Bull Dog design

There’s nothing like making a sale for boosting one’s confidence.

So before the excitement wore off I started trying to think of a new design theme for some more souvenir/apparel items...

I really love the whole combination of typography, illustration and general branding techniques. I know it’s probably not everybody’s cup of tea but it’s something I can’t help myself doing — probably all those years spent designing corporate logos and brands.

Bull Dogs are really cute in their own special way, so for anyone who owns one I created a few different products that honor these ‘beautifully ugly’ creatures.

See some of the products I created here.
Long Sleeve Tshirts
Long Sleeve Dark Tshirts

The ‘Calculated’ Approach seems to be working!

I wouldn’t normally talk about the same design twice unless there was a good reason.

In this case it seems the ‘calculated’ approach I took with this design is paying off. I mentioned in a previous post how I intentionally merged 2 popular ideas: 1. the love for a cute animal with  2. the brand awareness of a certain 'Tennessee Whiskey'.

Well, it’s appealed to somebody else now — this is sale number 2, which came from a completely different continent this time. It was obviously a woman — who customised it onto this long sleeved red t-shirt. It actually looks really good.

I hope she likes it.

I’ll have to start thinking of some new designs using this same approach.

Kakapo Merchandising

Conservation is on a lot of people’s minds these days and extraordinary efforts are being made to save a whole host of endangered species throughout the earth. Understandably, the people involved in trying to save them have become very passionate about the task at hand. I met somebody recently who’s involved in trying to save the NZ Kakapo.

The Kakapo is one such example on the endangered species list with only about 40 adult birds surviving in the wilds of New Zealand. Known as the “owl parrot” due to it’s nocturnal habits, it’s virtually flightless. Being extremely fat probably doesn’t help — some adult birds can weigh up to 3kg.

As a bird lover myself I find them really cute, not that I’ve seen one up close — such an experience would be a real privilege. So what better subject for a new range of merchandising items than the NZ KAKAPO. Hopefully there will be others out there who feel the same way as I do and are moved to get their hands on one of these items.

See more Kakapo items on my Zazzle site here: NZ Kakapo souvenirs

Purchase Cap: NZ Kakapo Cap
Purchase Tote Bag: NZ Kakapo Tote Bag

SOLD! “Jack Russell” Dog Vest

It’s nice to know somebody appreciates my work. Although I must admit, this was a rather calculated attempt at making a sale.

For a start it’s amazing how much people love their animals and it seems people are willing to spend as much money on their pets as they do on themselves. Aside from this, writing the words Jack Russell in the same font and format as the “Jack Daniels’ — Tenessee Whiskey” logo may have given the design a cool hint of familiarity for anyone that way inclined.

Anyway, a sale’s a sale even if I did only make a couple of dollars on it.

Pity I couldn’t get a Jack Russell to model it for me. But he is cute!

Check it out on the Zazzle site here

Playing with Patterns

It’s amazing what you can learn on the internet these days. 

Using a couple of New Zealand souvenir designs I created a couple of months ago I created these repeating patterns for an iPad cover. Thanks to a very helpful vector tutorial by Vectips it was actually pretty simple.

Now that I’ve figured out how to make a seamless pattern, there’s all sorts of applications this could be used for... I might even make the odd necktie! Watch this space...

I’ve posted this item for sale on Zazzle here and here

Obsessed with T-Shirts

I don’t know why I’ve been so obsessed with T-shirts lately. 

I think it has something to do with when I was a young teenager in the late 70’s. A friend of the family who had been to the US had brought back some souvenir t-shirts as gifts. They were so different from anything you could buy in NZ at the time. I loved them. They were a real pleasure to wear and the designs were quite inspiring for me as a young ‘wanna-be’ artist at the time.

Perhaps it’s the 30+ years of pent up desire to create a few of my own t-shirt designs that’s finally coming to the surface. Up until about a year ago there was no way I could manage the whole t-shirt printing process myself, from design to end consumer without forking out heaps of money — that is, until I stumbled across “Zazzle”. 

If you haven’t heard of Zazzle, you’ll no doubt hear me talk more about it on this blog, as it’s opened up a whole new way for me to showcase some of my work. At the same time it has made some of my designs available for sale to anyone who’s interested in buying a T-shirt, or any other product for that matter, including caps, mugs, aprons, tote bags, etc.

So, here are a few designs I’ve been working on...

This is how they looked on T-shirts...

Zazzle allows you to customise the various designs and products that are available. Choose your own t-shirt colours and styles, add your own text or put the design onto other products. Check it out here.

The ‘Four Square’ Store

I started acrylic painting several years ago and have been enjoying it whenever I can get to it. Unfortunately I don’t have as much time to spend on it as I would like.

Here’s a painting I did last year from an old photo. 

This was a deeply personal painting for me as the photo was taken by a relative a few years before I was born. These shops are less that a block from the house where I grew up and only about 5 kilometres from where I currently live. All but 2 of the people in the scene are family members including my grandfather who has long since passed away and my parents who were courting at the time. I love the old cars (the model T ford and the 'Morri thou' van) which give the scene a real historic flavour. The Model T ford belonged to one of my uncles who like me also enjoys painting. The van belonged to the shop owner, who is also one of my uncles.

I tend to approach my paintings as a typical 'graphic designer' would, that is, in a very controlled and predictable way. I usually work from a photo or other carefully planned reference even if it’s a sketch or an illustration I’ve already drawn. I usually have a very clear idea of what I’m trying to do before I even start.

What I did to start was to enlarge the original photo on a photocopier to the final size I needed it. Then I rubbed the back of it with a 4B pencil following the edges of all the main elements, producing a stencil. Then I transferred the image by drawing over the top of the stencil with a ball point pen using enough pressure to transfer the pencil rubbing to the canvas, all the while making sure the stencil didn’t move. If you look carefully, you can see the finished pencil outline on the canvas (above).

Then it was time to start painting. I started with all the broad areas of colour first. In this case the road in the foreground and then the sky area. Then working colour by colour, area by area, I gradually covered the canvas with paint.

I’ve had the painting hanging in my front room for a while now, even though I’m not totally satisfied it’s finished. It’s been a great talking point as many visitors to the house have commented on it. Most of them frequent the location where this scene is, which is now a thriving multi-level shopping complex, complete with McDonalds and other big brand mega stores. Most of them have no idea it’s the same place.

What about you? Can you guess where it is? 

It’s somewhere on Auckland’s north shore around 1958. 

If you look carefully you can see Rangitoto island (a dormant volcano) in the background.

This how it looks today, more than 50 years later...