another inspiration for me...

design inspiration

Sometimes sitting in front of the computer, nothing can inspire you better than a good song, or a great album!
When I am looking to get stuck into a new design it's hard to overlook OK Computer by Radiohead.

It's been 11 years since this album came out - but it is still amazing and always gets me in the mood for some sweet Photoshopping!

What's your album of inspiration?

gradient infusion

The new Celebrate Recovery website has just been launched!
I am now working on promotional material for their upcoming Summit and this year am slowly "updating" essentially the same design as the previous years' conference.
I like to call this years' design a "gradient infusion" as we are adding gradient elements that first appeared on their new site into their printed promotional material. I feel it has given their overall look some freshness, without losing their current identity. I have some examples below...

photoshop awesomeness

I thought I knew almost all there was to Photoshop.
Yesterday I went to an intensive Photoshop seminar called Maximum Photoshop Tour
I now know I don't know everything about Photoshop!

It was great, and I highly recommend it for the intermediate to advanced Photoshop Users. If you are just getting started in "the Shop" I wouldn't recommend as a lot would probably not be useful, or fully understandable.

As a side note: I enjoyed some sweet Photoshop humor all day with my friends Jaime and Brian.

nyc - days 2 & 3

No classic ice-skating moments today, but plenty of subway trains, a few rats, some good Little Italy pizza and plenty of great New York characters. I found time for a little work here and there, and just like that, it's time to come home! Here a re a few shots from out and about...

favorites of nyc - day 1

A real highlight in the NYC on Day 1 of this trip was going to the new(ish) Apple store on 59th Street & 5th Avenue. The place was an absolute zoo and I couldn't get within 10ft of a computer, but the entrance (spiral stairs) and layout was sweet. It could be the Apple Mecca, or iMecca.
But the TRUE highlight was to be found at the Wollman Ice Rink in Central Park. It was one man, we called him Kelmscott Kevin, with track pants, a necklace, and mullet to match. He didn't just skate, he excerskated. He had a great leg-lift (as you can see below) and just once pulled out a move we called "the corkscrew" where he shimmied his leg around. It was totally unnecessary and beautiful at the same time.

bloggin' in the NYC

I am heading to New York tonight for a couple of days catching up with old friends from Australia (and yes, NYC is a logical place for people from Australia to meet up.)
I am sure I'll be blogging my adventures, so stay tuned.

P.S. - on TV today (MTV HD) they had BoyzIIMen playing a concert at the Great Wall of China. Do you think someone at MTV marketing thought about the two must unlikely things to combine (R&B and the Ming Dynasty) and made it into a special concert?!

P.P.S. - i took that photo (above) a few years ago in NYC. I am hoping to get a better one this time...

just came up with this...

I was working away at this design this morning and as one of my concepts came up with this little logo mark. I really like it, and thought I would share it with you!
Sharing is caring. Enjoy.

taking flight - part two

Had the chance again this weekend to take a flight around the l.a. area... this time our destination was Santa Monica Municipal Airport, which took us on a flight path around downtown LA, over Dodger Stadium and on the way home we took a special flight path corridor right over the top of LAX which was very cool. Oh, and we made it back alive! Below are some pics...

Flying over Dodger Stadium (sorry, bad shot!)

Looking over the 101 and Hollywood Hills

Bad Guys Van and getaway plane from the 70's?

Plane of choice, the Cessna N51515

Santa Monica Pier just after take-off

Santa Monica looking toward Malibu

Santa Monica Airport on the foreground looking east

LAX from overhead

featured website: ministryflix.com

Don't know if you have heard of this new website offering visual resources to churches... it is called www.ministryflix.com
They just officially launched their company this week - I encourage you to take a look around at their site and see if they can be a help to your ministry!

featured project: the revelation

I have been working on this design for a client over the last week, and am really happy with the direction... from colors, to overall metaphor development.
Question: Do you NOT know what the featured image is (the grey thing in the middle)?
I am just curious...

Charlie finally makes it to L.A.

I was at LAX today picking up a friend flying on the QF 11 flight from Sydney to LAX.
As my buddy was waiting to go through customs he had Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) in front of him and was able to catch a quick shot of him with the camera phone. It's great to see that he finally made the journey from Sydney to Los Angeles and arrive safely.
Extra points if you can guess what he is listening to on his headphones.
You guessed it right, You All Everybody, by DriveShaft.