Blog has been moved

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have moved my blog from here to Tumblr! The interface is much cleaner and more user-friendly there, plus most of my colleagues have been egging me to move there anyway.

http://iansmithdesign.tumblr.com/

keep on truckin!

LinkedIN

Hey everyone!
Been a while since I last updated but the past few weeks have been a little crazy. As of today, I am officially living in Grand Rapids, MI. It's been a bit of a haul, but after much debate, I realized that this is where I needed to be in order to find more job opportunities. Cross your fingers for me! In the meantime I've been learning quite a bit of AfterEffects and I've been applying that knowledge to some grindhouse-style films that I've had the opportunity to work on with some video production folks. This website, video-copilot.net offers some really in-depth (but also really easy to follow) tools in said program. Here's a sample video:

Creating interesting posters

This web article details various ways to create posters using a challenging series of vector art design and interpretation. I gotta say I'm a huge fan of the Robot one.

http://vector.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/25-creative-and-challenging-vector-poster-design-tutorials/

Herman Miller advertising

Herman Miller ad done in After Effects. Very cool! 

More Illustration [Team Squad]

I keep running into these old sketches that I've done. I really wish I could find the preliminary sketches of the actual comic. Regardless the exaggerated style of the figure is Marvel-like in comparison but with a comical twist

TEAM SQUAD!

"Team Squad!" was a one-hit series that I wrote and published on Facebook. It was about a group of guys driving around one day when they hit a curb, bumped their heads and in turn received absurd super powers. My end goal was to create a graphic novel out of the piece, but the most fame it ever saw was a one-time publish in my university's newspaper.

This is an example of absurd, ridiculous comedy at its best

Graduation Party Invites

Back in June I was asked by a friend to design his brothers' graduation party invites. Graduation parties are a time to commend those for their academic achievements and in so I thought it only appropriate to create a design that reflected that. The layout is clean, with clear, simple information and large pictures to emphasize the importance of the graduates and their achievements.

"The Walking Dead" alternative intro

Daniel Kanemoto, a writer/director whose 1999 debut, created this animation [intro] for AMC's "The Walking Dead" series, using a variety of stills from the comic. It looks like he used After Effects for the majority of this, and it's really cool stuff. It's just a prime example of how using dynamic imagery combined with simple movement can really bring a piece to life. Check it out! 

More work!

Hey everyone!
It's a little hot out today so I'm sticking to the basement for the hottest part of the afternoon working pretty diligently on some freelance. In the meantime I'll tell you another work-related story:
While I was interning at Bolger + Battle, a local Midland marketing firm, http://bolgerandbattle.com/ , My old high school wrestling coach came in to say hi. At the time they were rebuilding their team and wanted a stronger image than just the school mascot. What he wanted was something reminiscent of the famous 'Tap-Out' logo, but at the same time something that was theirs in itself. I presented him with a few drafts but this was the final result:

What this offers is a grungy, scraped-up look at the Bullock Creek High School Wrestling Team. The logo is aggressive and dirty without being too in the way of itself. When I presented this to the team, they absolutely loved it and it found its way onto t-shirts and the team uniforms, even on some banners! I wish I had this opportunity back when I was still on the team.

End of July

Unless you're my friend on Facebook you never really got a chance to see some of my other work. As of right now I'm a part-time morning cleaner at the movie theater here in Midland. My job entails that I get up at 3AM to be at the theater by 4AM. I work with anywhere from 4-5 other guys, depending on how busy the theater was the night before. Last summer we were joking about having uniforms and I suggested making a logo, maybe something to put on t-shirts, to make us feel a little more important with our job. Here's what the final result was:

I probably tell this to everyone but I have a thing for 60's style animation. I think something about the honest look on just about all of the cartoon characters' faces from around that time (just the nature in which they were drawn) really interests me. It's something that you don't see very often. I'm always wondering why we don't see more figureheads in logos, I think it really brings it to life and makes it more fun. Makes me think of those Mr. Rooter ads...