Wizard of Pawz Feedback

So I guess EHS has been getting a lot of positive feedback from people receiving invites in the mail. Thought I'd share...

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--Unknown Sender--

I just wanted to say whoever designed the invitations for the Wizard of Paws did a WONDERFUL job!

They are absolutely gorgeous!

The old-timey sepia photo on the cover looks just like a picture of old dusty Kansas.

The Ruby Red sparkle text is fabulous

Then the bright Emerald City really stands out

And Then the adorable Toto dogs on the yellow brick road is great.

And of course the tag line, "theres no place like home" is perfect!

So, I just can't say enough about the design.  GOOD JOB!

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--promotions manager at KyXy 96.5 and Energy 103.7--

I received the invitation which is AWESOME.  Wow!  Your team is so creative and throw the best fundraisers.    We’ll be there with bells on!

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Holy logo confusion batlady!

Yup... it's that time again... dogs... invites... doggie-invites.
It's the Tails in the Twilight - The Wizard of Pawz - There's no place like home... event.  yup. It was a neck and neck battle for top billing but The Wizard of Pawz won in the end.

This project went, almost, too smooth. I'm going to say it was due in large part to my picking up a pencil and sketching out the demons before I started. I had WAY too many ideas for this thing but I decided that staying true to the film was my best bet. Sadly, this is the first time I didn't use any of my own photography for this project. Finding the perfect Cairn-Terrier online is probably as hard as finding one on the street to photograph. I couldn't really finish the left panel on the inside (with the two dogs) until fairly late in the game. The text was going to determine a large part of the look. In preparation, I had two looks sketched for this page but ended up having to go with the lighter more flexible version. So it works but it wasn't my first choice. All in all I think it came together pretty well. It's not quite press ready. It's missing some sponsor logos and minor type changes but all the background art is final so... here it is. Feedback is always a plus so feel free to chop away!

Paws in the Park - "The Return"

The initial idea for this was a "kid" point of view. So the fonts were chosen in regards to a child's point of view. I was hoping they would want a more handwritten feel but the font they settled on was a bit blockier than I would have liked. Can't win em all...
I went with some bold colors this year... something fun and different. Like most collage work, there are a lot of moving parts so small changes turn into HUGE changes... something I need to remember the next time I decide to create a painting in photoshop. All in all it has been a definite learning experience for me. I'm already sketching next years design... I feel if I can start now it could be pretty epic.

Little sumthin I'm workin on...

It's that time again... Paws in the park 2012... here's the first draft...
ROUGH draft that is...

2011 Tails at Twilight

I was asked to create the Tails at Twilight invitation again this year. I was pretty excited to be working with them again but this time it was a bit more difficult. Again, I've tried to maintain a 'look' for EHS with the silhouette images, but reinventing it for the third time proved to be quite a challenge. The theme was based around a quote... "make it possible". I tossed around a few ideas but in the end I leaned toward something I had recently been studying. I work a few blocks from Chinatown in San Francisco and it's hard not to be influenced by the Asian culture and art. Cherry blossoms came to mind... it seemed like a perfect texture. In searching for a color palette I looked at a number of illustrations and watercolors to get the seasonal feel I was after. The event was going to be held in October so I wanted some Fall influence but I thought muddy pastels might be a nice dark touch for October. Anyway... enough gabbing here's the final product...

Paws in the park 2011... cont.

This is a VERY belated update... but... late is better than never. I ended up doing a lot of extra work on this project that included banners, posters and t-shirts. All in all I learned A LOT and was proud of the outcome. It was a very fun project... wish I could have been there to enjoy it in person. I heard that the t-shirts were a big hit... they were printed on bright blue shirts so the green really stood out. Here's a sample of my t-shirt design...

Work... aka... busy

Crazy days! I've taken on another San Diego Humane Society project. EHS puts on an event every year called paws in the park and I was asked to create Brochures T-shirts and posters. The brochures were printed this week. I will be working on refining images for posters this weekend and t-shirts should be ready by march.

After creating the invites for last years gala event I decided to stick with the silhouette theme. It really compliments their logo and I hope to start a trend for future EHS design. Nearly all the imagery was produced from photos I took at last years event. I feel that it brings a personal touch to the project.

Here's the first part of the project... the brochure...