to have a decent show than a half @ss job.

This is the brochure part with 4 spreads and eight pages. I will post the actual production for this piece in due time. Finals were over yesterday (thank goodness) and my professor kept the mock-up pieces of the actual final collateral. I made some revisions for my invites, envelope, and poster so keep yourself posted.

And also, the instant message board I set up doesn't work for a Mac platform. I sincerely appologize to those who e-mailed me about the issue :( On a brighter note, I'll be upadting galore soon.

The Princeton Man

2008-03-16T14:59:00.006-04:00

GLOBAL WARMING

My room is a hot mess! I've been working my wits off, producing a high end package design that will serve as the book cover for my global warming project. I haven't taken any courses for packaging but I have some tricks in my sleeves to make it look like I know what I'm doing :D

Let's all hope it is not too tacky for all its worth. I will post my creation once it's all set and done for my presentation this Thursday.

And if some of you are interested in book binding/scrap booking made from scratch, I found a community at Livejournal that is worth lurking (click here).

PRINCETON EVENT

I received an e-mail last week from one of the fabulous Convention-Princeton planning committee, Pam, asking if they can use the previous Jamie Kilstein caricature I made a while back. Anywayz long story short, I made a different version and you can check their up coming convention (HERE). It's for those who are frantic House fanatics. Yes the television show!

FAILure

2008-03-09T23:31:00.011-04:00

"Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything".
~Thomas Merton~

I decided to make a poster version of it. Let's see what comes to terms after I pitch it to my prof. And also, this will be my last update in two weeks time. Wish me luck for finals and a meeting for a freelance illustration job this Wednesday!

This is not a fashion statement

2008-03-09T17:07:00.009-04:00

15 hours later...
STILL NOT DONE!

This will serve as the front page of my book. If you haven't noticed yet, this piece was inspired by Salvador Dali's Galatea of the Spheres. Yes, he's my favorite artist and its fascinating how people look at me funny whenever I tell them so. Maybe its the fact that I never use him as a reference in any of my design? If you know him, you would understand. But his a great artist nonetheless.

PAPYRUS!!! Ha, I just want to stress that out. Who hates this font, please raise your eyebrows *wiggles eyebrows*. I will post the final book in due time. I still haven't decided if I should do the book binding in scratch... time will tell.

Dry Cough

2008-03-05T11:04:00.005-04:00

ON
HIATUS
FINALS!!!

This blog will be on a short hiatus due to finals *cringe* The darn suck3r is ready and creeping around the corner.

BeJeweled

2008-03-02T03:37:00.009-04:00

This was created a while back for a practice mode to get my gears up and running. The font choice (I believe its Monotype Corsiva?) for the title bothers me to no end. The layout is designed to move your eyes around the piece. I think I was able to accomplish that without making it too busy. I wanted to do revisions but I couldn't find my jump drive where I saved the files. I'll find it eventually but for the mean time, a snap shot of the sample print will do just fine.

Help and Support

2008-02-29T23:13:00.006-04:00

They were happy with the first design and now the next step is branding the company to make it more efficient than before. I will pitch my ideas tomorrow on how we can incorporate and market both Helping Children and Lightweight as a whole. It is essential that collaboration with the organization and company will be recognized by the public.

I am doing this all for the benefit of the kids. Anything for the kids! Please support the campaign and make donations HERE.

On to the design element. This is just one of the preliminary ideas I have so far. We will have a meeting sometime soon so we can come up with better ways to publicize the foundation. *sigh* I love volunteering, again anything for the kids!

Lightweights

2008-02-29T02:35:00.008-04:00

THE
PROUD
VOLUNTEER

I am working on a new packaging design for a bicycle company called Lightweights. It is one of the major sponsors of an organization to help kids. I am the new graphic designer at the Helping Children of Abuse facility in which I will help promote awareness for such cause.

Please help and support those who are in need. ( ...click here for more information... )

Flowers and Rainbows

2008-02-28T00:06:00.009-04:00

Global
Warming

I've been racking my brain, figuring out those individuals who are astute in the issue of global warming. Al Gore for instance, had been galloping around the world, fighting awareness for such cause.

I just spent half the day for the second coating. Two pieces in 50-60 hours? Not bad for a digital painting! I’m too far behind but I will probably do simple vector lines for the other pieces. It’s all good. I can do it. I can manage. I will edit this post later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

I have dentures, be jealous!

2008-02-27T10:44:00.003-04:00

“We are Robin Hood” as so what the gang says on the highly acclaimed television show on BBC Europe. Regardless with the bad production and decent acting, the show is charming as it can get. I find it rather amusing from the fleeting peck on lips from Robin and Marian to Sir Guy’s undying love for black leather. But nothing beats the over zealous and peculiar Sheriff of Nottingham. To my surprise, he’s my favorite character.

I’m disappointed how the season ended. For those few who watch the show, may she rest in peace, or not coz she’s never dead from the first place. On to topic. This fanart was made a long way back last year. I figured I’ll share it around here.

Glowar Warning

2008-02-26T00:01:00.004-04:00

One of the sixteen pages comic strips for our latest project in print production. The criteria was to choose a color that corresponds with a theme that best relates it.

Blue = Global Warming? What say you? Since I’ve recently been an advocate of the issue at hand, I decided to play with it and let my fellow graphic designers discern how wasting paper is a major fudge(well we’ve been printing galore this quarter). The book will consist generic information about ozone, recycling, fuel consumption… and yeah… everything in between *cough war and guns and BUllshit*.

Bigsmall Poster

2008-02-22T04:14:00.008-04:00

Preliminary poster (front and back) 11" x 17"

preliminary prints as of Feb 21, 2008

Jamie Kilstein Caricature

2008-02-19T11:04:00.011-04:00

JAMIE
KILSTEIN
IS NOT A SLAM POET!

A God fearing man who is repulsed by the mere existence of pot and kisses the walking trail of Hilary Clinton… NOT! Ha, he was actually the first comedian I've seen on stage along with Reggie Watts a couple of months ago. Extremely talented and a must see.

A caricature rendition of the stand-up comic, Jamie Kilstein. This poster was featured in Chicago’s Red-I and used in various Myspace and Lakeshore ads to promote his upcoming shows within the month of February.

I took me a decent amount of time (10 hours to say the least) painting it in PS and it is still not done to the core. Revisions will be made for a portfolio piece in due time.

Thailand

2008-02-13T19:52:00.004-04:00

I am on this phase where I want to travel the world after grad school. This was inspired by a journal entry of my Friend Fiona while she traveled the wonders of Thailand a couple of months ago with her sister. The country is fascinating and would be a thrill to visit it in this lifetime.

Revelation

2008-02-11T22:34:00.006-04:00

Consistency, accuracy, and a world class design. That was the goal while pursuing this project. The idea was to create an art gallery using various materials and come up with a fresh interior design. Various prison photographs are shown as the main concept of the art gallery.

Materials used (cost me about $30.00 to construct this baby)
-b&w foam boards
-nylon
-Elmer’s glue
-small canvas
-balsa wood
-black marbles
-black fabric
-buttons
-silver acrylic paint

It gave me the impression that I can be an ID major if I wanted to. Figured might as well use the gained skills and knowledge while taking this course, a couple of quarters from now for my packaging and design class.

Collateral Design

2008-02-07T17:47:00.002-04:00

Preliminary front cover of invitation

The Art Institute Museum never ceases to amaze on goers and world class art critics around the nation. Its latest exhibition BIGsmall surpasses the inevitable and exceeds the norm of bland contemporary pieces that demean, delude, and reprimand the true meaning of art. BIGsmall’s dynamic exhibits extenuates reality and alludes fantasy that leaves the humans mind agape and wipe open for vigorous imagination and curiosity. Its pieces can be described as a catapult of a child’s vivid world that can go miles with no boundaries and no end.

Prison Break Art: India

2008-02-03T11:14:00.003-04:00

The actual Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, milky way to the evening and golden when the moon shines. Changes they say, to pick the different emotions of a woman.

~Henry Pope~ Prison Break