Blackstar

I've always wanted to create a San Francisco Fillmore-style poster for what I imagined would be the fictional reunion of Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli). Lucky enough, they really returned and we got a chance to see them. A few days before the concert, I got re-inspired to make this...

Hope you like it...

Snap-A-Jeep















The project was to create a toy vehicle. I based mine on the Jeepney--the Philippines' answer to mass transit coupled with crazy customization. Shown here is the final presentation piece as well as some brainstorming/development.

Sims 2 sampler...















Just a few of the many objects I created for the Sims 2 expansion packs. These are the tied-down concept drawings/paintings (created in Illustrator and Photoshop) which we would then make orthographic (front/back/side view) drawings of. They would then be sent to the 3d modelers and shown to us for review.

ICON DO IT!














Above are examples of some icon work done for the Sims 2 PC Game (Bon Voyage! and Freetime, respectively).

You definitely need to be in a different mindset than usual, especially working within such a small box. Though not as quick and much more labor intensive, I compare it to quick gesture drawings--You have to be aware of the extraneous details which can clutter things quickly and CLARITY, CLARITY, CLARITY.

...Problem solving, left and right.

Big thanks to Frances Ngai who taught (and is STILL teaching) me a lot about UI. For the Sims 2 "Freetime" pack, we figured that, in all, we created about 200+ icons (not counting the ones that got cut)! She's truly a force to be reckoned with...

Print stuff

Apologies for the delays, just been busy. Here's what some of what I've been up to:

I've had a couple illustrations published in "The Ave." a New York-based hip-hop magazine. The first being the LL Cool J piece (shown previously on my blog) in the Winter '07 issue:








And the next, a Kanye West piece (below) in the Spring '07 with covers posted as well. (P.S. Let me know if you see any around the Bay Area...I'm still trying to hunt some down!)












Probably the best thing about these opportunities--of course, next to being published (and in a NY mag)--was the fact that fellow SHM homie, Cameron Moore (http://mookiedesign.com/), was also the assistant designer for the mags. Yet another joint-SHM collabo (The Sims2 is the other concurrent project, but I'll save that story for another time).

"The other Mr. Smith"













A little bit of editorial illustration...