Avatar Disappointment

So last night, I watched Avatar, and it reminded me that I wanted to research the concept art. I found that a book called "The Art of Avatar" is now available.

Do yourself a favor, don't buy it! For $30, there was not much work put into this book. I was expecting a vast array of drawings and paintings, especially with all of the elaborate environments and creatures that were featured in the movie. But...NO. It seems like to me they decided to create the concept art AFTER the movie was made so they could sell it for profit. There were a lot of cheesy photo composites and several times the art work was printed in very poor resolution. I think even some of James Cameron's drawings were put in there. They are BAD! With all that said, there were a few really good sketches and what looks like charcoal pieces. I have uploaded some pictures of what I thought were pretty good. So just save your money and enjoy what I have put up for you.

Nike of Galleria

For this project, the idea was to take a famous work of art and change something about it to convey a modern message. I had a few ideas, but my best was to take the Nike of Samothrace, or Winged Victory and put her in sexy lingerie to make it look like one of the Victoria Secret "Angels."


I combined these two ideas, added a little charcoal and got this:



The hardest part about this project is finding a work of art you can use. Then coming up with a clever idea. The Nike is one of my favorite works from this period.

Internship with Bloom 415

I have recently taken on an internship with Bloom415, and we are 3 weeks in. It's been a doozy, but fun!
The Objective was to create a graphic logo that can be used for both print and web. The logo must be simple, clean and kept to three process colors. It will need to easily translate to black and white for printing on promotional items.

CLIENT VISION: I would prefer clean, professional look...my vision: a small version of a field with Baseball Prospect Guide spread out near the home run fence? White with red seams for ball is a must! Would like a "baseball" (image) in the "o" of Prospect, if possible.

With this in mind, I started with some pencil sketches and picture references of baseball fields. I was trying to keep it simple and graphic of course, but with an illustration-like spin on the design. The graphic design teachers don't like it when we illustrate–I do not really know why–no one has complained yet.

I wanted to get some dynamic views of dramatic angles, and interesting text placement. At the time, I thought sketch #2 and #7 were the most interesting, however, the client chose the simplest, sketch #1! When I look back, I still like the other, but I agree that #1 is the simplest and strongest.

I have trouble choosing the right font, but my sponsor helped me out on this one. She chose a font for me to use. I experimented with different fonts, but the one she chose was the best. I hope to get better at my font finding.

When I revised sketch #1 in Illustrator, I added a flying baseball in the "o"; of prospect. The client really liked this and wanted to explore it further. I came up with some baseballs with swooshes, that were vintage looking. Always keeping an illustrative aspect to it. (I want to be the graphic designer who illustrates!)

I also started looking at baseball pictures at iclipart.com and I was getting some inspiration. I decided to add in a figure and a bat. The client really liked. It's very interesting–every design I was sure the client would like, he always surprised me and picked another.

One thing I would like to point out about working in the real world: In school I usually create a few sketches before my teacher sends me off on completing the final project. For this first project, I have gone back to the drawing board six times, not really starting from scratch, but just revising. I notice that I am definitely spending more time on the sketches rather than the final project.