Not only is it a supreme hand-to-hand combat between Japan and Mexico’s World Champ Chicas, it’s a fight to the death between drop shadow, outer glow and wind blur Photoshop-ified typefaces.
Plastered all over the streets of Oaxaca, this mega poster for the tremendous wrestling match at the Los Pinos parking lot looked even better in multiples of 20.
I recently designed business cards for Valia Carvalho, an Arts & Culture Manager based in Berlin. Valia and I worked over the internet (her in Berlin, me in Valparaíso, Chile), and the cards were gang-printed in Germany. Finished with a high gloss flood varnish, the colours are ultra-vibrant and the card has a slick polished feel. The card back is saturated with colour and pattern, contrasted by a spacious treatment of the typography on the front side. The card tells a little story about the flip-sides of expression and complexity, and clarity and organization.
The design represents both the new-media and fine art components of the projects that Valia manages, many of which are facilitated by the internet. The pixel pattern is generated from a photo I took of a luscious red lily I found in the Colombian hinterland, and the hand drawn lines are just that, rendered with charcoal and then scanned and colourized in Photoshop. Combined, the grid and random lines riff off of each other, and in places there is a merging of colours.
The design took about two-weeks to complete, allowing plenty of time between revisions to reflect and discuss ideas. Designs and feedback were sent back and forth by email, chat, or by skype calls, and final files were sent directly to the printer in Germany.
I’ve included a few of the card designs below to show the evolution of the design and some of the early solutions that I presented to Valia.
These two cards were too much about the personalized expressive marks and unconventional colour combinations, and didn’t convey ”management” strongly enough.
These modernized “calling cards”, in a neat 2" x 2" size, were an early attempt at combining a digital-esque pattern with a hand-drawn graphic.
The first incarnation of the winning design. We decided the proportions of the grid pattern were too oversized and quilt-like, and should be derived by pixelating an image for authenticity. Once the final pattern was created, I found it much more interesting to break the hand-drawn lines from their woven arrangement, and combine them with the pixel pattern.
While I am spending the winter in Oaxaca, I hope to share some of the design gems I find here, or really, anything related to visual culture that is interesting. Oaxaca is a cultural, gastronomic and artistic centre and I am often surprised by the plethora of quirky cultural events happening around town. Oaxaca’s a great walking-around city, full of surprises at every turn. There’s a happening food scene here, so I’ll probably squeeze in a post or three (from a visualist’s perspective) about the zesty flavours unique to the area.
So, it might sound like I am on holiday, but I am indeed working for clients long-distance, and am looking for work. In particular I am looking for editorial or production projects, web design for WordPress portfolio and résumé sites, and photo retouching or photo research assignments. Because I am living in the Mexican economy which is a bit cheaper than Canada, I am discounting my rates by 40% (hurry, time-limited offer!). Please get in touch if you’ve got any projects you’d like me to get involved with, or would like to know more about the services I offer.
A traditional Mezcal shop and canteen on the fringe of Oaxaca's historic centre. Mezcal is a big deal in Oaxaca, gourmet varieties including organic, fair trade and even "vintages" aged 1-5 years in French and American oak are on offer. The lovely hand-painted typography and agave drawings are what caught my eye, then I was lured by the promise of a wee "Mezcalito".
