Head For Design

Found the Beach

2011-06-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a little detour, and head south from Tennessee and go to the gulf coast. We ended up in Destin Florida in the panhadle, on one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Next stop... Austin Texas... By way of New Orleans for a beignet and some coffee.

Greetings from Alabama

2011-06-28T08:39:00.001-07:00

Stopped outside of Montgomery to visit a fruit stand selling peaches and BBQ. Discovered that if you asked why they sell bags of wet peanuts, they look at you with a pained expression and ask, "where y'all from?" Boiled peanuts... Who knew?

2011-06-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

So after Nebraska, things were pretty smooth sailing down through Missouri... Oh, except that the Missouri River was so high that most of the bridges were closed. Which prevented us from leaving Nebraska and getting to Missouri in the first place. We ended up having to drive down two lane farm roads down into Kansas, so we could enter MS through Kansas city. Once we got over the river.... THEN it was smooth sailing.

We came up and over the bridge into St. Louis and had a great view of the Arch. We thought about stopping, but we've already done the arch thing, so we pushed on.

After an overnight with our niece in Southern Illinois, we headed south into Kentucky... where we found the great little town of Metropolis Illinois. We saw a sign for a giant superman statue, so naturally we had to go find it. Well worth it.

They had this great collectables store, that had some really questionable items.

We had to try these... Roxanne was very proud of her new .. ahem... assets.

Wyatt was barely tall enough to get his head in there. I think it accentuates the size of his new muscles.

This is the real superman's alter ego... a bag boy at the local Big John's grocery.

At a gas station somewhere in Tennessee. Just glad to be out of the car. This was followed by Reeces cups in the back seat, and the 5th viewing of Cars on the DVD player.

Finally reached the lake and started having fun immediately. After being dropped off on the far side of the lake to pick up the borrowed paddle boat, a race back to Dad's house followed... Roxanne, Jackson and the paddle boat beating Sharon and Wyatt in the Pick-up. But in all fairness... it was close.

Ginormous woodpeckers around here... about the size of a legal sized football. Really gorgeous, especially with it's wings out.

A view of the lake.

Just before the tornado

2011-06-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Nebraska was awesome... If not a little freaky. Click the link to see all excitement. Filmed from my iPhone about 1/4 mile away.

http://gallery.me.com/nowdesign/100170

Wyoming

2011-06-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Made Wyoming on day 1... Better than expected. Beautiful weather, great roads and two wonderful and ridiculous children.

Started Late

2011-06-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sure, only 18 minutes late, but when your going 6000 miles it adds up!

Almost Ready

2011-06-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Departing soon on a six thousand mile road trip. Wish us luck. More posts to come.

Fun with the TTB

2011-05-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, we've had some clients who were struggling with wine label jpgs that need to go to the government. Usually the problem is simply that the art files got corrupt when emailed to the client, or got resaved and no longer fit the government standards. We've found a great solution.

The client gave us their TTB username and password, and we uploaded the art for them once the application was established. If there are any glitches, we can go in and fix things, and resubmit. It's very quick, and since we are better prepared to deal with the intricacies of graphic file types, it save the client quite a few headaches...

In this climate of 45 day approvals... every little bit helps.

Fluid Yoga Identity

2011-01-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Some projects are just so very rewarding... you'd do them for wine! This one, done for a new client, has proven to be a win-win-win. Fun to meet the client, fun to design, and fun to be compensated. (We partially traded for some really good wine.) I also happen to believe that if you live the in the Gresham area, this is the ONLY yoga studio to attend. It's the bomb... but a very zen-like bomb.

East Fork Cellars Rocks!

2010-12-21T19:58:00.001-08:00

Just had their 08 Cabernet.... delicious!

----

Chris Noud

NowDesign

PH 503-990-8098

FX 866-384-2302

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http://nowdesign.blogspot.com

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Antiquing

2010-11-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Good to the last drop!

On the face of things.

2010-10-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been working on a line of cosmetics for a client in Los Angeles. The project consists of several skin care products, each with a label and corresponding box. It's been an absolute blast working on something new and different and the client has been awesome to work with. While working on the design of the website, I needed to take a photo of some mock-ups. It turned out fairly good... even it the bottles are empty! Gotta love shallow depth of field.

Let's Wine About It

2010-09-12T17:34:00.001-07:00

So I'm walking around the State Fair last week, and we enter the wine competition / tasting building and low and behold... I see several of my clients with awards wrapped around their necks! Sure, it wasn't a design competition, but still it was fun to see labels that I had designed right out there for all to see... especially with a medal hanging off it.

Congrats to: Stoller, Cana's Feast, Rascal, Quest, with honorable mention to Dion and Aeon. Very cool!

Big Veggies

2010-04-21T06:52:00.001-07:00

Working on an identity and a bunch of signage for a garden center in the Bay Area. Stumbled onto this look. Inspired by retro/vintage postcards and mid-century Americana, the look of the materials has been really fun to work on. Especially fun, has been to round out the messages as I'm working on the visuals.

So far there have been signs for individual items, whole departments and the store itself. Some banners are as large as 40ft by 5 ft. Of course, when you make a typo on a sign that big, the entire world knows about it. (Whats the plural of tomato?)

Really just like the concept of the garden being so abundant, that all the fruits of your hard labor are larger than life. It's an obvious idea, but it seems to be working.

Lights, lights and more lights

2010-02-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

So, I don't think I'll be starting a new career, but I've been tinkering with shooting product shots of those things I've designed - wine bottles primarily. They are tricky little beasts with the reflections and all. But after three light sources, two tall books, a roll of black tape, a frosted tupperware pitcher, a roll of news print and an airplane barf bag... I think I've got one working photo.

Of course, I still had to spend a half hour in Photoshop. Baby steps...

More things that never were

2010-02-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

Once again, searching for something else that I placed in very logical place that I now cannot find, I came across another concept that I loved. In working on a retail gardening market project, several concepts were appreciated, but not chosen. I always wish I could recycle these projects and bring them back to life at a later date. Unfortunately ~ I never seem to do that. A new project starts, new client, new background, etc., I always end up feeling like old stuff doesn't fit.

That happens with wine labels often as well. I will regularly design many concepts on a project that never get accepted. But they are still good... they just didn't fit the client's vision. Truthfully, sometimes clients don't pick the best option, but I guess that depends on how you define "best." Those discarded concepts never really fit with a different client. Perhaps I'll come up with an "off the shelf" program where clients could look through the book and choose a label at a reduced price... when I get some free time... Ha!

In this case, the client did pick another direction and this one probably wasn't the best... but I still like it and I felt like sharing.

The logo that never was

2009-12-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

On every project, we generate many options that never see the light of day. This is especially true of logos. Quite often they are good, sometimes great - but for various reasons don't get chosen to make the next round. I was looking back through old projects searching for logos that we might submit to a logo competition, and I came across this little gem. Clean, well drawn, has wit... great logo, right?

But it got me thinking. If a tree fell in the woods, and only Helen Keller was there to hear it... well you get the idea. Does a commercial art project need to be validated to be good? If the designer is happy (if not thrilled) and the client is satisfied, bills are paid and everyone sleeps at night, isn't that successful? Does the client have to pick the direction we wanted them to? We created all the options to begin with, so as long as the client finds a fit amongst the choices... isn't that enough?

So why enter logo competitions at all? Why enter any competition? I really don't think you can compare work unless you understand the process behind the solution. And if you don't consider that, then what are you judging the work on? I mean, if we believe the hype about each project being a collaboration and needing good client input - and if there are good clients vs. bad clients at all, then doesn't that mean that their input is actually relevant if not important? So unless you are going to consider the client's desires and direction, you only have half the story.

But then, I'm a realist. And I believe that design serves a function and isn't just meant as art. But maybe when a design solution ends up in the land of misfit logos, like the one above, maybe then it becomes art – Something you can actually judge based solely on what it looks like - process doesn't matter. Maybe then it becomes fine art... but only if its good.

A fine time

2009-12-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

So It's been a while since I've updated this page... feverishly working on projects and being a dad. Speaking of being a dad, Jackson had a big day on Saturday. He tested and passed to get his blue belt in Shoa-Lin Kempo, and then promply lost a tooth. Later that day, we had a big holiday party at our house for clients and friends. 40 adults, 20 kids, 15 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of bourbon and 4 rounds of smoked salmon. It was quite an event, and a really great time... fun to see and relax with people that we otherwise never get to see. Gotta love Christmas!

Oooh the Mystery!

2009-10-02T09:42:00.001-07:00

I design a lot of wine labels. Lots. I also enjoy wine, so it is not uncommon that we would trade with a client or purchase their wine occasionally. I have to say, whenever something unexpected comes in the mail, it really is like Christmas. Today we received an automated phone call from UPS informing us that they will be delivering a package today. That call really only happens when they require you to be home to sign for it... as in the case of wine shipments. The anticipation begins!

They were kind enough to zero in on the time frame - sometime between 9am and 7pm. So that really helped me plan my day. Of course, now that I've received the call, I feel like I can't leave the house for fear that I'll miss them. That's the worst! You have no idea when they are coming back, and you still don't really know what it is!

So I'll try to go on with my day, pretending that I'm not looking out the window. But really I'm like a 6 year old trying to go to sleep on Christmas eve. Horse tranquilizers wouldn't even have much effect.

Friends in the right places

2009-09-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

I think UPS trucks are magic. I don't care what they are delivering. But today was truly special. The UPS guy did his typical Rockford style skid in front of my casa, ran up to my door, dropped the package and rang the door bell. Before I could reach the door he was leaving a trail of burnt rubber and smoke as he headed to the next stop.

I eagerly opened the unexpected box - thinking perhaps it was a leg lamp ala A Christmas Story, or perhaps Ed McMahon's final check before moving on.

It was better! My friends at Crush Creative Packaging actually found a can of Waffle Off (see post from Aug. 31) and were thoughtful enough to send it to me along with color coded jelly beans and a nice note! Couldn't believe it. I'm going to put this on my shelf with all my other trophies and never, ever use it. It's just too damn cool. Thanks Crush, Thanks Carrie - for everything, but especially the waffle off.

Carny Concerns

2009-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

I love the state fair. We go every year - at least once. As we walked around amid the teenagers looking stoned and about to steal something, I noticed this huge electrical panel next to what appeared to be a nuclear power plant. Massive power cables came out of this box in every direction - the sort of things that'd cook you before you could scream for help.

Couldn't help noticing the danger sign. Kinda wondered if it was a joke, or just a really fantastic typo. I've gone back and forth on this point, but given that the average carny probably can't spell 'electical' or 'zone' I figure it must be a really great example of why certain jobs should be left to the professionals.

Clients In Oregon Top 50

2009-08-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

Portland Monthly did an article on Oregon's Top 50 wines. And guess what? 3 of my labels were in the article. Clearly they didn't take label design into consideration, or they would have name these three in the top 5, but still its cool to see your working in there.

I don't know if the wines were displayed in order of quality, or using some other method. Truthfully, it couldn't have happened to three cooler people. Isabelle at 1789 is a rock star, the whole Stoller Team is a blast to work with, and Mary and Dave Hansen are really great, down to earth people.

Even cooler, as I'm looking through the winners and reading the notes, I see a little link to Painted Hills beef. A product I designed the logo for about 100 years ago. Sort of a blast from the past, but cool to see.

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/eat-and-drink/articles/wine-0909/

Fun with Macros

2009-08-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Just got a new lense for my camera. I'm in love with it. I'm considering marrying it.

Visual Clutter

2009-08-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm at the wine section of my local grocery store and as I stood there looking at all the labels trying to scream for my attention, I realized that large, simple shapes took over. Labels that either used white space the best, or used a very identifiable image on the front seemed to jump forward. That doesn't mean that they necessarily looked upscale, or were positioned correctly for their target market, but it did make them noticeable. Sometimes, less really is more.

Sour Milk

2009-08-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Recent discovery for all of those out there that have kids. If you leave the milk in the sippy cup long enough, it goes through many stages before finally resting in a curds and whey type form that no longer stinks! Yeah! It works on chocolate milk too.

Willakenzie Cool

2009-08-14T17:54:00.001-07:00

Just finished a label project for Willakenzie Estate. The product is a high end pinot noir. Label process was smooth and the team at WKE was awesome to work with.

Carrie Higgins at Crush Creative Packaging printed the label and was awesome to work with - as always. She rocks.

Can't wait to taste the wine.

Who would have guessed?

2009-08-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

On our road trip, we stayed the night in many hotels. I'm not sure when it happened, but the automated waffle maker has established itself in the free breakfast world of hotel land. Everywhere we went, in the morning, there is was - a big steaming machine with a little flippy handle and a timer.

Right next to the machine, most places have a can of spray grease. But in Missouri, there was this can of Waffle Off. Have you ever heard of waffle off? I haven't. And I was suprised that anyone would find it necessary to create a special product in honor of the waffle. PAM, for example, would probably do the trick.

Perhaps waffles have some other sort of chemistry - some sort of enhanced sticking power that requires a more sophisticated release mechanism. I wonder.

Lived Through the Trip

2009-08-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Took two weeks off from the Studio and did some traveling with the family. Just back from the 5000 mile road trip and we survived. Even thrived. Put a lot of miles on Teddy and the nuk as well as the car. Put a few dents in the car as well, thanks to a hail storm in Colorado. Still trying to get it fixed, arm wrestling with Allstate. Saw and went up in the St. Louis arch, drove over the Mississippi river about 5 times, caught fish in Tennessee, and saw a five legged cow in Kansas.

The high point was probably the weddings. It was great to see family and all the kids. Funny that kids that were children when I met them are now having kids of their own. Time flies.