Joanna & I just signed up to be apart of the 2011 Sketchbook Project, curated by the Art House Co-Op. We will have until January 15th to finish our sketchbook’s theme and send it back to Art House. Joanna chose the theme “A Day In The Live”, I chose the theme “Capture The Flag”. Our sketchbooks then will be apart of the traveling gallery show that will be starting in Brooklyn New York, winding through SXSW in Austin Texas, then heading up the west coast to Seattle. Our sketchbooks will also be bar coded, so we will be informed each time it has been viewed. We’ll give you more info once the Seattle show get’s closer…
Joanna, Sadie and I had a fantastic time exploring the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico last week. Lots of snorkeling, Mayan pyramid climbing, freshwater cenote cave swimming and chilling on the beach. I decided to draw some of the things I saw/ate/wore on the trip.
The second Vintage Vector project happens to be another product from 1982. I had found this mint Centurion LeMans road bike at a thrift store for $15 and had to have it. While this bike wasn’t a high end model, the chrome fork tips, gold outlined steel lugs and metallic green with black panel graphics really make this bike stand out. I spent some time digitally recreating all the decals as well as the metal headbadge and laser etched handlebar emblems. You can see more photos of the bike here.
I saved the designs in EPS and PDF format, so download it and enjoy! Vintage Vectors – bringing analog design into the digital age.
Download Vintage Vectors V0002
Back in the early ninties Coeur d’Alene, Idaho based band Black Happy took the Northwest by storm with their albums Friendly Dog Salad and Peghead but disbanded around 1995. My friend Mike Hasseries who played trombone in the band let me know after 15 years they’re gettin’ the band back together for a few reunion dates in August.
I’m completely stoked to see them play again as well as creating a poster for the shows. I wanted to keep it b/w because of the band name. I thought a smiling goat with human teeth would look pretty funky out on the street. Below is the poster for the August 20th show at the Crocodile in Seattle.
Back before digital, photographers used to intentionally process film in the wrong chemical solution to give the photo’s color a different look. This cross processing produced varying results, sometimes adding more yellow or blue or other colors to a photo. A lot of designers have different ways to recreate this look digitally in Photoshop. I decided to record my version as a Photoshop Action, so hit download and give it a go on your photos.
I’ve had this mix idea for a while and finally pulled some records together and made it happen. I wanted to explore when disco evolved from large orchestrated string and horn sections to small groups using the new technology of that time: synthesizers, drum machines and vocoders. That switch was the building blocks for most of the electronic dance music we hear today.
The records you see below were produced in-between 1977-1983 and captured that new electronic dance sound. Kano vocoder voice and flanged synths make “I’m Ready” so funky. ORS sounds like it’s straight from the Star Wars cantina scene. Nairobi isn’t neccessarily Electro Disco, but it is the start of electronic dance music influencing Hip Hop. People must have lost their minds dancing to Giorgio’s futuristic “From Here To Eternity” back in 1977. I’ve always thought the drum’s on Amii Stewarts “Jealousy” sounds like it’s a techno hit from the 90′s rather than a disco song the 70′s. And of course I also had to do some custom typography that captured that era’s style. Enjoy!
ELECTRO DISCO – Mixed By Evan Moss
- Intro ( Evan’s Rick Wakeman vs B & G Rhythm mix)
- Kano – I’m Ready
- ORS – Moon Boots
- The Nick Straker Band – A Little Bit of Jazz
- Nairobi – Funky Soul Makossa
- Quando Quango – Love Tempo
- Amii Stewart – Jealousy (Evan Moss Jealous remix)
- Giorgio – From Here To Eternity
- Cerrone – Supernature
Joanna and I designed 2 ampersands to be used in the SOTA collaborative typeface “Coming Together”, which was created exclusively for Font Aid IV to benefit the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. This special font contains 486 ampersands contributed by almost 400 different type designers from 37 countries around the globe. We were super excited to have been apart of this project, as it is a great way for us to use our design skills to help others in need.
The font will be sold for $20US and it is now available through font distributors Veer and Ascender Fonts. It will be available on FontShop and on MyFonts later in the week. All proceeds from the sale of the “Coming Together” font will go to Doctors Without Borders, to help with their relief efforts in Haiti.
I worked with the good folks over at Sodophoto on their new logo and brand identity system. I kept it simple by just using metallic silver ink on white uncoated paper with an embossed SP. Jim Mannino is a lighting magician and I highly recommend him for any studio photography work.
Kurt over at DigBMX interviewed me about working as an Art Director for Redline Bicycles. You can read the whole interview here. Thanks Dig! I also did a set of Vector Freebie illustrations and type for the article. Commence downloading now….
Joanna’s Mom, Beverly Abbott, was an Art Director and Fashion Illustrator from 1953-1963. I am completely inspired by her work and wanted to share her amazing talent to the world. Below are three samples of her work. I’ve also set up a Flickr set that features more of her fashion illustration portfolio during that time and her work history. May her artwork inspire you as well.
