i don't know if you remember this post, but sam was the inspiration for one of the figures on this book cover (he's quite the little model of cuteness for TPP recently):

well, the authors are now working on an upcoming "sequel" and i got to work on the cover for that too. here's the sketch (it's going to the shooting squad today, and i hope it survives!):

i'm sure you can spot the sammy—happy hair and all!

work—faith in... signage

another big project we're working on is the "faith in..." campaign. the idea is that this campaign will eventually go nationwide, but we're starting off in cleveland, and that's where my piece of this puzzle comes in. 
part one of my job was to design window clings that reflect the theme. the top image is the layout i came up with for the windows on the east end of the building, and then an image of what this might look like in place.
the second piece of this was to design sets of street banners (using the same, or similar, images that we're using as part of the ucc theme banners in the store), and a mock-up of the 20 foot wide banner that will be hung on the side of the building. 
it's fun to be working on something so big and visible to so many people, but all of this has a deadline of being hung/implemented by the end of may, so i've been working like crazy trying to get everything done (things have to be to the printer(s) next week!)

work—the store identity

we've got a lot of big, exciting projects coming along at work right now. one of the projects i've been pulled in to work on is to re-brand our store (formerly known as "the book nook"). the biggest point marketing wanted to emphasize was that we're not just selling books anymore, and we want people to think of this as the place to shop for UCC "stuff".

to that end, i designed the logo above using words and icons that highlight the kinds of things that will be available for purchase. below that is an example of the store signage, which will focus on categories of items, and then we'll have two "generic" store banners with icons and the logo.

the marketing team is still working on pinning down the size for the banners and signage, but my designs were shared with the group, and the direction was basically approved. *insert huge sigh of relief here.*

the store banners will be hung on tension rods so that they can easily be turned around when the store isn't open for business. this is an example of how i designed the back sides of the banners using established UCC images and themes, with a design that compliments the store identity.

re-decorating

i've been thinking about doing some new artwork for the frames that will move to sam's new room. the original stuff i put up was done so long ago that it doesn't really reflect him much, and i was thinking that some trucks might be the perfect thing for my vehicle obsessed child.
i had some doodles in my sketchbook that i thought i could translate into something decent. and now i've got more than a dozen to work with (and about five frames to fill). i'm not precisely sure what i've got in mind, but (as everything in our house) it's a work in progress. and i'm pretty sure he'll be happy with it, for the time being at least.
though perhaps i should incorporate some space ships...


i also think i need to come up with some kind of decoration to make the girl's room special for her. i have some thoughts, but nothing concrete yet.


in other news, i had my 24 week visit to the doctor on friday and the report was that so far, so good with the little bean. i'm always glad to hear that everything is alright, and that i'm not just getting beat up from the inside for nothing. this kid is definitely related to "ninja", and apparently is a bit of a night owl as well.

making—baby shower bingo

my sister-in-law got put in charge of planning the games for an upcoming baby shower she's helping to throw, and since she knows i kinda do this sort of thing for fun, she asked me to design some personalized bingo cards for the mom and dad-to-be. she told me the information on where they're registered and sent me this photo via cell phone as reference:

after three or so hours at the computer, i was able to come up with this:

i'm pretty happy with the results, and i hope that she will be too. not too bad for a sunday afternoon's worth of goofing off, huh?

making—bookplates

i originally had all kinds of good intentions to get these bookplates printed up and get one into the book we got for alice for her birthday, but i didn't manage to get them done in time. i did, however, design them. so as soon as i can locate my sticker paper, i'll print some up and send them down. i'm sure alice's mom can apply as necessary.

if you're interested in making a few of your own using this design, you can get the download here.

making—holiday card 2011

as is our tradition, we expanded on the 12 days of christmas theme this year with the milk maid. this was my first person (after seven years of mostly birds, this was a bit of a challenge), but i think she turned out well and fit the graphic theme that we've had going since we got married.

if you'd like to see some cards from previous years (five, six, and seven), they can be found here, here, and here.

sam the celebrity

do you recognize this photo?

janice (my boss) was encouraging me to do a cover comp for an upcoming book using this photo of sam. i was pretty sure that the group wouldn't go for it (there's usually a lot of discussion about having just one kid or ethnicity on anything we do and blah blah blah). but about 15 minutes before the meeting, i gave in and worked up a cover with sam on it. as soon as the group saw it (and they're not the easiest group to please, let me tell you), the unanimous statement was, "that's it. that's the cover."

so sam is not only co-starring in illustrations, he's now a full-fledged model.

good to know that i'm not just filling up memory cards for nothin'.

reference material

an illustration i did for a book being published this fall on the subject of teaching children to appreciate and care for our world and all the creatures in it.

photos of sam during a visit to squire's castle and the metroparks (a.k.a. reference material)

cover illustration for the book. can you find the sam in this picture?

staycation postcards - free download!

i've been wanting to do a few projects like this for a while, sort of a giveaway without all the mucking about with comments and winners. so...this is my first (what i would consider) really good free download—the staycation postcards. i thought this might be good for anyone who isn't going anywhere in particular this summer, but would like to send a nice note to family about what they HAVE been up to (just because you're not going to some fabulous destination doesn't mean you haven't done wonderful, fun things afterall).

so all you have to do to win (ha!), is download the pdf here, print it out (i recommend printing on cardstock)...

then score...

fold...

cut...

and glue together. voila!

two notes: my printer has water soluble ink, so if the postcards get wet, they'll run. if you're really concerned, you can always use them with envelopes. AND i designed these to be a bit oversize (5" x 7"), so they're going to require a little extra postage. you can always scale them down when you print to get them within the USPS regulations for standard postcard rates, but that's up to you.

recent drawings

a recent drawing for daily dose of reading, who wanted a new mascot (a caterpillar named pal—standing for play and learn).

and a drawing that was emailed out to invite family for sam's second birthday.

yes. the little mouse is turning two. it's insane. i know.

happy holidays - cards from the nordstroms

here is the seventh swan a-swimming. in truth, i still have a few that still need to be mailed out (because i forgot to bring them when i had the chance to hand deliver them. on multiple occasions. ooops.) but they were done in time for christmas, so i'm considering them a success. i'll also admit that the design is practically the same as last year, which made them easier to do, and the use of mom and dad's "robobot" (as sam calls it) to do the cutting made them quick and (almost) painless.

i'm already thinking about next year's design, and have some ideas. i do believe, however, that i may have to enlist my father to help me with the mechanics.

you can see a couple of the previous years here and here.

this year's christmas cards (from the pilgrim press)

i worked up these quickie cards for pilgrim press to send out for the holidays.

since our logo is a red ship (the mayflower, to be exact), i thought i'd do a take-off on i saw three ships come sailing in. apparently i'm the only one at work that was familiar with this song, but they were agreeable and let me do my thing (that's what you get when people are pressed for time and ideas—free reign!).

it took me about a day to design, and about half a day to print, cut, fold, and stuff 150 of these. we did a special order for the blue envelopes, and after they arrived (from thepapermillstore.com), i adjusted the color on the card to match.

i thought they turned out well.

your life better

here are a few pages and spreads from a new project we've got going on at work. it's a series of small books entitled "your life, better" that will take a fun, quirky approach to finding spirituality in the everyday. these spreads are for the first of our four introductory titles, "20 ways to add more prayer to your life."

this is one of the more exciting things they've got me working on recently—exciting because it's extremely rare that i get to work on anything full-color beyond a front cover, and twice as rare to have a budget for this many images. not to mention that they're pretty much leaving all the image choices up to me! i feel like i've struck a bit of a goldmine.

we've already had the sample pages approved, and the titles are scheduled to hit the warehouse in early may of next year, so…there's a lot of work to be done between then and now, but it should be fun. yay!

fairytales & meetings

a few photos from my sketchbook of the things i've been doodling (mostly during meetings). i can't remember why i was drawing the three bears, but alice was inspired by my niece-to-be (i've been thinking about what artwork to make for her), and the three little pigs were inspired by oscar (sam loves to hear oscar tell about the little pig). i think i'll have to keep working on these fairytale drawings, as i seem to have a theme going here.

photoshop is my friend

here's another example of something i did for work using photoshop.

the headers for our advent series of igniting readers & leaders newsletters were constructed and illustrated completely in photoshop. with this year's illustration, i didn't even bother to scan a sketch, it was all photoshop all the way.

photoshop

photoshop

photoshop

(had to add a few more for good measure there)

if you can't tell, photoshop is my friend.

photoshop isn't just for photos

until i started blogging, i rarely used photoshop for altering or correcting photos. most of the time it was my go-to choice for making illustrations that i needed for projects at work.

this is an illustration i did recently for a new book on our spring list. it may or may not make the cut, but i like the way it turned out (in its comp stage, anyway). we'll see how the review goes in a few days.

a little drawing

i've been rather busy with freelance lately. here's an illustration i did for the fund for the future benefit invitation.

finished!

after several, um, mishaps (don't ask) we're a go with the t-shirts! woot!

i have to say, i love a project with a quick turn-around (and those seem to be precious few these days!)

cousin tees

after seeing so many blog posts about cousins weeks and whatnot. i thought it would be fun for the four (current) henderson cousins to have family tees for the reunion next week.

i whipped up this sketch and am now wondering where to find white tees in all the different sizes (i'm guessing that no two cousins are the same size). at least i've got sam covered—i picked up a couple of white shirts when we were at the outlet mall last week. i'm now wishing i would've thought of this sooner and had picked up some for the others too.