Scout, the studio mascot

Today, I met with a client at their offices and by request I brought my mascot along with me. She's a 12 pound miniature poodle named Scout and she spends much of her day hanging out in my studio with me. Clients and business partners love seeing her when they come to the studio and now are asking me to bring her along for meetings. Pretty crazy. It's been interesting to see how many creative firms, Like Spacejunk Media, allow thier employees to bring dogs to the office. 

I came across this article today which prompted me to write this post.

PinchFlat 2 Call for Entries open

Pinchflat 2 planning is underway and we're excited to announce that the call for entries is now open.

Last year's event was awesome. 25 local artists contributed to the event and posters sold like crazy. We exceeded every expectation and we are really excited to see what happens this year. 

So if you're looking for an opportunity to do something creative, support a great cause, and to sell some artwork, sign up to contribute your work to this year's event. You can download the call for entries and get more information here.

For my photos of last year's event click here.

New Year's Inspiration

As we enter 2012, here is some inspiration to get the juices flowing:

Studio Neat

Tom and Dan started their business on Kickstarter with a clever little piece of plastic called the Glif. Now they have released the Cosmonaut. I ordered mine this weekend. Spend a few minutes poking around this site and check out the behind the scenes videos. These guys are living their dream. Very inspiring. 

Ed Emberley

I don't know an artist or designer who didn't use Ed Emberley's drawing books as a kid. My mom got them from the library for me and I LOVED them! Ed's books had a huge impact on my approach to illustration and design. Here's another man who is living his dream. Check out this video of Ed in his home studio talking about his work. Amazing.

Letterhead + Logo Design 12

Over the Christmas holiday, my wife and I had a night out (thanks Nana and Grandpa) and we stopped by Barnes and Noble to rest our feet. I always like to check out the design section to see if anything new is out and I was pleasently surprised to see the new Logo + Letterhead 12 book by Oxide Design. I picked up a copy and flipped through a few pages before I noticed one of my logos! Then another, and another...then a full page spread! Woah!...two more full page spreads! There are a total of seven pieces included in this book--spread out over 11 pages. Needless to say, that made my week! Pick up a copy on Amazon and you can save $16 off the cover price. Thanks go out to the fine folks at Oxide Design for curating this book and for including me as a part of it.

Link to Oxide's L+L 12 site here.

CBC Bock Beer Package

Here's a sneak peek at the next seasonal brew from Columbus Brewing Company. 

"Bock" is "Billy Goat" in German. If you take a look next time you visit the beverage aisle, notice how often the Bock packaging has a goat as it's primary image. The challenge for us was to make it memorable and still fit the CBC brand. I'm really happy with the way the illustration and layout turned out. Many thanks to Eric and Beth, the brewery owners, who worked through the process with me. I'm confident that their creative input made this a better design. 

Look for it on shelves in Central Ohio in early 2012.