Aloha from Comic-con?

Every now and then, you get to work on a project that comes together just the way you hope it would. No road blocks, no rejections, and barely any headaches. This rarely happens, and when it does, it kind of gives you hope that for a split-second you somehow knew what you were doing. It also takes working with creative folks who have a ton of enthusiasm and are open to new ideas. For comic-con this year, I got to work with Chris Sanders, of Lilo and Stich fame, on his very first vinyl figurine based on one of his hula girls. My job was to create the packaging for it. I submitted 3 ideas - a tiki hut, a pineapple crate, and a pinapple can (she sits on gigantic pineapple). The last option had a metal pop top and bottom just like a real food can, and a die-cut window for the vinyl. This was the 'anything goes' idea I like to throw in that usually is the priciest and most difficult to make. It's also the one that never gets picked. Guess my surprise when Chris said he wanted to go with it. The vinyl is amazing and I hope the packaging compliments her. It's definitely one of the coolest projects I've had the opportunity to work on. If only every gig was this easy! Hopefully there are more down the road. Be sure to check out Chris' site for updates. This is the final version of the comic-con limited vinyl and its packaging.

That's Incredible!, Part 2

Here's the rest of the posters from the Incredibles series. The bright colors and flat shapes were inspired by the Disneyland attraction posters you see when going through the tunnels at the entrance of the park. Even when I was 6, I remember thinking those things were amazing, so getting to reference them for this project was a thrill in itself.

That's Incredible!

Here's a series of posters I created as a tribute to my favorite tv show growing up - That's Incredible! What's not to like? Unbelievable human feats, mind-bending oddities, rubik's cube-solving f-ers, and the amazing team of John Davidson, Kathie Lee Crosby, and Fran Tarkenton? Vikings QB Fran f-ing Tarkenton??? Without the uni, he looked like a regular dude. But damn was he a gamer! Anyways, For the past 2 Pixar films and 2008's Wall•e, I've gotten the fortunate opportunity to design poster series' for use on products such as apparel, trading cards, giclee prints, etc. Hopefully, they let me continue this with their future films. They are definitely a challenge from concept to completion. They're also the most fun I've ever had at work. The first series was for The Incredibles, my favorite Pixar film. Here's a few of them. Hope you dig 'em!

Summer Catch

With the summer months come sunshine, warm weather, and most importantly - vacations. My most memorable summer vacations involved waking up at the crack of dawn and heading down to the lake for a relaxing full day of fishing with dad. I think i was about 5 or 6 at the time. Rarely did I ever catch anything but it was fun nonetheless. While lazily drifting down the lake, dad would give me wonderful talks about current events, his own chilhood adventures, and how chicks are a pain in the ass. Once I grew older and got bored and frustrated with never catching anything, those fishing trips became a thing of the past. In its place came video games and underage drinking. Now that I'm older, I do think about them often. Everything just seemed so innocent and easy back then. Now I bust my hump everyday fighting traffic, paying bills, and taking all kinds of crap from chicks. Here's a pic of me and my old man during happier times.

More Rats!

& here's the rest of 'em...

Rats!

Here's larger versions of my Ratatouille posters. Once I can find the sketches and reference under my desk o' crap, I'll post the process of how these are created from beginning to end. Enjoy!