Square Knot

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Creative Musing
June 2021

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Square Knot
Fun little exercise this morning in Adobe Illustrator.

• Buy this Tee:

  Square Knot is available for purchase. Check out more graphic tee’s on my Cotton Bureau profile page. 

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  Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.

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Unite & Vote

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Article + Creative Musing + Product
June 2021

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Unite & Vote
In addition to offering strategic design communication solutions for my clients, I also create illustrations, design posters, and sell them on my shop page. A poster from my collection is currently en route to a fortunate recipient. If you're seeking distinctive illustrative posters to adorn your empty walls, explore my shop page. Every poster is carefully curated, illustrated, and designed by me, then printed locally at Mercury Head Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Each piece is meticulously printed on 100% cotton rag fine art paper using archival inks for lasting quality.

• Buy this Poster:

  Unite & Vote poster is available for purchase in my shop. Explore more posters in my shop.

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Become, Brand Strategy & Identity

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Phase I: Understand + Discovery

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Phase II: Ideate + Define + Develop

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Phase III: Execute + Deliver

Client Project
June 2021

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Become, Brand Strategy & Identity
Become is an education and learning website that help individuals navigate and connect with schools and businesses through deep insights and data-backed guidance. My team worked closely with Become's founders to develop their brand design system, covering everything from messaging, naming to the identity. 

I led a team in planning, development, and design of the Become brand identity. Through my comprehensive process we distilled insights gathered from audience and stakeholder interviews, shaping the foundation of the brand. This foundation delineated the brand’s tone, defined the voice and visual direction of the brand. As we progressed, additional interviews, journey mapping, naming, brand architecture, iterative brand development evolving into a simple, meaningful and approachable brand. After this effort a detailed brand guidelines was established.

The word 'Become' was crafted by merging the space between its initial and final letters. This simple alteration embodies the concept of 'Become' as a companion throughout one's professional journey. Additionally, this modification transforms the tense of the word from future to present, implying that individuals can embrace their current selves or evolve into something new.

• Service:

  + Branding

• Tasks:

  + Team Leadership
  + Project Management
  + Creative Direction
  + Qualitative & Quantitative Research
  + Brand Messaging
  + Naming
  + Visual Identity

• Imprimatur:

  Michael Nÿkamp served as a patient and adept navigator during our brand discovery expedition. His guidance enabled us to gain profound insights into our company's identity. Although the outcome was unexpected, it perfectly aligned with our aspirations. None of this would have happened without him and for that, we are very grateful.

  — Ryan Montgomery, CEO of Become

• Additional Content:

  View the initial mark exploration concepts for Become.

• Attribution:

  Phase III fun illustrations drawn by David Schofield.

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Fast Company Portraits

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Client Project
May 2021

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Fast Company Portraits
Fast Company commissioned me to create several illustrative portraits for the Define Your Purpose, Special Edition magazine.

• Service:

  + Portrait Illustration

• Tasks:

  + Style Development
  + Sketching & Ideation
  + Illustration

• Related Content:

  + CANUX Conference Portraits
  + Herman Miller Threads Portraits
  + Portrait Style Evolution

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Recycle & Die

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Creative Musing
May 2021

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Recycle & Die
An illustrative exploration reveals the deceptive narrative sold to us by plastic companies: the idea that recycling will effectively benefit our planet. However, this notion masks a troubling reality—it serves as a ploy to perpetuate the cycle of production and pollution, ultimately exacerbating our planet.

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Become Mark Exploration

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Client Project
October 2019

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Become Mark Exploration
I was hired by Become to develop their brand messaging framework and new identity. With the first phase completed we had language that helped create these concept marks. While the new identity has not launched, I wanted to share these initial concept explorations—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not all of these explorations were shown to the client, but they all played a crucial part in shaping the final brand identity.

• Service:

  Brand Identity

• Tasks:

  + Creative Direction
  + Concept Development
  + Sketching & Ideation
  + Illustration

• Related Content:

  View the completed Become Identity.

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Square Bear

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Creative Musing
April 2021

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Square Bear
Blanking staring off into space.

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Fulton Street Farmers Market

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Creative Musing + Product
April 2021

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Fulton Street Farmers Market
An illustration I have been working on the last few weeks is finally finished. Fresh fruit, friendly farmers, and artists provide a diverse, inclusive, vital, and vibrant community marketplace that offers high-quality, locally grown, farm-fresh products.

• Buy this Poster:

  Fulton Street Famers Market poster is available for purchase in my shop. Explore more posters in my shop.

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Death Snail

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Creative Musing
March 2021

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Death Snail
The notorious spinning lollipop of death adorning the rear of a delightful snail. Officially known as the wait cursor, Mac users affectionately dub it by these fitting descriptors: Spinning wheel , spinning beachball and Spinning rainbow.

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One Banana

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Creative Musing
March 2021

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One Banana
A simple illustration utilizing light and shadow.

• Buy this Tee:

  One Banana graphic tee is available for purchase. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.

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  Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.

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USPS Mail Truck

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Creative Musing
March 2021

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USPS Mail Truck
I have been enthralled by the boxy style of the new USPS mail trucks. Such a cool design should warrant a refreshed brand… right? To implement my take on a revitalized brand, I created technical illustration views of the truck and integrated the mock brand to illustrate the redesign visually.

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Maggie Bandstra Studio

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Client Project
March 2021

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Maggie Bandstra Studio
Maggie is a versatile artist and educator who seamlessly transitions between painting and crafting clay sculptures and pottery. Her creative endeavors are unified by a captivating exploration of themes such as nature, healing, and human connection.

The organic shapes within her logo are reflective of the forms recurrent in both her paintings and pottery creations. While her identity remains neutral, Maggie's vibrant personality permeates her work, ensuring that her art takes center stage. During the exploration phase, it became evident that Maggie required multiple logo marks to accommodate diverse applications across her artwork and to maintain a professional presence across various stamped, printed and digital platforms.

• Service:

  + Brand Identity

• Tasks:

  + Creative Direction
  + Qualitative Research
  + Visual Identity
  + Stationery Design

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Portrait Style Evolution

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Client Project + Product
March 2021

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Portrait Style Evolution
These portraits illustrations started as a self-initiated project in 2013 as a stratagem, but also to expanded my skill as an illustrator.

The project began with drawing a few of my Facebook friends and turned into a series of paid client projects for the CanUX Conference, Herman Miller, Fast Company, and IxDA. This personal initiative were simple portrait line studies and evolved to a refined style without compromising its minimalist feel. Portraits from top to bottom: Sam Bleckley, Steve Frykholm, and Hamad Al Zemami.

• Service:

  + Portrait Illustration

• Tasks:

  + Style Development
  + Sketching & Ideation
  + Illustration
  

• Portrait Commission:

  Looking for a custom illustrated portrait of yourself or a group? Reach out via email for further information and details.

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Merrell Footwear Illustrations

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Client Project
February 2021

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Merrell Footwear Illustrations
I collaborated with Cush Design to create detailed illustrations of sixteen Merrell shoes, showcasing six distinct views for each: three-quarter, top, inside side, outside side, front, and back (a total of 96 illustration. The illustrations required precise detail, achieved through a combination of photographic references and direct observation of the physical shoes, ensuring accuracy in depicting each view.

So, I’m sure you’re asking why do footwear brands do this? It’s to visually document their unique footwear designs, allowing them to legally protect their creations, safeguarding their intellectual property and maintaining competitiveness in the market.

• Service:

  + Patent Illustrations

• Tasks:

  + Illustration

• Attribution:

  This project was a joint endeavor with Matthew Cushman of Cush Design, Inc.

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Vessel

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Creative Musing
February 2021

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Vessel
An elegant combination mark for a memorial urns business. The mark is paired with the typeface Niagara designed by Tobias Frere-Jones from Frere-Jones Type.

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Jabber

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Creative Musing
February 2021

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Jabber
Matching the visual essence of a word into a wordmark. The typeface that I used is Proxima Nova designed by Mark Simonson from Mark Simonson Studio.

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Swans Reflection

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Creative Musing
January 2021

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Swan Reflection
Black and white swans on the water.

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Salad Bowl

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Creative Musing
January 2021

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Salad Bowl
A medley of fresh greens and protein.

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The Well

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Client Project
January 2021

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The Well
The Well Initiative is a place of gathering, conversation, and community. Formed by a group of fellow believers who felt an urgency and awareness of the racial disparities in our country and the desire to better love to our neighbors and community.

Like the priest and the Levite who pass by on the other side of the road to avoid the man who lies dying (Luke 10), we also have ignored the historic as well as present suffering of those around us, often in the context of race. The Well comes together across generations, political lines, and various backgrounds to humbly listen, learn, and engage with open hearts and minds.

• Service:

  Visual Identity

• Tasks:

  + Creative Direction
  + Project Management
  + Custom Typography
  + Illustration

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Climbing Out

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Creative Musing
January 2021

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Climbing Out
For some, climbing out of 2020 feels like this… carefully ascending out of a hole, while perhaps navigating loss of a loved one, a job, anxiety, depression, long covid. Wishing all a good year of hope and renewal. As Ian Maclaren wisely stated, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

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