iNorio

update on that graphic

2008-08-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

the other one wasn't quite there, tho liked. this is what i made that they eventually went with.

just so everyone knows...

2008-08-20T06:08:00.001-07:00

...i've been horrible about updating. but the past few months have been really straining.

but all is good now. while i did design a few things with my old employer, i found a new job, which is amazing. i may, in the end, not go into graphic design as a career path. i'm still deciding what i want to do with myself.

that doesn't mean that i don't get a chance to design at my new job.

i like it. trying to keep it corporate. but that's all that's new right now.

new theme graphics...hurriedly done...

2008-06-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

...because i've also been making mutha fuckin templates today. so many templates. but...

made these this morning. wanted to be a little more corporate. the first one got approved. with the globe.

finally, new shit to share

2008-06-20T08:12:00.001-07:00

been working on new theme graphics for celgene internal meeting. i'm all banged up after last night's drinking with my coworkers for one of the producers' birthday. so today is just spent nursing myself back to normalcy and tweaking these theme graphics and coming up with some more. the direction was to make it look like csi, but only use white, black, gray, and shades of blue.

i think they came out nicely. they still need some editing. especially since they don't know really what they are calling the thing. i was simply told to use the acronym, the terms spelled out, and colors and sort of look. i was also told "make it, like, you know, cinema noir." but i have no idea where that could work if they want it all csi like. oh wells.

holy fuck, templates...

2008-06-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

that's all i've been doing. updating theme graphics that should have had the edits i gave them a while ago. i know how to explain it. i just don't want to.

anyway, been a while since i talked about subway tonight/awards. i posted developing the actual theme graphics. now we're developing templates for them:

and then there's subway tonight, which got changed into subway today:

yah. that's what i've been doing lately. they told me about this the end of the day monday...and i tried doing a lot, but i'm also doing reception shit. i don't think people quite understand how hard it is for me to execute their graphics and also, well, answer the phones. i feel as if lately my primary job has become graphics, and i'm picking up other people's slack. like, if there are any complaints about me at work, believe me, i'd have a bitch fit.

mmm, semen...wait, what?

2008-05-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

i was on tastespotting. like i am everyday. and came across this.

it made me chuckle. which makes me ashamed.

zero tag

2008-05-12T08:29:00.001-07:00

i came across a site called zero TAG and, basically, they hate graffiti. for instance, they say: Research shows that graffiti is what happens when good people do nothing. that's interesting. i was under the impression that street art is a legitimate form of expression that exposes a different perspective.

but when i saw this on their site:

i was actually really saddened. i thought a lot of time, planning, scaling, and innate design sense went into that. and it was beautiful.

then they had a list of banned items. like encouraging graffiti:

but, mostly the site was a bunch of strange opinions that seemed very ego-centric (Graffiti, like stealing, is a crime because it steals law-abiding citizens’ right to live in a perfect world. Graffiti is the product of a subculture that believes art and self-expression are more important than order and cleanliness. for example) and typos:

all in all, this pretty much sums up my opinion about graffiti removal:

taj tea

2008-03-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

i am in love with these ads:

this is what i meant in school when i said portraying the image of a brand's character visually, and people seemed to just keep pushing tag lines. some things don't require any words.

check out the other parts of the campaign by advertising agency ogilvy & mather out of mumbai here

guess what?

2008-03-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

guess who made employee of the month without being eligible...

subway theme graphics

2008-03-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

so, i'm still working on these theme graphics. it's really strange because i was speaking with my friend brenden about working under people or creative directors and how little things are changed. and i tried explaining that this is a subjective business, and that he needs to be able to take that kind of criticism because what's appealing to him or me or any designer is not going to be appealing to at least one other person.

which brings me to my theme graphics.

subway awards! they're doing their show in vegas, so the direction i was given was showgirl. this is what i came up with:

i thought it was really pretty and really showy like a showgirl. i thought the colors would be very agreeable on screen. my bosses liked it. but from their past shows, they suspected the client wouldn't like it. they know the client better than i do, so, i redesigned:

the purple template i had made was liked best, so my really dark (but flashy) las vegas showgirls template was kinda dropped. and the theme graphics i had needed the coloring adjusted. But then I was told that it's still too much and this theme graphic that i made was the most liked:

which i did more to show a bare minimum of stuff but to still convey a little razzle dazzle, or whatever the hell you'd describe a showgirl without sounding cheap and just a little trashy. and here's a second one:

as for the spoof tonight show they are going to have, here are the newest additions since the last i updated:

nothing new

2008-03-14T08:53:00.001-07:00

nothing new has developed. i'm mostly sketching my ideas a lot so things can be worked out the way i like it ahead of time.

i've also been incredibly busy at work with graphics and theme graphics and signage, which is a nice change of pace. i like where i am at work because it's been a relatively short while here and i already feel like an important part of a team. so important that, if my employer was to run across this blog, perhaps he'd give me a raise? maybe? maybe not? damn.

but it was all pepsi a little while ago, and now it's all subway:

the last one apparently was too silence of the lambs. i liked the butterfly, but, eh. i wanted to do something interesting with the feathers. not be too literal. have some sparkle in there since the show is at las vegas. at least i got my jewels in.

2008-02-27T08:35:00.001-08:00

i don't know what i'm doing. i was looking at that moleskine graphic and then thinking up something else entirely. i'm not sure. but this is my project today:

i just need to finish an illustration for it. let's see how this progresses.

don't know what i'm doing.

2008-02-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

since my idea for coldstone looked less like ice cream and more like pepto, i am thinking of just doing something else...

Cocaine day 3

2008-02-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

ok, i'm happy with the other ones. i'm morking on this one. i may change the color of the lips. don't know just yet.

so, all of them lined up in a nice little row for everyone to take a gander at:

Cocaine day 2

2008-02-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

after this happened to my usb chip:

i was terrified that i lost everything. thankfully, nothing was lost, and, if it were, i have back-ups on my laptop and work pc.

but crazy.

i fixed up my latest campaign that my friends are giving me good responses to. i had decided what i needed to adjust and today is going to be spent desigining a second concept.

first concept:

second concept:

coming along.

my worst enemy is clearly copywriting:

no, sticking with original copy and using "pnp" for my next concept. but i did need LENSFLARES!

the copy no reads: 100% pure uncut energy.

i think they're finished. added the glare to the can:

and

Cocaine

2008-02-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

i was looking through my old sketches for school and what products i should do, but i kinda didn't do a specific one because i hated the packaging so much. it's that cocaine energy drink. but i had an idea last night for how i'd want to do it again, and it doesn't seem as complicated (in my head) as the sketch i had done a while ago.

but it's going to be really smart. hopefully i can do it during work.

P.S. 11:20 AM February 11, 2008

I was thinking on the subway about this. I'm going to eighties the fuck out of the Cocaine drinking package and logo. And the main type treatment i'm going to use is gradients and crazy colors. modernize an eighties look for an eighties drug. I want to make it sharp and fashion housey looking with a futuristic appeal. something sleak. so i made this at work:

and i'm going to use it in different ways. the first concept that i hope i can get completed today is going to have a rolled up twenty inside the can of...lols...coke.

P.P.S

It came out good, i think. Really clean. I think it's really eye-catching. and i think it looks different from what i usually make.

Bic

2008-02-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

it came out nice. a few things i need to pretty up here and there. but i like it. that back wave is bothering me to no end.

Interesting.

2008-02-08T06:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what I think about it. It's pretty. But not what I planned. Adding the rhinestone flowers became too much information for the program and it was just taking too long on my teeny ass computer.

P.S. I decided i really need to fix this one up before i even think about putting it in my portfolio.

Working with fake rhinestones

2008-02-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

so, my latest concept for this campaign (and it isn't what people in my advertsing class would call "conceptual" because image advertising wasn't exactly emphasized in my classes) with Bic lighters (the other one being my Mucha concept) is with the bedazzled lighter. all the rhinestones. i was thinking of doing something other than art as a means of showing what the lighter could look like with different each series of lighter, so i decided to stray from art, and, while i've yet to finish that fucking hokusai wave lighter that looks so cool right now, i may have to forget about past ideas and create a third, completely different series for the lighters.

but, anyway, i've been working on creating a more interesting layer to use with the empty space on the bedazzled lighter. something involving more rhinestones because, while i didn't work hard to make them, i think they're really eye catching when they are actually visible. so i'm using a kind of method of designing them when i was a henna artist. my thing was dots that embellished a certain shape or lines. I'm thinking I may need to add more rhinestones, but i don't want it too involved:

I think it'll look nice.

and in purely ian fashion, i accidentily didn't save the jewel work, so i had to redo it:

Bic stuff

2008-02-03T10:15:00.001-08:00

Workin on it. this is what i have so far, but i need to put some designs into the white space and use the rhinestones a little more.

Pre-occupied with work so nothing new on the portfolio...

2008-02-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

I haven't been consistent with my work on my portfolio. Lots of things happening in my personal life where I am not always able to invest the time I want on my book, so, I've been working a lot more. But i'm taking a break and going to the Hamptons this weekend, so, I'll get some work done.

Good news is they're giving me more design opportunities at work. take for instance this: I was told to make tour guide signs that would show group one, two and three. very simple project, but I wanted to make it look awesome. So, I came up with these signs based on the PMS colors:

I just wish I was given more than signage...

Bic Again

2008-01-24T08:04:00.001-08:00

I haven't been updating because I've been in a bit of a creative slump lately. Work has me doing other things than me working on my portfolio. Which is good and bad. It's good because my work is getting me to do what I want to do (but in addition to answering the phone and doing the other work I don't really want to do), but I'm not working on my portfolio as much because I want every detail to be great. And I want the time to really think about what I'm making.

Which led me to evaluating what I had done last month or so, and not touch anything, and really evaluate what I like and what I don't like anymore.

And one thing I don't like (I still like my JAL and my IZZEs) is the inconsistency of the Bic Lighter Ads I have.

So I'm sticking to the "Special Edition" lighters only. Because that gives me a chance to reinterpret artworks.

I just really ended up liking what i did with this one, so I am just in the process of making two more concepts for it. I want them to be visually striking. And the copy is going to be sassy. But here is what I've developed for my second concept so far:

Unfortunately, I've got some work ahead of me and I had just accidentily deleted an hour and a half's worth of graphic work trying to design this boat, which was beautiful. Until I deleted it. It'll look nice.

Work in prgoress:

JAL

2007-12-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

I have examples of what this used to look like, and hopefully i'll get the jpegs up so show the difference of concept. OH, here:
I need to write some good copy for it. That I definitely need to come up with. The layout is pretty nice. I think it's striking. I'm using the logo/font of the logo to create different designs, so, for the example, i have cherry blossoms made from the A and J of JAL. I'm going to incorporate the L into the background somehow, just to give it some texture. See how that looks.

Actually, now that I look at it, I just may need to make more of those cherry blossoms and position the in a way that they still look like they are on a tree. That's really the only texture, so it is kinda interesting. I may not incorporate the L just because I have the L. It doesn't seem necessary. It's something to play around with.

So I rearranged and I'm having trouble coming up with a third layout. But here's what I got so far:

And with copy:

I may need a new font because I just noticed how weird "Pleasure" looks in the tag. ANd I want to incorporate the name of the company into that black area.

Oh, got my third concept. Japanese lanterns:

number 2 pencil

2007-12-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

I did this campaign for school back in the day. And I felt it could be a really cool campaign if it was fleshed out better. I don't have any of my originals on this computer, but I have the layout without a main graphic decided:

You'd have to see my sketches to really get it. I want to have the concepts show excessive use of the pencil...seen through use of the pencil/shavings of the pencil/graphite dust remains that are then used provacatively. Something clean but still grungy. The concept I have for the excessive use of the pencil is a drawing of a woman and the entire page is covered with pencil markings. The second concept with the shavings is going to show a joint being rolled up. The third concept is of a hollowed out pencil over lines of graphite to suggest coke lines. The last two I had done before, but I think I could execute them in a more interesting way. I'll keep posting as things develop.

But I want it hand drawn, kind of like how i draw, so, I guess the graphic will just be hand drawn and a photo taken of it. Here's my moleskine cover! the back was on Moleskine Project. It was neat.

But here's a thumbnail of what I'm hoping this campaign will look like.

So, just imagine the lock at te top of this entry with that kind of illustration in the center. It could be cool.

OMG! I need to make it a deviantART.com ad. OMG!

i think they're done

2007-12-09T18:13:00.001-08:00

flash portfolio

2007-12-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a website for god knows how ling, but it's been a sad effort because I have, like, design ADD. I get bored of what I have up really quickly. So I wanted to make something that is lasting and that I will like. And so far, that's my online screenname (inorio) and lots of writing. So, I am working on how the copy reads and displaying it really simply. I love lotuses, so I am using an old illustration I made as a filler for my logo for the comp. But I might just incorporate it into a logo...not sure.

Bic Lighters

2007-12-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

What I love about my Bic lighter ads that I have in my portfolio is that, well, they are laid out cleanly and the copywriting is something I did, and I think I did a good job coming up with a tag line that was sassy, subtle, and provocative without being so obvious. I think it really would connect with a target audience.

But my problem wasn't the concept with it. I always looked at my Bic lighter ads and loved them, but the graphics on them weren't mine. They were either stock photography or in the public domain.

So I began brainstorming about how I would want to refashion these three concepts. i want to feep the font, because I love how hip it looks. And I liked the website at the bottom, but I also wanted to very easily give the point of your lighter options. So the three concepts are "Original" for the solid colored lighters, "Special Edition" for the artsy, pre-designed one, and "Custom," which I am making an original design for. Hopefully, I can play with the predesigned one since cropping within the actual lighter would be able to make a spin on older artwork. I'm thinking art nouvaeu or something recognizeable and classy but still provacative and sexy.

So, I came up with this first concept based off the "flick, flick, pass" copy, which I haven't placed on it, yet. I want to make my concepts and then place the copy on it. I just remember how when I was younger I would do these henna designs and paint these lace-like figures. You can see the henna influence in the Izze bubbles, especially the pear, but I wanted to use it in a more obvious way here so that the graphic grabs you and makes you interested in it. Hopefully.

That one was for the "Original" Bic Lighter. For "Custom," I almost wanted to go all out. But as I noticed, the nighter got lost in the...I guess...clutter. My diction choice there isn't the correct one, because I don't think my designs look cluttered. But I over designed it. So I simplified, and without the copy I got this:

So, the "Original" and "Customize" or whatever are laid out, and I'm pretty happy with them. My target for them is kind of this chic hipster, which I am not, but I think that I have the same interests as. These would catch my eye, anyway. But I needed one for the "Special Edition" concept, and I was thinking Frank Miller Collection or DC comics collection, because the back banner could easily be a comic strip and the light could have a cropped portrait of, say, the joker. It would have been nice as a deck where there is Catwoman's portrait on a queen of diamonds card, or Poison Ivy on a queen of clubs/clovers card...but make the clubs into ivy leaves. It coulda been cool. But I have always loved 19th century graphic art or any type of poster art, and after looking at Cuban posters or Soviet propaganda fliers, I just decided to go with art nouveau because I like it best:

The center circle motif needs to be reworked. It needs more whimsy. And the background texture in the brown is reused from the "Original" ad. But it needed a texture badly or it felt really empty. Gradients weren't fixing it either...

No, I like it.

So I needed to ad the copy...

I don't know if I like it. The tag line. I like the bottom font. But the neat little tag, I'm not sure if I like it with the other copy because it just seems like a lot of sass and it looks better being more subtle. I'm not sure if I like it being diagonal. So, this is what they look like now. I'll see what happens with them.

Izze Thing

2007-12-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

Original look examples:

Pear being fixed but not liked:

Use of original illustration from original campaign for pear and grapefruit, but are going to have to change to look more like the new ones. Basically, i Like the colors and the basic elements to them, but i have to simplify them:

New additions because I wasn't feeling the original pomegranate and clementine:

New grapefruit and pear:

And a few more and them all together: