I love ampersands...I love thunderbolts...

POW!! Some new work to post! I tell ya, there’s absolutely nothing better than sharing your passion with other people. So this is some self-initiated work ( like all my work (un)fortunately) I did super early this morning.  I, like LOTS of designers, am obsessed with ampersands.  You know, that curly jawn that your english 101 professer used to give you crap for using. Mine did, anyway…jerk.  Anyway, I love ampersands and I doodle them all the time.  I have no idea why I love ’em so much but I do.  I’m always trying to create a custom one or incorporate one into a project. So I figured I kill 2 birds with one stone!

As you can probably tell from the new banner image I put up ( you did notice the new banner, right?) I’m really focused on this throwback distorted VHS tip right now.  I was inspired by, of all things, the movie “The Ring”.  You know how in the movie they watch that tape and a bunch of spooky and down-right funny shit happens in it?  Well its the quality of the tape that really makes it spooky.  And that’s what I wanted to replicate.  There’s just something kinda sorta awesome about it.  It took me a while to figure out how to make it a reality but now that I have, I’m gonna run it into the damn ground!  Be prepared to see a series of pieces utilizing this style.  I don’t want it to be my signature style, as I believe that a signature style makes you a one-trick pony.  But I will use it until it I can’t stand to look at it anymore.

When I work on a project I try to listen to music that fits the theme of the piece, so as to really put myself in the right head-space to communicate a feeling or message. For this piece I had a few things on blast and on repeat. The album from heavy-duty electronic producer Lorn, titled “Nothing Else”, got quite a few plays.  And the OST to the movie “Inception” was sprinkled in there too.  What a great soundtrack. Hans Zimmer is a music God. Yeah, I said it.  And just to cover all my bases I threw the new(ish) album from O.Children in there too.  Great stuff to get down, dirty and dark to.

As far as my design objectives for this piece, I really didn’t have anything concrete.  I just wanted to make a custom ampersand and make what I call a “flash” piece.  It doesn’t really mean anything or have some message to be communicated. It’s just nice to look at.  And I think I did just that.  Its pretty slick lookin’ and  now I got an ampersand that I can throw up anywhere and know it’s mine.  Although, I will say that its a design I plan on tweaking in the future…I like it and it works but I think I can make it better.  Not quite sure what I’d do to it but I know somethings getting tweaked.

Ok I told myself I’d keep this post short so I’m done.  On to the next project!

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