I recently designed and created the graphics for a music video that was shot for the local musical talent Bob Krouse. He is a cowboy balladeer music star that is trying to break it big into the music business. The talented Jim Conover of Sand Prairie Productions from Peoria, Illinois directed the video. The video was filmed and edited here in the local Peoria area by Reality's End Films. The video was shot on a set that was built by Sand Prairie Productions. I used Motion to create the title sequence graphics. The visual effects within the video used stop motion techniques along with ghostly fading edits.

On the left is a picture of the set along with some of the stunt men, actors and Bob singing in the background. In addition, there is a sample of the DVD case cover design that I created for Sand Prairie Productions.

To hear some of Bob's music you can go to http://alonetone.com/bobkrouse10/tracks.

Recently, the music video was created on a DVD that was delivered by hand to Brad Paisley so we'll see what happens. Pretty cool to think he saw some of my work:)


(photo and graphics © Sand Prairie Productions and Bob Krouse)

Bookbinder The Movie

The locally produced film "Bookbinder" opens Friday, October 30, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.with discussion/Q&A to follow. The movie is based on the ghost tale about a man named "A. Manual Bookbinder" from the Peoria State Insane Asylum. His story is finally brought to life in all its creepy glory. Based on a true story that took place at the Peoria State Asylum for the Incurable Insane from 1906 to 1911 and its haunting.

So is the old Bartonville hospital really haunted? Scores of people who have visited the place certainly think so, including experienced investigators. It certainly has more than enough opportunity to be haunted, even excluding the story of A. Bookbinder and the haunted tree. The atmosphere of the place alone is more than enough to justify the reports of the apparitions and strange energy encountered there. The residual impressions of the past would certainly be strong in a building where mentally ill people were housed and where "psychic" disturbances would be common. There is also the matter of conscious spirits. Hospitals have long been places where the spirits of the dead are said to linger. Besides that, the hospital was the only home that many of the patients knew and they are going to stay where they are the most comfortable. (source: http://www.prairieghosts.com/barton.html)

I helped out a very small amount on the film. Mostly, I was encouragement:) The donations go towards the current Bartonville hospital grounds and building. Please come check it out!

For more information on the film visit: http://www.peoriatheater.com/peoria_theater/Now_Soon/Entries/2009/10/30_Bookbinder.html

How to Throw the Digital Lariat While Herding Cats Presented by Iona Group

Myself and my coworkers will be speaking at a Peoria Ad Club event. Here is a brief description with the location and time.

The Iona Group engages with a wide variety of clients using the latest communication strategies and technologies. Join us for a discussion of trends in digital advertising, audience engagement, and online strategy. The Iona Group will share their recent work and research and development; including killer wireless robots, eye bulging video installations, incredibly sticky phone applications, and websites that will make you scratch your head and wonder, how?

Date: October 14, 2009

Time: 11:3oam

Location: The Waterhouse at 619 SW Water St., Suite B in Peoria

http://www.peoriaadclub.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=55

Over the past month, I have been taking a life drawing class at the Peoria Contemporary Arts Center. I believe that practice drawing can make one a better designer. It allows you to have an eye for detail, understanding balance on a page and an object’s light source and perspective. I have been spending so much time in front of the computer lately that I wanted to force myself to take a pencil to paper each week. Drawing is a means of quickly communicating an idea or concept. For example, drawing a sketch allows one an ability to explain a visual concept or idea to a client or coworker. This is very beneficial in the design process. I use drawing as a record of ideas, concept development and I believe it helps with problem-solving skills. When I have to illustrate or edit a photograph, drawing skills help me create better results by knowing how to correctly manipulate a Photoshop image or draw an illustration in Illustrator. Just like designing on the computer, drawing is evidence of thinking. No matter what the project, I always find myself coming back to my drawing as a means to an end.

L. Brent Kington: Mythic Metalsmith

This weekend I visited the Lockport, IL museum to see the work of sculpture artist Brent Kington.
http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/brentkington/

The exhibit, featuring objects borrowed from private and museum collections, revisits Kington's early cast silver and bronze toys he made for his children in the 1960s, his pivotal pieces of forged iron and steel from the 1970s that transition into blacksmithing, and ultimately to his larger, contemporary abstract sculptures presenting us with crosiers, spires and crescents. Spanning four decades, the selection demonstrates the breadth of his work in scale, materials, and subject. Decorative toys of silver and bronze just two inches in height are shown with intuitively-balanced kinetic weathervanes forged from iron and steel and alongside towering crosiers and spires—some almost 8 feet—which incorporate metal, stone, wood, and paint. As a whole, the objects illustrate the logical progression from the playful to the ritual, inviting the viewer to define the nature of that duality on an individual basis. (from http://www.museum.state.il.us/pressroom/index.html?NPR=697)

I found the exhibit very inspiring in that he started out as a cartoonist and then became a blacksmith artist. I myself have been taking life drawing classes for the past month and have found it very beneficial to my work. Often as a graphic designer you spend your time in front of the computer and limit the time you spend with your fine art skills. I have been balancing learning new Motion graphics programs, such as Motion, while revitalizing my drawing skills. This class has been able to force me to make sure I keep up those skills and not loose them along the way.

The Iona Group 25 Years of Exceptional Creativity

This weekend the company that I work for, The Iona Group, had a picnic to celebrate their past 25 years of exceptional creativity in business. The entire company put forth a great effort in preparing for the picnic. It is very exciting and memorable for a company to be recognized for their many, many years of service. It is the years of hard work and wonderful employees that helped make it possible. Overall, it is a great accomplishment for a company to be successful for so many years and many more to come. Congratulations to Iona!

Computer Illustration

This is a new illustration I created over the weekend using Illustrator and Photoshop. I have been interested in creating drawn sketched elements by hand and then scanning them into the computer to make them vector. However, for this piece I created it completely on the computer. It’s a great way to keep drawing while also using the computer. I have a series of these feminine drawings that I have created and evolved over the past year. Hope you like the most recent addition.