Archive for January, 2008

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Johnny Cupcakes!!!

One of my favorite artists from the Northwest is PeekaBoo Monster. I’ve always wanted to buy one of his paintings but I could never afford to. He did a collaboration with Johnny Cupcakes on a t-Shirt. So my addiction to art and t-shirts made me purchase this shirt with money I don’t have.

I’d have to say as a student of Graphic Design, I am really impressed with how Johnny Cupcakes presents his product. He really took the time and paid attention to every detail with not only the shirt, but the packaging and labels. I’m tired of typing now so I’ll have the pictures speak for themselves.

This was the original box the shirt was shipped in from UPS.

http://www.JohnnyCupcakes.com
http://www.myspace.com/peekaboomonster

Sunday, January 20th, 2008

Custom skateboard.

I was told awhile back about a surprise birthday party for my friend Silong in Portland from his wife Sokpha. I was thinking of what I could do to surprise my old buddy on his birthday instead of doing the usual like buying him a bottle of liquor, new toaster, or pack of brand new socks. I wanted to get something he could remember and keep for a very long time. Silong and Sokpha, got married around the same time last year, (click for refresher) so I guess I could try to make it more meaningful and make it a birthday/anniversary gift.

Well since they’ve married, they started out their marriage by adding a child to their new life. Sokpha gave birth to a baby boy, who they named Harlem. I remember awhile back Silong emailed me and asked me to do a vector illustration of Harlem, and design it into a poster. At the time I was very busy with school and there was a lot of things I needed to learn about Illustrator before I attempted to do something like this. The thought of me ruining a photo of their son and having them hang it on the wall for everyone to see kind of worried me. But now I’ve advanced and learned more techniques than what I knew before. Then I remembered the skateboard I designed for my son (click for refresher*) That’s perfect! Instead of putting my work on a poster, why not a skateboard? It definitely would last a lot longer and look cooler than a poster! Silong is also a skateboarder too, and I knew he would love this. So I decided to illustrate the board with a Shepard Fairey twist. So here are the photos of the steps I took to make the skateboard.

Original photo:

Silong and me.

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary bud!

Sunday, January 6th, 2008

Custom Kicks…

For Christmas I bought my wife a Limited Edition Kid Robot hoodie but she didn’t really have any shoes that matched real nice with the sweatshirt.  So I took one of her old Nikes and flipped them.  I didn’t want to use brand new shoes because I was scared to mess them up. I used Liquitex acrylics, and topped it off with Krylon Matte Finish.  I was a bit intimidated at first but then I over came my fear, and just did it.  I know they’re simple, but it’s a start.  The most crucial part of painting shoes is taping off the sole.  If it’s not taped off well, the work will look sloppy and it’s a bitch to clean up.  Now if I ever do another shoe, I have to step it up a notch and try adding some design elements.