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As I was picking up some printed material at a local print shop,I found myself behind a woman I recognized as the owner of a local Indian restaurant. She was with her daughter and apparently not at all happy with what the sales rep on the other side counter was telling her about the photo they wanted to have enlarged for a backdrop.

THE PROBLEM: What the sales rep was trying to explain to the women was that the extreme shadows on the face of the photographed subject would appear worse after the photo is enlarged. Peeking over the shoulders of the ladies in front of me, I got a better look at what they were talking about. Sure enough, the shadows on the photo were so dark that it caused the subjects nose appeared to be floating. The women desperately needed the photo for an event that weekend, so they insisted that it be enlarged despite the problematic features.

SOLUTION: I happened to have my laptop with me and since editing photos is one of my favorite things to do, I jumped into the conversation with an offer to lighten up the shadows. Since they had nothing to lose, they took me up on the offer and the printer made available a workspace for us to work in. Only took a matter of minutes for me to brighten the face and improve how it would appear on a wide format print.

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The Project: A couple of years ago I was approached by a client who was interested in establishing an identity for his computer service. The business was based at the beach and it’s owner also had Charter Boat for deep sea fishing. So it was only natural that the specs for the job called for an illustrative logo containing a Marlin (hence the name of the company).

The Plan: Far too often in our industry, work is provided to a client only to find that the art is not compatible for production. Wether it is because the printing vendor isn’t set up for that kind of artwork, or the client was unaware of the potential expenses that could occur during the process of production. Although it’s not anyone’s fualt that this occurs, it is preventable with a just little bit of educated planning. For this reason I try to find how my clients intend to use the graphics I am expected to provide and how they hope to produce it. Based on this information, we are able to come up with a compatibility plan that coincides with their budget.
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This was one of those kind of projects that just plain worked. I was contacted by a marketing firm that had a client who was starting a new business. The project was simple enough, juuuust a business card. By contacting GJB Graphics, I was pretty certain they were looking to gather a more visual impression rather than a simple text layout.

My challenge now was that the client had no logo, no established identity, and no material to point me into a stylistic direction. All I had was the business name, Pampered Paws House Calls, the content, and that the client specified a preference to the color blue.

It’s often difficult to work aesthetically with a business name so lengthy as “ Pampered Paws House Calls”, and since it was only a biz card layout, I really wouldn’t have to worry about establishing a visual identity. However, the more I looked at the name and services, I couldn’t help but see the “w” as a paw print. Since investment of establishing a businesses identity is often more involved than a simple card, I imediatly notified the firm that I had a branding concept that I was certain would be marketable. Since I have a pre-existing relationship with the firm, they trusted that I was on to something and re-negotiated our terms.
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As a national non-profit organization, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have a multitude of resources available to design, create, develop, and even publish on their very own. However, from their regional on down to their district and local levels their only available help are predominantly volunteers. Having been raised on how great camping can be, I was more than happy to answer the call when the Del-Mar-Va regional office contacted me to put something together for their upcoming 5K Run/Hike, an event to help raise money for their Summer Camping Assistance Fund.

At first they had only asked for a t-shirt design, but as the event may possibly be an annual one, leaving out the date would enable them to use the design for years to come, not only for t-shirt, but for their promotional materials as well. Since they are non-profit, and they are trying to raise money rather than spend it, the design had to be simple, the fewer the colors, the more cost effective.

I wanted to create something that would be easily recognizable and illustrates the actual activity. Because the event is being held in two locations on paths leading through woods during the spring time, you can only imagine that you would be needing some good hiking shoes to walk through a mud puddle here and there. Mud and hiking boots come to mind. Since the demographic for the beneficiaries of this event are boys ranging from cub scout age to young adult, I chose to use a distressed font to further drive home the look and feel of rough and rugged terrain.

Want to know more about the event or get involved? Click here.