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As I've been working with a variety of clients on getting their new sites and current materials updated and fresh for the coming Summer season, I was honored to be asked to teach a series of classes for the San Diego Digital Gym's "Digital Bootcamp" at the Media Arts Center in North Park, SD. The Digital Gym is the new face of the Media Arts Center, that has gone through an amazing recreation, expanding it's facilities to include multiple computer workstations for the public, fully-stocked computer class rooms, video and photography studios, a video lounge, a snack bar, and a brand new 49-seat theater.

These "brown bag" lunch time workshops that I was invited to lecture at span the creative real from online media and management to video and film. I was originally asked to teach a class on "Digital Design" – a sort of primer for small-business owners and entrepreneurs on how to prepare for working on an identity and logo development project, the tools and skills necessary to take their logo and identity to the next level, and basics about layout, color theory, and graphic development. In about an hour and a half, we covered a great deal of material and I was happy to be able to share some good resources and ideas with the classmates.

Following that, in March I taught two classes in the labs: the first familiarizing students with Google Analytics, the concepts behind it, and setting up GA on their sites from scratch. The second class was a crash-course in starting a site using WordPress.com as a Content Management System for start-ups and entrepreneurs just getting on their feet. At 1.5 hours, each class was jam-packed with information, but the great conversations, good responses, and onscreen evidence of their site up and running with statistics flowing was proof that a lot can be picked up by eager minds.

I'm excited about this new direction that has befallen me and am looking forward to teaching more classes in the summer!

 

This winter, being a very cold winter for San Diego, also turned out to be a very creative one! While maintaining a variety of sites and clients such as BellaVista Trattoria, Culture Connections, and the Presence Care Project, I found myself immersed in helping clients develop some new ideas for branding, projects, and web interfaces for the new year to come. Here are some examples of this Fall's designs…

 

The 9 Keys to a Liberated Life

Long time client and friend, Maia Duerr of the Liberated Life Project contacted me this fall to take on the task of redesigning her e-book "The 9 Keys to a Liberated Life", a quick and insightful life manual that goes into the multiple areas of one's path that offer opportunities of growth, reflection, and liberation. I was happy to work with her to come up with a simple and effective design that helped to bring about a bit of style to the interesting content without overthrowing the message. Available for free on her site to all those looking for a bit more freedom at their fingertips! Have a peek below!

 

Metro San Diego Realty

Many times I find myself contacted by other developers that are working with a client on a website or campaign and need a bit of help getting the initial branding and logo off to a good start. In regards to Metro San Diego Realty, this was the case.

Their developer who was handling the heavy-lifting of taking their exsiting site and overhauling it for easier usage and flexibility contacted me to start the ball rolling on a new look for their logo and branding rationale. Working with the client and the developer to get a feel for where they wanted to take the style and messaging of their graphics, we developed an identity package that merged all the growing aspects of this up-and-coming realty agency.

 

Bardot Group Renewables

Another example of a fellow online marketer reaching out to me to help brand a new company took place this fall with Bardot Group Renewables. The Bardot Group, which is known for it's deep sea energy technology and protective materials across Europe, are taking on the forward-thinking industry of off-shore wind farming and renewable energy initiaitives with their new company, Bardot Group Renewables.

Taking cues from their main branding as well as logotypes and designs from their various other departments, we worked with the client to come up with a compatable design that respected their past while looked to the future.

 

Endo Pharmeceutical Icons

Often I will continue to work with contacts as they carry along in their career from one organization to the next. I am always available to offer to their new position a fresh perspective from a source they know they can rely on. A long-time client, when they moved to Endo Pharmecueticals in Pennsylvania, contacted me to help with a variety of new projects she was working on, one being internal marketing icons to help encapsulate and convey key concepts within their programs. Here are a few icons developed for some internal materials: "Global Open House", "Supporting Strategies", "Did You Know?"

Coming Up

Over the winter break and entering into the New Year I will be putting the finishing touches on websites for ADAPT, the Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Team, The Rockford Woodlawn Fund, The DreamChasers Basketball Program, and the TodMorden Foundation. Stay Tuned!

A very busy summer indeed! Now that I am in the habit of blogging by the season, it really gives me a great time to reflect on all that can happen in the short space of a few months:

It's Gala Time!

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital's Art Ability

Every year I find myself helping non-profits and organizations get ready for their fall Galas and Celebrations, commemorating the people and acheivements that have added to the lives and struggles of those they have helped throughout the year.

Each each year I have been fortunate to help Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in Philadelphia prepare for it's annual Art Ability Exhibition. A multi-month celebration both in the hospital and across the country of over 200 artists with disabilities who use their skills and talents in the arts to express themselves and break free of the bonds of difference. Here's a short retrospective on some of the cover designs I've created from which we've derived the styling for each marketing campaign including Save The Dates, Invites, RSVPs, Posters, Program Books, Advertisements, Sponsorship Guides, and Giveaways:

The Center On Policy Initiative's Gala 2102

This year I was selected to help pull together The Center On Policy Initiative's materials for their 2102 Gala. CPI "is a nonprofit research and action institute dedicated to advancing economic equity for working people and diverse communities throughout the San Diego region. CPI works to increase access to good jobs and quality healthcare, and to improve conditions for low-wage workers and families." Working with their team here in San Diego, we've been very busy getting the invites and program guide together for their event in October!

Mommy's Light 15th Anniversary Gala

Another great event that I have been lucky to help prepare for is the Mommy's Light 15th Anniversary Gala. Located in Pennsylvania, Mommy's Light works with children who have lost their Mother's from various causes and disorders, and spend time with them to prepare for the loss of their parent as well as setting up traditions to help them after their parent is gone. Below is a small sampling of some of the materials we've been setting up for the upcoming event:

 

The Scoop On Breasts

One long-term project that Cindy, Joyce and I at incompra design have been working diigently on is the writing, design, and publication of Dr. Ted Eisenberg's first book "The Scoop On Breasts". A fully-illustrated, carefully designed, and wonderfully writtem tome on all things concerning breasts, breast health, breast augmentation, and interesting and quirky facts about the female bosom, "The Scoop On Breasts" is a great read and fun book to have on your coffee table or in the bathroom reading rack.

Working day and night, Cindy toiled to get the amazing design and layout of the book to match Joyce's wonderful writing, while I took over the repsonibility of illustrating page after page of boob information, breast jokes, and cultural curiosities about the world's obsession with a women's most promiment set of glands. Below are some screen grabs of some of my favorite illustrations that I helped create to jump off the pages:

 

In Web News

The Scoop On Breasts Website

Of course every good book needs a website, so I was happy to help Joyce and Ted get together this quick and fun site detailing all that the book has to offer at a sweet price of $17.95 a copy. With a "sneak peek" gallery, feedback from professionals and comedians, a chapter by chapter walk through, information about the authors, and a "Buy The Book" page, the book is already flying off the shelves as the Doctor is scheduling interviews, reviews, and  radio shows.

The Scoop On Breasts

 

Culture Connnections Website

In the web aspect of my life I have many projects on the stove, simmering and getting ready for launch! One project that's fresh out of the oven is the Cultural Connections website. Cultural Connections works with organizations and centers in New Jersey to teach about Cultural Competance and sensitivity to workers and staff in the racially, religiously, gender and capability rich land that New Jersey is ever-becoming. This Content Management Site site built on WordPress allows the staff at Culture Connections to edit and update their growing body of content, list of trainings, and map of all the areas in New Jersey they help.

Cultural Connections

 

Awakening To Divine Mind Website

One project already underway is the Awakening to Divine Mind website created for Guru Pankaj Sharma. Following the logo design I worked with him on in the Spring, Pankaj needed a site he could go in and modify as his various events and outings took place throughout the northeastern seaboard of the United States. Setting up for him a simple WordPress CMS that matched the feel and tone of his branding, it was very easy for him to pick it up and start running with edits and updates.

Awaklening to Divine Mind

 

More to come!