© 2005 BluePencil ultd.
email: tansley@bluepencilu.com
(480)-818-2241
Below are some of my early entries on BluePencilu Unlimited. They span from late 2005 to late 2007.
painting by Robert S. McLaughlin ©1992
AIGA sponsored the movie event of the summer for typomaniacs this year, "Helvetica" the documentary by Gary Hustwit. I love documentaries and typography so I went with both barrels loaded.
The impressive parts were the obvious, seeing first hand guys like David Carson, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli and Erik Spiekerman. But where was the guys from "House," and "Emigre?" Where was Ellen Lupton? There would have been some profound perspectives from these groups and others. I would have liked to see someone from Microsoft defend there position of creating there own "HELLvetica." Naturally, there will be a sequel, "Helvetica Neue, Attack of the Arials." "The hel, you say?"
Attended the "Say Anything" open forum last night. Hosted by Brian Drake and MC'd by Cory Skaaren. This was a thought provoking town hall meeting (20 some people) on the reasons why designers are their own worst enemies.
Within the two different idealogical differences Brian and Cory developed a serious conversation that put the onus of responsible deign back on the designers themselves. "Education is everything," Cory said, "We are the arbitors of good taste," and it's our responsibility to pursue knowledge. Brian agreed but in his own style. "Keep going to the next level," was what I walked away with. "The jobs you get today should help you get the next one." Respectively, Cory's approach to justifying design considerations in pricing was equally enlightening. "You get the logo for free, what you pay for is the research, development...etc." This approach is pure because if you develop what the customer wants, you'll get the best design possible.
The other major factor that comes into play is mentoring. Designers used to be able to graft to a mentor to learn fundamental design. Today, they come out of school thinking that with experience on a computer they can be a "Rock Star designer." I've heard that before from one of my mentors Aaron Smitthipong. While under his tutelge a favorit saying of his to me was, "You're not done yet." I find myself saying this alot to my work. Great forum. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Long time no post. I've been asked to create a mascot for a company called "Play On." Pretty awesome concet for kids. It's a fitness facility that embraces the technical and culinary. Kids get to work out on excercise video game equipment, then they get to make their own meals. the concept is incredible and they plan on being very successful. Here are some of my concepts to help them along. They're going to have the kids in the community vote for the best one. See which one you like
This has been a great project so far. The Diocese of Phoenix and Studio Productions has asked me to help create a campaign for the 20th anniversary celebration of the visit of John Paul II to Phoenix. Along with the website I've developed posters and small ads to promote the event.
5 months in the making and alot of sweat, ink, and coloring hours brings me to introduce the latest book from ak. Written by my good friend Delaney Dwyer and with his help coloring we were able to finish this unbelievable project called "Johnny the Pirate Hunter." This was truly a labor of love and it's a spectacle to read, large format thanks to the graphic design skills and book layout of Rolando Gumler at Go Brand New Media the books are on sale at Scottsdale Fashion Square. They are really something, hope you can get one
So, do you do it all in Photoshop? That's usually the question I get. No, I typeset it and color it Photoshop. The rest is drawn and inked by hand. The process usually takes me about an hour to sketch, an hour to ink and roughly an hour to color. If it wasn't for Photoshop it would take 3 times as long to produce. How long does it take Bill to write a comic strip? He'd say,"longer than it takes Steve to make these," but when I add it up it's close to a minute each cartoon.
I typeset with the comic typeface Wiccan because it has that frenetic hand scratched quality I'm going for. Once it's finished I send a full color and a black and white to my publisher. Here is the end result.
The next book I am illustrating for ArchitectureKids is called "Johnny the Pirate Hunter." It was
written by my good friend and pro bass fisherman, Delaney Dwyer. It's the most exciting of the three books and will have more than 30
illustrations Delaney is helping me color the illustrations as well because I have a Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching.
Thanks bro, I'll take a Venti Mocha frap!
These pics were ones that I produced for the book. It's the most ink I think I've ever gone through. Wait till you see the toys for these.
We are fast approaching the grand opening at fashion square (10.05.06) and the full scale sculptures are taking shape for each of the stories. Here are some recent shots from the sculpture shop at Studio made by master sculpture Matt Smith, nice work Matt! He sculpted these from the artwork I created in the book, Sophie's Magical Windmill.
I have been asked to show what exactly gives me inspiration. It is actually alot of things but mainly what is directly around me. First, my five kids give me some the best ideas. Everyday is a new lightsaber battle or an adventure I'd never thought of. I love being their Dad. Also, my studio where I pepper my shelves with toys and books that are an endless source of new ideas for me. Music is a huge source of inspiration for me too and the latest artist I've discovered keeps me jazzed. Check him out and Chillax!
This is a pretty amazing time. For the last year I have been illustrating three children's books. Two books have just came back from the printer. They will be available for purchase on 10/05/06 at Scottsdale Fashion Square at the ArchitectureKids retail space! Also, here are some sculptures that will be made into toys based on the stories. Each of the Kidhouses comes with a story, and the Kidhouses are truly incredible! The books are being meticulously designed and typeset by my buddy at Go Brand New Media. Thanks, Ro.
A few months have gone by and I've been extremly busy. I finally finished the first book for ArchitectureKids called "Sophie's Magical Windmill" due out this fall. Sculpt's of the characters are to follow, that will be even more exciting! My next endeavor for them is a Pirate story! Each story goes with it's own KidHouse and the Pirate ship structure is utterly amazing. Here is a sketch from that project and Sophie's cover.
Well, it's been a few months since I last jib-jabed but I've been busy. I'm illustrating a story for a new comany that's creating custom kid-houses. Check the products and storybook link. The kid-houses themselves are amazing and they will all have a character-based theme so I'll be pretty busy. There really isn't anything like them out there. The site was designed by my good friend Rolando who is also keeping busy building the company brand.
Found a great drawing blog this month. Great group blogging on anything and everything to do with pencils.
It's a Revolution I tell you! Thanks for the free-plug guys!
Last month was pretty exciting, I was invited back to ASU to give a talk on Illustration and Graphic Design to a lecture class by the Dean of the College of Design, Max Underwood. An hour and a half. It was excellent. I touched upon the importance of doing what really moves you and staying focused on your dream. That seemed to raise some hands. I offered some advice as it related to clients and shared my own history, alot. Maybe too much. It was good to go back. Maybe I'll be asked again. If you've graduated or just left after awhile, go back and share, you'll be thrilled.
My friend Kevin Phillips and I finally launched Zinc Bistro, and we're getting some great feedback. Kevin is the genius behind the css, xhtml, javascript etc, etc.
Studio Productions continues to keep me challenged. I'm helping to set some production standards with the Build-a-Bear corporation. We just helped them launch their feature store in Manhattan, NY. One word, HUGE.
If you haven't checked out Goodfences yet, go see. Bill and I are working hard shopping it around for syndicated affiliates. We're in one paper so far out of Fountain Hills, Arizona. It's a start.
Music. I love checking out new music. I think I found something special from a Stockholm designer site, North Kingdom. Their soundtrack was produced by Tycho, you must buy this now. I don't know how to stress this enough. I bought the work poster too. Phenominal.
This is a glimpse of some of my professional and experimental work.
Logos
Illustration
Interactive
Sketchbook
Alot of people ask me about my car.
It's just plain fun. Read about it here.
Here are some take home MAC icon sets, enjoy.
These are people in my life who have
had a major influence upon me and my
work. I owe them much.
