I was invited to speak at PechaKucha Night, Buenos Aires June 30th, 2009 by May Groppo from Paste.  It was a great time with awesome presenters.  Muy Buena Onda!

Photos by:
Guillermo Damián Fernández
www.bluevertigo.com.ar
www.gferna.com.ar

If you live in Denver keep an eye out for  two new outer-space theme Reading Rocket bookmobiles. The fun and colorful bookmobiles were created through generous funding by Janus Mutual Funds for the Denver public library system to encourage reading and literacy in children. The first over-sized van hit the road a few weeks ago and will be followed by a second in April with a different funky space-age design. The trucks will deliver books to children at different locations throughout the city including a number of area public schools.

Paper or Plastic? Neither!

Long lasting construction at a great price.

They benefit the planet thrice:

• Made from used grain sacks and plastic water bottles.
• They replace disposable supermarket bags.
• 1% of sales fund programs of The Nature Conservancy worldwide.

They will be available very soon at blueq.com

Olive’s biodegradable poop bags. The bags are made naturally from GMO-free corn starch and vegetable oil, are certified 100% biodegradable and compost in as little as 40 days. They come in two sizes - Unisex (small) and Super Poop (large) – and are available online at www.olivegreendog.com.

Design: Modern Dog
Illustration: Nate Williams

For a long time I have been looking for the ideal solution to easily record and retrieve ideas.

ANALOG

Sketchbooks,  random pieces of papers and napkins are great for sketching and writing down ideas  … but it’s not the best medium to recall and ideas.  I can never remember which sketchbook a specific idea was in and over the years this only gets more complicated.  There isn’t really a good way to organize these ideas in the physical world even if you try to categorize these ideas in folders. (I will explain below)

DIGITAL

The digital medium has the opposite problem .. it’s great for retrieving ideas through search, browsing, tagging, etc … but isn’t so great for recording ideas.  Ideas happen spontaneously and a lot of the time when you have an idea, all that is available to remember it is a napkin, a piece of paper .. or maybe a sketchbook.  I have tried PDA’s … but they seem to be limited for one reason or another and some don’t have sketching capabilities.  Half the time when I have an idea I don’t have the PDA with me, it’s out of batteries or it’s too much of a pain to input a complex idea with diagram, notes, etc .. and pen and paper is much easier, fluid and spontaneous..

digi-LOG – So here is a great free solution … EVERNOTE

Here is a DEMO of how it works.

update: Evernote is a better solution because it syncronizes over all platforms (ipod, blackberry, computer and web)

For more ideas that are intended to help illustrators check out:

http://www.n8w.com/wp/category/illustrator-help

and

http://www.illustrationmundo.com/questions.php

Here are some Hand Lettering options I did for Chiat Day for the client Starburst.  They never ended up going to print .. but hey .. you win some .. you loose some :)

Here is some hand lettering work I did for the Brooks Running Shoe Campaign “Run Happy – RUNNING SUPER FANS”

The winning logo

another option

… and another

url options

Lettering used in context

Update: CONTEST CLOSED
The winners were select using http://www.random.org/

Thanks for all your great comments .. I will now have to apply them to my life :)

Cam Hoff
worksonpaper.ca

Jose Reyes
metaleapdesign.com

Erica Wieder

Amy
redfishcircle.blogspot.com

Louise Best
louloulovesbooks.com

“Beautiful Life” - This image is about optimism, appreciating life and nurturing your curiosity.

This has been a theme in my work for awhile and one that continues to inspire me. My mother, the flower in this illustration, was a very optimistic person that always facilitated my curiosity and encouraged me to explore .. probably one of the main reasons I am now living in South America.  She was incredibly unconventional and taught me that there are many ways to go about solving a problem… she had no reservations about taking an alternative route. She hung maps of the world upside-down to make the point there is no upside-down or right-side up in outer space. She would use the coffeemaker to cook her oatmeal because she could put the oatmeal in the coffee pot the night before, fill the coffeemaker with water, set the timer and in the morning she would have her oatmeal waiting for her. My friends and I would wait for her to pick us up at the Bencia Skateboard Park and she would arrive with a car load of elderly people that she decided to take on an impromptu field trip.

What: I am giving away 5 of these “Beautiful Life” Posters (6-color, silkscreen, 18×24 inches)
How: To enter just leave a comment on what you dig about life.  It can be something huge .. or something very small that just makes you happy. 
When: On May 15th 2009 I will randomly select 5 people from below and mail each one a poster.
Rules: Just one comment per person on this page http://www.n8w.com/wp/1557.

If you would just like to purchase this poster .. click here.

(6-color, silkscreen, 18″x24″)

The illustration issue – on sale now

Here is an editorial image I did for, Playboy Deutschland, for an article about “laughter therapy session”.

another color option

… and another

(more…)