Promax print

Thought I'd finally throw up some creative the I did this past year for Promax Nutrition. A fun project with lots of moving parts.

Kofie One

Quite taken by this very talented street artist Kofie One. His creative choices regarding color and graphic elements are quite nice. I'd like to acquire a piece very, very soon. You can see all the wonderfulness here.

Virgin America

San Francisco's very own Eleven has created a tasty micro site to persuade travelers to switch from their current airline to Virgin America. Entering your travel miles into a calculator provides you with a dynamic series of infographics highlighting among other things; the various hours you've wasted, pretzels you've choked down, type of mystery stains you've sat on and seconds of WiFi you could have enjoyed.

The site also will help you craft a "Dear John" letter to help you break up with your current airline and a "Twin tested" page that showcases 3 sets of twins and their experience of having one twin travel Virgin and another traveling a competitor. The design and concept is really well done and actually a clever way to promote the tone and voice of Virgin, the brand. Two thumbs up!

Hero Series No 1. John Jay

I have been a huge fan of John Jay, Wieden and Kennedy's, Executive Creative Director for quite some time. A designer, taste-maker, visionary, incubator, instigator and mentor - with a supernatural instinct for creating beauty and what lies just beyond the public's perception of Now.


A few decades ago, John was working in New York as Bloomingdale's creative director and was tapped by Dan Wieden to bring his eye for elegance and grace to campaigns they were working on for Nike. Dan's idea of bringing in someone outside of the advertising industry to creatively drive Nike's visual language was nothing short brilliance. John's passion and drive was evident from the start and he has been inspiring and informing W+K's creativity culture internally and externally ever since.


Taking his vision and experience globally, he expanded W+K into Tokyo in 1998 and Shanghai in 2003. The Tokyo studio, W+K Tokyo Labs, in particular, has become a hotbed of experimentation and has been a key factor in spreading the hip-hop aesthetic into Asia. He now divides his time between those two offices and his base in Portland, where he plays a quiet role in the emergence of the city's exciting arts, design and music scenes.

Recently he was names as one of Fast Company's Top 100 Most Creative People in Business 2011. A video of his creative philosophy can be seen here.

I recently came across The Donut Project's "Good Fucking Design Advice" website which actually brought a smile to my face and is actually quite accurate in terms of stating (boldly) what it takes to be a good (fucking) designer. One can absorb such profane pearls such as "A computer is a Lite-Brite for bad fucking ideas", "Find fucking inspiration everywhere" and the always brilliant "Stay up all fucking night". If you are so inclined, you can even pick up a poster suitable for framing.

As an instructor, I have often repeated these design rules over and over again (on rare occasions eliminating the profanity) but, for my money the best design advice would have to be Bruce Mau's Manifesto which can be viewed here. Know it. Learn it. Live it, Baby.

Eat Big Fish

Last year I had the pleasure to work with Mark Bardon while working at Eleven Inc on a creative initiative for Rosemount Wines. Mark is one of the brilliant partners at a strategy agency called Eat Big Fish and their whole mission is to promote Challenger thinking and behavior to give companies a creative edge. EBF will consult with you and your company to craft strategy and a action plan to make it all come together - or you can dial up on of their workshops and work it internally. I really enjoyed the experience and got a first hand opportunity to see EBF in action.

More than ever, clients are demanding a clear pathway to higher ground and looking for a solid strategic game plan that has teeth and a brain. EBF's site contains lot's of great thinking and case studies and even has an iphone app for inspiration on the go.

F Bombs Away!

So, this is how the F Bomb wine label with the Tavis Coburn goodness illustration turned out. Quite pleased with the results and hope that it's a big hit on the shelves.