Dra Studio.com - Design & Illustration

Secret Friend Society by DraStudio on Zooomr

In light of the recent Dra Studio re-design, I thought it might be fun to share some of my ruminations and recent thoughts about back-end content management systems and such that I saw as possible solutions for both the this site and the Illustrative. site, but for some reason or another, abandoned. I also wanted to share some of the more influential sites that I found inspiring me into making the latest revisions to the Studio. So if code is your thing and acronyms like XSLT don’t scare you, read on!

For everyone else, I humbly offer you a site that always bring a big smile to my heart; The Secret Friend Society. There isn’t a bad day I have had that a few minutes with Jellaby hasn’t cured. ;) Enjoy!

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indie peek (uploaded by DRA Studio)

The past week or so has been one late night after another … staying up until 5 am, sleeping until noon, getting ready for lectures and then doing it all over again.

The plus is that I am shaving stuff right off of my pending to-do list and keeping up with my development schedules. Yay for on time work!

Enjoy this composite. It is for Jason Padgett. I am off to finally get some sleep this morning. :D

IF : Worry (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:34

Vector Study (uploaded by DRA Studio)

This is an Adobe Illustrator vector study I did, using some of the excellent look that the Blue Moon beer logo has. Classic typography and subtle colors. Simply beautiful … even if I don’t drink.

To create the faded embossed line in tan area, I had to learn to create a mask layer in Illustrator, something which could really be a lot easier … seeing as how often I like to use it now.

FCC Winter Park – Mockup 2 (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Here is an initial mockup for the site I am currently working on for Jim Book at First Christian Church of Winter Park.

The logo was provided to me and the main goal of both designs was a tight integration with their new identity.

The final design will use this layout and style, but the color palette of the other design.

Let me know what you think.

Ropes Course (uploaded by DRA Studio)

If you haven’t already checked out the bible reading Del.ico.us link I added a few days ago, be sure to. It is pretty handy.

These sketches are for a project I am working on for Gold Coast Christian Camp, which is exciting, as much of my teen years where spent visiting and working there. Shout out to the 9-5-4! ;)

During a recent project, I came across the problem of creating a number image gallery thumbnails at a specific size and saving them into the appropriate folders. Sounds easy, right? There should obviously be a great third-party Mac OS X app already out there for this, right?

Apparently not. I mean, there was at one time a great app that I was using to create my thumbnails, but between Mac transfers and not needing that particular functionality, I seem to have lost track of it. I even spend a couple of hours this weekend trying out all the shareware applications that came up in my searching of Macupdate. No luck, though.

Without a dedicated tool (or even a pre-built Photoshop automation), I had to settle for creating a custom Photoshop action. The final product (which is available on my Pownce postings) is a near-perfect droplet that will nicely produce meaningful, consistent thumbnails, with a tiny footprint. The source images do need to be at least 400px to 500px wide, but the only real drawback is that the limitations of the Photoshop “Save for Web” dialog doesn’t allow for complete processing and file re-naming. That part you will need to do yourself. But don’t worry, the time saved and the output thumbnails are worth the effort.

For the sake of discussion and posterity, why not take a look at some of the elements that I found missing from any of the current thumbnail generating applications/actions:

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The Break – Curl Sand (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Just finished up what will probably be the final version of “The Break” logo for Jared … now to work on a 2-color version for the shirt.

The Break – Proof 2 (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Head over to flickr and check out the 3 mockups I did for Jared Curtis’ youth project, called “The Break”.

I think I like one of these.

New Illustrative – Site (uploaded by DRA Studio)

I just spend the last couple of hours finishing up my CodeIgniter PHP work to get the new Illustrative launched. Have a visit and let me know what you think.

Check it out here: Get Illustrative.com

Giant Man Baby – Site (uploaded by DRA Studio)

I just finished implementing the new CSS stylesheet for Jason’s new video company site, Giant Man Baby Productions. I was given a logo created by a friend (Andrew Sale) and tagline … then pretty much ran with it.

I really feel that this design is going to be a lot of fun. It is simple clean and as soon we get some free time, adding in the Flash touches will make it really sweet.

This project is going to involve some really great guys, so I’d definitely recommend that you stay tuned and keep checking it for more of their entertaining videos.

Oh and props to Jodie for suggesting the nice touch of a tie to the whole man baby icon.

Substance – Black n White (uploaded by DRA Studio)

A preliminary design of shirt artwork for Justin Pressly. The early black and white version, though the design did start in my Physical vs. Digital sketchbook.

Light Night 2007 – Proof (uploaded by DRA Studio)

My newest design for Southside’s upcoming Light Night event. Should be pretty fun.

The main stipulations I got from SS was that it couldn’t directly include anything Halloween related … since it is a Halloween alternative. So, pumpkins, skulls, blood, guns … all out. Josh had the idea of incorporating something to do with buildings or the city, since it happening in the Orlando area.

This is what I came up with … which, after hearing Josh’s description of it reminding him of Nickelodeon and the animated Batman cartoons, I was very happy.

For this past week at camp, I created a custom Apple Keynote theme called Dark Aurora. The biggest goal behind it was to make something dark and simple, yet still engaging. It should be perfect for some of your upcoming worship-related events, were limited projector color/contrast is a problem.

You can download the iWork ‘06 version here (if anyone happens to need compatibility with iWork ‘05, just let me know).

Future Mapping (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Just a snap of some planning I was doing for changes to Dra Studio, Sketch Blog … and another secret project. :D

My entry for this week’s Illustration Friday theme of “Citrus”. For IFs, I usually try to work with what comes right to my head … whatever comes first to mind. So for this, all of my initial thoughts were about pixels and gum-droppy icons … and who am I to fight what feels so good?

I worked this up on paper, pulled it right into Illustrator for the slick lines and gradients (and no, I still don’t have CS3 … money, money, money). Photoshop gave me plenty of room for adding the traditional sharpness that blurry pixels usually get you. Add a couple of hits of Burn and Dodge, and it is *Fin! (Yes, just like the amazing Anberlin song, that is definitely my favorite off of the new Cities album). Enjoy!

If you are looking for more icon goodness, peep my profile at the IconBuffet! It’s a great place to grab some sweet free pixel goodness.

Here is the finished piece for the IGNITE event poster. A little woodsy, a little gritty … and plenty beautiful. I really enjoyed making this one, as I decided to take an old school approach to most of it, with type setting some of it by hand, with real paper and scanning in the results. I also blended in some original artwork in the back, just for fun and to add more substance. I also glossy-ied up the IGNITE logo for good measure.

This will probably end up as a separate quad-size flyer and another black/white photocopy version … if so, I will add those versions to the Flickr. Oh yeah … probably a myspace theme too.

Ah … still no new sketches … at least not for posting. But don’t worry. It’s not because I am slowing down, but only because I am working hard to keep up to date on all my design work. Enjoy this little tid bit and let me know what you’ve been up to.

I have had such a mash of wise and helpful words run through my head the past couple of days. In chapel last Tuesday, the speaker reminded us to look inward first for the cause of problems in building a strong community in the church. At Gateway Christian Church in Tennessee last Sunday, Jodie’s dad spoke about each of our own callings and about service and making sure of where your priorities and investments (whether they be time, emotion, or otherwise) are centered. Reading over an old letter, I was reminded of how sharing one’s dreams with friends and family is not only for their benefit, but for your own as well … as they come to share in your dreams and understand your hardships. Even sitting at lunch today with a friend, I found myself surrounded by so much insight and underlying feelings of motivation. Needless to say, I have been working a lot today to make sure that I am making every effort possible to further build myself up and strive for the dreams that I have been falling behind in.

Motivated thought over. Go to bed and dream of DRM-free music, played back on NAS-equipped Apple TV offerings. I know I will be.

Well, there you go. A good portion of Monday was spent finalizing the New Creation shirt design … what do you think? (You can see the back in the Flickr sidebar).

The shirt color is actually the same “Texas Orange” we used for the Kenny Beers Band shirts, so it should turn out really nicely. As for staying consistent with the poster design and yet still giving it a cost-efficient and fun “edge”, I think it worked out quite well.

By the way, if you haven’t been watching Heroes lately … you definitely need to get on that. Last night’s episode really set us up for a great next couple of weeks.

Thanks to some of that silly relationship garbage being out of my life (at least for now), I have been working really hard and getting plenty of things off my To-Do list (for which, by the way, I am currently using a mixture of Ta-da Lists and Basecamp).

Since I still haven’t gotten the Dra Studio server running the newest version of PHP and some other technologies, I went ahead and set up the Illustrative Request and Contact forms to use Wufoo’s excellent alternative. If you need some easy-to-make, great-looking forms (with the benefit of a tracking database), check these fellow Floridians out. Com’on … the first three forms are free.

Oddly enough, I didn’t keep any of the things I drew yesterday, so instead I will leave you with two nuggets of YouTube goodness.

The first? John Reuben’s new Word of Mouth video … not too shabby of a track, and the animation is pretty fun. It has this kinda Cartoon Network meets 1970’s School House Rock feel too it. (It was directed by Chris Oatley, who’s work is pretty great stuff).

Second? No More King’s Sweep the Leg video … because I just bought The Karate Kid on DVD, Principal Belding is cool, trailer-park Cobra Kais make me laugh, and I still think Ralph Macchio is amazing! (You will probably get that song stuck in your head though … so fair warning).

Yesterday was pretty standard, with work being typically long and boring and party time at our house being really great. Guitar Hero II battles and yummy Wii goodness, thanks to Josh McGrew. Billy Babbino was there too, with an FCC prospect for next year.

Probably my favorite parts of the day were: 1) The compliments I got on the New Creation posters and 2) Right before Googly’s Cafe, when Jen and I were at the pizza place and having the owner ask us where we had been and how come we hadn’t eaten there in a few days … since neither of us had been there is well over 4 months.

Today was another great day of accomplished tasks … among which was the New Creation poster (check out the Flickr sidebar!). Karati-gami at d-groups went really well … even if I did make Jen mad at me for a bit. ;) I am now well on my way to getting those thousand origami cranes so I can have my wish.

After Southside band practice, Jen and I worked on this desktop wallpaper together … not to shabby, I think. And the poem, in part, really speaks to my feelings as of late. Enjoy.

She stands upon the precipice,
her gaze within the rocks’ warm embrace.
her hair … it floats on the midnight breeze,
while a forlorn sadness darkens her face.

She’s taken a few steps more,
closer still to night’s starless intent.
A decision must be made,
this choice, now is beyond circumvent.

When from a sudden, she is found;
stumbled upon by loved one’s loving eye.
“Hold fast … still!”, is the desperate plea.
“Speak to me and share! Why it is that you must die?”

Choice now stands at your side;
Leaving you with two ways to end tonight.
Sure is the fate that lies before you,
while hope, it beckons to set things right.

Finally! This morning was one of the first in a long while that I didn’t absolutely despise as soon as I woke up. I stayed up late last night, seeing to some website updates for Mark Atteberry and a few other projects, and even with the minimal 2-3 hours of sleep, I really felt so much better starting the day out.

We had a bit of car trouble that had to be sorted out today, so the biggest thing I was able to accomplish at work was definitely the work on the New Creation poster (I will upload a pic once it is done). It was a slow start, but I really like the direction I went with it. The rest of my FCC day was a blur of missed emails and answering phone calls.

The highlight of today was definitely being the Chick-fil-A cow again at Southchase. There really isn’t a feeling more wonderful than having 3 and 4 year olds run up to you and give you a hug … especially with me in huge cow suit and them in their nifty PJs (it was pajama night this week … pretty fun).

The rest of the night rounded out nicely with picking up some supplies for our Karati-Gami D-group tomorrow, watching The Prestige with the gang, and working up a logo for Josh’s upcoming “Ignite” event. Heads up … its April 13th and you might as well mark it down on your iCal. Kenny Beers band will possibly be playing and Illustrative will have a booth and some pimp shirts for sale. Whoot!

Laters.

This morning began like so many recent ones:

1. Me waking up late, even though I really needed to wake up early and work on Illustrative designs, or at least warm-up sketches.


2. Me feeling completely unrested.


3. Me feeling totally useless and definitely somewhat depressed.


4. Me rushing to get ready for work at FCC.

The day got better, thanks to a fun-filled lunch with Jodie and my finding out that I still had a bit of leeway on some of my projects. Hanging with the crew a bit tonight was also beneficial. I am sure things will get better and stay that way … I am just being impatient and restless, I guess.

Speaking of design work, why check out that sweet looking piece up there that I just finished for a (maybe) shirt for the Kenny Beers Band and the upcoming IMPACT football tourney in February. Woot woot! Speak up and let me know what you think. It is based on a request directly from Kenny, but I also saw it fitting so well with this scripture from one of my recent devotions:

“I [God] m the one who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year” (Hosea 14:8, NLT).

So the other day, we were watching Monster House (quite the enjoyable flick, too) and it dawned on me that, not only would “Thou Art Dead” be a great game to play, but I am sure someone had already made it into one. Sure enough. And I even found a blog by one of the artist/animators. Fun!

Oh and in case I didn’t already tell you about Anberlin’s soon coming album, Cities, consider yourself told. Why don’t you head over to iTunes and buy the two new songs that are available now? You won’t regret it.

Isn’t it the worst feeling when you realize you can’t leave a good enough tip for a waiter/waitress that has been exceptionally nice and attentive? I hate when that happens. It instantly makes me feel so cheap, even if I know the problem is a lack of funds and not a parsimonious outlook on my part. Agh!

Today was so very yummy. Leftover chinese food for lunch, while watching old episodes of The Office; Chinese food for dinner with Jodie, Michelle and Courtney and then opening presents with the whole girlie gang from 421 (and the boys too); Rockstars and cherry Cokes for staying up late at Denny’s with Missy and Beth; and finishing off an Amazing Pizza logo for Jimison. YUMMY!

What are some things you would be doing and/or buying right now if you had more money? How much would it take for you to be able to get that “really amazing” thing? If it actually doesn’t cost that much, what is holding you back?

Ahhh! Ahhh! WEEEEEEEEEHHHH!

Excuse my excitement, but it looks like one of my shirts made it into the running on Threadless.com. Please take a moment and vote for it! ;)

I some other designs I submitted, but this is the only one that has made it past approval so far. Cross your fingers and hope for the best!

Blogged with Flock

So here for your viewing pleasure is my slave and labor from last night … a poster I did Jonathan Jimison and Dave Woodrum’s upcoming concert, Coffee House in the Barn. Pretty and green, with just a hint of grit and grunge, I think it came together nicely as a meld of vector art and photo-realistic texture. And I mean … I got to work some new Dry Media brushes and Layer Masks in Photoshop and that is always a good time.

While I was working on this last night, I got caught up on Heroes, which IMHO is shaping up to be a great show for NBC. I also watched most of big Arnold’s Eraser on Court TV and a few episodes of The Office. All in all, a fun and productive late/early night.

Blogged with Flock

A quick logo I did for the Junior Class’ upcoming Christmas Banquet, Ritzmas! Once Tyler Perkins updates the video trailer on YouTube, I will post a link.

By the way, if you’re ready to get in the holiday spirit, check out this fun “christmas lights” widget for your mac (you can even customize it with all different types!). Nothing says Christmas like big and bright holiday lights!

**Update: As promised, here is the link to Tyler’s YouTube video.

Blogged with Flock

Since our gig this weekend went so well, I thought I should work up a possible logo for our band, Kenny Beers and The New Ethos (you can check out the MySpace page here).

And of course (because I love black shirts), here is this one. Let me know what you think.

Blogged with Flock

So here is my first ever design for an Uberbot shirt … you know … that amazing store in Winterpark, FL. I haven’t heard back from them yet, but if things go well and they like it, there should be plenty more to come. Plus, it would rock to see one of my designs in their store. (For this design, I had originally wanted to have the word “uberbot” dripping out in oil behind the robot, but I changed my mind. You can still see that version on the Flickr page.)

Matt Zeller did a design too. Here is his angry bot!

Blogged with Flock

This is a shirt design that is currently being printed for Southside Christian’s upcoming Light Night at Chick-fil-A. The concept came from Josh Van Tassel, after the initially-submitted design was deemed too, “Halloween-eey”. Light Night is happening on the night of October 31st @ the Southchase Chick-fil-A, so if you’re looking for some good clean family fun, with candy and costumes, don’t miss it!

Blogged with Flock

Now I finally feel complete and accomplished. :) I have in my hands the first ever signed copy of the Jesus Odyssey EP by the Dave Woodrum Band. Ahhhhh. And, of course, the music is amazing. I am slightly sad that my two favorite pre-release tracks (God is There and More Than Anything) didn’t make it to the EP, but the tracks that did are fantastic.

So if you don’t already have a copy coming your way, check out the contact info on the band site or the MySpace page … I am sure you can email Dave to order one.

By the way, I did the cover artwork for the EP. Whoohoo!

Blogged with Flock

Here is the shirt design I did for the girls at FCC’s upcoming Beach Retreat. Since it was “pro bono”, I am not going to put it in the Portfolio, but I thought it came out nice and some would want to see it.

Blogged with Flock

… let’s make out!

Well, it looks like all of us MacBook-toting designer illustrators finally know the price of our new-found Intel speed goodness. Today on Terry White’s excellent podcast, he previewed the new Acrobat 8 Professional and dropped the news that the big A is TODAY announcing the new Adobe Creative Suite 2.3, complete with Universal versions of all our favorite design apps. Is the .3 upgrade going to cost us? You betcha!

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Eric just sent me the url for the finalized posting of our latest Evenstar Media project; the Northside Christian Church’s Fiesta VBS website. Yay!

I have to say … unfortunately, I didn’t do the character designs … we had to stick with the pre-made illustratons that are part of the materials for the VBS program. But I did work my magic with the layouts, color choices and the like. So still, a whole lot of fun. :)

Well blow my mind away! Apparently Adobe Illustrator does have a sweet little keyboard command for increasing or decreasing the inner radius of a star. Here is a quick review of all of the commands I use when drawing my stars:

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Hehe … I’ll let you in on a little secret … Matt and me … we’re planning something. Something cool. Cool and big. Something cool and big and totally needing to involve our faces as cartoons. Hehe.

O, it is gonna be good.

Wondering what I have been up to lately? Wondering what has been keeping me from my sketching? Here is one thing.

This is the AbyssJazz magazine version of an advertisement for the upcoming Jazz Fest Kissimmee event. Pretty fun, right?

Since I haven’t used it anywhere yet, but plan to soon, I figured I’d post the cool valid XHTML code I found for using Flash elements. And since, for some reason Blogger does not seem to be letting me add “code” or “pre” elements easily … just take a moment and peep the code here.

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While watching one of my recent favorite podcasts, command N, I followed a link to this site, which contains this fantastic collection of corporate identies … and not just images of their logos, but full descriptions, creative teams, Pantone colors, and typefaces. Exhaustive in its information, this site is a great way to spend a few minutes.

And while looking for an image to accompany this post, I stumbled upon this page that critiques and discusses both the new FedEx Kinko’s and UPS re-brandings. Both are done in a constructive and beneficial manner.

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Looks like Andrew Sale has been a busy little bee … this is a design he did for the upcoming FCYC youth event. Does the acronym sound familiar? It’s because I have worked with the Florida Christian Youth Convention in the past. I think Andrew did an excellent job here, in providing them with something unique and “youthful”.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone else know that the words “radar” and “laser” are acronyms? Radar - ra(dio) d(etection) a(nd) r(anging). Laser - light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. How interesting.

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